Food budget for people on a diet!

KatrinaC_2

Willsnarf1983 wrote:

For me its bout £125 a month but i buy a shed load of chicken (25-30 pounds a month). Will

Is this 25-30lb, or £25-30?

Either way that is a lot of meat for one person!

I'm a lapsed veggie, but even accounting for that we still spend less than that on meat for two adults and one child.

Unless you are on the Atkins diet or are an avid body builder I'd suggest cutting down on meat and treating it as a luxury rather than a staple food. We pad out meals using veg, pulses, pasta etc and can get by on about £10-20 of meat a month, including a proper "Sunday" dinner once a week when my in-laws come and visit.

Plus, upping your veg intake is an excellent way of lowering your calories and increasing your complex carbs - essentially what most sensible weight loss plans reccomend!

Kat

loubie_lou

I decided to eat healthily after xmas. I'd stay away from the ready meals. They may say they are "healthy" on the front of the packet but most of they are laden with hidden sugar, fake ingredients such as hydrogenated vegetable oil, MSG etc etc.

Stay away from the "healthy" yoghurts too as they are basically just full of sugar!

Debt_Free_Chick

You will often find it cheaper to buy a whole chicken and joint it yourself - compare the price per kilo for whole chicken with that for breast, leg etc.

Step by step guide to jointing a chicken here

ozzyfan_2

what kind of meals do you make with the chicken & beef?

maybe we could think of some alternatives for them tuna instead of chicken for example.

taz01_2

my advice would be to make more of your meals veggetarian as i became veggie over a year ago and i have lost over a stone and my shopping bill is alot less than it used to be.

my other suggestion would be look at what foods you currently buy, unless you really really love it dont bother buying low in fat foods, they are generally more expensive and they taste like crap, fresh wholesome foods is the way to go

the main bulk of my shopping is fruit and veg and its so cheap, especially if you stick to whats in season and you will almost certainly lose weight eating these foods

Willsnarf1983

James240 wrote:

will,

For me i buy tesco low fat meals cos u can get 5 for £5, i find them really nice and also filling plus they have very low fat content and i there calories range from 290 - 400 calories per meal.

James

alreet Jim

yeah i use to do them the 5 for £3.50 but am trying to get away from them due to the high salt intake!

Will

Willsnarf1983

KatrinaC wrote:

Is this 25-30lb, or £25-30?

Either way that is a lot of meat for one person!

I'm a lapsed veggie, but even accounting for that we still spend less than that on meat for two adults and one child.

Kat

Hey there

i have got into the habit of 6 meals a day routine that bodybuilders use (not that i am bulking at the moment, am still losing weight at the moment but if i get into the habit now...all the better. I do also eat tuna 3-4 times a week but thats the upper limits due to the high mercury content. I do eat veg alot as well which also adds up on the costs.

Will

WLITC

Willsnarf1983 wrote:

Hey there

i have got into the habit of 6 meals a day routine that bodybuilders use (not that i am bulking at the moment, am still losing weight at the moment but if i get into the habit now...all the better. I do also eat tuna 3-4 times a week but thats the upper limits due to the high mercury content. I do eat veg alot as well which also adds up on the costs.

Will

Hey Will, i'm looking to eat healthy as well as cheaply too, but I figured I'd make the adjustment to cooking my own meals and working within a budget first and then try and improve what I eat so its more healthy. However, if your eating pretty 'clean' as they say in the bodybuilding world, then I would have thought you could do it fairly cheaply. Where do you currently get most of your food from? Most of the advice on here seems to be that fruit and veg and meat are cheaper from a local market/butcher, so perhaps you could look into that? I know what you mean about value mince though, I think I tried it years back as a student and it really fatty and vile. I do worry about cheap meat. What I'm looking to do it get the basics cheap (veggies, beans, tinned tomaotes, etc) and then spend a little more on the important stuff, like fresh meat to ensure its of reasonably good quality.

Willsnarf1983

i think my biggest waste is i am honest is on my lunches, it only takes one night of being lazy and i dion't make my lunch! I do cook the 4 meals in one go thing but as an example i am ill at the momment and my inclination to cook is 0

Will

Callisto

Hi, we're spending approx £160 a month for three people on the low GI diet, so we're buying a lot of fruit, veg and meat. We don't stick to it religiously, but are following the basic principles - eating unrefined wholemeal bread, brown rice etc and getting enough protein from meat, fish, eggs and dairy. We do relax at the weekend and usually have a takeaway, pizza or burger as a treat as long as we eat healthily during the week.

Personally, I would rather go for good quality food, even if it means paying more and cutting back in other areas of spending. I put on weight through eating convenience foods and high fat/salt/sugar manufactured rubbish, so the only way to lose it is to eat fresh unrefined foods and to adopt a long-term healthy eating plan.