Food shopping on a budget while trying to diet

Cornishpixie_2

Hi, If I want to shed a few pounds I start of with cutting out Alcohol and junk food, and eat wholemeal bread, pasta, and brown rice. I also try to drink more water and herbal teas. Could you plan a rough menu natural yog with a few tablespoons museli, or fruit for breakfast is nice. Salad bits would last a few days, with a few seeds and some fish, sardines, tuna, tinned mackeral, or some chicken. I think variety is the key with healthy eating. Look for offers online. Sainsbury's has tiger prawns on offer Bogoff. Summer is here so take advantage of offers on seasonal veg and fruit. Good luck. I'm confident you will soon get into the swing of things.

NattyVee

The most amazing thing I've found for dieting is White Tea. Similar to Green Tea (which I'm sure will work just as well), drink 4 cups a day and shed weight without changing your diet at all, as it boosts your metabolism.

It's no miracle cure, but see it as a supplement to your diet and exercise plan and you'll see a great improvement as it boosts metabolism, keeps you drinking plenty of water (eliminating water retention), keeps you occupied (ending boredom eating) and stops you getting so hungry.

There's a reason so many wannabe-drugs manufacturers grind it up and shove it into pills, because they want to take advantage of the properties. But it's best for you to drink it, as it is amazingly helpful not only for weight loss, but for preventing all kinds of illnesses, including most cancers.
http://www.jingtea.co.uk has some really nice green and white teas at wholesale prices. I drink the Silver Needle tea, which is the most expensive in the world, but the price here is insanely cheap, considering it's £20 a cup in Harrods, and when you taste it, you'll know why.

And I find I lose weight within a day or two when I have it.

TottalyLost

NattyVee - good receipes but I am trying to loose weight not to gain any (fried onuions, noodle etc LOL) thanks anyway

Cornishpixie - thanks, I actually do not drink at all so nothing to cut on there I also do not eat seefood at all, can nto take the smell of prawns etc.. Love "normal " fish though

NattyVee - I have white tea at home, same as green tea and red bush and876538659 other varieties, I am tea addict will definitely look at the link to teas.

Thansk again everyone

Fire_Fox

I have qualifications in fitness/ nutrition/ weight management to degree level, so the following guidance is based on cold hard science. Are you holding your weight around your waist area or round the legs and bottom?

Exercise ... once we pass age 30ish we start losing an average of 1lb of muscle a year: this means your metabolism will slow down. Repeated dieting will tend to accelerate this process; weight training/ toning exercises (done properly) will reverse it!! If you are fit enough to walk for three hours a day then the exercise is not intensive enough to burn any significant amount of calories/ fat. You need to add in some hills or power walking or jogging (up to you which), intermittently working harder and easier. You should be getting very out of breath, then recovering, then very out of breath, then recovering, etc.

Healthy eating ... no food combining/ red green day/ very low calorie/ crash diet rubbish. You need protein and carbohydrates in the same meal to be absorbed properly to maintain and build/ tone muscle. The metabolism slows overnight and whenever we don't eat for a while, so eat breakfast as soon as you get up, then little and often to keep your metabolism high - eat something every four hours.

I recommend eating low glycaemic index foods as this is healthy and keeps you fuller for longer. Cut back hard on: anything with sugar or white flour added (read labels), white rice, mashed and skinless potatoes, white pasta, white bread, refined cereals such as Special K. Replace with: fruit and vegetables (five to nine portions a day!), granary or stoneground bread, brown pasta, brown basmati rice, wholegrain breakfast cereals, old fashioned/ jumbo oats, barley, Ryvitas, beans and lentils, new potatoes in their skins, sweet potatoes.

Try to have at least two portions of low fat dairy daily as calcium is associated with fat loss, also a portion of essential fatty acids daily as omega 3 helps encourage fat loss. Best cheapish sources of omega 3 are Columbus eggs, LesKol half-fat cheese, tinned pink salmon, fresh mackerel.

Frozen veg is often cheaper than fresh and makes excellent soups. Pad out all meat into a stew with lots of cheap seasonal vegetables, tinned tomatoes, lentils, pearl barley etc. Cheap forms of protein suited to dieting include tinned pink salmon, turkey drumsticks, eggs, Quorn, all beans and lentils.

Hope that helps! :beer:

NattyVee

Fire Fox, that post was amazing, thanks so much!

(Hope I don't sway the forum thread too much) but while you're around, I thought I'd ask you some stuff.

I heard reducing calorie intake by about 500kcal a day is good for about 2lbs a week weight loss. At the moment I'm trying to burn about 200kcal a day through varied exercise (I have an EA Active game on my Wii which is helping me with workouts), and also reducing the amount of 'heavy' foods I eat, similar to the carbs you described above.

Also drinking lots and lots of white tea to make sure I'm drinking enough water and that my metabolism is still moving. I've been doing this for about a week, but I'm not losing a lot of weight, but I'm going to see it out. However, I've noticed my muscles on my legs and arms looking a bit more toned already. Is this to do with muscle weighing more than fat, and does this mean my metabolism will start speeding up, resulting in weight loss?

In short, am I doing the right thing? If so, I can start offering this as advice, haha!

Sorry for hijacking your thread, TottalyLost, I will reign it back for you! :P

el_gringo_3

If your lucky enough to live near an asian area check out some of their fruit and veg stores, general deal seems to be the less they sell, the cheaper the veg is. Dirt cheap compared to supermarket prices and you can buy as little as you need of some items. When I lived on the same street as one i'd regularly go in for a couple of chillis or mushrooms and just get told to take them free! Usually a great source of cheap milk as well, 4 litres for a quid in my local.

TottalyLost

FireFox- thanks a lot for your very informative post, motivated me enough to take the wrappers of the 872957969867 fitness DVDs I have had bought (and never even opened) over the years ;-) I am drinking about 3 litres of water per day (4 to 5 litres at the weekends when I can stay close to the loo LOL)

All round the waist... When I loose weight by bum dissapears but my tum and rolls of fat on the back (how does it get THERE????) stays put.....

NattyVee - so we in the same boat kind of? LOL :-)

El_Gringo - I pass through Asian only area on the way from work but usually only buty coriander there..LOVE fresh coriander...hmmmmm never got anything offerd for free :-)


OK- now, the main issue in my life chocolate

I am confessing to be tottaly absolutely addicted to chocolate.

I do nto normally like swetts or ice cream or crispas and I am fine all day. But I wake up in the middle of the night and can have a whole kilogram of chocolate (easy) and the prrof lies on the floor by my bed in the form of the wrappers.

Please do not tell me just not to buy any. If I have no chocolate - I won't be able to get back to sleep.

Heard abot some patches for that ages ago - anyone knows anything?

(((((((((((((((((((((((((((

Fire_Fox

TottalyLost wrote: »

FireFox- thanks a lot for your very informative post, motivated me enough to take the wrappers of the 872957969867 fitness DVDs I have had bought (and never even opened) over the years ;-) I am drinking about 3 litres of water per day (4 to 5 litres at the weekends when I can stay close to the loo LOL)

All round the waist... When I loose weight by bum dissapears but my tum and rolls of fat on the back (how does it get THERE????) stays put.....

That's very helpful information. Some people naturally tend to gain weight around the waist, but research shows it's also linked to - smoking, alcohol, stress, poor sleep patterns and high glycaemic index foods. However ... high intensity exercise puts you in fat burning mode from two hours to two days after you finish a workout: it also burns more fat from the waist area! :T

The reason your bottom is disappearing when you diet is that you are either not eating enough calories, not enough protein, not doing any toning exercise or, usually, a combination. Basically your body thinks it is starving and is burning muscle for energy. That's why you are gaining weight as soon as you come off the diet.

The quads (front of thigh), hamstrings (back of thigh) and glutes (bottom) are you three biggest muscle groups. That means they have the potential to put you in fat burning mode on a permanent basis! Train them hard with good quality (slow and low) squats and lunges. :j

Your chocolate is a killer, are you serious about eating a kilo? Why do you keep that much in the house? If so you may be addicted to the sugar or the chemicals in chocolate. Can you first switch to sugar-free (diabetic), then cut back a bit at a time? If you do have an addiction you may find you get mild withdrawal symptoms such as sleep problems or headaches. Effective natural remedies for sleep include Valerian and 5HTP - but only if you no health issues and are not on any other medication. Speak to a pharmacist if not sure.

Fire_Fox

NattyVee wrote: »

I heard reducing calorie intake by about 500kcal a day is good for about 2lbs a week weight loss. At the moment I'm trying to burn about 200kcal a day through varied exercise (I have an EA Active game on my Wii which is helping me with workouts), and also reducing the amount of 'heavy' foods I eat, similar to the carbs you described above.

Also drinking lots and lots of white tea to make sure I'm drinking enough water and that my metabolism is still moving. I've been doing this for about a week, but I'm not losing a lot of weight, but I'm going to see it out. However, I've noticed my muscles on my legs and arms looking a bit more toned already. Is this to do with muscle weighing more than fat, and does this mean my metabolism will start speeding up, resulting in weight loss?
:P

500 cals a day = a 1lb fat loss (3500 cals). I wouldn't ever drop more than that from your regular diet: a good steady weight loss will be fat and not muscle. Fast weight loss is usually mostly water, as every 1g of carbs (energy for muscles) is stored with 3g of water. Once you are dehydrated your workouts become less effective.

If you are feeling more toned in the first week, you are probably storing more carbs and more water in your muscles. This is excellent as this is the first stage of getting fitter and being able to work harder and burn more calories in each workout. It's also the first stage of building lean muscle.

1lb of muscle weighs the same as 1lb of fat, it's a pound. However 1lb of muscle is smaller (and less wobbly!) than 1lb of fat, just the same as 1lb of lead is smaller than 1lb of feathers. If you lose 10lb of fat and gain 10lb of muscle you will be smaller in size and definitely more toned, but weigh the same. Your metabolism will be higher so you won't gain the weight back so easily when you finish dieting. :cool:

NattyVee

TottalyLost, I think we are in the same boat! I don't crave chocolate, but every now and again I go crazy and have a takeaway, which on me (only 5'4" and I THINK I have quite a slow metabolism when seeing what my stick thin housemate consumes each day without exercise) means a huge weight gain in one day, as well as a ridiculous expense, which I'm going to stop doing from now on.

Fire Fox, thanks again, this all sounds very promising. I also like your theory about the water - adding to diets is always more fun than removing, so I'm happy to sip white tea all day long if I think it will help me burn calories.

TottalyLost - As a student, I buy on the cheap, stuff which of course is only for me. There are a few things I scrimp on, and some I don't. I try to buy loads of things like onions and chicken (when it's on offer), which means I can freeze meat that I buy in bulk and always have something available.

To stop going mental and eating fast food out of convenience, I always try to keep meals that are microwavable in the fridge or freezer (NOT ready meals, stuff I've made myself). Soups are great for this, split them into bowl-sized portions, and then there's something right there for you when you can't be bothered.

However, I feel I need some luxuries to keep myself on the straight and narrow. You love chocolate? Buy some high quality dark chocolate, and enjoy it with a nice cup of tea at a specific point (I like it after my dinner at about 8pm) when you can really savour it and have your special time. You'll eat less. I really hate junky chocolate bars you get from the corner shop, I could eat a hundred and not feel a thing. Posh chocolate is filled with flavanoids and stuff like that which will sate your craving without eating a ton of sugar and fat (which they stick in there to mask the cheap chocolate). It's hard to get into dark chocolate if you're used to the cheap stuff, but once you're used to it, you never go back.

I also make sure I buy loads of fruit. It's full of water, so surprisingly filling. I also bought some yoghurt to put on top, so it's like a proper treat. Also, since it's quick to spoil, you're encouraged to eat it up (at least I am), and then you might not fancy eating chocolate so much, the fruit will replace it. I don't look at the price and just buy it.

I guess what I'm trying to say in a very long winded way is, try and save on the stuff you buy every day, but if you don't spoil yourself, you'll learn to hate food, which is never a good thing. Plus, if you're eating a kilo of chocolate a night like you say, a small bar of dark chocolate won't cost much.

Stocking up on the frozen veggies and being creative will save you so much money, you'll be able to spend the spare on stuff to keep your diet interesting!

Like Fire Fox and others have said, try and spread small amounts of meat out into stews and soups, and you'll find it goes further than say, steaming a piece of chicken and eating it.