Food shopping on a budget while trying to diet

NattyVee

Oh Fire Fox, I should mention, most of my exercises at the moment are doing dreaded lunges, so I'm really glad the hard slog will pay off! :P

Tottaly - I have an idea. We embark on this renewed effort together and keep each other posted on our success each week? It might be an incentive to know you'll be showing off to a complete stranger if you don't eat that chocolate bar! :P

tightandproud

Stir fry's are great because they are cheap and healthy. You can get a cheap stir fry veg mix for around £1.50 at ASDA with lots of bean sprouts enough for several meals, then add to it a small amount of meat and your favorite sauce and voila, tasty low fat meal ready in 10 minutes.

downshifter

tightandproud wrote: »

Stir fry's are great because they are cheap and healthy. You can get a cheap stir fry veg mix for around £1.50 at ASDA with lots of bean sprouts enough for several meals, then add to it a small amount of meat and your favorite sauce and voila, tasty low fat meal ready in 10 minutes.

And of course bean sprouts can be grown on the window sill and bulk up a meal wonderfully, as well as being full of protein and counting as one of your 5 a day. I use mung beans.

DS

Sharon87

I have stir frys a lot - I don't like the traditional vegetables like noodles/beansprouts, so I usually have chicken, peppers, onions, mushrooms, courgettes, asparagus, carrots, spinach - not all at once, but whatevers in season or cheapest. Just a few ideas for people like me who don't like the traditional stir fry veg.

There's some great advice on this thread. Although isn't it true if you drink too much water you'll be flushing away the nutrients your body needs? So drinking 4 or 5 litres a day isn't really that healthy? I can't remember where I heard this now so correct me if I'm wrong. I always drink too little water, I think it's because I'm in London and the water isn't great - I've been meaning to get a Britta filter for ages.

I eat with my brother and we tend not to save any of the food we make - even though the packets/jars of sauces are intended for 3 or 4 people! I should really start saving these at the end of meals and having them for work lunches/dinners.

Fire_Fox

If you drink a ridiculous amount of water you may flush out electrolytes (e.g sodium, potassium), but if you are eating plenty of fruit and vegetables you will be replacing them. Two litres of fluids is the mimimum for good health, I suggest three litres for those who are exercising regularly.

I loathe and detest water, so have drunk sugar-free high juice squash for about twenty years! We found the Tesco stuff was making us both very thirsty, probably the aspartame, so now we try to only have Asda which contains sucralose instead.

Many countries recommend nine portions of fruit and veg a day - I did it for a couple of years and found you need to start at breakfast and then eat lots of stuff like homemade soups, massive stir frys and veg-heavy stews/ bolognese.

angel13

I find more than 5 veg/fruit a day is really easy to do. I am vegetarian so I think it is just in my nature to eat this stuff over everything else int he house. only problem is its costly - especially the fruit.

some great tips in here so i will be coming back to reread. i have weight around my middle that i just cannot shift - have been trying for over a year now, I am mid 30s. I had back surgery and that started it all up - also means i need to be extra careful. if anyone has any suggestions of things i can try to lose this weight and get really well toned core to help my back i would really appreciate it. I have tried so hard with my physio to get back to normal and pain and moving is so much better but cant for the life of me work out why i cant lose any weight at all

OrkneyStar

Hi folks,
Nice to see the advice flowing, but just be careful, as on the 'Money Saving in marriages, relationships and Families'
Board there is a post stating not to give out medical advice (here it is). I am sure general health/fitness/diet advice is ok but not sure about advice in relation to specific ailments iyswim. OP, There are also some diet threads on a sub-board in there called 'Health and Beauty'. You might also find some helpful tips on diets (on a budget) on the 'Old Style' Board (there is a thread called 'Weight Loss Old Style').
x OS

NattyVee

You know, I never had a taste for water, then I forced myself to drink it, and weaned myself off squash. I keep an Innocent smoothie carton in the fridge (expensive I know, but it's the best way to force myself to have breakfast, as I get queasy in the morning when faced with food and I never have time to spend on preparing anything).

I now have a real taste for white tea. If you get the good stuff, it doesn't go bitter, and it has a really nice fresh taste, like how I imagine drinking morning dew would be, haha.

If you aren't convinced, read this: http://jingtea.com/tea-knowledge/tea-and-health which runs down the health benefits of tea. Everything that mentions green tea applies to white tea too, it's just there's been less research on white tea at this point. However, research done has shown that white tea so far has all the benefits of green and more, as the young buds are more full of nutrients.

It prevents everything from cancer to heart problems to tooth decay and to an extent, obesity too. Within 3 days of drinking 4 cups a day my skin cleared up, and is no longer spotty and tight. Also, I lost a lot of bulge around my waist pretty much the next day. I guess I was retaining water there, that or it improved my digestion so that I wasn't bloated.

Whilst the bags seem expensive, remember that I drink ridiculous amounts (sipping on it almost all the time I'm at home), and this 500g bag is still not gone after 5 months.

Sorry that I'm plugging it so much, it's just it's the best thing I've found to aid my weight loss so far.

But yeah, I hate the taste of sweetner so much, and as someone who can't eat a lot of calories without gaining weight, I absolutely refuse to spend them on fizzy drinks, squash and the like, as they have a devillish amount of empty cals.

NattyVee

By the way, I promised not to record my weight until Friday, and I'll track it using my trusty Wii fit. I'll keep you updated. At the moment not losing any weight as such, but I feel more toned, definitely look it on my legs and biceps/triceps, so if I'm just replacing the fat with muscle, that's fine by me.

Don't want to assume too much, but I heard new exercise routines take a week or so to kick in properly, as the body adjusts to the new lifestyle. So logic says as I build muscle, my weight won't change, but later on the increasing muscles will eat more fat, accelerating my (I call it weight loss, but let's call it 'shrinking' haha).

Sorry if I've completely got it wrong, let me know if you know any better. I'd love some motivation!

TottalyLost

OMG - so many replies

Thanks everyone.....

I am a tea addict too but I like PROPER leaf tea, not tea bags. And I get my tea from "back home" as the "loose£ tea available in UK supermarkets is crap, powder not leaves bleeeeeeeeeeeeee Unless one pays a small fortune of course

To all those who say they do not like water - try Vittel water. It is so different, so kind of light...

I brita filter my tap water but get myself a bottle of Vittel now and again - it is lovely....

Gonna have to read all the post tomorrow as have to go to bed now.

Thanks everyone again and keep well everyone