July Challenge: Losing weight while saving money!

taurusgb

Just a small thing (but every little helps huh?)....I am trying to cut down on sugar in my tea and coffee. I don't like the idea of artificial sweetners but can't cut out sugar completely, so what I've found is that if I cut down the amount of sugar I put in drinks (ie level teaspoon instead of a heaped one) and then stir it really, really, REALLY well, it's almost as sweet as when I used to put more sugar in. I also like my coffee really creamy, but cream is (a) expensive and (b) fattening, and jars of coffeemate are not at all OS and are expensive, so what I do is add a teaspoonful of dried skimmed milk powder as well as my normal amount of skimmed milk - and voila! - creamy tasting, but cheap and low calorie coffee

Churchmouse

Taurusgb, you'll find that you can gradually cut down your sugar even further. After you're used to your flat spoonful, try shaking just a very little off and using that. After a further time shake a bit more off. Doing it this way I now only have the tip of the spoon, but can't do without that! I used to have two spoonsful many years ago, but had been on one for a long time.

Now if I accidently take DH's drink ( he takes one) it tastes syrupy and way too sweet.

Prudent

recovering_spendaholic wrote:

I don't know if anyone is interested but I just bought a DVD set on ebay for £9.99 called "Walk Away the Pounds" by American exercise and fitness guru Leslie Samsone. It is just great because it is basically just walking to music but it is nice to look at and you can do it in the privacy of your own living room! You start with the first DVD which is the equivilant of a one mile brisk walk and then you build up to the second (2 miles) and the third ( 3 and then 6 miles). I love it! and alot cheaper than joining the gym. DD2 loves it too because of the catchy music and moves!!

This sounds great. I am managing to walk about six miles per day outside just now. I am lucky in that I am surrounding by great walks and beautiful countryside. As the weather turns colder this won't be so easy - so a video will be ideal. Gym membership is too expensive for me.

lisyloo

As the weather turns colder this won't be so easy - so a video will be ideal. Gym membership is too expensive for me.

We bought an orbitrak machine for £60 off ebay.
Not as cheap as the video but cheaper than a new one or gym membership.
We have found it great.
You don't need to get dressed and drive to the gym to use it - 2 minutes and you're on.
Can also watch the TV, DVD at the same time.

Videos/DVDs from ebay are also a good idea.
You can resell them when you are bored of them.

Prudent

There are some great ideas on this thread, thank you to everyone. I have been doing the challenge for one week now. I have got my walking up to six miles per day and swimming 40- 50 lengths twice a week. This is only costing a total of £4.30 for the two swims. I am also going to borrow dd's bike and try some cycling.

I have just weighed myself this morning and lost 3lb in first week and am pleased with that. I have found it much more difficult to loose weight in the last couple of years than in the past. I guess that's age for you. I am aiming for a steady 1- 2 lb per week, but would be happy with even 1lb a week.

Shez

Hello

I'd like to join in, although I did start a few weeks back trying to get fit by doing my dvd, since hot weather ive stopped, so must get back on track!

Dont forget your local LIBRARY - you can hire out your dvd/videos without wasting money money ones you dont like! and you can change them and try something else when you get bored.

Also as someone else has also mentioned - Freecycle - someones always offering exercise bikes etc.

good luck everyone!

researcher

Just had my breakfast and remembered how important it is when you're trying to loose weight.

Good inexpensive options:

Porridge - I make mine with soya milk - Tesco Value is organic!
Muesli - make your own with oats, sunflower, pumpkin, sesame seeds, almonds, brazil nuts and add some fresh fruit as you serve (grated apple is good), strawberries are very low calorie if you can get them cheap. But adapt your mixture to reflect your likes and your cupboard!

Eating oats for breakfast keeps you full for longer and stabilises your blood sugars, making it less likely that you'll snack before lunch!

annie-c

Hello, thought I'd report back and try to revitalise the thread. I was away with work for a few days last week which was moneysaving but not good for weight loss!

But am back on track now. Despite the heatwave i am trying to be more active by going for a walk each lunchtime, rather than joining a gym and paying to be indoors!

I have got into a habit of doing my food shopping after 7pm and have found fantastic luxury food in the reduced sections going really cheaply. By adapting my favourite recipes to make them low fat, I am managing to eat really well, but really healthily. For tea tonight I had a huge Thai seafood and veg curry with noodles - filled with courgette ribbons, red pepper and oyster mushrooms, along with some reduced price fresh prawns and a tin of low fat coconut milk - cost about £2 per portion, which is oodles less than a takeaway and oodles less calories too!

I have also managed to get a fantastic juicer from my local freecycle group, so for breakfast each day I am having amazing concoctions of juice from the cut-price fruit and veg counter!

I will be weighing in for the first time tomorrow (since I was away last week) so I hope the changes I am making show up on the scales as much as they are on my bank balance.....

Annie

pounds_and_pensive

Keen to shed pounds and save money, I remembered this thread earlier when in a particularly determined mood, and thought I'd pay a visit to the OS board to see if it had grown.

Sidetracked by the wealth of fascinating and practical tips here, I finished an afternoon's browsing with a visit to Amazon, which I only left after ordering a Panasonic breadmaker. Oops. At least there'll be plenty to eat while formulating Plan B

Definitely time to clean up my act (now THERE'S a challenge for Stardrops and microfibre ) Good luck all - I hope everyone's doing a sight better than I am

annie-c

I've just signed up for a free 3-day trial to https://www.weightlossresources.co.uk

No need to enter credit card details so is a completely free trial of a site with a members' forum, loads of advice and a daily planner where you can input exactly what you've eaten each day and it will calculate calories and produce graphs showing the nutritional balance of what you've actually consumed (in carbs, protein, fat,.... alcohol (!) etc) alongside an 'ideal' chart.

Looks good, but has so much stuff to browse, I am worried I could spend all day online instead of getting up and about and exercising! Costs between £7-9 per month to keep up the subscription (depending on how you pay), which isn't as expensive as a club, but I wonder if you can get similar resources for free elsewhere?

I particularly like the online calorie counter/tracker. You can also use it to work out the cals per portion if you type in the ingredients and amounts used - so while I have the free trial I am typing in all my favourite recipes and tweaking them, ie, looking at how many cals per portion I can reduce it to by adding less sugar, fat or substituting cream with yoghurt etc.... it's great fun!!!

Annie