Clean Eating on a Budget

KnightSmile

hi all,

I am looking to completely overhaul my diet (which is VERY bad at the moment) and have just bought "the eat clean diet" by Tosco Rena after googling this topic (cant say if its any good yet). Are there MSE'ers who subscribe to clean living/eating on a budget?

I am doing my own research but wondered if any helpful MSE'ers are already into this lifestyle but with a money-conscience slant.

Grateful as ever for any tips and views.

KS

adelight

Yes, plenty of us With varying definitions of "clean", what's yours? There are a lot of eating healthy on the cheap threads on the O/S board btw.
Top tips are to always eat seasonal fruit and veg, make the most of special offers and buy pulses, rice and spices in bulk from ethnic shops.

KnightSmile

thanks for the response adelight. I have found and read this as a sensible definitiod:

A person that eats clean generally practices the following:

Eliminates refined sugar
Cooks healthy meals
Packs healthy meals
Makes healthy choices when dining out
Drinks a lot of water
Eats 5-6 small meals per day
Eliminates alcoholic beverages (or significantly limits it)
Always eats breakfast

Eating clean can be a major transition for a majority of people due to addictions to sugar, white bread, and fast food. It takes discipline in order to make eating clean a habit but it is possible and has so many long-term health benefits.

Would MSE'ers mostly agree with this ?

sweetilemon

sounds good, never heard of it before but basically what im trying to do on my diet. I have the odd treat likw diet coke or pizza but try my best. I have 3 meals a day though with an afternoon snack. i find these kinds of foods more filling so make eating fewer calories easier.

Bronnie

Yup!

Exactly what DD and I try to do. I'm also on a diet at the mo, counting calories and it's an even more MSE way to live!

My tip, make good us of your freezer if you've got one and acquire plenty of freezer containers so you can portion your HM meals/recipes to create your own ready-meals.

Also make soup, portion up and freeze. Fab way to use up leftovers and significant contribution to your 5 a day.

With respect to eliminating refined sugar, what I would say is rather than unrealistically banning sugar from your diet completely in the early stages, rather look to reduce the portion size of foods containing refined sugar that you consume daily. For example today I baked a sponge cake, using 2eggs, 2ozs sugar and 2 ozs flour. I cut this into 6 portions which I will use for treats. I had 1 portion today, but have frozen the rest.

I have to say, I generally prefer a modest amount of sugar to artificial sweetener. I don't know what your "clean diet" info has to say about that?

The hardest bit? Reducing the wine down to a bottle a week, but looking at your criteria for clean-eating, I'm pleased to say I think I'm winning :-))

margaretclare

KnightSmile wrote: »

thanks for the response adelight. I have found and read this as a sensible definition:

A person that eats clean generally practices the following:

Eliminates refined sugar
Cooks healthy meals
Packs healthy meals
Makes healthy choices when dining out
Drinks a lot of water
Eats 5-6 small meals per day
Eliminates alcoholic beverages (or significantly limits it)
Always eats breakfast

Eating clean can be a major transition for a majority of people due to addictions to sugar, white bread, and fast food. It takes discipline in order to make eating clean a habit but it is possible and has so many long-term health benefits.

Would MSE'ers mostly agree with this ?

The addiction to sugar disappears after a while, like all/most other addictions.

We always eat breakfast. We prefer some protein to start the day, usually eggs in some form. We don't eat white bread, but then, I never have. Many years ago we used to get Allinson's which was advertised as 'nowt taken out' - anyone remember that? We get our bread from a local baker, baked fresh every night, and it's what he calls his GI loaf - wholemeal with nuts and seeds. Oddly enough, although it has none of the preservatives deemed essential for 'shelf-life', it does last us a few days.

We also shop as locally as possible. Our butcher, for example, sources all or most of his meat within 50 miles of his shop.

'Healthy meals' - now, that's a big can of worms, because what some people think of as healthy, may not be what others do.

Yesterday for lunch I made soup - one onion, 2 carrots, 2 chicken stock cubes, lentils. A slice of GI bread and an orange to follow. Winter-time is when you appreciate all the root veg which are so cheap at this time of year.

I don't think I could eat 5/6 small meals a day, but I do drink quite a lot of water. We only drink alcohol on special occasions.

SarahGarden

girls, try to eat raw vegetable only, one week, as much as you want, but veggie only. mixed salads - tomatoes, cumumbers, olives, celery, carrots, and if you cant stand veggie on, than i would take fruit till lunchtime - pineapple, watermeloon, grapefruit. You will be surprised after one week how much weight you can loose with comfortably eating without being hungry.

oscarsmum

I eat clean as much as possible, and have done for about a year. I follow the 9/10 rule, allowing one tenth of my diet to consist of 'unclean foods ' to allow for occasional treats. I make my own bread, eat only wholemeal rice pasta etc and buy fruits in season or on offer from Aldi, and any veg that is on special offers or reduced and can be used or frozen. I eat loads of eggs and buy these from a local farm, free range and much cheaper than supermarkets. I bulk out foods with veg and dried pulses, potatoes bought by the sack from a local farmer.I never buy fizzy drinks etc but do drink if we got out, which is only occasionally.
I find I spend far less than when I used to buy frozen foods, ready meals and takeaways. I dont have to count calories and maintain my weight easily and feel much healthier overall.