Weekly Wellness: Healthy Eating on a Budget

It is time to bust a common myth when it comes to living a healthy lifestyle. Eating healthily does not have to be expensive. In fact, if you were to switch to home cooked healthy meals, I would be willing to bet that you would spend less money than if you were to eat how you typically do. While it is common knowledge that cooking at home is cheaper than eating out, I do not think people understand just how much this is true. I can spend $100 at the grocery store and get a week's worth of food. However, if I were to eat out every meal that would be closer to $200. And that's assuming that the average meal costs just under $10, which is getting harder and harder to find. You could buy the highest quality food (organic, grassfed, boujee brands, etc.) and it would still cost less than eating fast food!

• Buy in Bulk: Buying food in bigger portion sizes is a great way to cut down on prices. Especially foods you may eat often, freeze well, or that do not expire fast. A few things I make sure to buy in bulk are rice, potatoes, cheese, seasonings, and meat. 

• Skip the Organic for Now: While I see all of their benefits and would love to buy foods labeled grassfed, organic, pasture raised or anything similar, they do not fit in my budget at this point in time. Buying whole foods that do not have these labels can still be healthy while being more economically friendly. 

• Buy Whole Foods: Unprocessed foods such as fruits, vegetables, potatoes, and rice are typically pretty cheap because they are relatively easy to make. It also seems that diets such as the Mediterranean Diet that focus on single ingredient foods are typically the healthiest for the average person. 

• Do the Processing Yourself: Buy your meats bone in skin on, buy your fruit and vegetables uncut. I have seen chicken breast half the price just because someone did not have to cut the meat off the bone. Fruits such as watermelon or pineapple are relatively cheap when buying the whole fruit but can get expensive buying them pre sliced. 

• Buy Generic: This is my favorite tip. Generic food such as Simply Organic, Great Value, or Kroger Brand are typically the same quality with cheaper prices and less fancy packaging. In fact, store brand products are often manufactured in the same places as well-known name brand products. This means you can get the same high quality food at a discounted rate.

• Buy What is on Sell: I typically decide what fruit and meat to buy based on what deals are going on that week. Stores such as Kroger are always running deals, especially if you have the free Kroger Card. You should have a good idea of what you are buying but switching from strawberries to blueberries may just be worth it! 

• Make a Grocery List and Stick to It: Make a general list of what you need for the week and stick to it. Do not buy random stuff as you walk by; it does not fit into your budget, and it's unlikely that it fits into your goals either. It is common to hear “Do not go grocery shopping on an empty stomach.” I think this is great because I am guilty of grabbing the randoms chips and cookies too. Nothing grinds my gears more than someone complaining about the price of healthy food and then constantly consuming empty calories such as sodas or cookies. 

• Make Simple Meals: My most expensive meals are the ones that contain a lot of ingredients. Make simple meals with a few ingredients. For example, Grilled Chicken breast, hand cut air fried potatoes, steamed broccoli. Five ingredients if you count seasoning and oil and totals out only a few dollars! 

Food!

Lately I have been eating the same thing for breakfast every day. Part of that meal is this greek yogurt bowl. In this bowl I mix plain greek yogurt, honey, and blueberries. For the blueberries I microwave a serving of frozen blueberries because they are cheaper (CALL BACK!), plus it gives it a nice purple color. I then sprinkle on a serving of 85% Cacao Dark Chocolate by Simple Truth Organic to give an extra crunch. This breakfast is loaded with flavor along with lots of vitamins, antioxidants, and protein. 

Nutrients

• 454 Calories

• 20 grams of Protein

• 54 grams of Carbohydrates

• 7 grams of Fiber

• 22 grams of Fat