Dieting on a Budget

It might seem to be very hard to be able to follow a diet without emptying your pockets. The diet should help you lose weight, not drain your bank account. Hence, we come back to give you the best tips on how to lose weight eating healthily while, at the same time, not spend a fortune on food.

Keep track of what you buy: We could not possibly emphasise this enough. It is highly important that you know what you are going to buy before you to go the supermarket, to avoid any temptations once you get there. Remember that the bigger the supermarket, the harder it will be to stick to your shopping list but the more chance you will have to find what you want while sticking to the budget.

Consider cooking: We all are tempted by ready meals but sometimes food preparation requires very little effort. Remember that cooking does not always mean spending 3 hours in the kitchen and using all the bowls you have available in the kitchen: sometimes cooking involves just stirring a sauce for 15 minutes or chucking everything in the oven for 20. Effortless cooking exists, and will save you both money and ingesting extra calories you don’t need.

Frozen veggies: Sometimes it is nice to have fresh vegetables available. However, when on a tighter budget, you might want to consider frozen vegetables. They are much cheaper and come in much greater size than fresh ones. Sometimes they are even healthier because they get frozen when fresh. They also might have less preservatives than fresh vegetables.

Make food last: If you buy food that lasts you are less likely to spoil food. Canned food is good for example. Try to go for the most unprocessed item. For example, take a can of peas rather than a can of creamy peas or semi-processed foods in a can. As a rule of thumb, avoid anything that has a creamy sauce in it.

Go wholegrain: Try wholegrain bread rather than processed white bread. This might be a bit more expensive but you might find that you will want less bread on every meal. Again, this is a money-calories saver!

Bulk buy and watch your portions: We all know that the bigger the size of the product, the more you save. Try to buy things in the bigger size…but don’t forget to watch your portions once you are home! It would be a good idea for you to look at the box before you open it and figure out how many meals the product can give you. For other products, you can approximate a portion on the spot: for example, you will find that you can portion a single generous portion of rice with an espresso coffee cup.

Walk to and from the supermarket: Don’t forget to exercise! And why not exercise whilst running errands! If you live relatively close to a supermarket, you could try and go to the supermarket on a weekly basis. In this way you will: save the money for petrol on the car; exercise and utilise excess calories and come back with less food at home to munch on, which, in turn, will help you control your impulses.

For more tips on how to stay on the budget and lose weight, visit: http://www.nhs.uk/Livewell/Onabudget/Pages/Savemoneyfood.aspx