Jeff’s Healthy Living Blog

From Gary Gresham, special to JeffsHealthyLiving.com

Think eating healthy on a budget is impossible? Many people believe that cutting back on food costs means that you can’t buy healthy food anymore. Some people even convince themselves that healthy weight loss is not possible unless they spend a lot of money. But eating healthy on a budget as well as healthy weight loss is not only possible, with a little planning you can cut food costs and still eat healthy food. Here are a few tips to make it easier for eating healthy on a budget. Plan your weekly food menus with healthy eating recipes and make a grocery list with those items before you shop. This saves you time in the store and can save you a lot of money because you are less likely to buy on an impulse. Stock your fridge and cupboards with healthy foods, and to keep costs down, stay away from extras like soft drinks, chips, baked goods, and other high-calorie items. Children and sometimes even spouses are usually the ones asking for junk food. Remember, food choices are a big factor in what determines the health of you and your family. Buy more water or milk instead of soft drinks when shopping and you’ll save money. You can still enjoy your favorite soft drinks at a sporting event or night out. For healthy weight loss just make it a diet soda. Buy fruits in quantity when they are in season and freeze any extras. Just wash the fruit well, dry thoroughly, then freeze in plastic zipper bags. While lean meat and seafood are a great source of protein, they can get expensive. To cut your costs, use beans a substitute for meat on a few occasions. Beans are very economical and makes eating healthy on a budget really simple. There are several varieties of beans and preparing them in a crock pot and making a salad turns into an easy meal. Another great way for eating healthy on a budget is brown-bagging your lunch. It takes a little more time, but with the right food choices, it is both healthier and less expensive. Peanut butter is also great for those on a budget and almost everyone likes it. Use it for sandwiches along with jam instead of expensive lunch meat. For healthy weight loss try adding sugar free jam because it has a lot fewer calories and fat than regular jam but still tastes great. If you eat foods that have a high content of water like watermelon, salads and even sugar free gelatin, they are inexpensive, ideal for healthy weight loss and work perfect for eating healthy on a budget. It easy to fall into a rut of eating the same unhealthy and expensive foods. But once you take back control by planning your weekly food menus with healthy eating recipes, you can enjoy a nice variety of meals again. Eating healthy on a budget can be as simple as just making different choices. Copyright ©  2006  Fat-Burning-Secret.com  All Rights Reserved.

Gary Gresham is the author of “Fat Burning Secrets.” Discover simple yet powerful changes that can have a major effect on your weight loss results. You may also want to read Healthy Eating Tips When Eating Out

From J Farrington, special to JeffsHealthyLiving.com

Being a healthy eater requires you to become both educated and smart about what healthy eating actually is. Being food smart isn’t about learning to calculate grams or fat, or is it about studying labels and counting calories. Healthy eating is all about balanced and moderate eating, consisting of healthy meals at least three times per day. Healthy eaters eat many different types of foods, not limiting themselves to one specific food type or food group. Eating healthy requires quite a bit of leeway. You might eat too much or not enough, consume foods that are sometimes more or less nutritious. However, you should always fuel your body and your brain regularly with enough food to keep both your mind and body strong and alert. A healthy eater is a good problem solver. Healthy eaters have learned to take care of themselves and their eating with sound judgement and making wise decisions. Healthy eaters are always aware of what they eat, and know the effect that it will have on their bodies. When someone is unable to take control of their eating, they are also likely to get out of control with other aspects of life as well. They could end up spending too much, talking too much, even going to bed later and later. You should always remember that restricting food in any way is always a bad thing. Healthy eating is a way of life, something that you can do to enhance your body or your lifestyle. If you’ve thought about making your life better, healthy eating is just the place to start. You’ll make life easier for yourself, those around you, and even your family.

J Farrington, has been writing articles for a number of clients for years. If you would like more information on his work please visit
HERE FOR MORE ARTICLES