Eating for Weight Tossing on a Budget

Or as I like to say ~ dieting on the cheap!

With 5 kids and a small wage reduction for my husband on the horizon, I need to find ways to eat cheap. When I am in full on weight "toss" mode I eat high fiber, light muffins with an egg for breakfast, lean cuisine type meals for lunch, luna bars for snacks, fresh fruit and yogurt for afternoon snacks and then sugar free pudding with cool whip is my treat. Well, all that costs between 20 and 25 dollars ABOVE our normal food bill each week. We don't have it.

I'm actually considering trying to make my own "lean cuisines". My hubby uses fresh herbs & spices to make wonderful sauces for our meals. If I can figure out the calorie content and find a way to make them "skinny". We've planted our own raspberries and blueberries, but it will be at least 2 more growing season before we have enough to really enjoy.

Any ideas on how to eat for weight tossing on a budget?

I have always wondered why eating healthier means breaking the piggy bank.  If it wasn't for the food stamps, I am afraid that we would have to spend more time in the "processed" isles. 

I have found that frozen veggies (especially flash freeze) taste a whole lot better than the canned veggies. 

I wished that we had our own house and land.  I would try my hand at planting a garden.  Breanna and I have been talking about what foods we should plant in a garden.  We both love strawberries and watermelon.  We both like corn, carrots, and peas. 

::  I'm glad it's almost lunch time, because I'm starting to get hungery  ::

i use coupons for everything...i usually cut my bill 1/3 to 1/2...trying for more....that way i can buy healthier foods, fruits and vegies.....fiber one bars, otmeal, and yogurt were all on sale this week and i had coupons for them so i saved quite abit on those....  i go to frugalcouponmom.com and fiddledeedee.com for insights on whats on sale this week...if your interested...

We have a 99 cent store here in town where my husband is able to get a lot of fresh vegetables, fresh fruits, frozen meals, canned goods, etc.  He comes home with some great stuff.

I understand some WalMart stores have groceries.

Also some places have food share.  With these economic times, sometimes we have to get help.

I am NOT a shopper.  Thank goodness my husband clips coupons and shops for the bargains.  He is still in training in reading labels but he has come a long way.  He knows how to use the vegetable steamer and has done pretty good in picking out fresh fruit.

Our WalMArt is a supercenter, but most of the groceries there are too expensive. We do the bulk of our shopping at Aldi ~ a discount food retailer. Very rarely get anything name brand. It's just that when I am eating in my attempt to get down to a goal weight, I have relied on prepared foods (ie the luna bars, lean cuisines, etc.) I just can't afford all that right now. I need to learn to rely less on prepared foods and focus more on home prep and calorie control in those home prepped foods!!!

Home prepared foods can be a challenge but if you have the time and plan ahead calories can be controlled.  I just cannot imagine having 5 people to plan for - especially with the different growing stages of the children.

My husband use to stock up on the Lean Cuisines but only when they were on sale for $1.50 each.  You really cannot prepare a meal any cheaper than that.  I got to a point where I was tired because that was all I ate and the sodium content is pretty high too.

This is offtrack but have you heard of the Portion Plate - http://www.theportionplate.com ?  I know when I attended WW the leader at Thanksgiving Time would give us a paper plate and portion our foods what we would like to have by drawing sections on our plate first.  Then in the discussion she would say what would be best.

We have had to watch our money for a while - my husband buys in bulk at Sam's (which is owned by Walmart).  It does take more time to cook everything and a lot of things can be frozen.

Thanks NJ for posting the Portion Plate link - I've not heard of it before.

I too find it hard to eat ona budget. we have a Aldi here and I thank God for it. Although the fresh fruits and vegetables are not always the freshest the other stuff is not to bad. I still basically fix the same kind of meals like spag, chili and ect I just eat less and always have a salad to up fill me up. I have managed to lose 26 pounds so far so I must be doingok. Although I do hit plateau's which are not fun. I pray everyday that God helps me through this day to eat healthier and to not give in to gravings...honestly I can say I have not had any gravings.