Not enough money!

I know it sounds strange, but at the moment I really dont have the finances to lose weight.  Healthy foods are so much more expensive than junk food and unhealthy tv dinners.  I want to splurge and buy all the organic fruits and juices and such... but then I couldn't even pay rent!  everything out there is so expensive.  Fast food for example.  A wendys salad is something like $4.50.  you could get like 4 cheeseburgers for that and feel twice as full!  I just..don't know what to do about that.  Any advice?!

My suggestion is to stay away from fast food. As a student, I know that too much of my monthly allowance is spent on food, healthy or not, that is just too much money because I don't make it myself. Food that you prepare is generally almost always cheaper, if not healthier. If you can't afford organic, that's ok. Try to just stick to good old fashion raw foods that you can prepare yourself. It's a lot cheaper.

Another thing I do to help cut down cost is to prepare meals for several days at a time. I live by myself so I am only cooking for 1. This is hard to do efficiently if you are expecting to make/buy single serving meals for everything. But if you can make a pot of something that will last for a few days at the beginning of the week, your bound to make your money go further.

Think about it this way, if you made a salad at home (like the ones from wendy's) I bet you could make several days worth for $4.50.

Just my $0.02

meggymouse, that 4.50 will buy you a head of lettuce, pkg. of carrots, a tomato or 2, a couple of cans of kidney beans or chick peas(both for protein) and a bottle of store brand fat free or low cal dressing....This would give you several filling meals and would be way healthier than either Wendy's or fatburgers! 

oops and lots of times canned tuna goes on sale for .50 each!

I don't know what you have available to prepare food, but salads themselves (in the grocery store) are MUCH cheaper than the salad at a fast food restaurant. You can get either the prepared salad in a bag (usually around $2.50 a bag regular price or less than $2.00 on sale). Whole chickens cooked in crockpot with just a rub and nothing else (chickens usually run about $2.50-$3.50 around here). Look for veggies as they go on sale. Packages of baby carrots for 99 cents(grocery store), big bags of veggies (broccoli, mixed fresh veggies, portobella mushrooms, spinach, carrots, asparagus) at Sams Club are always much less expensive than at the grocery store. Check out some of the squash/there are so many different kinds and different ways to prepare them. There is usually at least one type on sale each week at my local grocery store. The fat free sour cream/cream cheese/cottage cheese are usually all the same prices as the regular (store brand).

What type of foods do you like? They are available and out there, you might just have to do some trial and error to find them or see what works for you.

Since I switched to a vegetarian diet, my food budget has been cut in half.  Literally.  It is SO much cheaper to buy fresh produce and prepare it yourself (labor costs excluded, of course), and you have a lot more control over other ingredients like sodium and sugar.  Undoubtedly you could lose weight eating only processed, pre-prepared foods if you keep track of the calories, but you'll also likely exceed your sodium allowance and come up deficient in dietary fiber and vitamins.  Cooking your own food is cheaper AND healthier.

Actually, I think I can maybe relate. Healthy foods here even unprepared like lettuce cost about $3 and chicken is about 1-3$ a pound. Whereas the fast food restuarants are about $1 for a burger and $6 for a 4 serving cup of udon soup.

But I guess maybe do some google map searches for other grocery stores around your area, might eventually find one that is fairly inexpensive. I found one, but it's about 4 miles away and have no car.

Last Friday on Dr Phil  - I never watched the show before but they had 2 really obese people on so I watched, anyway they too said they couldn't afford to eat healthy - but Dr phil pointed out what they spend now was $30 a day and with the nutritionist meal plan it would only be $11. 

TV dinners can be expensive too.  Also get the Lean Cuisine or Weight Watchers or south Beach if you have to go that route.  I think buying foods and making my own meals is alot cheaper than fast food.

I've aways found it cheaper to eat junk than to eat healthy -- so I sympathize with you, meggymouse.

however, you don't have to buy all organic -- it's nice to do, but not absolutely necessary.  The temptation is to think that if we can't do something 100% perfect, then it's not worth doing at all.  That simply is not true. 

I am on a very tight budget.  I have $30.00 bugeted for groceries every week.  This includes food, toiletries and cat food.
I buy my fruits and veggies at the fruit market, whatever is the cheapest I buy.  It can be done.  I do not buy anything processed, except my salad dressing.

Eating healthy, even buying all the expensive produce (really expensive here too) is turning out to be way cheaper than I thought it would be. since things often go bad before I can eat them, I buy some frozen veggies; brocolli, corn, peas. and I always freeze half my loaf of bread for the week. Stick to whats on sale and freeze what you can. Its worth the money... try to cut costs otherwise, if you drink or eat out much either cut it out completely or minimize it.

if you can afford to eat TV dinners you can afford to eat healthy

The only thing costing me alot is keeping myself dressed.. even in thrift clothes Im going broke... and looking funny in oversized clothes!

I usually spend about 40 dollars a week on groceries and eat very healthy and have lost 10 lbs so far. Here are some of the things I buy: Oatmeal, fresh fruits and veggies are often on sale, bread, lunchmeat, jello for snacks, almonds, yogurt etc. You just have to be a discerning shopper. It's definitely more work than going through the drive through and picking up 2 double cheeseburgers for 2$, but it's worth it in the end. :-).

When I got divorced, I was always fighting my ex for child support, so I often had very little $$ to feed my daughter and I.  Here are some things I learned.

For fruits and veggies, always try to buy what's in season- it will be cheaper. Locals farmers markets can be good as well, when available. Frozen fruits and veggies are good alternatives.  Tuna is inexpensive as are canned beans.  If you can stand the generic or store brands, get those.  Looks for sales and if you know anyone that gets the Sunday paper, see if you can have their coupons.  Watch for sales or buy one/get one free on the frozen stuff.  I recently got bags of store brand corn and peas, buy one, get one free, so for less than $1.50, I got two bags of each. I often use these in stews/soups, so there's no noticable flavor difference.

Another thing I did was ask for a food dehydrator for my b-day one year and I dried my own apples, bananas, tomatoes, etc.  Then I could buy them out of the bargin bin, maybe a little brusied, but still edible.  They wouldn't last long, so I had to dehydrate or freeze them fast, but they were about 1/2 price of the newer stuff. You dry them in the oven too, but it's far tricker.  Well, for me anyway as I tend to burn things!

I still do alot of this, simply because it's heathier and I like a good bargain!

Best of luck!

I know how you feel. I'm living on my own for the first time and have only about $30 - 40 a week to spend max on everything I need - groceries, soap, etc.

I also don't have the time or ability to cook anything even slightly fancy. I've found that since I've cut out eating fast food I've saved a ton of money.

I eat a lot of tuna sandwiches, peanut butter toast - the store brand like Our Compliments or President's Choice are usually cheapest, so try them.

Bananas are pretty inexpensive year round and have a good bang for their buck. I also buy a head of romaine lettuce and a salad kit (I use Et Tu brand) and that costs about $6 all together for several filling dinner salads. They're really quick to throw together too, and they have a light version that tastes just as good without packing too many calories.

It's a good idea to see what's on sale and stock up on things you know you'll eat and won't go bad like peanut butter.

I have had a lot of trouble buying vegetables and fruits because they go bad before I can eat them all, so frozen ones are a good solution for me. I have blueberries, raspberries, sliced bananas, brocolli, etc all frozen right now. Since none get wasted by going bad it's pretty cost effective.

Good luck with eating healthy!

i have a problem with over spending on my groceries... i am a vegetarian, and i find myself spending over $100.00 a week (including toiletries and cleaning products). i eat two apples a day and 2 apples a day x 7 days = over $11.00!! i eat a lot of fresh fruit and vegetables - sometimes that is my entire meal, as well as dairy products. i haven't found a way to reduce my spending. my all bran cereal is 6 dollars, my salt/sugar free peanut butter is 6 dollars, a pack of four tofu burgers costs 4 dollars... that's like 30 dollars for 5 items.

i don't know how you spend 30 dollars and have that cover everything.

:S

I live on a fixed income...  4.50....   head of lettuce,  quart of lowfat or nonfat cottage cheese, cucumber,  tomotoe,  onion,  crushed garlic...      enough for two to four salads...   usually take a cup of cottage cheese and mix the galic in then slice the  1/2 or  1/3 cucumber and tomatoe mix into cottage cheese like dressing and then add the onion and lettuce chopped up... I usually use the 1/4 head of lettuce per salad...    4.50   can of turkey chili with beans.  head of lettuce,  onion,  cottage cheese and salsa...  enough for two salads.. or hot chili on a bed of lettuce and onions... Secret is portion control...    4.50  4 apples,  box of old oats couple of bananas and couple of lowfat or nonfat yoguart...    I like the apples diced ...put half in the bowl with 1/4 old oats and 3/4c water...  cook micro for 5 minutes and then add the other half of the diced apple...good texture...  sprinkle with cinnamon if you have...no sugar...tastes really good and filling...   fix the oatmeal with the banana the same way half cooked,  half fresh...tastes good!   freeze the yoguart and when your ready pull it out of the freezer and eat or take with you in baggy with spoon and ready for break time at work...  there is protein and veggies and fruit  and  you just need to plan ahead and if you are really counting calories...It is all in the amount that you are using...  meat is like 4 oz at a time...  I love turkey sausage..  4oz..mix with garlic and stuff it into a half of acorn squash...  throw in the micro for 10 minutes and you got a good dinner...  under 300 calories...   most of these things are around three undred calories and don't cost to much...   I do baked salmon 4oz piece with lemon pepper,  wrapped in wax paper and baked for about 3 minutes from the freezer...  takes planning and organization but you will learn..just have to think about it...and read labels...   Those tv dinners are not that good for you...  cheaper to do it from scratch...  just think about it...  Just have to plan ahead...  I journal everything I eat and drink...I am trying just like you...and have to watch $$...  Good luck!  We're all just doing the best we can with what we got!  ;-)

To lose weight you MUST cut calories. Not having enough money is NO EXCUSE. You have to cut back on your caloric intake.

Find something cheap that fills you up and is low calorie and low fat. That sounds like vegetables (celery, carrots, cauliflower, cukes). The above recommendation - lettuce, veggies, cottage cheese, apples, etc. is a good plan. Avoid bananas, tho, too many calories, too little nutrition to make them worthwhile. Make it low-fat cottage cheese, non-fat is awful. Another idea - buy firm tofu, cut the package block into quarters. Mash it well with a fork and heat it in a dry, non-stick frying pan with some I Can't Believe it's Not Butter spray. A little salt, and you'd think you were eating scrambled eggs.

Cut back your portion sizes by half. Realize that people DO thrive on less than half the calories you take in. Examine your over-eating as it relates to your emotional state. Try to get control over that. Examine your expectations about food - why do you think you have to eat so much? You were probably trained by your parents/guardians in childhood to eat so much for your well being. Recognize your 'well being' is NOT served by over-eating. I have to tell myself this every day, but it helps me. I grew up in a clean plate club home. Then my mother would cry when she had to take me to Lane Bryant when I was 10 years old. Hello! Over-eating is not a birth right. It's bad for you. Revolutionize the way you perceive food, you can change your thinking.

Invest in a multivitamin with minerals if you think you can't buy nutritious foods. You should take one daily, anyway.

PS. In the above post, when I said cut the block into quarters, I meant eat only 1 quarter of the tofu block per meal.

When I'm losing, I stick to 1,000 calories a day minimum, and don't go over 1,200. For me that can mean about 4 200-calorie meals a day, or 2 350 calorie meals and fruit (80 cals - orange/apple), 98% fat-free popcorn (110 cals in small bag - Deerfield Farms microwave popcorn from Walgreens), a power bar (Pure Protein choc fudge 170) as snacks (total about 1,070).

I make $5.15 an hour. My paycheck is $150 every two weeks. My husband works at the same place as a driver, he too gets $5.15, but he also makes tips. As you can guess, we really dont have the highest income. But we're happy with the free time it gives. We both work about 20 hours a week.

We recently moved out on our own, and we try to be pretty trifty grocery wise. I've learned a few tricks and if you care to see cheap food ideas, read my journals. I eat a lot of cans of soup (On sale I got Progresso 4 cans for $5!) Ofcourse, Progresso is REALLY high in sodium. Healthy choice is better, but pricier.

I dont bother buying fresh veggies, I am not paying $4 for some brocolli. I buy a bag of chopped brocoli for 99c. It has a lot more stems, but I cant be too picky. Yogurt isnt that expensive. Oatmeal is fantastic and CHEAP. Canned veggies are great, although the sodium can up with some brands. I always buy the cheap store brand.

Meats and veggies I only buy on sale. I got a whole lean pork tenderloin for $4! For me and the husband that's 3 meals right there. We eat a lot of simple meals too.

A baked potato is a delicious food, and one huge one costs only 49 to 79 cents!

Honestly, I'm in the same boat. I dont have money to buy organic and reduced this and added fibre that. I go with store brands, eating less (reducing your portions helps a great deal) and if you cant go with a low-cal diet because of costs. You can still have a reduced calorie diet. Diets dont come in one size. Skipping the fries is one step. Every step helps.

Heck, I dont even have money for a scale. I use the one in the grocery store! I cant even imagine paying for a gym membership, but walking is free. And imagine the money you save in the future? Diabetes, heart trouble, artritis... Pricey stuff.

Uhm.. #17. Vicstevens. the MINIMUM any woman needs is 1200. If you honestly eat only 1000cals.. OUCH. You're starving yourself.

buy apples and oranges by the bag.  buy a big thing of chicken breast, freeze them indivually....water is free.

soups is a good one.  Frozen veggies are great!  Pasta is cheap and rice is too.  Yogurt for breakfast or oatmeal, grits if you like them.

you can do it.  and you dont have to go to a gym to workout!

I have TONS of workouts for home.