Healthy Eating.....Costs?

Hi Mappers!

I really want to improve my diet to help with my training but i find that buying lots of healthy food is quite expensive and because its generally fresher its doesnt last long (in comparison with frozen stuff)

What i really need help with is some suggestions of healthy meals and generic costs (UK prices please if possible ) as the healthiest thing i eat is probably frozen veg form iceland!

Thanks all in advance, any help would be much appretiated

The Bassmonkey

 

Hmm... a good place to start is with grains and beans or legumes. They can damn near last forever and once you get into the habit of learning to cook with them they're a great source of protein.

Admittedly it takes some getting used to prepping things a day in advance. Hard for people to get their heads around in our instamatic-gratification-NOW society. Even soaking beans for people seems to be too much of a challenge.

Soaking steal cut oats overnight so that they cook up quick in the a.m is an easy start to the day. You don't have to think much because you know that bowl of soaked oats on the counter means breakfast.

Other items like yams and sweet potatoes last a fairly long time. Cabbage doesn't usually go off to fast either. Can't beat a bit a head of green and red cabbage in the fridge to have on hand for salads.

Tuna comes in cans and that's a no-brainer.

But your best bet is going to be in the grains dept. and in some lifestyle changes. Not many are willing to make those changes or even experiment with them. For those that are they can reap the benefits.

 

Try your local market for vegetables and meat. Some great bargains to be had there.
A piece of meat can go for 2 or 3 meals as can much of the veg. Pick up the stuff that goes off quickly twice a week. Markets though, save you a fortune and once you're a regular they'll discount and get specials in for you. Keep it seasonal and local.

 

Thanks both of you guys, (ironically im reading this eating tuna!)

It will definitely be a lifestyle change, im no good at getting up in the mornings, nor do i generally eat until around 10am (normally up at 07:30) .

So if you dont mind my asking Slip, what kind of meals can i make with grains and legumes....come to think of it, i have never heard of a legume...will be googling that one!

Thanks again guys.

Oh loved the "instamatic-gratification-NOW society" phrase. You should go forth and copyright that badboy!

 

It doesn't have to cost a fortune! I buy a lot of turkey steaks- cheaper than chicken and really good for you. I do buy frozen veg such as brocolli and peas and add it to stir frys, that's pretty cheap for a bag too.
You can just buy fresh stuff as you need it. Quinoa is awesome too, great after training with turkey steak, some spinach and other vegetables. We changed a few months ago and it didn't massively increase the shopping bill. I bought some tex mex seasoning and spices to stop buying sugary/salty sauces.
Also porridge for breakfast, cheap and awesome.
It's just about forward planning really- you can cook meat in bulk then keep in the fridge.

I have lost a decent amount of weight eating like this and feel 100% more energetic even though I train more now.

 

im far from an expert in the field, but i am consciously eating more healthily these days.... (that said i didnt really eat much junk in the first place)

anyway, like others have said, it doesnt necessarily mean you have to start paying more.

one thing i'll throw into the suggestions - mainly as it one of the main things i have paid an interest in;

home made oat bars/'protein bars'

there are a load of recipes which cost next to nothing to put together and you make in bulk. they are good for you even as snacks and will stop the urges to munch on bags of crisps+chocs

so yeah, thats my bit of advice

 

Hmmm make my own protein bars and stuff.....thats actually a really good idea. You know whats in em cause you made em!

Like it, going to have a go at that after payday!

Cheers Dude

 

no problem.

apparently a load of the bars available to buy can be full of sugars that you may not want, so this way you control content as well as flavour

as for waiting for payday, you'll be surprised how cheap you can get the ingredients (obviously depending on how exotic you make the bars) - the oats and berries/fruits/whatever can all be VERY cheap, especially as you can make so many in one go.

it would probably be quite shocking to see the kind of profit margins the companies who sell them make..



(one thing the individual cost may be higher on is the 'protein' you buy, but i guess a tub of whey or whatever would last for quite a lot of bars worth)

 

I would imagine that they make quite a ludicrious amount of profit given the mark up on them!!

Speaking of protein powders and stuff. Im not massivley training...yet. Just going for a run after work and doing some light exercise after that. Would it be a good idea to include whey or a protein supplement whilst not doing vigerous training?

 

again i'll say im no expert..

i think its a good idea to have a protein intake after any exercise, even if it isnt necessarily vigerous... either that or at least its unlikely to be detrimental.

im sure someone more knowledgeable will advise soon

 

I've found that when I started to eat better, it actually got less expensive. Most of it had to do with living on my own and learning to cook past the basics, but a good deal also came from quitting fast foods and the like.

A bag of frozen chicken costs seven bucks. That's dinner for weeks.

Rice is inexpensive and filling. Same with most other grains.

You already have the tuna down. At Wal-Mart here they sell tilapia and salmon individually wrapped, about 5 bucks a bag.

Check your nearest farmer's market for all your fruits.



Don't know the conversion rates of prices, but I mean to say that they're cheap.

 

I find stir fries are a great low-income way to eat. They can be made out of any veggies you can get plus noodles plus a few sauces.

 

Quinoa, Brown rice, cheap wholemeal pasta, cheap soups maybe made from lentils, shop around daily for fruit and veg at the end of the day to get the reduced stuff then blow everything else on meat!!

 

Do you have any outside space to grow veggies?

 

Nope, live in 2nd floor flat, but think mum grows some stuff in her garden so may have to annexe a small section for myself!

 

If you start looking at the amount of processed sugar in the foods you eat I think you could be very surprised. Start reading labels. It becomes an obsession. But you might find that you've seen names of 'ingredients' on labels for years but you don't actually have any idea what it is. Google it. You can do a bit of research and it's a scary world. There is so much crap in processed food it's crazy. The number one additive is probably sugar - usually in the corn syrup form.

It becomes damn near impossible to avoid it if you eat anything that comes in a package of any kind. Just insane.

 

The rule that if it hasn't grown or been killed then don't eat it is a pretty good one plus add in things like quinoa and you won't go far wrong. I cut practically all sugar except from fruit out of my diet and seems to be good.
Food labelling does seem to be getting much clearer. Some supermarkets have idiots guides on the front of their food now in terms of colour charts, red being reallllllly bad and green being great.

Tomorrow is the day I hit all the things with ALL the red circles on

 

Dried pasta is pretty cheap, keeps for ages, takes 10 minutes in the morning to cook. Likewise lentils - good protein source for vegetarians too.

My usual healthy & cheap meal is pasta, plus either lentils or a tin of tuna, with some beans & greens (here, Spain, you can get both cheap in jars of water), & maybe with a tin of peas or sweet corn thrown on top.

Takes no more than 30 minutes every morning to prepare & stick in tupperware (I microwave it for lunch), for most of which time I can be getting dressed/washed/wishing I didn't have to go to work.

Cost is about 2 euros for the meal.

Iam.

 

go to a big warehouse store and get there deals on whatever is in season. I just got a weeks worth of fresh vegetables and fruits the other day for 15$$ thats probably like 7 euros

for my carbs i eat oat bran which is next to nothing and eggs for protein or salmon which are both really cheap as well

 

Frozen veg is generally fine tbh, just rotate brands and veg so you don't end up eating the same vegetables every week! The frozen stuff is frozen at harvest and often has more nutrients than 'fresh' supermarket fruit or veg, especially if it's been flown half way round the world and artificially ripened.

I completely agree with slips post about added sugar, particularly HFCS. I've been reading a lot about leptin resistance and it seems to be as big a contributor to obesity as insulin resistance, HFCS is a huge factor in both. You wouldn't believe some of the foods that have some form of added sugar (sausages?! salads!) and it quickly adds up.

Finally eating healthy is my #1 priority. For body composition changes, concentration/energy levels, general health, mood levels and good sleep it's a huge influence. A few quid more on good, whole food gives a lot of benefits, it's a shame a lot of people cant see past the price and go for the cheap processed rubbish instead. If you add in factors like long term health, improved job prospects and the benefits to relationships it has the potential to more than pay for itself.