It is no surprise to many people that eating healthier tends to be more expensive. Just to clarify, this is not as simple a statement as that. Eating healthy foods usually means lots of fresh produce and meat, two things that can easily run up your grocery bill compared to super-processed and ultra-high sodium foods such as frozen entres or carb laden fatty snacks. It's just a matter of economics. It is easy and cheap to process food in a factor and expensive to keep it fresh. If you are in such a financial crisis that you are putting a price tag on your health or how much you want to spend on the "new you" then there are probably more important things for you to consider such as keeping the lights on and paying rent!
Also on the economic node, we live in a society where more has the appeal of better. Even if that is not the case, has anyone NOT ever wished for more hours in the day? Recently this school year I went back as a full time student. What was different than when I graduated a year and a half prior? Well, for starters I am now also working full time. I am also training several clients for various competitions and am trying to stay in shape for competitions of my own. All in all, I essential have a full time job, a part time job, and a 14 credit hour course load that requires about 30 hours of homework a week. What you're looking at is about a 20 hour day. Many times it is the case that children, family obligations. work, and school take priority over finite dieting principles, which they should! The purpose of this blog is not to convince you otherwise, but to provide some comfort in knowing that a beyond-busy lifestyle and a good diet do not have to be mutually exclusive.
One thing to note before we go on is that time tends to equal money. That is, things that are fast are more expensive because you are paying for the convenience of faster service. Things that are cheap, such as cooking your own meals tend to be time consuming and less "productive." Productivity being a term relative to what your willing to sacrifice for your goals, of course.
Tips for Eating Healthy in a Hurry:
1) Cook your meals ahead of time - If you cook all your meals independently then you have to clear at least a 20 min window 5-7 times per day for each meal, and that is not counting cleaning up and actually EATING! Rather, clear about a 2 hour window in the morning to prepare your meals, plop them in a tupperware container, store in the fridge, and clean up after yourself.
2) Cook WAY ahead of time - one suggestion is to cook in mass quantities on those rare occasions when you do have free time. For example, buy a bag of frozen chicken breasts and over the weekend grill ALL of them. Then put them into a gallon ziploc bag and store in the fridge. It is at low risk for spoiling because it is already cooked, and all you have to do is microwave and add veggies, pasta, etc to complete the meal.
3) Chop ahead of time - this is the vegetable application of No. 2. Just like cooking your chicken in mass quantities ahead of time, chop your vegetables and nuts, store them in ziplocs and have them ready to serve up whenever you need.
4) Double and Split meals - This is one of my favorites. Rather than cook two separate meals, you can add up the total nutrient you would need from the two combined, cook it as follows, then divide it up into however many meals you wish. Again, tupperware, refrigerate, and microwave when needed.
5) Canned Fruit and Vegetables - This can be a major time saver so that you don't have to slice and dice your produce. Simply open the can, get what you need, then stretch some syran wrap over the top of the can and save it in the fridge for later use if you don't use the whole thing.
6) Supplements - Whole foods are hands down superior to supplements. However, the value of supplements comes in their convenience and portability. Rather than having to cook a steak and carry around a lunchbox all day, you may consider a scoop or two of whey protein in a ziploc bag that you can add to a bottle of water at any time during the day.
Tips for Eating Healthy on a Budget:
1) Discounted Meat - Meats tend to suck up a lot of your grocery budget in a hurry. One option here is just common sense. Buy a news paper, or scower over one you snag at work, and take note of stores who are running specials on fresh meat. Also, while in the store, as long as you're going to eat the meat in a timely manner, you could save a lot by opting for the discounted "day old" variety.
2) Keep the Fat - Extra lean meats come at an outrageous price compared to their chunky counterparts. However, there is a solution, and an easy one. To save money purchase the 80/20 ground beef (for example) rather than the 97/3. With the money you save over time, purchase a George Foreman (or similar) grill. You can then save money and drain about 10g of fat off a 4oz patty.
3) Check Unit Prices - Just because the price on the sticker is lower doesn't mean you're getting as good of a deal as you think. Check the price per ounce of products, which is also on the sticker, to make sure that you are really saving money. If you're not careful, you may pay less and get proportionately MUCH less!
4) Calorie Dense Foods - This is typically do be avoided when dieting, but as I stated early in this post, the more calorie dense and less refined a product is, the cheaper it will likely be. Thus, in moderation calorie dense foods can save you some time, and fill you up for fewer dollars.
5) Buy Generic - You should not be paying for the name on the label, but rather the fuel you're consuming. If the ingredients and contents are the same, or similar enough to justify the price, then opt for the cheaper. The taste factor can be thrown off by price because people will try to justify their purchases, not just in food, by thinking that because they paid more they would like to think they received a higher quality product.
6) Bulk or No Bulk - Buying fruits, vegetables, meat, and everything else in bulk may result in you getting a cheaper unit price and a cheaper net price in the long run. However, if half of it goes rotten or spoils, then you have wasted the extra money you invested in up front to get the whopping 10lb block of ground beef.
Most of the tips in the above lists can be utilize in sync with each other. There will always be a trade off between price and convenience. BUT, there is a balance, or at least you can choose to be an informed consumer and strategic grocery shopper and attempt to synergize the two. Buying in bulk can save you money, and proper planning by preparing that supply ahead of time and storing it in the freezer or fridge can save you some serious time and cash. The bottom line here is that you need to make an effort to find a way rather than assuming that the rules of economics will prove your diet unacceptable. Be smart. You may not be able to have your cake and eat it too, but would you be content with brownies and cupcakes?
