Eating Healthily on a Tight Budget

When you first make the switch to eating healthy, especially if you aren't exactly an expert when it comes to nutrition, it can seem awfully expensive.

In the Leanne episode of X-Weighted Families Season 4, Leanne's mom, Rose, commented on how the healthy recipes she was searching all seemed to be "for the rich people" and joked that the family would start eating that way once they won the lottery. Rose admitted to buying unhealthy snacks, because the cost of the healthier alternatives was prohibitive. We saw how frustrating it was for the family to find low-fat, healthy recipes that reflected their budget.

However, when the family went shopping with a food expert, they realized that it was possible to eat healthily for cheaper than when they were living off pre-packaged convenience foods. Here are some tips for eating healthily on a budget:

Plan your meals in advance and never go shopping without a list. Doing this helps you stay on budget and make the best possible choices once you get to the grocery store. It also makes you less susceptible to impulse buys, which can be very tempting for all of us!

Stock up on frozen vegetables. Most vegetables are flash frozen, which means that they hold the same nutrient quotient as fresh, but because they can stay in your freezer, you can just use them at your leisure and you aren't worried about them rotting in your produce drawer and going to waste. Avoid the ones with sauces, because they are high in sodium and add unwanted calories.

Always cook extra. Don't just cook for one meal, make up extra and save it for another day. This will save you time as well as money.

Chop your own veggies as snacks. Buying precut vegetables adds extra cost to your shopping basket. You can prep a weeks worth of snacks in advance and store them in them baggies in the fridge.

Eat less meat. Many people eat way more animal protein than their body needs. By cooking a vegetarian meal occasionally, switching cuts of meat for proteins such as beans, lentils or even tofu, you can save money as well as cut calories. (Check out some books on vegetarian cooking from your local library if you've never cooked meat-free meals before.)

This post is a repeat, but look forward to more original content to come in the future.