Eating right on a budget can be challenging, but it can be done! Check out these tips below to help you eat healthy while watching your budget!
Plan meals around fresh produce, lean proteins, and low fat dairy items that are on sale and utilize sales and coupons. Check store flyers and coupons for additional savings. Compare brands to choose the lowest price. Once you’ve identified the sale items, incorporate them into simple meals—baked, grilled, or broiled meats and fish, add veggies (frozen or canned…or fresh if on sale), and whole grains (brown/wild rice, whole grain noodles, etc…or even a potato—which is cost effective).
Create a shopping list and weekly eating plan and stick to it! Prioritize your food dollars with nutrient rich choices. Prepare your meals with similar ingredients to keep your grocery list minimized. Skip highly processed and packaged foods. They are not so healthy and can add up in spending.
Choose low-cost recipes and meals. Recipes with fewer ingredients are often cheaper and quick to make.
Shop fruits and veggies in season—seasonal produce is at its peak flavor and typically sold at a lower price.
Canned and frozen fruits and veggies can be just as nutritious and offer an alternative to fresh in regards to being more budget friendly. Be sure to check the ingredients and label to avoid items with high or added sugars or salt.
Meat, chicken, and fish are often the highest dollar ingredient in a recipe. Consider buying a larger quantity of meat that is on sale and preparing extra for a few meals. You can also incorporate more non-meat proteins into meals such as beans, nuts, and eggs.
Save leftovers! Freeze them for a later date. Or, keep them in the fridge and eat within a few days.
You can also double a recipe so you’ll have extra for easy meals later that week.
Reduce waste- make the most of your food spending by cutting down on waste. Plan to use highly perishable items first and save more hearty items for later in the week. Incorporate this into your planning!
Tips: Low-Cost Healthy Cooking
• For canned veggies and beans, drain and rinse them before using.
• For frozen veggies, use those without added sauces.
• For canned fruit, drain and rinse it if canned in syrup.
• For frozen fruit, make sure it has no added sugar by checking the ingredient list.
• Cook with less processed grains like regular oats and rice. They cost less than the instant type.
• Drink water with meals instead of buying soda and alcohol.
• For beef, cook with chuck or bottom round roast. These cuts have less fat and cost less. They need to be covered during cooking and cooked longer to make the meat tender.
• When cooking ground meat, drain and rinse it under hot water after cooking.
We all know we are supposed to eat fruits and veggies…and more of them, but the actually doing it part we struggle with. Today’s post gives you some ideas on ways to get your 5 servings a day of fruits and veggies. Remember one serving is equal to 1 cup raw or 1/2 cup cooked. Fruits and veggies are loaded with vitamins and minerals and aid in disease prevention. Including more fruits and veggies in your diet doesn’t have to be a challenging task! And now is a great time to work on improving your intake with more of them since we are home more right now!! Here are some suggestions to help you boost your intake.
1. Variety abounds when using vegetables as pizza topping. Try broccoli, spinach, green peppers, tomatoes, mushrooms and zucchini. 2. Mix up a breakfast smoothie made with low-fat milk, frozen strawberries and a banana.
3. Make a veggie wrap with roasted vegetables and low-fat cheese rolled in a whole-wheat tortilla.
4. Try crunchy vegetables instead of chips with your favorite low-fat salad dressing for dipping.
5. Grill colorful vegetable kabobs packed with tomatoes, green and red peppers, mushrooms and onions.
6. Add color to salads with baby carrots, grape tomatoes, spinach leaves or mandarin oranges.
7. Keep cut vegetables handy for mid-afternoon snacks, side dishes, lunch box additions or a quick nibble while waiting for dinner. Ready-to-eat favorites: red, green or yellow peppers, broccoli or cauliflower florets, carrots, celery sticks, cucumbers, snap peas or whole radishes.
8. Place colorful fruit where everyone can easily grab something for a snack-on-the-run. Keep a bowl of fresh, just ripe whole fruit in the center of your kitchen or dining table.
9. Get saucy with fruit. Puree apples, berries, peaches or pears in a blender for a thick, sweet sauce on grilled or broiled seafood or poultry, or on pancakes, French toast or waffles.
10. Stuff an omelet with vegetables. Turn any omelet into a hearty meal with broccoli, squash, carrots, peppers, tomatoes or onions with low-fat sharp cheddar cheese.
11. “Sandwich” in fruits and vegetables. Add pizzazz to sandwiches with sliced pineapple, apple, peppers, cucumber and tomato as fillings.
12. Wake up to fruit. Make a habit of adding fruit to your morning oatmeal, ready-to-eat cereal, yogurt or toaster waffle.
13. Top a baked potato with beans and salsa or broccoli and low-fat cheese.
14. Microwave a cup of vegetable soup as a snack or with a sandwich for lunch.
15. Add grated, shredded or chopped vegetables such as zucchini, spinach and carrots to lasagna, meat loaf, mashed potatoes, pasta sauce and rice dishes.
16. Make fruit your dessert: Slice a banana lengthwise and top with a scoop of low-fat frozen yogurt. Sprinkle with a tablespoon of chopped nuts.
17. Stock your freezer with frozen vegetables to steam or stir-fry for a quick side dish.
18. Make your main dish a salad of dark, leafy greens and other colorful vegetables. Add chickpeas or edamame (fresh soybeans). Top with low-fat dressing.
19. Fruit on the grill: Make kabobs with pineapple, peaches and banana. Grill on low heat until fruit is hot and slightly golden.
20. Dip: Whole wheat pita wedges in hummus, baked tortilla chips in salsa, strawberries or apple slices in low-fat yogurt, or graham crackers in applesauce.
Source: Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics: www.eatright.org. http://www.eatright.org/nnm/handoutsandtipsheets/#.UyHnjs47Bw0
We all have those moments when we say we don’t want to do something. Especially when it comes to exercise. We always can come up with an excuse. “I am tired”, “It is boring”, ” I am too busy”, and on and on. That also goes for if we exercise too much. If we keep pushing, and don’t listen to our bodies, we just end up getting hurt and feeling frustrated. You put in all this work just so you can’t accomplish the goals you set for yourself. For the rest of us, there are many times we don’t want to exercise because we are afraid of failing. Just like everything else that comes up during our lives, if we are afraid of something, we tend to avoid it. Bottom line, we have to learn how to fail in order to learn how to succeed.
This is truly what it means to fail: It is our First Attempt in Learning. We are always learning, everyday. We learn by our mistakes. We learn by experience. We learn by living! We just have to learn how to deal with the fear of failing.
Here is the key. Do you have enough in you to not give up? Some days you may have to dig deep, but if you can’t rely on yourself, you can you rely on? That does not mean you have to tackle everything alone. You can have people in your life who are supportive, and encourage, and help cheer you on. But we as individuals still need to do the bulk of the work ourselves. We have to be able to handle our own limitations.
So keep trying until you find the right solution to succeed. Push past that fear. Push yourself. If you don’t, you never know what you may be capable of.
And, depend on those who are closest to you! You can get support from many different avenues.
So, make a decision. Decide how you are going to get past that fear. What does fear mean to you? Once you get this figured out, things will flow much easier.
The choice is yours. Keep trying. Unless you push yourself you have no idea what you are capable of. That also goes the other way. If you are pushing yourself too much, you have to listen to your body and know when to pull back.
Nothing is ever easy. Nothing in life is ever predictable. Learn from our mistakes and failures. If we don’t, then I guarantee we will keep repeating them over and over. “If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again!” Life experiences tell us a lot, and none of our lives are the same. What works for somebody, may not work for somebody else. Figure out what works right for you by learning from your mistakes. Every day is a new adventure. Keep trying until you figure out what works for you. You have to “know fear to have no fear”! Keep moving everybody!
You are in the driver’s seat. You have a lot of control of your own health issues. You need to make good choices when it comes to diet and activity. We will all come down with health issues at some time, and you will learn to have to deal with it. Right now, with COVID still going on, you also have the choice to help yourself and get vaccinated. Sure, you can take your own chance and see what happens by not getting it. But, when it comes to trying to optimize what potential you may have to help your self stay healthy, why would you not get one? Why would you not try to do something that will help yourself? I can guarantee you all of the people who have died from it would have been more than willing to get vaccinated. You have a choice. Choose wisely. Life is all about choices. We all have to learn to choose wisely, and be prepared for the ramifications.
There is no price tag on your health…your life. Invest in it, and do everything you can to enjoy your return on your investment. After all, it truly is an investment. You are investing time, energy, and knowledge into helping take care of yourself. Don’t let your guard down!
We all need to learn to get as excited as our dogs when it comes to doing activity. Dakota especially! We can hardly contain her enthusiasm long enough to sit still to take a picture before going for a run yesterday morning. Dakota and Dobby are both ready to go, anytime, anywhere, under any condition! We need to do the same! They watched Sarah and I working out in the Reiflex Center before we went for a run, and they were ready to go!
We all have the same amount of time in a day, you just need to learn to prioritize things. What is important to you? What can you do to help yourself? Do you need to work on your diet? Exercise? Preventive things, like vaccines? What? The bottom line with all of this is we all could do things to improve our own health. What are willing to put into it? That is the real question!
We all have time constraints. We all have obligations. We all have things to do. Make the time to make improvements in your health. Invest in yourself and reap the benefits of it. NEVER GIVE UP on yourself!
Take control of your life. If you don’t, your health problems will take control of you! Guaranteed! Things can still happen, but at least you can say you did everything you could to help yourself. If you do this, you won’t have as many regrets. Remain in the driver’s seat. Steer your life how you want it to be. There may be some winding roads to maneuver through, but you will still get to where you are going. Continue to keep working on goals. It is a great way to keep motivated. This way, you can reap the benefit of achieving those goals in your life.
Come on, show yourself who the boss is! Prove it to yourself! You can do this. We all can do this. Get past the obstacles we create in our own mind, and get rid of all of the self doubts. Read reliable information when it comes to what you can do to participate in your health decisions. Stick with facts, not gossip. Listen to yourself. We all have a brain. We all can make decisions. We just all need to choose wisely! Stay safe, and keep moving everybody!
Wednesday, March 31, marked another milestone. I have now completed 2 consecutive years of exercising every day! March 24 of 2019 is when my last streak ended. I was working on my 12th year at that time. So for almost 14 years, I have only missed 7 days, and they were all in a row. I am continuing to run, and exercise, and gain strength. That first day starting this new streak I walked 1/4 of a mile, and that was tough. Since I had my major health issue back then, I have continued to keep working on new goals. But, it all starts the same for all of us:
The biggest obstacle to overcome involves the space between your ears. Your mind and attitude can carry you through some major issues, or it can destroy everything. You have to decide. I decided, finally, that I would learn from this experience, and take it for what it taught me–appreciate what you have, and don’t take anything for granted. Live your life to the fullest, as if today were your last day. Like I said, finally! It has taken awhile for me to get to this point, and I have to keep working on it. But, I am getting there! This was a great weekend to spend outside. I had my two daughters and my son-in-law over the weekend. Megan’s boyfriend was here Friday night, but my son Nick could not make it because he had to work. He is coming home next week though. I got to spend some quality time with my girls on Saturday, and of course, we spend some of that time moving, as we went out walking. You can always make time for exercise!
Of course, the dogs came along too! And in this second picture with Molly, I got to spend some time with my grandson already. Just waiting for him to officially arrive at the end of July! I can’t wait!!!!
The dogs had a good time too. Dakota is our dog, the Golden Retriever. Dobby, the black dog, is my daughter Megan’s, and the third dog is a husky mix, and belongs to Jen West. They came over Saturday afternoon and the dogs were out tearing around in the back yard. They were exhausted after this! But they were having fun exercising too!
I always have my exercise partner, Sarah, to go workout with. Saturday morning was a beautiful day to go for a run! It was a nice way to start the day. Sunday morning is our weekly run with our run club. I always look forward to that morning! The run club is a great way for all of us to talk about things, especially running. What works, what does not. Who likes what kind of shoes, and what type of workouts, and who is holding it all together yet, and on and on! It has been a great way to help stay motivated through all of these years, which was started in 2012. It has been especially helpful these last 2 years.
We all have our struggles. We all have those days when the workout, or run, could not have possibly been any worse, or could not have been any better. We all have good days and bad days. We just need to do what nature was doing this week. We have to learn to break through the ice! Earlier this week it was cold and windy, and the ice just built up on everything at the Lake. Now it is all gone. We have to learn to weather the storms just like everybody else. Some days are easy, and some days you learn to hang on, and especially when it is windy, you learn to keep your feet on the ground! You need to believe…believe in yourself!
You can do it! I did it, and so can you. Don’t ever give up on yourself. Don’t ever stop believing. Realize there are going to be good days, and bad days. Those good days are why we keep you coming back for more. Strive to Survive. Live life to the fullest. Don’t have any regrets! Keep moving everybody!
Do you have your Easter baskets all ready for the little (or big) kids in your life? Easter baskets are usually filled with all kinds of goodies and I like to think of them being just as exciting as getting your Christmas stocking! My family has all kinds of funny stories about the big search for finding our Easter baskets and of course what we find inside is even more exciting! The candy aisles at the store are filled with all kinds of goodies, but let us not forget that there are plenty of other non-junk food options to fill your Easter baskets with. Here are some ideas for you:
• Sidewalk chalk
• Color Dotz by Crayola (color your bath water with them!) • Books • Coloring books
• Stuffed animals
• Sunglasses
• Shoes
• Socks
• Hair accessories for girls
• Mini cars or planes for boys
• Nail polish
• Gift certificate to the movies or iTunes
• Magazine subscription
• Jump rope
• Yo-yo
• Pencils, crayons, markers
Happy Easter!! I wish you all a blessed and blissful day!
