Healthy Eating on a Budget

Ok, so it’s been a while, but here I am again. Today’s topic is going to be one that is near and dear to my heart. How on earth do you eat healthy on a budget?

I am going to be doing some grocery shopping tomorrow and lately my food budget is very short. Finding healthy items that can be purchased cheaply is not easy. The salad mix that costs the least, is also the one that is mostly water and is not something that is considered to be healthy, as I get the iceberg lettuce variety. I do buy ground turkey instead of ground beef saving on fat, and if I can find it and it’s not more expensive than the regular, I’ll probably buy whole wheat pasta instead of regular pasta.

But the biggest problem is that the fresh fruits and veggies that I should be eating are so expensive it’s ridiculous. Even at the farmer’s market during the summer these things are horribly priced. So how do you eat healthy on a budget?

I’m Back

Due to monetary constraints, I had to let my paid hosting go. With that went the ability to host my blog with a subdomain, so here I am, back at WP.com. Oh well. I can deal with that. I’m starting my diet again, and so I should be posting more often.

Driving Me Nuts

I’m so sick of going to work and seeing everyone eating the stuff I’m not allowed to eat. It really really sucks, but I’ve been good all week. None of the stuff I’m not allowed to eat, so we’ll see what happens. Friday is my sticking point, because that’s payday and I’m not home to eat here. We’ll see how good I can stay.
Morning
1 hard boiled egg
5 oz turkey sausage
8 tomato slices

Afternoon
grilled chicken breast
spinach-tomato salad

Evening
grilled chicken breast
sliced cucumber

I did very well today and tomorrow I’ve got a few things that I’m really looking forward to eating on my meal plan. Hopefully I can continue this way and keep losing the weight just like I have been.

Atkins Week 2, Day 2

Here we go again. Another day of food journaling and missing out on the foods that Atkins says I can have, but my doctor says I can’t. I can’t wait until he lets me have my food back. LOL

Morning
Atkins Advantage Morning Breakfast Bar - Cinnamon Bun Flavor
Atkins Advantage Shake - Chocolate Delight Flavor

Afternoon
grilled chicken breast
spinach salad

Snack
3 hardboiled eggs

Evening
savory turkey patty
mixed salad greens w/ 4 grape tomatoes and olive oil and balsamic vinegar dressing

I modified my breakfast because I just wasn’t hungry and you know what? I ate that bar and drank that shake at about 11:30 this morning, and it was almost 6PM before I got hungry again. I was supposed to have turkey sausage and tomato slices with breakfast, but I didn’t eat them. I also cut afternoon meal’s tofu out and replaced it with chicken. My snack was 3 eggs, not 4. I modify to my hunger levels. If I’m not that hungry, I cut things out.

I did the one mile walk DVD again today. This time I’d cleared space so I could move around a bit while doing it. I liked it better when I could move back and forth a bit. Seemed to make it easier on me.  Of course, the space was actually cleared for animal control to come remove an unwanted guest - a bat. A bat got in my apartment last night and I was not impressed. I called animal control, but there was some stuff in the way of where the bat was hiding, so I moved it. It made a nice place to do my exercise as well.

Well, I’m off for now. I’ll be back tomorrow to report more on my food intake and exercise.

Leslie Sansone Walk Away the Pounds One Mile Walk DVD

A few months ago, I purchased Leslie Sansone’s book, Walk Away the Pounds. At the back of the book was a cardboard envelope that contained the Walk Away the Pounds One Mile Walk DVD. This DVD is amazing. All of the moves are very easy and if you can’t do one of them or don’t like to do one of them, all you have to do is keep walking in place like you were. It’s that simple. You can move around a bit if you have room, or just stay in place. The choice is yours. Leslie incorporates kicks, kickbacks, side steps, and knee lifts, along with various upper body/arm movements to create a full body workout. It’s easy, you can make it as intense or low impact as you want, and best of all, it only takes about 15 minutes for the whole DVD. I look forward greatly to trying out her other Walk Away the Pounds DVDs as well.

I Did It

I exercised again today. I actually managed to do it 2 days in a row. I did, again, the one mile walk DVD from Leslie Sansone, and this time, I added in the extra movements…the side steps, the kicks, the knee lifts, the kickbacks, and the arm reaches. I am sweaty, and thirsty, and have downed almost an entire 16.9 oz bottle of water but I am happy because I know I moved today.

My food journal for Week 2, Day 1:

Morning
Spicy Egg Salad
Turkey Sausage
6 tomato slices

Afternoon
Chicken Salad w/ Walnuts
Sliced Cucumber

Evening
Grilled Chicken Breast
Spinach-Mushroom Salad

This no dairy thing is killing me. I can handle most of it, but man I miss my cheese!

Moving Mama’s Contest

Moving Mama is having a contest! You can win her favorite vacation souvenir. It’s a beautiful glass globe that reminds one of the shore and the sea. If you’d like a chance to enter the drawing, post a comment on this post at Moving Mama’s site by August 30th. The drawing will be August 31st. Good luck!

It’s Sure Isn’t Easy

Losing weight that is. I’ve come to see just how much people focus on food. Think about this, 99% of the candles I find, are food scented. Strawberry, vanilla, cinnamon bun, peach pie, strawberry shortcake, toasted marshmallow, banana nut bread, berry patch, cinnamon, and buttercream. Yes, those are the candles I own. I’ve also seen christmas cookie, vanilla sugar, sugar cookie, peppermint, and other food related scents. It seems the candle companies like to inundate us with reasons to crave food. Fortunately, though  a pair of strawberry scented votives has been merrily burning for the past couple of hours, I am not craving strawberries. Or anything else not on my diet for that matter.

I’ve found a new solution to the problem of breaking, again, the soda addiction. Although the Wiccan in me screams at the thought of pulling the earth apart more to produce these plastic bottles, I am finding that Nestle’s Pure Life water with the fruit flavored splashes works very well for me. The Raspberry Splash is the one sitting on my desk at the moment, but I also have a citrus splash, tropical splash, and kiwi strawberry splash waiting in the wings. I got a pack of 32 bottles at Sam’s Club, 8 each of 4 flavors, for about $9.28 after tax. I’m refilling the bottles as well with water from my tap. But I have to say, they do taste very good and they are calorie and carb free, which is always a good thing.

I’ll be back later to post my food journal for today. Talk to you later.

Moved

I know, I know…… your links to your blogs/blog directories are missing. Well, that’s because I went through them and as I added them to the NEW Dropping Off, I deleted them.

You can now find me at Dropping Off the Pounds. If you want the url: http://droppingoff.charity-lynn.com. A custom theme will be coming shortly.

Weigh In - Atkins Week #2

Sorry, I’m a day late with the weigh in. LOL

Starting Weight: 321
Yesterday’s Weight: 317
Loss: 4 lbs
BMI: 46.8

Yay! I lost 4 lbs AND my BMI dropped by almost a full point! I’m so happy! Now next week really starts the challenge…. half the things I am allowed on Atkins, I’m not allowed by my doctor. Let’s see how this works. I’m off to exercise.