42 replies to this topic

[Live Forever]

Here you go:
http://www.getrichsl...healthy-budget/

"Change the way you eat. If you’re looking for healthy food on a small budget, then fruits and vegetables and other whole foods are the way to go. They’re the basic building blocks of a nutritious diet, and they’re much cheaper than processed foods."

Anyone else have any other resources/suggestions for eating right on a low budget?

[RighteousReason]

Good question, I just moved into my new apartment [lol]

I'm doing the cereal + fruits + random_snacks + chickenORbeefORfish + riceORpotatoesORnoodles + salad + multivitamin thing.

Oh yeah can't forget the good old PBJ.

[Live Forever]

Good question, I just moved into my new apartment  [lol]

I'm doing the cereal + fruits + random_snacks + chickenORbeefORfish + riceORpotatoesORnoodles + salad + multivitamin thing.

Oh yeah can't forget the good old PBJ.

I love a good PB&J. In fact, I am craving one right now, I might just go take care of that.

Any preference as to chunky or smooth? I like either, but generally go for smooth.

[RighteousReason]

Smooth is my personal preference.

[Shepard]

ABH - Almond Butter and Honey

That's the jeri-curl slide.

[ajnast4r]

finding 'farmers markets', co-ops, and healthfood stores that sell bulk organic grains & beans....

i can usually get trhe same amount of veggies for 25$ in a farmers market, that i would pay 50-60$ for in a grocery store... same thing with bulk from healthfood stores.

[DukeNukem]

Make one of your meals oatmeal with whey protein powder added. I eat this every morning, and sometimes as a quick snack later in the day.

The key is that all meals should be zoned, meaning they need sufficient protein vs. carbs vs. healthy fats/oils. The problem is that it is often very, very hard to find something to eat that has sufficient protein (30% of total calories min.), and especially high quality protein. Proteins that are low quality are gluten, casein, and soy. Yet, you see this trash proteins used in most protein bars and processed foods.

[Brainbox]

Why is soy being considered low quality? Digestive issues? It could be cost benificial compared to whey protein....

[ajnast4r]

Make one of your meals oatmeal with whey protein powder added.  I eat this every morning, and sometimes as a quick snack later in the day.

The key is that all meals should be zoned, meaning they need sufficient protein vs. carbs vs. healthy fats/oils.  The problem is that it is often very, very hard to find something to eat that has sufficient protein (30% of total calories min.), and especially high quality protein.  Proteins that are low quality are gluten, casein, and soy.  Yet, you see this trash proteins used in most protein bars and processed foods.

my 1st meal of the day is always :

3/4 cup oats
1 scoop whey
1TBSP flax oil
1 piece fruit
and a spice mixture of [fennel, corriender, cumin & black pepper] to aid digestion.



i wouldnt exactly say a micellar cassein protein is trash... although i wouldnt want to consume large amounts of it isolated.

[spins]

Why is soy being considered low quality? Digestive issues? It could be cost benificial compared to whey protein....

From a bodybuilding point of view soy is considered low quality when compared to whey because its essential amino acid profile isn't as good.

http://www.afpafitne...proteinBest.pdf

[AdamDavis]

Oh yeah can't forget the good old PBJ.

I love a good PB&J. In fact, I am craving one right now, I might just go take care of that.

Hehe. Sugar-free jam and brown, wholemeal bread I assume? [tung]

[FunkOdyssey]

Here you go:
http://www.getrichsl...healthy-budget/

"Change the way you eat. If you’re looking for healthy food on a small budget, then fruits and vegetables and other whole foods are the way to go. They’re the basic building blocks of a nutritious diet, and they’re much cheaper than processed foods."

Anyone else have any other resources/suggestions for eating right on a low budget?

I have to disagree with this. Fruits and vegetables are not economical at all. They are pretty much the most expensive foods around if you look at cost per calorie. Eggs are healthy and economical... so is oatmeal, nut butters (peanut butter trumps all for economy), nuts, and whole grains. If you want quality meats, fruits, and vegetables, it is going to cost you.

[RighteousReason]

The problem is that it is often very, very hard to find something to eat that has sufficient protein (30% of total calories min.), and especially high quality protein.

What about chicken?

[ajnast4r]

the caloric amounts of food are not their only values

[FunkOdyssey]

If you are scraping to get by, caloric content of food per $ means alot more than carotenoids or anthocyanins, trust me.

[Brainbox]

Why is soy being considered low quality? Digestive issues? It could be cost benificial compared to whey protein....

From a bodybuilding point of view soy is considered low quality when compared to whey because its essential amino acid profile isn't as good.

http://www.afpafitne...proteinBest.pdf

Very interesting reading.
I wouldn't call soy protein low quality, but rather sub-optimal compared to whey.
In a low-cost high-yield diet soy (isolate) could have a pretty good role I think. Provided it is digested correctly.

[xanadu]

Funk wrote:

" If you are scraping to get by, caloric content of food per $ means alot more than carotenoids or anthocyanins, trust me."

Normally I agree with you but I think you are off base here. Americans, and most of the western world consume far more calories than they need. People would do much better looking for nutrition at a low cost than calories at a low cost. Mcdonalds can give you all the calories you want and are cheap but I sure will not eat there. If you are talking about someone starving, a homeless person perhaps, then you might have a point. Might.

Veggies are the cheapest high nutrition food you can get, IMHO.

[FunkOdyssey]

Normally I agree with you but I think you are off base here. Americans, and most of the western world consume far more calories than they need. People would do much better looking for nutrition at a low cost than calories at a low cost.

I agree with you 100%.

Mcdonalds can give you all the calories you want and are cheap but I sure will not eat there. If you are talking about someone starving, a homeless person perhaps, then you might have a point. Might.

I wasn't talking about eating at McDonalds. I'm talking about low cost, healthy foods (whole grains, nuts, eggs, beans, etc).

Two red peppers cost me $5 at the grocery store. You could buy two dozen eggs for that price, two jars of natural peanut butter, ten servings of quinoa, etc. See why I have trouble reconciling the purchase of vegetables with any kind of "low budget" talk? I've integrated more and more fruits and vegetables into my diet over the last couple of years, and my rising grocery bills don't lie.

Edited by FunkOdyssey, 05 June 2006 - 08:12 PM.

[xanadu]

Red peppers may be overpriced. The trick is to buy what's in season and on sale. You get usually higher quality when the price is down, a twofer. For example, sweet potatoes are around 90 cents a pound but sometimes 49 cents. Broccolli florettes are around $1.25 to $1.50, mixed veggies are around the same price. Grapes are usually $1.69, peanuts are cheap, on and on. I see nothing wrong with an occasional egg or some peanut butter or quinona. However, nutrition does count and there are no practical substitutes for veggies. That really just scrapes the tip of the iceberg, there are loads of reasonably priced veggies and fruits out there. Banannas, peas, beans, squash and so on. If you must have red peppers no matter the price, you pay.

[Mind]

Red, orange, and yellow peppers are waaaaay over priced. Green ones are usually somewhere between 0.99 and 1.99 per pound.

Eggs are a good cheap source of full spectrum protein. I can buy 18 eggs in the store for 1.00 and 2 dozen from local farmers for the same price. If you can stand it, and don't mind the small chance of food poisoning, raw egss are the most nutritious. I boil mine on Monday's and then enjoy them all week long.

Otherwise the cheapest carbs in my area are potatoes and rice. During harvest time I can sometimes buy 10 pounds of potatoes for less than 2.00.

[maestro949]

Not sure if this is an option for you but you could grow your own garden vegetables and many fruits (berries and grapes are easy to grow in most climates) and freeze them for the colder months. They taste better as they are fresh and organic. Seed packets are cheap though building a good soil base is an investment. There's the opportunity cost of the labor involved but it's excercise!

[Athanasios]

Unfortunately, I am with Funk on this one, due to location. Here in Boulder Colorado it is hard to find any produce that does not cost an arm and a leg. I take the hit on Fuji apples and one type of citrus fruit when I go shopping. Then I grab some spinach, reasonably priced, beans and frozen broccoli. I can get some stuff such as tomatoes at the farmers market, but definitely not as many veggies as I would like.

[Shepard]

I went to stock up on my groceries today. My grapefruit for the week were $18, apples were $10, compared to $1.25 for a box of Zebra Cakes and the $2 Coke that I really wanted.

[Live Forever]

Zebra Cakes, haha. I havent thought about Zebra Cakes in a long time. I didn't even know they still made them, but now that you mentioned them, I am wanting one.

[Athanasios]

Now that I havent been eatig sugar, anything like that tastes terrible. I wouldnt even be able to taste the cream vanilla flavor over the sugar.

[brizzadizza]

I agree with Funk, and I'd also like to add, I don't have enough time or money to go around to the farmers markets and whole food stores to pick up the quality fruits and vegetables. Gas and time need to be factored in to the total cost of fruits and vegetables and the two mile drive it takes to get to Albertsons versus the 17 mile drive it takes to go on sunday morning to the farmer's market really play a huge role in shopping decision.

I've lived on my own for five years and its only been this year that I've been able to consistently afford fruits and vegetables. (Moving on up!) I did the regular ramen/maccaroni for the first year. Branched in to some real cooking with various pastas and sausage (1.89/lb) and eggs the second year. Kept it on the cheap all the way until some months ago when I finally bought a fruit bowl. By the way, for cheap meat, learn to broil a whole chicken, and then move up to turkey. At anywhere from .50cents/lb to 1.25cents/lb you can't go wrong and it feels good to have a meal. Now keeping that bowl filled is my obsession, but I know based on the cost of it I wouldn't have been able to do it in my economic situation over the last four years.
Brandon

[FunkOdyssey]

There you have it -- real world testimony of struggling bachelors across America. Fruits and veggies are a luxury! (albiet an important one for our health)

[the big b]

I live on 9 different foods, nothing else, same food and portions day in day out. It costs me about $100-$200 a month, but it's better then getting sick from all the junk they put in most other foods today. Since I started eating clean to lose weight, I haven't been able to go back to my previous food lifestyle, most of the time I get very ill from it, I had a handful of M&M's at a grad party a couple days ago, literally 10 of the little buggers, and I was up at 2AM sick as a dog, thought I was dying.

*My Foods:
Oats
Broccoli
Yam
Green Beans
Brown Rice
Carrot
Apple
Chicken Breast
Salad w/ Dressing

Of course now, I'm looking to try and branch out the foods I eat, get a little more variety. I am afraid of developing food allergies from to much of the same thing. (Don't think I added much to this thread, but meh)

[Athanasios]

big b, looks pretty yummy...have you tried quinoa, I enjoy quinoa pasta as well. Do you eat any kind of fish?

Yams here are like $3 a pound...i need to find a good source here, i love em. One reason I like them is because i can cook for others easier with it. They complain less about it not being all potatoes and cheese.

[FunkOdyssey]

*My Foods:
Oats
Broccoli
Yam
Green Beans
Brown Rice
Carrot
Apple
Chicken Breast
Salad w/ Dressing

I second the quinoa suggestion... and don't forget nuts and eggs, my fellow bargain hunters. Can't beat them with a stick.