Archive for the ‘planning’ Category

Has anyone seen the price of fruit lately? A few months ago I was walking through my local grocer. I was looking at my list of items to buy but not paying attention to the price of the actual item. I placed the item in my cart and continued shopping. I get to the register and he places the item on the scanner to weigh it. I look up and the price screen read $6.00. I looked at him and said with amazement, “Is that for the grapes?” He said, “Yep.” I took one more look at the screen, looked down at my wallet and said, “I’m sorry. I’ll have to send those back.”

That was a humbling day for me. Though six dollars may not be much by itself, when you are on a budget and need to stay within that budget, six dollars becomes very significant. I desire to maintain a healthy diet for my family, but if you haven’t noticed, healthy nutritious foods are generally more expensive. I have had to think creatively and cut out a few desired but not necessary items to stay within our food budget. I want to give you some tips on how you may also eat healthy on a limited budget.

A Few Suggestions:

1. Stick to your list

Try to resist the temptation to purchase items that you don’t need or that are not on your shopping list. This would be my biggest struggle when grocery shopping. There have been many times I’ve asked myself, “Now Trill. Do you really need that?” and the answer is usually, “NO!”
2. Limit snacks and soda

Have I lost my readers yet? Really, if you are trying to maintain a healthy diet and you are trying to stay within a budget, buying snacks and sodas may hinder your goals. Try snacking on fruit and drink water. Remember these are just suggestions!
3. Organic: pick and choose

Organic foods are very popular these days. Even Wal-Mart has gotten in the game and is selling organic foods and products! Organic is good but not necessary. Actually, I would be one who would desire to purchase every organic product in a store! But, as I have read and studied and as my pocket book has called out to me, “No no,” I have learned I can buy certain organic items and still maintain my budget. My favorite organic buys are fruits that have eatable thin skin, eggs, milk, and meats.

4. Pack a lunch

I love to eat out! When I worked outside of the home I ate out almost everyday. The problem with eating out though is that for a small budget it gets expensive too! If you pack your lunch you not only save money but you also control what goes in your lunch.

More Tips on Budgeting

My dear friend, Amy Maples, has had to do plenty of research on maintaining a healthy diet on a limited budget. Her beautiful daughter has allergies and therefore has needed a special diet. I asked her if she had some tips to share as well. She suggests going to Coupon Mom, which is where she has found many of these suggestions.

1. Buy the Sunday paper so you can get coupons. If you save money on things like sandwich bags and laundry detergent (since most coupons are for non-perishable items), you’ll have more money left over for fresh fruits and veggies.

2. Try to only use a coupon when the item is on sale to get an even bigger discount.

3. Look at your store’s sales (esp. on meat and produce) either from the Sunday paper or online to plan your menu for the week (i.e. if there’s a big sale on chicken and tilapia, plan all your meals alternating those 2 meats for the week). This means you have to PLAN YOUR WEEK’S MENU.

4. It is sometimes cheaper to buy veggies frozen instead of fresh (not to mention time-saving since you don’t need to chop them up).

5. Check out Coupon Mom, which is where I (Amy) got most of these ideas and many more. You may even be able to start buying some organic foods with the money you save.

I hope these suggestions helps you eat healthy on a limited budget. Monday is the beginning of our walking series. Strap on those shoes and get ready to walk!

It’s three o’clock in the afternoon and your stomach begins to growl like a lion ready to devour its’ prey. You look around slowly searching for anything to satisfy your cravings. Tearing open your cupboard you find a bag of potato chips and some devils food cakes. Your mouth begins to water, your palms begin to sweat and then it dawns one you, you’re on a diet! You curse at your diet, rip open the bag and begin to shove food in like a savage beast. You slowly walk to your living room, a piece a chocolate dangles off your bottom lip, plop down on your sofa and with defeat in your eyes and comfort in your belly you crack open your Diet Coke and try to figure out where you went wrong.

I relate to the comical story above, don’t you? In order to maintain any fitness program or general healthy eating lifestyle takes planning. Notice I didn’t title it “A Plan” but “Plan”. I have not set out to put you on a plan but I want to give you only a few tips and then direct your attention to a book that I believe will encourage you in the area of planning.

Tips for Planning for Fitness:

Plan your meals
Sit down once a week and plan out a menu. This will allow you to see how you can add fruits and vegetables to your diet and ensure that they are actually in your home for you to eat.

Plan your workouts
Set aside a time during the day for your exercise whether it’s a walk around the block with your kids or a ten minute dumbbell routine. I can assure you that if it’s not in your schedule to do you will most likely push it aside. It takes planning to exercise.

Plan for nutrition
Where appropriate and necessary throw out the “junk” food. This too is planning for nutrition. If you throw it out you have eliminated the temptation.

Plan Realistically
If you drink sodas six times a day don’t try to drop it cold turkey. Like a baby who is being weaned from nursing, you too must be weaned! If you drop cold turkey and then “fail” you’ll go straight back to drinking your cola for breakfast! Plan to break bad habits slowly. We’ll talk about this in another article.

Last Tip: Read a good book

The Ladies at the Girl Talk Blog have just completed their book Shopping For Time: How to Do It All and NOT be Overwhelmed. I have read half of it and look forward to reading the rest soon. The book provides biblical wisdom to practical tips. I think this book will help you learn to plan for good nutrition and fitness too! Why? Because as you’ve seen above, good nutrition and fitness takes time.

There are so many demands on our lives (home, children, school, work,) and now I’m asking you to think about fitness and nutrition- health! There are two main reasons I have the energy and stamina to get through my day: 1) God’s grace and His strength enable me to 2) I exercise regularly and eat generally a balanced healthy diet. So, bear with me and try it! Begin to plan for good nutrition and fitness! Try those few tips and read the book. Let me know how it goes!