Month: August 2020

Healthy meals on a budget to lose weight: buy in bulk

Whenever you know you are doing something good to others, you feel better and happier – in the end, when this becomes a habit, you become healthier. Our body and mind are not isolated. They are actually inter-connected.

How to lose more ponunds? weight loss, orovo detox, weight loss secrets...
healthy meals on a budget to lose weight-bulk

Whenever there is will, there is a way.

When thinking about eating healthy food to lose weight, Many people will say:

“It’s expensive.”

“It needs a lot of money.”

Not necessarily.

Today I am going to share you a little secret to eat healthy meals on a budget to lose weight: buy in bulk.
Why buying in bulk will eventually save you money while eating healthy?

  • Buying in bulk is almost always cheaper per unit.
    This is the big advantage of buying healthy food in bulk. When you buy healthy food in bulk, you’re almost always saving money on each use of that item. … If you save 20 cents on something you use daily, that’s $73 ($36.5 X 2) in savings per year.
Here are a few healthy non-perishable items you can buy in bulk to be stocked at home: 

 

  • Brown Rice:
    Brown rice is higher in nutrition. It is absorbed more slowly by the bloodstream than white rice. It also reduces inflammation.
  • Beans:

Not only rich in protein, low in calories, but they have fiber as well. They are     cheap. You can add almost any kind of herb or spice to create different flavor combinations with beans.

  • Oatmeal:
    Rich in fiber, filling, and also heart-healthy, it is a great healthy food on a budget. Just be sure to avoid instant oatmeal, or oatmeal with sugar, they are different animals (or plant seeds for that matter), so stay away.
  • Canned Tuna

Canned tuna is cheap but is high in protein and rich in Omega-3’s — the healthy fats that can help brain function as well as repair our cells. But eat with moderation as it may contain mercury.

  • Many healthy ingredients can be bought in bulk, this makes eating healthy meals on a budget possible.
  • You make fewer trips to the grocery store for these non-perishable items.

This will eventually save you money since it  will save gas for your car.

  • Last, but not the least, is it’s GOOD FOR ENVIRONMENT.
To be honest, this is actually the most important reason why I buy in bulk. Buy food in bulk saves plastics packaging, A LOT. This will eventually save our environment as you will produce less trash or waste. I personally subscribe to the zero waste movement, trying my best to reduce our daily trash to a minimum.
If you buy healthy food in bulk, not only do you do something good to yourself, but also to others and environment around you. Why start from today now, from your next grocery shopping?
 
 
Whenever you know you are doing something good to others, you feel better and happier – in the end, when this becomes a habit, you become healthier. Our body and mind are not isolated. They are actually inter-connected.
 
There is a web app that may help you find stores that may sell healthy food in bulk.
 
Walmart, Publix, Kroger etc all have bulk items. My favorite is my local Sprout grocery store.
 
 
Related blog posts about “healthy meals on a budget to lose weight”:

Low budget diet plan to lose weight: how about just $2.76 per meal?

Look at your kitchen, I believe you may already have almost all of the ingredients for this healthy soup which will not cost you much. Keep at it, this could be a very cost-effective weight loss meal for the long term.

Healthy meals on a budget to lose weight
Healthy meals on a budget to lose weight

In my last blog post about Healthy meals on a budget to lose weight, I mentioned meal planning and preparation: healthy food on a budget, specifically ChooseFi podcast host Brad’s meal plan.

Per Brad, “The advantages of meal prepping as a life hack are really threefold”: 

  1. Keeping food costs low
  2. Time efficiency
  3. Healthy eating
Obviously you got both benefits: healthy and affordable by planning your meals.
Let’s dig a little more into this meal plan.
Ingredients: (you don’t need all of them):
  • Boullion: as the base of the soup
  • Onions: brownen it to make the soup tasty
  • Canned diced tomatoes
  • Beans
  • Quinoa, Rice, Pasta, or Barley
  • Cans of coconut milk, Coconut oil, or Olive oil
  • Frozen vegetables or herbs
First, you start from browning an onion. Or Shallots, Garlic or Leeks or whatever you like. This makes your soup more flavor-able. You can also brown the onions in coconut oil, extra virgin olive oil or organic grass fed butter.
Next, add your water.
Then add soup base, and throw vegetables.
You can also add protein (beans or meat), or rice to make the soup thicker.
After about an hour of slow cooking, your soup is ready.
Look at your kitchen, I believe you may already have almost all of the ingredients for this healthy soup which will not cost you much. Keep at it, this could be a very cost-effective weight loss meal for the long term.
Thank you ChooseFI for sharing this soup meal plan, which is one of my favorite podcasts.

Healthy meals on a budget to lose weight

Healthy meals on a budget to lose weight: You can do it
When we think about healthy food, some of us always think they are expensive. Think it again. That is not actually true.

How to lose more ponunds? weight loss, orovo detox, weight loss secrets...
healthy meals on a budget to lose weight

Healthy meals on a budget to lose weight: You can do it

When we think about healthy food, some of us always think they are expensive. Think it again. That is not actually true.

  • Consider grow your own vegetables
It’s fun and rewarding to grow your own vegetables. It does not necessary cost you much if you know how to turn your kitchen waste to compost to become the best fertilizer – it’s good to our environment too!
Not only this will save you money, but you got the best organic food you can get as you know exactly how you grow your healthy food using no pesticides.
  • Use grocery pickup or delivery service instead of shopping at the store
Believe it or not, from my own experience, I end up saving money each time to use grocery pickup or delivery service instead of shopping by myself at the store. When you are in the store, it’s very difficult to stick to your plan or shopping list as you are often enticed by the goods displayed – you often just buy it but it is not necessary to use it later. I can use the money saved to buy more healthy food.
  • Reduce food waste: starting from shopping
We often waste a lot of food because we alway over buy stuff while shopping in grocery store. Satistics show that on average American family of four waste about $1,500 worth of food annually! You can easily save at least $100 per month by better planning. If you do have food more than you can normally eat, you can re-purpose it for other meals or future use.
  • Lots of recipes: tasty and will not break your bank
There are many dishes that can be prepared on a budget. For example, it’s very affordable to prepare this tasty noodle salad dish:

healthy meals on a budget to lose weight: noodle
healthy meals on a budget to lose weight: noodle

This easy-to-prepare Asian rice noodle salad is the healthy meal to whip up when you’re busy on time. It’s light, but packed with filling and fat-burning brown rice, along with cabbage which is believed to be good to your heart. If you have leftover coleslaw, you can cook it with garlic and ginger, then add some meat, whether chicken, egg, or soy, for a faster-than-takeout mu shu dish in a Chinese restaurant.

  • Meal planning and preparation: healthy food on a budget
Per ChooseFi podcast host Brad, “The advantages of meal prepping as a life hack are really threefold”:

  1. Keeping food costs low
  2. Time efficiency
  3. Healthy eating
Obviously you got both benefits: healthy and affordable by planning your meals.
Do not rush to restaurants. Brad went on to explain the benefit: “By making all my meals, I’m able to keep my cost per meal to approximately $2.62.” Isn’t it amazing?