• NaBloWriMo Day 2: And the Journey Begins…

    November 4, 2009 // No Comments »

    Here goes trying to eat healthy on a synced budget! I went shopping on Sunday and spent $32.01, therefore I have $7.99 left to spend this week on food. I didn’t come up with this experiment until the commute home, so I had to do quite a bit of math. Not sure if I am going to do the financial break down per meal every day, but thought this was interesting. I have felt satisfied every day so far and my clothes feel looser. So far so good!

    Breakfast – $0.81

    • 1 cup special K serial ($0.47)
    • 1 cup 1% milk ($0.19)
    • black tea ($0.10)*
    • splenda ($0.05)*
    • creamer (work provides)

    Lunch -$1.18

    • hummus ($0.25)*
    • crackers ($0.31)
    • salsa ($0.50)
    • chamomile tea($0.10)*
    • splenda ($0.05)*

    Dinner -$1.63

    • 2 eggs ($0.36)
    • 1/8 cup red onion ($0.16)
    • 1/8 cup red pepper ($0.26)
    • 2 Tbsp parmasan ($0.10)
    • 3.2 oz turkey kielbasa ($0.75)

    Snacks -$0.63

    • Special K strawberry granola bar ($0.42)*
    • Green Apple ($0.21)

    Total cost of food: $4.25

    I definitely need to incorporate more fruit into my meals and I don’t drink nearly enough water.

    Posted in ChangeBloggers, Healthy Living

    NaBloWriMo Day 1: 30 Day Experiment on Healthy Eating on a Tight Budget

    November 2, 2009 // No Comments »

    scale cryOk…yeah, a bit late but I am doubling up today!!

    I have struggled with my weight as long as I can remember. I nurtured my love affair with food from an early age.  Although moving around (dad was/is military) has helped me to adapt to changes, it also turned me into an introvert in many ways. Food became my security blanket. It surely was a constant in my life.

    I’ve tried every diet – Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig, LA Weight Loss, not eating, liquid diets, Dr. Adkins,…you name it. I have always felt the most balanced and happy on Weight Watchers. I joined the Weight Watchers track again last Friday.

    On my first weigh in I lost 13.4lbs.

    On my second weigh in I lost 1.2lbs.

    On my third weigh in I lost 1.3lbs.

    While I the WW platform seems to work for me, the meetings don’t. My weekly schedule is just too erratic. I would never be able to commit to the same meeting each week. So, I am going with the online option.

    I am keeping it really simple – cutting out sugars and take out, switching to whole grain and drinking more water, and most importantly focusing on moving more.

    I have been wrestling with how I am going to document this journey. A weight loss journal is rather BLAH! So, while contemplating the greater implications of my struggles to lose weight it came to me. I have read dozens of articles (and had even more conversations) about the cost burden of eating healthy. It can be cheaper to eat junk than maintain a health, balanced diet.

    So, as part of my NaBloWriMo committment, I am going to explore how feasable it is to eat healthy on a strict budget. I usually spend $50-75 a week on groceries. For the next month I am going to spend $40 a week on groceries.

    So the question is – how am I going to measure success? I know that I can shop within this budget constraint, but the question is, can I do so while feeling fulfilled? So, here are the variables:

    • within $40 a week
    • enjoyment
    • filling
    • variety
    • balanced meals
    • items from current pantry stock I will calculate cost and *them in order to distinguish between newly purchased item

    So….here we go!

    Posted in ChangeBloggers, Healthy Living, Simple Life