Author: Peter Harris
Many people are under the impression that eating healthy is more expensive than eating junk food or “less nutritious” foods. This is not true. In fact, if you rethink how to budget your food dollars and your eating habits you could easily divert some of the cash you are spending on junk food and use it to buy food that is better for you and that will help you lose weight. How to eat healthy and cheap is not difficult. This article will provide some useful and practical tips you can use that will change your eating habits and how you spend your money!
1. Drink water and lots of it. You should consume 1 ounce of water for every pound of your bodyweight per day. So if you weigh 200 lbs then you should be drinking 200 ounces of water. If you can’t drink that much water then shoot for and 8 to 16 ounce glass or bottle every one to two hours while you are awake. Your body functions on water. The more you drink the better you will be.
2. Eliminate soda and/or beverages high in simple sugar content. These types of drinks offer little to no nutritional value and if they do, the high sugar content negates that value. They really don’t do much for quenching your thirst either. Yes, maybe in the short term. I know if I drink a glass of soda within a 1/2 an hour I’m looking for something else to drink and usually it’s more soda! Soda packs on extra “empty” calories that you don’t need and your body doesn’t want. It will significantly reduce your chances of losing weight. How much are you spending on soda per week?
3. Drink tap water. There is absolutely no reason that you have to spend extra money on bottled water. I refill my water bottles from the tap or use a thermos. I like cold water, the colder the better so my refrigerator is always stocked. Take a bottle of water with you everywhere you go. Fill it at water fountains when you are at the mall, sneak one into the movie theater so you won’t be tempted to buy soda, etc. If you absolutely won’t drink tap water then buy the bottled stuff. Take the money you are saving from not buying soda and use to buy water. No need to buy the designer water or the flavored stuff. You’re just paying for packaging and sweeteners. You can usually buy 24, 16 ounce bottles for less than $4. You could also by a Brita filter. You may pay a little more of the front end but you will save money in the long run.
4. Don’t forget the eggs. Advice on how to eat healthy and cheap has to include eggs. You may shy away from eating eggs because of the potential for increasing your cholesterol. The majority of the cholesterol is found in the egg yolk. Easy answer – don’t eat the yolk. Separate your egg whites from the yolk and just scramble the whites. I eat 7 to 8 egg whites a day for breakfast. I will usually cook up 1 yolk with that to make it a little more substantial – that’s better than eating 7 or 8 yolks a day! Eggs are loaded with high quality protein that your body needs to help build lean muscle. I can usually buy a dozen eggs for 75 cents to $1.25. A box of my favorite “sugared” cereal costs $4 to $5. You can save a lot of money buying and eating more eggs instead of sugary cereals.
These 4 useful tips can easily be incorporated into your eating and drinking habits. Try them today and you will be pleasantly surprised at the results you achieve, the money you can save and in how much better you start to feel.
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There are many more suggestions and tips about how to eat healthy and cheap in parts 2 & 3 of this article. Discover what those are by clicking here now for part 2: Eat Healthy 2 and here for part 3: Eat Healthy 3