Healthy lifestyle on a low budget, help!

[Titancore]

try to eat apples and dried/normal apricot, whole-wheat pasta, boiled patatos/chicken breast/turkey/vegetables... try to drink high alkaline ratio drinks (water/mineral water/green tea/orange juice) rather than very low alkaline drinks (juices/soda), fat free milk.... if u dont have any health issues; u can press up at home and u can run/walk, basketball/soccer swim if u can efford it....

[Deleted]

Frozen veggies are not all that healthy. Just cause its a vegtable doesnt always been its the best nutrition for you in any form. Fresh ALL the way. More goodness for your body and you typically get more for your money than canned and frozen!

To the OP: I have quite a few recipies that are healthy and low budget if you want them. What kind of foods do you like?

Recipies would be fantastic! I'm not really one for cooking large spreads, but I do eat just about anything although I stay away from rich tomato based meals (Some pastas and whatnot) for the sake of personal taste.

[Nephthes]

Recipies would be fantastic! I'm not really one for cooking large spreads, but I do eat just about anything although I stay away from rich tomato based meals (Some pastas and whatnot) for the sake of personal taste.

H'okie gimme a few to sort through my books and ill get ya some good stuff.

[handsdown]

<3 Radux

If there is a farmers market near by you, you should go check out their vegetables there. I find most of the veggies are cheaper than what you get in your grocery store - not to mention, you're also buying local and fresh. Farmers normally try to keep most of their veggies pesticide-free as well so it is pretty much win-win! You can also find good quality meats here at a good price that have come from free-range/run animals if your interested. I will tell you that the types of meat that are typically NOT budget friendly anywhere are chicken breasts, and most steak cuts.

[Deleted]

I have been through several rotations of p90x and this is what my advice to you would be as far as cheap and effective lifestyle changes would be. First off, you have to learn to cook just a few simple meals. It is so much healthier to whip up 2 chicken breasts, a potato and some broccoli than it is to nuke a lasagna in the microwave, and you get so much more food for your dollar with it as well. It will require 30 minutes instead of just 2 though but is well worth it in the long run.
To begin your day wake up and do max rep push-ups, max rep sit ups, max rep tri-cep dips then repeat those 3. Then jog on the spot for 5 minutes, interchanged with some jumping jacks or jumping your knees up as high as possible, then make yourself a decent breakfast, either some eggs and bacon, low fat yoghurt with fruit, bowl of muesli etc. None of this is expensive or time consuming, will take an extra 20 minutes in the morning.
For lunch get a footlong subway sandwich, one without processed meat, do not have cheese or sauce with it. Split this into 2 meals, have a 6 incher and then another a few hours later. If you feel the need to snack during the day have an apple or a nutrigrain bar handy but splitting up your lunch may make this unnecessary.
For dinner take that 30 minutes to prepare an actual dinner, it is def worth it trust me. You tube can teach you how to oven a potato and cook up some chicken on a pan, you can mix around sauces/vegetables to add so as to keep it interesting. This diet has very little fat in it and a respectable amount of carbs to keep you going.

By all means try to take part in some more vigorous aerobic exercise each day as you just seem to want to feel healthy, not get jacked etc. Your heart and lungs will thank you if you spend 30 minutes on top of the above each day running/swimming/balling etc and I guarantee following this will have you feeling great in less than a month and little to no extra cost to your purse. But it does require an hour or so each day to be sacrificed. GL

[Deleted]

As far as nutrition goes, take what people say with a grain of salt (pun intended) -- myself included. You need to find reputable sources for your information and make the best decisions based on that information so long as it can stay within your budget.

That said, I can't say carbs are your friend. Carbs come in 2 categories: complex and simple. Simple carbs = sugar. It's like eating a table spoon of the stuff. Unfortunately, fruit and many other things (like candy) fall under this category. Use sparingly. Complex carbs are basically plants that your body takes long periods of time to digest, like vegetables, beans or pasta (note: whole wheat kinda stuff). I personally limit my carb intake to mostly vegetables and the occasional bread for sandwiches (I just couldn't give up sandwiches). Get some frozen veggies from your local super market, as they're only 1-2 dollars per bag and last a long time. Each bag will give you 2 or even 3 servings. Just steam it in the microwave really quickly.

Fats: Fat isn't necessarily bad for you, despite what many will tell you. Your body can get its fuel from 3 places (and in this order): carbs >> fats >> protein. If you don't have a lot of carbs in your diet, your body will have to get its energy from your stored fat. This is a good thing. Not only does your body have to work harder for that energy (yay burning calories), but fatty things taste so good. I'm not saying it's ok to live off of southern comfort food -- it's not. I'm saying things like oils you use to cook in your food or omega-6 found in corn/grains or omega-3 found in some fish and nuts and such. They're all good for you. Your body actually needs and is composed of a lot of fat, even within cell membranes. You shouldn't avoid it. You can go cheap this way by snacking on things like almonds or cooking your meats (next part) in various oils.

Proteins: Ah yes. Meat. The primary staple (assuming you don't have dietary restrictions) of your meals. If you can get a Costco/Sams Club kind of deal (go in on it with your friends -- that's what I did in college), you can get a several pound bag of chicken breasts for like... 5 dollars (has over a dozen in the bag). It's fantastic. Protein is awesome because it keeps you going. Not like sugar keeps you awake, but it helps repair your body after it breaks down; which is exactly what exercise (yes, even walking) will do. You can also get protein in the form of beans.

Exercise: A very large portion of weight loss will come from diet. Remember that. Exercise will help, as well, but it won't play as big of a role. Walking is a good start if you're over weight. Body weight exercises (like pushups/crunches/pullups/wall squats/etc) are also very cheap ($0) and can be a fantastic workout.

There are plenty of places online to find information about both nutrition and exercise. Just make sure to be careful to judge credentials for both places and make a proper, informed decision that can keep you safe, as well as help keep your expenses down.

Glad to see someone who actually knows what he's talking about here.

OT, I was in your shoes a few years ago when I was still in Uni, very tight budget and was competing in amateur bodybuilding shows and powerlifting meets. I replaced every drink I used to drink with cold water (with some lime or lemon slices added in for flavour) or green tea, both are dirt cheap and good for you. I lived in a student hall that provided breakfast, so I always smuggled several boiled eggs and various fruits every morning to be eaten throughout the day. Try to buy food that you eat a lot in bulk. I used to buy about 5-10kg of 90% fat minced beef at a time. I just stir fry them and get rid of the fat if I'm in the maintenance or cutting phase and keep them if I was trying to gain weight.

Stir frying is a cheap and easy way to prepare your food. I normally add my minced beef/chicken/prawns/scallops with various veggies, a little bit of chilli/soy sauce and whatever stuff that I have lying around depending on my needs (a couple of tablespoon of olive/peanut oil if I need more fat. I'm not a fan of carbs except peri workout but if you want, you can add some rice into the fry as well).

Another thing that I did a lot, and still do sometimes is doing most of my cooking during the weekend. I grill my chicken or steak on a sunday afternoon, divide them into portions and freeze them for the upcoming week. Takes only an hour or two and I saved a lot of cooking time for the rest of the week.

My training was more suited for bodybuilding and powerlifting so I don't have much input on that. Maybe you can do a couple of sprint sessions a week. Go to your local football field, sprint along the length of the field, then walk across the field, when you reach the other side, sprint along the side again. Repeat 5-10 times and you get yourself a nice cardio workout that doesn't take hours. Or instead of a field you can use stairs. Sprint up, then walk down etc.