Healthy Food on a budget!

Myth: Healthy Foods are expensive

Yes, I agree. ‘Healthy’ food is expensive. Or more specifically fad dieting super foods that are cleverly marketed are expensive.

But those foods are not what you really need. They make up an elitist form of health or nutrition.

This perception that following a diet made up of expensive food is the only way to lose weight or maintain a healthy lifestyle has become a barrier for a lot of people.

However, a study run in 2015/2016 by the Queensland university of technology actually showed that a healthy diet is cheaper than an unhealthy diet, when following the Australian national dietary guidelines.

Fact: Eating well doesn’t have to break the bank.

In 2017 alone nearly 46% of Australians were actively trying to lose weight and half of them spent money on a particular program or specific diet. All of these diets are pushing costly ingredients, powders and supplements that are nutritionally similar or inferior to healthy everyday options.

Let’s look at my weekly shop for a start. I shop for my partner and myself. I do a lot of baking, cooking and can never pass up a good cheese platter. We spend between $150-$200 a week on our grocery bill. This includes everything from toilet paper to dog food and well Jackson eats a lot!!

$150-$200 might seem like a lot, but an average meal at a fast food joint for the two of us would cost $30. So that’s only 5-6 meals in total, however that grocery bill feeds us for breakfast, lunch and dinner for 6-7 days.

It is about stripping it back to what is actually healthy and keeping it simple, especially when on a tight budget! Some of the ways I do this is through batch cooking for my freezer, eating in season and stocking up when things are on sale.

Last night I made a big batch of Bolognese sauce – enough to freeze 8 meals worth and dinner last night. We had it with traditional pasta (aka white pasta) cheese and a little side salad. The ingredients for the whole thing cost me $31.50 and will cater for 9 meals between us so $3.50 a meal or in other terms 1.75 per serve.

That is nuts. $1.75 per serve for a balanced meal of good protein, carbohydrates, healthy fats that is loaded with vegetables and well absolutely delicious!

The trick to eating healthy, or starting to eat healthy when on a strict budget is to start to incorporate small changes. Try to focus on including more fresh or frozen vegetables in your meals.

Don’t stress it. Eating healthy, or following a healthy lifestyle should cause stress. If it is, check in with yourself and see where that pressure is coming from? It is from trying to fit into a certain diet program, or making sure you have the exact right about of calories and nutrients you need in the day?

There is nothing exact that you can follow, as everyone is different. Do what feels right to you, and fits within your budget. Ignoring the marketing out there that is trying to get you to spend your $$$ on supplements and that latest fad diet ingredients.

Reply to this email if you need cheap and delicious recipe suggestions or tips on navigating the grocery store to fit your budget!