"I can't afford to eat healthy."
"You are what you eat."
Yes you do, yes you can, and yes we are.
I am not a cook or a nutritionist, and I'm too frugal to spend a lot of money on everyday eating. I have learned firsthand though that what we put into our body directly affects our health, our energy level, our mood, and even our intelligence.
If I could convince you that with the same amount of money and prep time (or less!) that you use for your quick meals, even including those drive-thru pick-ups, you could eat healthy, would you give it a try? I'l try to give you just enough to inspire you, and then you can create your own ideas. There's a fun challenge to making the nutrition perfect, and mine never is, but if you ate a fast food burger and fries today, I can beat that!
For breakfast today I had a bowl of maple & brown sugar instant oatmeal, two dried plums, and my multi-vitamin and calcium supplements for the day.
Prep time: less than 3 minutes, counting 2 minutes in the microwave
Cost: approx. 50c
Calories: 235 (I eat gummy vitamins!)
Calcium: 63% of RDA (Recommended Daily Allowance)
Potassium: 204 of 3500 RDA
Protein: 5 of 64 RDA
Fiber: 12 of 21 RDA
Sugar: 24 of 48 RDA (The gummies are 5 . . .)
Iron: 16% of RDA
Vit. C: 27% of RDA
Vit. A: 45% of RDA
Carbohydrates: 47 of 160 RDA
Sodium: 263 of 2300 RDA
For lunch:
Prep time: 5 minutes in the microwave
Cost: approx. $4
Calories: 337
Calcium: 22% of RDA
Potassium: 214 of 3500 RDA
Protein: 10 of 64 RDA
Fiber: 12 of 21 RDA
Sugar: 21 of 48 RDA
Iron: 28% of RDA
Vit. C: 125 of RDA
Vit. A: 61 of RDA
Carbohydrates: 58 of 160 RDA
Sodium: 588 of 2300 RDA
For dinner:
I've become a fan of "bowls." Just choose your own ingredients, and throw them all in! Tonight I had organic spring salad with a whole small gala apple, 1 tsp sunflower seeds, 1 tsp (already sliced) almonds, kelp powder, 1/2 can sliced beets, 1 can blackeyed peas, and 1/4 cup frozen peppers & onions. No dressing needed with all theses flavors, and there are plenty of leftover ingredients for a new salad creation tomorrow! If you're on the road, Chipotle has great bowls. Just be careful how much you put in it!
Prep time: 10 minutes. I heat the peas, peppers & onions, and beets on the stove, and cut the apple and put everything else in the bowl while they heat.
Cost: approx. $3
Calories: 566
Calcium: 28% of RDA
Potassium: 1305 of 3500 RDA
Protein: 29 of 64 RDA
Fiber: 19 of 21 RDA
Sugar: 28 of 48 RDA
Iron: 44% of RDA
Vit. C: 101% of RDA
Vit. A: 34% of RDA
Carbohydrates: 93 of 160 RDA
Sodium: 1565 of 2300 RDA (Be careful not to eat too many canned foods - lots of sodiun!)
You don't have to study labels of everything you eat, and you don't have to keep up with all these numbers. I included them here to tell you my secret. I use the My Fitness Pal website, and it counts everything for me. At first it might feel a little tedious typing everything you eat, but after a while you find yourself in a kind of eating routine, repeating the same foods often. It keeps up with the nutrition stats too, including others I didn't list here, like fats, trans fats, etc. If you do nothing except trade your fast food for healthier food, you're a winner!
Four more important words for healthy eating:
Portions: At first you will feel like you're still hungry, because your body has adapted to all that junk food. Fill up your hunger with water, or use my trick of flavoring a glass of water with a couple drops of whatever drink you want. I like peach juice or Sunny D. If your stomach growls that's a good thing. It's shrinking so it doesn't need as much to fill it up.
Variety: Even with healthy food, you need to vary what you eat from day to day. If you're watching your numbers, try to balance out today's highs and lows tomorrow. And even if something is really good for you, too much of a good thing isn't a good thing. Mix it up. And that includes giving yourself treats - anything you want. Just work it into your plan (as opposed to eating whatever pops into your mind at whatever moment), and watch the portions.
Exercise: Eating well is half the health quotient. Exercise is the other. If losing weight is a concern, look up (on My Fitness Pal or somewhere else) how many calories a person your age and size should be taking in, and then whatever you take in above that number, you need to also burn. If you eat too much, work it off.
Water: Water really is so important. Our bodies are made mostly of water, and when we don't drink enough, it slows everything down, and we feel tired and out of energy. Think of a river drying up during a drought, and the hard red clay of the riverbed cracking in the sun. Eight cups of water a day is a good goal.
How did I do today?
Calories: 1182 - Good! My personal daily intake is 1280 to lose weight and 1480 to maintain.
Calcium: 113% of RDA - Good!
Potassium: 1825 of 3500 RDA - Low!
Protein: 44 of 64 RDA - A little low
Fiber: 36 of 21 RDA - OK
Sugar: 77of 48 RDA - High - You'll learn that sugar is in a lot more than candy and cake . . .
Iron: 89% of RDA - OK
Vit. C: 253% of RDA - A lot, but maybe OK for flu season?
Vit. A: 140% of RDA - A little high
Carbohydrates: 206 of 160 RDA - A little high
Sodium: 2431 of 2300 RDA - OK - I never salt anything, but cans and prepared foods have a lot.
Water: 7 cups (We can't count the water in tea and coffee.)
So tomorrow I will try to balance this. Maybe a meat for protein, a banana for potassium . . . and I'll watch the sugar intake!
Again, it's not complicated. Ignore all the nutrition data if it stresses you. Just trade your junk food for something your body needs for strength, energy, happiness, intelligence, and health!
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