It’s almost 8:00 p.m. You have spent the day studying, working, and meeting with friends, but now you are starving. Everywhere you look there are enticing signs for quick meals at low prices. It’s convenient, it’s cheap, and it can’t be
As a busy college student, it’s difficult to fight the allure of fast food. While its convenience and prices are unmatched, eating fast food regularly can lead to nutritional deficits and an overall unhealthy lifestyle. In the effort to win the war against fast food, dietetics student Sydney Means ('21) offers a few tips to eat healthy on a budget.
Planning is half the battle. Plan your meals for the week and make a grocery list before shopping. This will ensure that you have all the necessary ingredients for your meals, minimize food waste, and reduce impulse purchases. Make sure your meals require a realistic amount of prep time and fit your taste. This will help you follow through with your plan.
How To Eat Healthy On A Tight Budget: Tips & Tricks
Locally made or grown food means that you don’t pay for shipping. This method is also better for the environment and keeps your food fresher. Eating local produce like honey can even help combat seasonal allergies. Most of all, supporting local farmers and understanding where your food comes from is a great way to help the community and eat mindfully.
Here’s a secret big brands don’t want you to know: the generic brands are sometimes the exact same food repackaged and cheaper. Buying generic brand cuts costs, and most of the time you won’t know the difference. Generic options even exist for healthier foods such as quinoa, brown rice, yogurt, and nuts. Won’t know ‘til you try!
We know that college students are incredibly busy, but prepping healthy meals and snacks at home to bring with you on the go can help you overcome the temptation of fast food. Microwaves are conveniently located throughout BYU campus to help out. Need some ideas? Nuts, baby carrots, apple slices, and protein bars can be great pocket snacks.
How To Eat Healthy Foods On A Budget
Frozen and canned food retain the majority of nutrients and are extremely budget-friendly. They’re an easy way to add fruit, vegetables, or protein to any meal. Another bonus is that these foods store longer and are more flexible to changing meal schedules. In-season produce is fresher, tastes better, has the most nutritional benefits, and is often cheaper. Nutrition? Check! Budget? Check! Your parents will be proud.
“I think a lot of people see healthy eating as an all-or-nothing endeavor, ” Means says. “When college students think about improving their health, they often make grandiose plans like ‘I will never eat out again, ’ or ‘I’m going to exercise for an hour every day.’ These ambitious goals can lead to burnout or disappointment when we inevitably fail to reach such lofty goals. The best health changes are the ones that are easy to do. As you follow through with these simpler goals, you’ll feel more motivated to live an overall healthier lifestyleDo you feel like you can’t afford to eat healthy? Good news! A nutritious, healthy diet can be affordable if you know how to make it happen. Let’s look at what foods to buy and how to get the most out of what you spend money on.
Foods that are rich in protein, vitamins, minerals, water, and fibre will keep you satiated and are the best prevention from any long-term deficiencies. Nutrient-poor, processed junk foods give you calories but not much else and they make it easy to overeat and spend more. Your best option is to focus on whole foods. Check out the graphic below to see some of the most affordable yet nutrient-dense foods you can find. If these make up the majority of your shopping cart at the store, you’re doing it right.
How To Eat Healthy On A Budget? Here Are 7 Tips That Can Help
Cooking at home is simply a lot less expensive than eating out. The cost of ingredients is often less than a third of what you’d pay, even in a cheap restaurant. Cooking big batches on the weekend is probably the most cost-effective thing to do but even if you enjoy whipping up something simple every day, you will still save a lot. Plus, cooking at home makes it easier to make healthier choices. You have to plan, shop, and prep, there’s not much chance for a spontaneous splash just because you passed a pizzeria at your lunch break.
– Pack your own lunch. Cook in bulk and use the leftovers as your lunch at work. You will be amazed how much this simple change saves in the long run. Make your own sauces, dressings, and seasonings. For example, all vinaigrettes are simply 3 parts oil to 1 part vinegar plus the spices and herbs of your choice.
Choose a day to plan your meals for the upcoming week on and stick to it. You will then be able to easily make a grocery list for the ingredients you need, which will eliminate buying too much and letting food go to waste. If you want inspiration, check out one of our previous shopping lists here.
Simple Strategies For Eating Healthy On A Tight Budget
Freezer will be your friend from now on. Especially when you cook in bulk or shop discounted foods that would spoil soon. The trick is to always freeze things in portions so you have an easy time reheating exactly how much you will use. Here are a few ways your freezer will help you save money on healthy food.When you’re on a budget, grocery shopping can provide a lot of financial stress. In fact, the idea that healthy food is expensive is one of the most common objections people have about improving their diet. While the cost of food continues to increase, there are some simple strategies that you can implement to help eat healthy on a budget without forgoing finances.
Put simply, “healthy eating” is consuming a diet of primarily whole foods that provides a good balance of macronutrients (carbohydrates, protein, and fat) and micronutrients (vitamins and minerals) in a calorie intake that supports your overall health, while allowing room for indulgence and treats.
And, while there is a common misconception that eating well needs to cost a lot of money, the reality is that eating healthy does not need to be expensive. In fact, you can eat well without stretching your budget with a little know-how. Ultimately, it comes down to planning, comparing, cooking, and minimizing waste.
How To Eat Clean And Healthy On A Budget
Prioritizing whole foods can help you stick to your budget while prioritizing your health at the same time. Unprocessed whole foods, such as grains, legumes, produce, dairy, and meat, are often less expensive than their fully prepared or highly processed counterparts. For instance, per serving, oats are cheaper than cereal, a block of cheese is cheaper than shredded cheese, and a bag of rice of cheaper than a packet of ready rice. Moreover, calorie per calorie, whole foods are more nutrient-dense than hyper-processed foods, which makes them more satisfying, satiating, and filling overall (1, 2). For instance, although a bag of chips may be less than or similar in price to a bag of apples, snacking on apples is far more nourishing and filling than snacking on chips.
The debate as to whether to buy organic food is a big and complex one and, while there are definitely benefits to supporting local, organic farmers, whether you choose to buy organic food is a personal choice. It’s important to understand that whole foods – organic or not – are nutrient-dense foods. In fact, several independent studies have shown that, while consumption of organic foods may reduce exposure to pesticide residues and antibiotic-resistant bacteria, there are no significant health or nutritional differences between food grown conventionally versus organically (3). So, if you’re trying to eat healthy on a budget, just prioritize whole foods and don’t stress over whether they are organic or not.
Here’s the deal, there is no such thing as a superfood. The term “superfood” is not a scientific term, it’s a marketing term used to describe foods thought to be exceptionally dense in nutrition. The reality is, ALL whole foods are “super” foods and while, yes, some whole foods are more nutrient-dense than others, all whole foods contain nutrients. Cacao nibs, spirulina, maca, and bee pollen are all wonderful, but if they are not in the budget you don’t need to stress over it. There is no need for a $20 smoothie with fresh dates from Morocco, organic Mexican chia seeds, and salt from the Himalayan mountains, when a simple bowl of oatmeal will do the trick.
Eating Healthy On A Budget Doesn't Have To Be Impossible
Contrary to popular belief, frozen whole food is healthy. Freezing vegetables, as well as fruit, meat, and seafood, is simply a method of food preservation that allows us to store fresh foods, reduce spoilage, and save food for a later time when they are no longer in season. In fact, freezing food is one of the best methods of food preservation as it puts a hold on moisture loss, nutrient loss, and growth of microorganisms. By the time you pick up a fresh vegetable or fruit at the grocery store, it might have
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