Want to save money on food?

[J.Apple902]

Get healthy.

I lead an incredibly healthy lifestyle and save TONS on groceries. I grocery shop on my lunch break each Monday for the week and keep things in the work fridge along with stuff that I bring from home. My daily diet is something like:

8am - breakfast bar on the go (optional protein shake)
9am - yogurt with granola at work
1030am - apple with glass of milk
12 - chicken salad or lunch meat sandwhich (I bring the salad lettuce and cooked chicken from home)
3pm - muscle milk, this could be another fruit snake, or something like crackers, something light and healthy
530pm - another salad
615pm - gym (pre workout shake)
730pm - clif bar and post workout protein shake
8pm - chicken/steak/pork with veggies (frozen or fresh but store bought)

Once you eliminate processed and prepacked foods and eat fresh things that you cook / prepare yourself, you save a ton and are eating rather healthy. It's win-win.


I am also a casual body builder. This is the diet I pursue leading up to summer. The intent is to be high protein, high fiber, low carb; enough protein to maintain muscle, but very low fat/carbs so I am in a caloric deficit of 300-400 cal/day.

[Joan.of.the.Arch]

In what sense is there a calorie deficit? Either you are maintaining your energy output and weight or you are not.

And um, do you consider Clif bars, protein shakes, lunch meat, crackers, and muscle milk (sorry, I don't know what that is) to be nonprocessed and not prepackaged?

[J.Apple902]

In what sense is there a calorie deficit? Either you are maintaining your energy output and weight or you are not.

And um, do you consider Clif bars, protein shakes, lunch meat, crackers, and muscle milk (sorry, I don't know what that is) to be nonprocessed and not prepackaged?

Caloric deficit as in I am burning more calories per day than I am consuming, with the intent on losing about a pound a week for 6-8 weeks. You can maintain most of your muscle mass (not gain) and still cut fat as long as you aren't in a caloric deficit of more than 400-500 calories.

Clif bars are natural ingredients, also organic.
lunch meat is deli meat, its pure and not processed like pre-packaged meat
if you are going to buy snacks, get whole grain non-processed foods which is totally doable
muscle milk and whey protein are supplements, its simply a protein isolate which has been dehydrated so you can consume at a different time. There is hardly any fat or crap calories in them, i.e. unlike processed stuff.

[Jtuxyan]

Very interesting that you have the morning split up at 8, 9, 10:30, and 12 instead of just one breakfast meal. Is there a particular reason for this, or is it just to address the urge to snack?

[gogirlanime]

I can't remember how I found this number it was for a class report but if you don't eat out once a day (if you eat fast food or restaurant food everyday) you save approximately $1134 a year!!! I also coupon and I line up coupons with sales and I've saved 50-90% (or sometimes even free) off of my groceries. I now usually pay $80-$90 a month on food

[9symphony9]

Yeah, frozen food also is very expensive. Especially TV dinners.

[tan fish]

Great routine there!

[Mori]

Very interesting that you have the morning split up at 8, 9, 10:30, and 12 instead of just one breakfast meal. Is there a particular reason for this, or is it just to address the urge to snack?

Medically its been found that 6 mini meals a day and better then 3 big ones. Your metabolism is usually better, improved control over blood sugars and snacking.

[preetim22]

You have a great diet plan just follow it.Even i too have my own diet plan but i don't follow it regularly.

[debtupset]

The best advice I can give is to eat natural foods. Skip as much processed foods as you can. And eat proper proportions. There is a cool program the government put together for helping people. Instead of a plate of meat and a potato, it focuses on eating smaller portions of meat for protein and increasing vegetables and grains. So instead of eating a huge 10oz steak, eat 4oz and a cup of steamed brocolli and some long grain rice.

Meat is our biggest expense at the store. Once we cut it to smaller portions and increased the foods we neglected, we got healthier and cut our grocery spending.

[dawnwes]

How do you figure you save a TON? Did you eat differently before?

How much do you spend for your eating habits? Protein shakes, granola, non-nitrate lunch meat, and clif bars are pricey.

We have a family of 5. If we all at like that, our grocery bill would go UP not down.

We eat pretty healthy, although we do have a couple of indulgences now and then.

We just stick to a protein, a carb, and a vegetable or fruit for each meal (usually) and have smaller snacks in between.

Dawn

Get healthy.

I lead an incredibly healthy lifestyle and save TONS on groceries. I grocery shop on my lunch break each Monday for the week and keep things in the work fridge along with stuff that I bring from home. My daily diet is something like:

8am - breakfast bar on the go (optional protein shake)
9am - yogurt with granola at work
1030am - apple with glass of milk
12 - chicken salad or lunch meat sandwhich (I bring the salad lettuce and cooked chicken from home)
3pm - muscle milk, this could be another fruit snake, or something like crackers, something light and healthy
530pm - another salad
615pm - gym (pre workout shake)
730pm - clif bar and post workout protein shake
8pm - chicken/steak/pork with veggies (frozen or fresh but store bought)

Once you eliminate processed and prepacked foods and eat fresh things that you cook / prepare yourself, you save a ton and are eating rather healthy. It's win-win.


I am also a casual body builder. This is the diet I pursue leading up to summer. The intent is to be high protein, high fiber, low carb; enough protein to maintain muscle, but very low fat/carbs so I am in a caloric deficit of 300-400 cal/day.

[UnknownXV]

Good advice, but I fear it wouldn't really save me that much money. I eat far more than I should (although I never gain any weight no matter what).

I really wish my appetite was smaller, so my wallet could get fatter.

[kellogg9]

For me i just dont eat much -- only 2 meals a day and its pretty routined: Oatmeal and toast in morning, supper consists of some brown rice and kale or other veggie. I am healthy and in shape. No reason to make it complicated.

[CoolHandLuke]

Ive been on a diet of protein bars fruit veggies and granola bars and v8 splash drinks myself and let me tell ya I feel a heck of a lot better than, corner store breakfast burritos, fast food burger for lunch, and something like lasagna for dinner, and then popcorn and a movie.... What was I thinking. Although I have not found it to be much cheaper if at all, I have lost 14 lbs... So its worth it!

BUT. I do very much so miss salt, bread, bacon, cheese, and RANCH! I could actually eat all of that together right now!

[SMSF101]

Your diet looks great but you need to consider your blood type. There are foods that seem nutritious bu it contradict to the needs of our blood type. For example your salad , it has an ingredient that are not healthy for our diet.