OT- We're Number Two!

erin3213 wrote:
I live in the midwest, I definitely see where the statistics are at. Every restaurant in this area is 80% fried food.

Notice how fresh foods, produce, organics, etc are higher priced than a can of spaghettios? Now, don't get me wrong, I'm down for Chef Boyardee, but the nutritional content will vary from a meal of fish, salad and wild rice, etc. When the economy is tough, you tighten the belt.

There are waaaay too many pre-prepared foods at our disposal. Go shop at a grocery store where some are really trying to stretch their dollar, their shopping carts look a little different.

We went to the store today and were having this very discussion! LOL

How much is rice? How much are generic noodles? How much is generic frozen vegetables?

No, a person on a budget cannot afford fresh vegs and fruits. Nor can they afford to eat meat (chicken/seafood either) every single night. We can afford it and don't eat it every single night. Those items (meat, seafood, chicken) tend to be once a week sort of things.

The frozen vegs are not the best option but it's better than reaching for that $10 bag of Tyson Chicken Nuggets which are pure crud BTW (Purdue makes a better lightly breaded alternative that costs the same or even better go for the unbreaded frozen chicken strips and throw them in with some frozen vegs, a bit of soy sauce, and put the whole thing over rice with an hard fried egg and you have a good and cheap meal).

You can also make your own bread (another way to save money).

We determined that it is possible to eat well on a limited budget but that it requires some creative alternatives.

(Our food bill ranges from $600 - 800 a month for a family of 3 but we are not on a budget. When we were first married, 15 years ago we were on a budget and kept it down to $200 a month for a family of 2 by trolling Big Lots and other discount stores for food).

For all those who want cake, it is a lie

joeaikman wrote:
For all those who want cake, it is a lie

Questioning my validity? I have plenty of cake to go around :)
Oh and 499 posts, one to go :)
http://i.imgur.com/KuVMNkW.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/jw2NTuN.jpg

Edit Lisa, that much a month!? That's insane, my family is 3 is just about £400 a month at most, normally we spend £60 a week and then stop by mid week, can't believe how much Americans spend on food, larger portions perhaps? Or a very expensive country, I'm genuinely surprised because your post points to health, not buying the most expensive crud and going for healthy options.

menace1211 wrote:
Shaygitz, no way! What's up real-life neighbor!? Do you still live in the area? I thought nobody would have a clue as to where GB is.

Alas, no. For reasons that sound ridiculous to me now, we moved to Phoenix several years ago. I miss CA like you can't believe

L_B_123XD wrote:

joeaikman wrote:
For all those who want cake, it is a lie

Questioning my validity? I have plenty of cake to go around :)
Oh and 499 posts, one to go :)
http://i.imgur.com/KuVMNkW.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/jw2NTuN.jpg

Edit Lisa, that much a month!? That's insane, my family is 3 is just about £400 a month at most, normally we spend £60 a week and then stop by mid week, can't believe how much Americans spend on food, larger portions perhaps? Or a very expensive country, I'm genuinely surprised because your post points to health, not buying the most expensive crud and going for healthy options.

It's quite a lot (unless you live in NYC), especially if you're only eating meat once a week. From personal experience, food's generally less expensive here than in the UK. Portions in restaurants are definitely larger, can't speak with authority about those in private homes :wink:

L_B_123XD wrote:

joeaikman wrote:
For all those who want cake, it is a lie

Questioning my validity? I have plenty of cake to go around :)
Oh and 499 posts, one to go :)
http://i.imgur.com/KuVMNkW.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/jw2NTuN.jpg

Edit Lisa, that much a month!? That's insane, my family is 3 is just about £400 a month at most, normally we spend £60 a week and then stop by mid week, can't believe how much Americans spend on food, larger portions perhaps? Or a very expensive country, I'm genuinely surprised because your post points to health, not buying the most expensive crud and going for healthy options.

Did you make those?

They are amazing!!

Milk is $5 a gallon and whole wheat bread costs $4 a loaf. I can't eat white flour so we do have to spend more money since I have to buy whole wheat (including pasta) and brown rice. Luckily with the trend of gluten-free diets, it's not all that hard to find these things. They just cost more.

Also, my husband loves....I mean LOVES....lamb and wants to eat something with lamb once a week. He also loves duck and has to have it once a month. Those things are not cheap. Although I do have a tip, grocers will put these items on sale the day before they "expire". So a $14 lamb steak will be $7 if it expires the next day. All you have to do is take it home and freeze it and it's fine.

I'm sure we could slash our grocery bill by at least 1/3 but we rarely eat out so why not splurge on really nice things? We chose to buy high quality grocery items (after years of having to crunch pennies when we were first married) instead of giving our food money to a restaurant.

I've never considered if grocery prices are higher in the US or not.

(two posts so it's not a wall of text coming at you guys)

Also, I have often wondered at the disparity of Lil' Debbie's costing .99 and a bag of apples costing $5. The thing is, if you truly wanted to eat healthy? You could. You don't have to buy that .99 treat. You can buy some frozen vegs or fruit. Not as tasty as fresh, of course, but you can put it into dishes and treats to make something better for you.

There are ways to eat healthy on a budget, it just takes some creativity and a ton of determination/hard work. It shouldn't be that way but it is and really until things change? There is nothing you can do other than figure out a way around it.

For instance, when my husband went on his latest cruise (term for Navy deployment) they had nothing but junk! It was all fried, all bad for you. They had no fresh fruit, no fresh vegs because there was a problem with having them delivered. So you know what he did? He lived off of cereal for several months till they finally got it all straight. Now he can't even look at cereal but it worked. Him and the other guys who are all marathon runners and very into being healthy all ate nothing but cereal while there were no healthy options. It was a pain but they had no other choice. Just an example of how it is possible to eat "better" even when there are no other options available.

About the extreme couponing, I have a friend who does this. She went from a $600 a month grocery bill to $150. It works but takes a ton of effort.

tobypine2 wrote:
I'm still considered obese but I'm better than when I was single. I just blame my wife's great cooking now :). And your right, it does take effort. She puts time into reading blogs, printing out coupons and finding deals but we wouldn't be able to eat well and healthily otherwise. We live in the south and there's tons of fatty options around. Thankfully we also have a meat processor, apple/peach orchard, and old fashioned flour mill within 40 minutes of us. All a bit more than buying bulk at the store but tons better and fresh

Got a friend who's been out of San Diego for almost twenty years now Nd whenever hes on cruise or assigned elsewhere he almost lives off oatmeal and fruit when he can get it so I know where your hubby comes from. :). Now where's that kinda willpower come from? Lol

I've never talked about it on the forum because it's personal but I've been on my own weight loss journey. I've lost about 100lbs over the past two years. I think it's pretty obvious from some of my posts that I am a major health, nutrition, exercise fiend now. It's something I'm super passionate about.

BTW - I'm no longer obese, however, I was once so obese that it hurt to go up the stairs. My knees hurt so much. It's why I lost the weight. It was either that or have knee surgery. Now my knees are better because of the running/hiking I do and because I lost so much weight.

There are articles now regarding studies done on what is called "recreational" running. This is a combination of running/walking and the proven benefit to your knees. it flies in the face of conventional wisdom because the old belief was that running is bad for your knees. It IS bad, if you are running extremes.

Hang in there and keeping plugging away at it, you can do it. It just takes some major determination.

@Toby -

Do you know what a bread belly is? Over eating of white processed flour can cause bloating and make a person look like they have a beer gut. I think going almost gluten free would probably benefit you. I don't believe in denying ourselves the things we love to eat. Just learn to make it a treat and eat it in moderation.

I wouldn't go all gluten free but start trying to cut back on the bread/grains and when you do eat them? Substitute whole wheat/grains where you can.

Yeah, I agree that a medical condition is no real excuse for being obese. It all comes down to lack of will power (both in eating right and exercise). Plenty of people with thyroid issues manage to get it under control and stay healthy.

I freely admit that I got so overweight because I didn't eat right and I hated exercising. But then I decided that I wanted to be healthy more so I changed. It really is all up to you, you can do it!