morganstuart's Journal, 07 May 2021

Sweetie, you can do it. Do you have a Bulk Barn store of some sort? Things like lots of beans beans, couscous, rice, lentils, you can find for cheap if you look for it. 

Sorry for my bad grammar! 

Morgan— the most important thing for your circumstances is to do the best you can do. Organic is great but if it isn’t in the budget, it just isn’t. There are lists of foods on the internet that tell you which fruits and vegetable that would be best to buy organic if you could and those that are not as imperative. Do what you can do. Wash your produce and go from there. When you are financially able you can chose the things that you feel are most critical. For now concentrate on keeping your portions an appropriate size, and avoid packaged and processed stuff.when possible. Do you have a food bank close to you?. In my area of the country we have a lot of them and those people who can have been very generous . I see the things that people here are buying and think oh my gosh, the money spent on that would buy a lot of food. I’m so glad you have a JOB! Hopefully that will certainly ease your burden. Hang in their and do your best 

I second what Kenna's saying. There are very few things I buy organic especially if they have a skin that I'm going to remove. Farmer's markets here allow for vouchers if you qualify and you get double the value on fruits and veggies, meaning $1 buys you $2 worth of stuff. Buying non-processed food in bulk will save a ton and you can meal prep. Frozen fruit and veggies can be just as good as fresh. Most of my fruit comes from frozen if I don't grow it in the yard or get it from neighbors.  

I shop at 4 different supermarkets since prices vary so much between places for the same thing so I learned where the cheapest are that's how safe plus I use to buy a months worth not anymore lots of it eneded up spoiling before I ate it total waste of money but I also don't like buying processed food that last 2 yrs yuck too much chemical so I now buy on a weekly basis so much better 

The biggest dent in your weight loss can be made from cutting portion sizes. And NO desserts! If your meal plan sends you a tray, try only eating half and throw the rest away. Your $20-25/week can be used for fresh fruits to snack on the go. You should be able to lose 5 pounds a week, easy, just by cutting down on the volume you consume each day. Keep us posted! 

Morgan not sure what location your in but check your farmers markets if you have them. Some of them have programs that help you buy fruit and veg. In my city they have a double up program. When I would get tokens for the market I would get the same amount in green tokens that could only be used for fruit and veg. I.e. if I got $50 in tokens $50 would come off my snap and I would get $50 in regular tokens and an extra $50 of tokens that would only be used for fruit and veg.  

In Nevada we have drive thru food banks at our schools and some churches. You drive up, open your trunk and it's loaded in there for you.  

Good for you for committing to healthy eating in spite of the financial challenge! You're being smart long term to dedicate money to good food. Filling up on cheap junk food will cost more in medicine in the long run. Best of luck!  

Lentils, chickpeas, and quinoa with fresh veggies are my husband and I’s go to when we need food to stretch. I like to keep cans of low sodium rotel and tomato paste on hand for quick, cheap, and easy curries and soups (which really stretch). We will pre-portion the food so that we don’t over eat into the next day’s portions. We also keep oats in hand for cheap snacks - sometimes we make out own granola bars. If you have a bulk/package free store near you, you can get the most for your money on the dry goods (for example bins where you can scoop into bags or your own reusable container). Apples, cuties, grapes, and dark chocolate chips make good treats to satisfy sweet cravings! 

Also, depending on your carb allowance - international markets tend to have cheaper brown rice. We eat rice a minimum of 3 days a week so, we buy the huge bags to last us a few months. 

How exciting Morgan, congratulations on your new job!! I do intermittent fasting too, and then eat what I am allowed in calories on this site and I have been losing, but slowly for I don’t exercise like I should. Again Congratulations 🎉🎈 🎊 👏👏👏👍 

Good for you! Glad things are getting better. 

This is what will work. But you will not like it. Nothing worth while is easy, right? I call it the Good Carb diet. Good Carbs are leafy greens and colorful veggies. No tubers allowed. Eliminate all other carbs: grains and legumes. No fruit. Limit dairy. Add in proteins, but not necessarily low fat. We need fats. No breakfast. 3 meals a day is B.S. Eat when you are truly hungry. Eat between 12-2pm and 5-7pm. Twice a day. All servings should fit inside a 3 cup bowl. That will give you a 16hr fast everyday. Some people may call it the God's diet with protein. Whatever, all I know it that it works. Discipline! Then success. 800-1200 calories a day. No hunger. The weight is coming off cheap. Good Luck  

Congratulations on your job, and your commitment to eating healthier!! Sounds like a win-win all around!👏👏👍 

I agree there's not a lot you can buy for that amount of money but plus plus with your job things will change and you are already starting to change so win win