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AthenaSurrenders -> Healthy Lifestyles on a Budget (7/22/2013 11:03:36 AM)

So a number of recent threads have got me thinking about this.

I know I sometimes struggle to find a balance between making the healthiest choices for the household, and making the most economical ones. I'd really like to hear all your tips for how you live a healthy lifestyle on a serious budget.

While I don't buy into the idea of unhealthy food automatically being cheaper than healthy food (though that seems to be more of an issue in the US), many of the foods often praised for their nutrition are expensive - nuts, lean meats, avocados all spring to mind. Not to mention, if you've lived off processed food you may not have the equipment and store-cupboard supplies like spices that make it easy to begin cooking everything cheaply and from scratch. I see threads on this site and others where people on a budget are told to buy and cook in bulk - but what do you do if you're on such a tight budget you can't stretch to making that initial bulk purchase?

And exercise - swimming is held up as a fantastic form of exercise, and I'm a huge fan. For me it is prohibitively expensive, once you factor in traveling, parking, paying to get in, and choosing between paying for a crèche or taking a non-swimmer in and not being able to actually exercise.

I'm not complaining, and I know I am very fortunate in what we can afford. What I want is tips, advice, clever ideas and tricks that you've found for balancing healthy with thrifty. There's a lot of knowledge here about both of these issues, I'd love a thread sharing it and maybe we can all pick up some tips.



MistressDarkArt -> RE: Healthy Lifestyles on a Budget (7/22/2013 11:32:39 AM)

Howdy Athena! I just responded to Shahar with similar information, so I'm going to quote it here:
quote:

Yoga is one of the fastest ways I know to fix what ails you: physical, mental, emotional, spiritual. Some form of it is accessible to EVERYONE, even if all you can do is sit or lie down. Even if all you have is 10 minutes. Even if you can't leave the house. It is a philosophy as well as a physical practice.

Yoga took me out of a black hole 6 years ago when all I could do was lurch across my living room using two canes. I was in constant severe pain, and emotionally brutalized with grieving and blatant mismanagement of my medical condition. If it weren't for needing to care for my cats, I might have given up.

From the very first class, hope was restored and pain levels reduced significantly even though all I did was lie on the floor for an hour and a half listening to the teacher.

There is free yoga for every level all over the internet. It's available online whenever you need it. Free trials on several sites will let you get a feel for how it will affect you without needing to spend a cent. If you decide to join, it's unlimited access for anywhere from $10 to $18 per month. One in-person class usually costs that.

What's nifty is how you can search offerings on the site so you have a custom-tailored class for whatever is going on with you that day. You can put in what level you are, how long you would like the class to be, what problem you are trying to alleviate, what style (try them all!) and even what teacher you prefer. It will serve you up classes just right for right now. As your health/condition improves, you can move up to other levels.

Daily yoga practice balances and restores everything. It immediately reduced my desire for junk food. It was almost effortless making dietary changes; they just sort of manifested.

Here are a few places to start:
www.yogaglo.com
www.myyogaonline.com
www.doyogawithme.com

If you are brand new to yoga and can get yourself to an in-person class, I recommend taking a few restorative classes so the teacher can give you feedback while you learn. After that, online or on-your-own is fine.

Another groovy thing is there's not very much to buy to get started. Several cotton or wool blankets (raid your closets), a mat, perhaps a couple blocks (optional) (ebay, 2 for $7), some kind of strap (anything will do: neck tie, a towel, rope) and THAT IS IT!




AthenaSurrenders -> RE: Healthy Lifestyles on a Budget (7/22/2013 12:19:15 PM)

Oh, thank you for those links, I've been searching for a good structured yoga routine to ward off running injuries.

Two of my personal fitness goals are to be able to do a forearm stand and the wheel pose by the end of the year. Going to take a lot of practice since I've lost a lot of flexibility and upper body strength since I stopped doing karate at 18.



UllrsIshtar -> RE: Healthy Lifestyles on a Budget (7/22/2013 12:32:44 PM)

One thing I do to stretch the budget is buy fruit and veggies on sale and freeze them for smoothies.

I'm a bit of a smoothie freak, considering that I supplement my diet with protein shakes when I lift weights (only so much egg whites and grilled chicken I can take) and those things are nasty unless you add them too your smoothie.

We live in an area that has a lot of fruit production that all comes in at the same time every years, so you can buy a variety of fresh stuff really cheap here for only a couple weeks a year. A lot of that stuff (like peaches) isn't the best for eating when frozen and thawed out (texture wise) but when you blend it into a smoothie it's perfect.

Even greens can be frozen perfectly for this purpose. And with the rest of the fruit and veggies, you can either cut them up and flash freeze them in whole chucks, or pre-make smoothies and freeze those, or -what I usually do- pre-blend then by fruit type and then freeze them in ice cube trays, so you can mix and match whatever ingredients you want for your smoothie on the day you're making it.

Another thing I do is prep 'fast' snack meals once a week. I find that if I wait to figure out what I want to eat until I'm hungry, I'm more likely to grab junk, so I usually have a selection of sandwich makings, pre-cooked chicken, and pre-made salads sitting in the fridge for when I get hungry. At that point it's just grab, add dressing or heat up the meat, and eat. No fuss, and no thinking about what I have to make. This way I can shop sales, and have a bunch of healthy stuff sitting and waiting for when I just want to grab something on the go.

Home made pizzas are another quick, easy, cheap and healthy home made staple. Pre-made pizza dough and pizza sauce freezes well, and when it comes time to make them, you just throw on whatever veggies were on sale that week. If you pay attention to using a healthy dough that's low in sodium, it makes for a quick, easy, and healthy meal.



FrostedFlake -> RE: Healthy Lifestyles on a Budget (7/22/2013 3:09:44 PM)

Now and then a great cut of meat can be found in 'the family pack'. When and if the cut and the price appear, I might get one or even two, then quickly transfer them to ziplocks before freezing.

Salad takes on a different aspect if you add nuts. Or berries.

Use the BROWN rice. It has vitamins. The best storage is a 5 gallon bucket with snap tight lid, but you also want a smaller container on the counter next to the pasta.

Take up herb gardening. The simple approach is to sacrifice a soldering pencil to punch just one hole in a quart yogurt container. I shoot for 1/2" from the bottom. It's where the "O" is, where it says "32 OZ (2 LB)". Add an inch of perlite, fill with perlite/coco-fibre mix, sprinkle seed, sprinkle 1/4" more soil. Water/fertilizer mix, every time. You want some run-off, to wash out the used up nutrient solution. Coco is the shredded husks of coconuts, washed to get the salt out. It is, like perlite, a nutrient free medium that likes water. A lot. Knowing there is nothing in it gives the gardener total control of what is in it. When you are done with it, toss it in the compost heap.

What do you mean, you "don't have a compost heap"? Taking care of the planet is an important part of a healthy lifestyle. The difference? One cubic foot of soil per person per month. Or one cubic foot of garbage. Times 7 billion, carry the 2, account for the human factor, take the square root... seems to work out to 15 miles square and a foot deep, each month, going either one way or the other. 15 x 15 = 225. 225 x 12 = 2700 square miles, a foot deep, annually. Either garbage or fertilizer. But I probably did the math wrong. And, of course, it's icky. Everyone knows that.

Buy a bike. With a rack. And a pair of bags. Use those bags to bring the groceries home.



WebWanderer -> RE: Healthy Lifestyles on a Budget (7/22/2013 4:02:23 PM)

There are many, many exercises one can do without any expensive equipment. Yes, swimming is fun; no, it's not the cure-all. There are tons of simple body-weight exercises, from push-ups and sit-ups to more advanced stuff. You can look them up on youtube - all you'll need is your body and a fair amount of motivation.

As for eating healthy on a budget, go bananas! [:D] Seriously, bananas are awesome. You can buy at least 2lb for a buck - that'll last you a lot longer than a crappy burger from the dollar menu. Bananas, apples, whatever fruit is on sale this season... You can do wonders with eggs, too.



theshytype -> RE: Healthy Lifestyles on a Budget (7/22/2013 4:32:49 PM)

I'd like to get around the cost of eating healthy, but I often have to prepare two different meals at a time. An avocado salad is a filling meal for me, not so much for hubby, and the kids aren't exactly keen on some foods I eat. But, I try to overlap ingredients best I can.
The best I have come up with is plan meals around what produce is on sale. Needless to say, I can always use help in the area of budget-friendly shopping.

I'm not big on freezing (out of sight kind of thing and I'm horrible at remebering to take something out to defrost) so I'm visiting the store usually every few days to avoid throwing meat and produce out that has gone bad.

When I do come home with fruits and veggies, I immediately clean and cut (when applicable) and place them in the fridge at eye level, in easily-accessible containers. We're all more likely to snack healthy and use up all the produce that way.

As far as exercise, there are plenty of free options. Hitting the pavement (whether walking, jogging, or running) is always a very pocketbook-friendly alternative.
For myself, I purchased an elliptical. They can get pricey but there is a wide-range of prices. Plus, it's a one-time cost. I've had mine for 8+ years and has been a godsend. And when it's there, staring at me, I find it difficult to turn it down.



AthenaSurrenders -> RE: Healthy Lifestyles on a Budget (7/22/2013 10:36:52 PM)

theshytype- I also have the issue of preparing separate meals. Luckily the kiddo will eat just about anything but hubby is fussy and I'm a fussy eater in recovery. Me and the little one are happy with vegetarian meals but my husband doesn't really see the point of a dinner without meat.

I love to run but I'd suggest a new starter stick to brisk walking until the budget allows for a decent pair of shoes, it really made the difference for me.

Ishtar - I do similar with produce only I don't often drink smoothies. At the end of the week I'll gather up any veg about to go bad and blend it all up into a basic freezable sauce which I then use as a base for pasta sauce, curry, chilli etc. Also a good way to sneak veg into the aforementioned fussy eater.

Webwanderer - Bananas and eggs are staples in my house! Bananas are really the ultimate in healthy convenience foods.

Re:body weight exercises: any tips on making sure your form is correct? It can be tricky with new exercises especially if you're learning from a video and not a live person.

FrostedFlake- I have to admit to not using our compost bin enough. It's located in a stupid place (by previous tenants). We do have garden waste bins which are collected by the council and we do use that. Growing herbs is awesome - in our local supermarkets you can buy a herb plant in a little pot for about the same price as a bundle of fresh chopped herbs. They usually need to be replanted into a bigger pot but after that initial purchase your herbs are basically free.

This year is my first attempt at growing our own veg, on a very modest scale. Now that I've learned some things, next year we're going to be more ambitious.



WebWanderer -> RE: Healthy Lifestyles on a Budget (7/22/2013 10:54:13 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: AthenaSurrenders
Re:body weight exercises: any tips on making sure your form is correct? It can be tricky with new exercises especially if you're learning from a video and not a live person.

Kind of hard to screw up a sit-up. [&:] I suppose if you can't consult a non-youtube expert, you can stick to simple, basic body weight exercises.



AthenaSurrenders -> RE: Healthy Lifestyles on a Budget (7/22/2013 11:07:56 PM)

(I thought sit ups were no longer considered a good idea as a regular exercise?)

I know what you mean, but how many times have you seen someone sag at the hips or stick their butt in the air when doing push ups? Or let their knees come a long way forwards in a squat? Some of the most common mistakes are the ones people don't know they are doing. Until you have the muscle memory of how it is supposed to feel, it's easy to make errors.

I'm not being awkward, just trying to provoke discussion. I agree a bodyweight circuit is a good way to exercise without equipment.



ChatteParfaitt -> RE: Healthy Lifestyles on a Budget (7/22/2013 11:36:02 PM)

Great thread, Athena.

I suggest buying a small chest freezer, and using it. I shop and make large quantities and freeze. I do some seasonal freezing, mostly of expensive fruits and vegetables, like blueberries and peppers.

Most of the food I buy is on sale or at some sort of discount. Not an easy feat considering 90% of what I buy is not pre-processed. But I have the time and motivation to shop sales and use coupons.

Processed food is very expensive, it's almost always cheaper to make your own. I make my own salad dressings, bread crumbs, salsa, etc. And of course I brew my own tea. (In my mind, pre-brewed tea out of a can or bottle is blasphemy.)

I've been experimenting with making my own breakfast sausage.

Not only are these things cheaper, you don't have to worry about added sugar or sodium. You know what's been added, b/c you did it.

Learn how to use herbs and spices and how to grow your own. These are expensive, so see if your local health food store sells in bulk. Most do. What I don't grow myself I buy at the health food store, so no crap in my garlic powder to get it to pour w/o clumping. (Yes, this does mean putting it in the mortar and pestling it back into powder.)

Take some of your favorite foods, and learn how to re-engineer them so they are healthy. (I make a great oven fried chicken.) Also, learn how to cook the cheaper cuts of meat -- and slowly get used to eating less meat.




ARIES83 -> RE: Healthy Lifestyles on a Budget (7/23/2013 12:00:07 AM)

Growing your own veggies is a good way to go... how economical and labour intensive it is, really depends on how you set it up and what your doing... But it is possible to do it at a very low cost and low labour input.

I can't think of much thats healthier than home grown organic herbs & veggies.



jlf1961 -> RE: Healthy Lifestyles on a Budget (7/23/2013 12:22:53 AM)

Athena, I understand completely where you are coming from.

In some respects, I may be in a better position than you.

I own (alright, I pay the mortgage on) 2.65 acres outside of town, and have a garden plot that is just over 1.25 acres.

And I do not use chemical pesticides, but instead do the 'organic' thing. And contrary to what every one told me, I managed a few years ago to get blue berry bushes to grow along one fence line.

I also own about 200 acres outright, however due to the problems with accessibility, I have not done much more than build a hunting cabin on the property and some other minor improvements. I hunt deer on this property to supplement my meat supply through out the year.

As I have stated in the past, some friends and I provide a "service" to local ranchers in the county hunting wild hogs, the boars are processed for dog food, the sows are processed for meat.

A neighbor lets me raise two calves on their in pens on their property in return for some of the blue berries, hog meat, and some of the harvest from my herb garden, as well as part of the hog meat I get from the hog hunting.

I also have a friend who has a few dairy cows so I get fresh milk which I pasteurize at home, she also makes various cheeses, from the milk and from goat's milk. In return she gets wild hog meat for her and her kids, and I go over and help her with her garden every day.

So in a round about way, about six neighbors and I have formed our own little co-op.

All of that does not eliminate the need for grocery shopping, but it does help the budget. I still buy fish, as well as some other grocery items, which for my family of six, thirteen if you count the dogs, we spend an additional 400 at the walmart supercenter on groceries.

Which does not make much sense until you figure in the drought we are in. Even using well water on the garden, the west texas sun and heat does a number on the production.

What really boosted the efforts of my niece and I was the opening of a gym in town that has a $10 a month membership fee. And since she is the only one interested in working out with me, we pretty much hit the place every morning six days a week. Since march of this year I have traveled seven hundred miles on this "exercise" bike that had to be the brain child of a descendent of the Marques de Sade. And I think the trainer I am working with is also related to the good Marques. Every day I select a 15 mile stretch to ride on google maps, put it into the bike and the bike inclines or declines along the mapped course.

What happened to the exercise bikes that just sat there while you pedaled and had conversations with the person next to you?

Bottom line, with the luxuries that come from country living, I have established a healthy lifestyle that is very low cost. If I lived in town, there would be no way I could accomplish this.

Now granted, every spring I have about six dump truck loads of "dirt" hauled into the garden from a local feed lot which means for a few weeks it smells like you are living in the middle of a feedlot.



FrostedFlake -> RE: Healthy Lifestyles on a Budget (7/23/2013 1:38:18 AM)

quote:

Re:body weight exercises: any tips on making sure your form is correct? It can be tricky with new exercises especially if you're learning from a video and not a live person.


You are perceptive. Most folk just assume whatever they are doing is the right way. In fact, establishing good form is most of the job of a personal trainer. Or martial arts instructor. And it is very important. If you do it wrong, doing it more is just digging deeper. In response to your query, I will quote myself. I'm pretty sure you saw this earlier today, but am not sure you took it on board. The essence is, this exercise establishes better posture by strengthening the muscles we stand up straight with. The trick is, to use the wall as a guide to stand up straight while you do it. And, as it takes just one minute a day, how bad can it be?

quote:

Stand against the wall. Press fanny and shoulders against the wall. Press as much of what is between against the wall also. Press the back of the head against the wall. Look down. Raise arms so the forearm is vertical and the upper arm is horizontal and press the wrist and elbow against the wall. While maintaining contact with the wall at each point I just mentioned, draw the arms downward while keeping the forearms vertical. At the bottom of the stroke, the shoulderblades will push you away from the wall, slightly. As the arms are raised, forearms vertical, be sure to press the shoulders back to the wall once the shoulderblades are clear, every time. Continue to raise the arms until the upper arms are higher than horizontal. 45 degrees higher is ok, more is no help and could hyperextend the shoulder, so don't. Count one. Repeat fifty times. This should take a minute. Or more. Slower is better. In a few days it will be very apparent this simple act works the shoulders and upper back, quite easily and quickly, in ways that are difficult to accomplish with weights.


While I'm here, I'd like to mention something having to do with dumbells. Everyone knows about the biceps and the triceps and about the exercises meant to make them ...BIG. But a lot of people don't know about the third muscle in the upper arm, the brachialis, or about the exercise that works it.
[image]http://www.highfive.me.uk/Resources/Anatomy/UpperArm/All.jpg[/image]
Simply raise the dumbell across the body to the opposite shoulder, then slowly lower it, DO NOT SIMPLY DROP IT, and raise the other dumbell to the opposite shoulder and lower it. That's a rep. Do ten. THEN work the biceps in the usual fashion. You will have instant confirmation of the value of this advice. Don't forget to work the triceps equally. Note these moves don't work the shoulder. I use flys and wheels for that.

ETA ; Re : Can't screw up a sit-up. I'm 50, with a long story about my back. I do sit-ups on a half meter ball. It's unstable, so I keep hands and feet spread. I raise only to horizontal, then slowly lower myself back down. This means I am bent sharply backwards at the end or each rep. That means the muscles used are different. And that means the effect is different than a traditional sit-up. I think it's better, but it could just be better for me.



theshytype -> RE: Healthy Lifestyles on a Budget (7/23/2013 11:05:11 AM)

There was just a section on my news giving tips on how to not waste food and stay on budget.
A lot of it had to do with freezing. The most interesting tip that I had never thought of was to freeze unused eggs before expiration or purchasing extras on sale, cracking them open and filling ice cube trays. They can be used at a later time for scrambled eggs.
I really need to start utilizing my freezer.




ShaharThorne -> RE: Healthy Lifestyles on a Budget (7/23/2013 4:11:29 PM)

With my knees, I do squats all wrong...have trouble getting back up, especially when I am done loading the fridge after grocery shopping. Mom hears the grinding...

One thing I strongly suggest is label reading. I avoid HFCS and sodium when I can. I do admit a fondness for potato chips, but Mom can have the last of them... One day Mom bought home Miracle Whip and she heard me screaming two seconds later. I ate dry sandwiches until that jar was gone and we went back to Kraft Mayo.

Europe has bans on GMO products and California is trying to pass laws for labeling such foods. Me, I avoid anything made out of corn. Lets just say that I loathe Monsanto...

Olive oil is a staple in our house.




littlewonder -> RE: Healthy Lifestyles on a Budget (7/23/2013 8:58:44 PM)

like others here, I freeze a lot of stuff to keep if it's going bad or to store for later in the week where I can either just throw it in the crockpot before I leave for work or I can make it quickly after work. I'm also lucky in that I live in an area where there are a lot of little Hispanic markets and most times their veggies are cheaper plus I will buy discount healthy foods if they are near their expiration and I know it won't go bad or I will use up before the time. The same with fruits and vegetables. We also have a place here that has deals on meat where you can buy from their specific selections, 5 packs for $20. I will then bring them home and separate them into separate frozen portions so this way if it's just me, I can pull out one piece to make it or more if Master is here. I also only make homemade iced tea. I never ever buy it. If I'm going out, I fill up my water bottle that keeps stuff cold or hot up to 8 hours and this way I don't have to buy anything to drink while out. Also remember to eat before you go shopping. Don't go hungry or you will end up buying stuff you don't need and you will waste money.

Oh, if you have a Safeway around you, sign up for their savings card and then download their app on your phone. About once a week I go through their savings coupons and download them onto my card. They will even have savings on fruits and veggies and meats. They will also give you "Just for U" savings which are extra savings on stuff that they see that you buy often. I've even gotten free stuff from them, like a container of yogurt that I can take to work with me. A couple of weeks ago I was able to get a free box of biscotti which I like to take to work with me for my coffee.



ShaharThorne -> RE: Healthy Lifestyles on a Budget (7/24/2013 12:50:42 AM)

I have a Randalls card...well, use to. The store kept the old phone number and I tell it to them and I get the savings. Bo goes there for their meats...freshest in Austin next to Central Market.

I have a Brookshires keychain card for when they are having the 10 for $10 or got the 18 count eggs for sale.

Bo has a trick for potatoes...he'll wash off 4 or 5 of them, poke holes and place them in a casserole dish with the lid on and bake them that way. After an hour or so, he will either mash them or serve them up as bakers. If mashed, he will mix in sour cream, chopped green onions and bacon bits.

BTW, Randalls is owned by Safeway and Tom Thumb.



ChatteParfaitt -> RE: Healthy Lifestyles on a Budget (7/24/2013 10:02:47 AM)

Nice yoga sites, ty MistressDA.

The last site is entirely free and has dozens of videos for the beginner.



ShaharThorne -> RE: Healthy Lifestyles on a Budget (7/24/2013 11:08:09 AM)

MDA, I think my mom loves you. I will show her the last site and suggest the stretching yoga for her to work into her PT.



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