How to Enjoy Healthy Eating on a Tight Budget

During hard times people often have less money to spend on food, and most are on a tight budget. Even so, many people would still like to enjoy healthy eating on a even on a budget. Financial situations fluctuate, but the need to eat healthy meals is a constant. Follow these steps if you would like to learn how to eat healthy on a tight budget.

The first thing you need to do in order to eat healthy on a tight budget is to open up your cabinets and refrigerator and take an inventory of what is already there before you make your grocery list.

Sit down with a pen and paper, and plan healthy meals around the food that you already have on hand from the inventory you took in step one. Make sure that you do not plan your meals while you are hungry; people tend to overestimate the food they need when they have an empty stomach. Keep your tight budget in focus and do not get carried away.

Check online and/or in your local newspaper weekly flyers to see if there are any coupons for the foods on your grocery list. Then, take your list, and the coupons to the grocery store, and buy only the healthy foods that are on your list. Again, make sure that you are not hungry when you go grocery shopping for the same reason listed in step 3.

Get into the habit of only purchasing fresh foods that you know you will use. Fresh fruits and vegetables are healthy, but they are a detriment to your budget and they do your health no good if they spoil before you can eat them.

How to Avoid Junk Foods

Junk food can have a terrible effect on your body. There are countless cases of people eating themselves to obesity. Why do they do this? Think of it like a drug: It makes them feel better in the moment, so they forget the future costs. Consider this piece of information published on the health site Mercola, quoting a Yahoo! News piece. "Research has shown that almost one-third of the U.S. diet consists of sugar-filled cans of soda and bags of potato chips." So how do you stop doing eating bad foods? Dieting is never easy, no matter what certain infomercials say. However, there are painless ways to diet and avoid junk foods. Start by understanding why you like them so much.

Understand your thinking. Maybe chocolate does help your mental thinking for a moment. It’s apt to make you smile. So how do you avoid junk foods like chocolate? Find healthier eating escapes at all times of the day as junk food eating is often based on impulse. Bread is good and you can add peanut butter to have a healthy, high protein snack that can replace a chocolate candy bar.

Act. Do you find yourself eating late at night? This actually isn’t a bad thing; the myth of eating late at night and gaining weight has been discounted in many studies. But what are you eating? Are you more apt to go to the ice cream carton to fill up? You can stop this junk food habit by either deciding to cut out late night eating or replace the food you eat with healthy alternatives, such as fruits or even a large glass of water to fill you up. Yogurt is a good alternative to ice cream. Cookies can be traded in for the popular “100 Calorie” snack packs. Look to canned fruits next, which are much healthier than downing ice cream and potato chips. A nice vegetable mix can do wonders for your health. Look at the sodium contents of vegetables, because certain products like creamed corn are far from vegetables.

Consider the costs. Obesity can lead to countless health problems at the cost of your quality of life and even your life itself. The monetary cost of junk foods adds up, too. A good strategy is to write down your expenditures on junk foods from morning to night: That candy bar cost you a dollar, the bag of chips a few more, a half a carton of ice cream and so on. This financial reminder gives you another reason to quit. Bread and butter is far cheaper and healthier than consistently downing soda, sugar and bags of chips. Often, if you choose the right foods, you will be saving money from the start.

Other escapes. There are other escapes for you to do than snack. So how do you avoid filling your spare time with junk food? Junk food addiction is a battle of the mind in many ways, and where you think you need something, you really don’t. Read a book, do a craft, go for a walk, talk on the phone or write in a journal when you would usually head to the pantry.

Defeating impulses. The last hurdle is fighting the impulse. If you sense an impulse coming, examine it as you would any other irrational thought. Will this item truly make you happy? The next time you decide to take one box of cookies to bed, consider this strategy of eating right. Avoid your impulses—they are the enemy. Junk foods may hurt your wallet, but high starch and saturated fat does more than just add to your belly—they tend to lower life spans.

Why Eat Healthy Foods?

The typical American diet includes too much animal proteins and processed foods and neglects to include enough plants and whole foods. In the long run, this can have very real health consequences.

What is a Healthy Diet
Healthy diets emphasize fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains, lean animal proteins, like chicken and fish, and low fat dairy. Healthy diets discourage overconsumption of red meat, trans fats and saturated fats, sugars and processed foods.

Benefits for the Heart
Eating unsaturated fats and fiber has been shown to lower cholesterol, blood pressure and your overall risk of heart disease. The April 2009 issue of The Archives of Internal Medicine published a complex survey of almost 200 studies and 1 million participants. The researchers confirmed that a diet rich in fruits, vegetables, whole grains and unsaturated fats contributes to improved heart health.

Fight Obesity
People who eat less calorie dense foods like fruits and vegetables tend to weigh less. Leaner cuts of meat and lower fat dairy contain less calories but still fill you up.

Cancer Prevention
Healthy foods, particularly richly colored fruits and vegetables, contain antioxidants which fight free radicals that can cause cells to mutate and become cancerous. The American Heart Association, The World Cancer Research Fund, the American Institute for Cancer Research and the National Cancer Institute all recommend a diet high in fruits and vegetables to maximize antioxidant intake.

Whole Foods
Popping a vitamin and bunch of supplements will not be as effective as a healthy diet full of whole foods. The body better digests and breaks down the components in whole foods and can make better use of them.

How to Eat Cheap and Healthy

In the quest to make healthier food choices and save money while doing so, you might envision your meals as spartan affairs, drab and as inspiring as gerbil food. However, that need not be the case. With a little planning and cost-cutting ingenuity, you can dine on nutritious fare for cheap -- without sacrificing palatability.

Stock a Nutritious and Budget-Friendly Pantry

As the foundation of a cheap and healthy eating regimen, the well-stocked cupboard encourages you to make healthy meals on the fly using ingredients you already have.

Two strategies that The Kitchn cooking website uses to stock up on cheap and healthy food include buying produce in bulk when it's in season and freezing it, and stocking up on healthful foods when they are on sale.

By buying produce in season, you get fruits and vegetables at the peak of their freshness, when they are most abundant during the year and lower in price. Freezing them in quantity ensures you can incorporate these nutritious ingredients into meals any time of the year. Moreover, bulk shopping during sales, such as buying 10 packages of frozen vegetables for $10, locks in a favorable price point over a number of meals.

Choose Foods With Nutritional Bang for Your Buck

As Real Simple Magazine notes, healthy food choices don't have to be expensive. Certain healthy foods can be had for pennies on the dollar per serving. These include:

Oatmeal, which can help lower cholesterol and stave off heart disease, at 18 cents per half-cup serving.
Oranges, which provide vitamin C, fiber and folate, at 84 cents each.
Kiwis, which replenish the body with potassium, vitamin C and vitamin E, at 50 cents each. 
Chick peas, full of protein and fiber, at only 31 cents per half-cup serving.
Even certain so-called superfoods can be under $1 a serving, as Eating Well Magazine notes.

Black and green tea, at 10 cents per bag, can help boost immune system and reduce the risk of heart attacks.
Kale, at 60 cents per cup, contains vitamin K for bone health, vitamin A and lutein for eyesight.
Almonds, at 18 cents an ounce, provide vitamin E, calcium, fiber and folate.
Eggs, at 17 cents each, are protein powerhouses with vitamin D, lutein and xeanthanin, which prevent macular degeneration.
Swap Out Expensive Purchases

When committing to a healthful lifestyle, you may have to make some adjustments in your shopping and cooking habits. In lieu of expensive cuts of meat, substitute cheaper -- yet more flavorful -- cuts, such as chicken thighs and less expensive cuts of beef. Although the tougher and more sinewy parts of an animal may require longer cooking times and techniques, the payoff is a smaller grocery bill and the joy of experimenting with different foods and styles of cookery.

If you have a large freezer, buying a whole carcass or bone-in parts, is one way to have your meat economically -- and eat it, too.

Extend a Dish With Healthful and Cheap Add-Ins

Eating healthy for cheap is not about skimping, but rather about turning to healthy options that create a sense of abundance and provide solid nutrition at low cost. Whole grains such as brown rice and wheat berries round out your meals inexpensively, while bolstering your fiber intake and making you feel fuller longer. Quinoa, the ancient grain, can be eaten on its own or as an accompaniment to a main dish, as a high source of protein. To stretch out or replace a meat dish, add a variety of mixed beans to pasta.

Reinvent Leftovers

Eating healthy and cheap does not consign you to a life of bland leftovers. If you don't like the idea of eating the same food over a succession of days, create entirely new dishes by reinterpreting precooked ingredients. Steamed vegetables you make for dinner one night can be transformed into sandwich toppings for the next day, then frozen for soup on another day and chopped into a rice medley for dinner later in the week.

Tip :

Make leftovers work for and not against you by keeping a conscientious eye on the contents of your freezer and eating what's there. Label all your stored items to identify them easily and portion-control them individually to reduce waste and avoid overeating.

How to Eat a Healthy Balanced Diet

Eating a healthy, balanced diet is important for sustained energy and illness prevention. Eating healthy is not about cutting calories or strict dieting; it's about ensuring your body gets the nutrients it needs to thrive.

Avoid cutting calories, but do not consume too much. Healthy and active adults need approximately 2,000 calories a day. The more exercise you do, the more calories you need. Use a daily calorie calculator (see Resources section below) to determine how many calories you need each day.

Add fruits and vegetables to every meal, and even to snacks. For example, add bananas to your cereal at breakfast, eat a salad and an apple with lunch and have tomatoes and canned peaches with your dinner. This can help you get the recommended three to five (or more) servings of fruits and vegetables.

Try new foods. Make an effort to pick out something new at the grocery store every week. Browse the produce section and choose a fruit you have never had before. This can help give you a healthier, more balanced diet so you're not eating the same things all the time.

Check your portions. More appropriate portions can make a huge difference. One way to check portions is to read the nutrition label and see the recommended serving size. (See the link in the Resources section below for appropriate portions.)

Cut out excess sugars, salts, caffeine and alcohol. These (in excess) are toxic to the body and will deplete nutrients. Eat a healthy well balanced diet and enjoy your foods and drinks containing these toxins in moderation only, or cut them out altogether.

Clean your home of junk food. If it isn't there you are less likely to eat it, especially at nighttime. When you are able to cut out junk foods (sugary, salty snacks) you will eat what is available in your home, which should be healthy choices such as fruits, vegetables, pretzels, and crackers.

Balance your diet with proteins and carbohydrates. Include meats, beans and fish for protein. Avoid cutting out carbohydrates, as you need these for energy. Fruits, vegetables, whole grains and pasta contain needed carbohydrates.

How Does Greasy Food Affect Health?

Fried chicken, french fries, greasy pizzas, burgers and any other foods dripping with oil should be consumed in moderation to avoid increasing your risk of disease and unhealthy weight gain. Steaming, baking or roasting, broiling and grilling food are healthier, less greasy options for preparing meals. The health effects of greasy food not only depend on how greasy it is but also on whether you use saturated or unsaturated oil.

Increased Risk of Obesity
Foods fried in oil, often called grease when it appears on the food, are higher in calories due to the high caloric content of oil. For example, 100 grams of fried chicken has about 60 more calories than 100 grams of roasted chicken. The "greasiness" of food depends on the way you cook it and how much oil you use. Using just a little oil in a pan to sauté food makes food a little greasy, shallow-frying makes it more greasy, and deep-frying makes it especially greasy and high in calories. When you eat more calories than you burn in a day, your body stores the extra energy. Continuing this pattern over time causes weight gain, which can lead to becoming overweight or obese.

Reduced Nutrient Intake
A study published in the "Journal of Zhejiang University" in 2011 found that stir-frying bamboo shoots in oil increased their fat content by over 500 percent. Meanwhile, it lowered their protein and amino acid content. Another study published in the same journal in 2009 found that compared to all other cooking methods, stir-frying with oil caused significant losses of vitamin C and chlorophyll in broccoli. Because frying foods decreases their levels of micronutrients, eating too many fried foods could potentially cause nutrient deficiency.

Higher Triglyceride and Cholesterol Levels
Food could be fried in a saturated or unsaturated fat. Saturated fats, which are solid or semi-solid when stored at room temperature, include shortening, stick margarine, lard, coconut oil, palm oil and palm kernel oil. Unsaturated fats are liquid at room temperature, including vegetable-based oils and soft margarine. If you fry your food, it's healthier to do so in an unsaturated fat. Saturated fats increase your cholesterol levels, whereas unsaturated fats can improve cholesterol levels. The American Heart Association recommends limiting your intake of saturated fats to no more than 6 percent of your total daily caloric intake to maintain healthy cholesterol levels. In a 2,000-calorie diet, this is about 12 grams of saturated fat.

Increased Risks of Heart Attack and Stroke
Because heavily consuming greasy foods that were cooked in saturated fat raises cholesterol levels, your risk of both heart disease and stroke is elevated. Too much saturated fat causes plaque to build up in your arteries over time, blocking blood flow and putting you at a high risk for heart attack and stroke.