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Today I have a special guest post from Krista Barrack from FromFat2That.com. She has written a fantastic post about how you can lose weight and get healthy without blowing your budget out of proportion. She is creating some new fun Fitness Challenges and is in the Kickstarter phase now. I am very thankful that she has reached out to me to help reach our wonderful audience here with such a great topic that I think we all struggle with from time to time.
I talk to people all the time about losing weight and one of the top five objections to losing weight and getting healthy that I hear is “it’s too expensive”. Why do they feel this way? They feel this way because of all the marketing the health and fitness industry pushes. They think they will need to pay for a meal delivery service at $300/month, join a gym membership for $100/month and purchase organics and gluten free items at the grocery store. In addition to that, they are constantly bombarded by the latest diet fads and feel pressure to purchase overpriced, under performing supplements.
Let’s shift the perspective for a moment. If you are overweight, first, think about some of your habits. What do you do all day? Many Americans go to work, sit at an office job and go out to lunch on a daily basis. People who don’t have a big budget get a sense of saving money by swinging through a drive -thru and paying $6 for a McMeal. Even if you are avoiding “fast food”, lunch at a restaurant can easily cost you $10 + a tip. The problem is, we usually don’t think twice about this kind of spending activity. It just becomes our routine or our bad habit that we need to break.
Eating lunch out every day could easily cost you $40 a week. Eat healthier without breaking the budget: Click To Tweet
Pack a Lunch for Losing Weight
Think about starting somewhere as small as packing your lunch on a regular basis. Eating lunch out every day could easily cost you $40 a week. When I go grocery shopping for myself and my partner, I usually spend about $40 a week buying good, quality food. My shopping list includes things like whole wheat bread, fresh veggies, cilantro, garlic, fresh fruits, brown rice, and a rotisserie chicken. That $40 goes a long way and we can both eat healthy lunches throughout the work week.
Cook at Home Instead of Dining Out
When I look at my ‘friend list’ on social media and I see friends who always complain they are low on money or they are trying to lose weight, it’s common to see them check-in to restaurants like Chili’s, Olive Garden, or a Steak House. Changing your lifestyle is essential for successful weight loss and budgeting.
I was just going out for dinner last week with my boyfriend. We sat down at the place, ordered our meals, and unfortunately I wasn’t satisfied with what they brought me. I ordered a Mexican salad, which simply ended up being completely different than my expectations. I felt like I could have made something more delicious and satisfying at home. Plus, our bill ended up being $50. That’s fifty dollars for one dinner that I was not even happy with.
Make the switch from eating out to eating at home. Learning how to cook delicious meals at home will save you a boat load of calories and cash. My advice is to set yourself some boundaries. Plan to only go out once a week, or perhaps only for special occasions that you want to celebrate.
No Gym, No Problem
Typical gym memberships could easily cost you over $600 per year. With a little bit of willpower and discipline you can cut that cost out.There are plenty of free options and at-home exercises that you can do without having to spend a dime, you just have to put in the time. If the weather is great outside, go to the park or put your walking shoes on and enjoy nature. If the weather is bad, you have internet at home. Hop on YouTube and look up an exercise video. Some of my favorite FREE exercise videos are available on YouTube such as ones posted by Fitnessblender and Blogilates.
Other Free Workout Resources for Weightloss
Endomondo – app for logging your walk/run/etc.
Sparkpeople – A community of people on a mission to health and fitness
MyFitnessPal – app for logging your food and tracking your calories
Instagram – Social media app which is great for recording your weight loss journey
Stop Making Excuses
Using a budget to prevent you from starting your weight loss journey is an excuse to not change. Losing weight does not require you to spend a lot of money, you just have to make healthier choices every day. Choose to move more and dine out less. Choose to commit to doing a workout routine for 30 minutes a day instead of binge watching Netflix. Remember, the power is in your control, and you have the choice to make the change.
If you need help or more motivational tips for your weight loss journey, you can ask me.
I have lost 90lbs and I have been kept it off for over eight years.
Find me on my blog at FromFat2That.com.
We saved a ton of money when we stopped going out to eat. Then we started to see the weight come off as we where cooking our own meals!
Exactly – it just takes some discipline and cooking a few meals at home to start to make it a routine. I love to go to the library and find clean eating cookbooks for inspiration.
LOve this. We eat out way too much and need to start eating at home more often.
Hey Robin –
Start by setting some boundaries for yourself. If you are eating out 4x a week usually try cutting it back to 2x per week. This way you can still enjoy going out to eat but it will be more like a treat since you are getting it less often. Also I recommend that you look at the menu before you dine out and make a healthy choice before you even get there.
Krista Barrack recently posted…The Five Food Groups of Weight Loss -Part 3: Proteins
love your post as you show good reasons it will be and is easy to do
come see us at http://shopannies.blogspot.com
angie recently posted…Pizza Dip
Hi Angie –
Wow, I took a look at your site and that pizza and that lemon blueberry bread look great. If you want to also trim back on calories you could make your bread without the glaze and cut back on sugar or replace with a sugar substitute. Continue posting delicious food ideas!
All such common sense thoughts and ideas. Sometimes so hard to do. Thank you for refocusing me, again.
Hey Julie –
If you are struggling with something as simple as packing your lunch to take to work. I like the website skinnytaste.com for light recipes search something on there that is appealing to you. Then I challenge you, to try to make it tonight. Make a bigger quantity so you can pre-pack left overs for tomorrow’s lunch.
I’m on this journey too.
I’m not overweight, but would love to have a flat belly – for a longer period of time.
Endomondo is a great app!
Thanks for the post!
Hi Dina,
Unfortunately, spot targeting is not something that can truly be done. However, in my most recent podcast, I spoke with Marcus who is gym owner and personal trainer. He is extremely fit and training for a Men’s Physique challenge. But he does talk about things you can do to burn belly fat and get abs with Macro counting. Check out the podcast section in my blog I think this would be very informative for you.
Krista Barrack recently posted…FF2T 29: Burn Belly Fat and Get Abs with Marcus Payne
I think changing how you eat is a big one. Saves you money and kilos for sure!
Great tips! I’m always looking for a way to keep my body trim and my pockets fat!
Kendra recently posted…Kale and Artichoke Chicken Salad
Hi Kendra –
I’m glad you could get value out of this post. Beautiful blog site you have! I book marked your Kale – Artichoke Chicken salad. Maybe you would be interested in doing a special recipe post for my readers sometime! Plus, your photography is looking spectacular.
Krista Barrack recently posted…The Five Food Groups of Weight Loss -Part 3: Proteins
Steve,
You did a good job having Krista guest post :).
She provided you with a wonderful article packed with helpful info. I appreciated the practical application. Not just what to do, but how to do it.
Thanks Scott! I love the article too! So many great and useful tips! Thanks for taking the time to read and comment!
Hey Scott! Thanks for the wonderful compliments.
Krista Barrack recently posted…The Five Food Groups of Weight Loss -Part 1: VEGGIES
Don’t you hate when that happens – going out and feeling like you wasted money? There have been plenty of times when my meal was less than satisfactory and also times where the service could have been better. We’re trying to get better about not eating out so much and it’s helped us save so much money. I even notice a difference in the way my clothes fit too;-)
Hi Latoya –
I love that fact that you have already cut back on the number of times you go out to eat and are seeing positive results in your body. I think that food places give us such big portions and we feel like we have to finish what is on our plates. When we are at home we eat more healthy meals and cut back on portions which make a big difference in our size.
This is the one of the most helpful posts I’v seen on saving money and staying fit. I’m pinning it right this very minute.
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Hey Carol,
Thank you so much for the kind words, it really means a lot to me. I appreciate you pinning this as well.
Krista recently posted…The Five Food Groups of Weight Loss -Part 3: Proteins
These tips are all true and helpful. I can attest bec I do them myself. Thanks for sharing!
When it comes to switching to a healthier lifestyle there are no excuses! Especially these days when there are more and more alternatives for the meals that we enjoy eating. You don’t even have to worry about going to the gym because you can exercise at home.
Liz,
You are right- so many valuable free resources to make healthier eating choices. Even if you do like to go out to eat many places provide the nutritional information so that we can make smarter choices. Working out at home is good if you are disciplined, and have the willpower to do it. I was working out at home for over a year.
I like your ideas! It’s good to know there are some ways to get proper exercise without spending on a gym membership!
Hi Liz –
As they say when you look for something you will find it. When you look for workouts that are free or recipes that are clean you will find it. If instead you look for excuses, guess what you will find it! Just stay determined, and remember you can do anything you put your mind to.
Krista Barrack recently posted…The Five Food Groups of Weight Loss -Part 3: Proteins
While buying healthier food is pricey, it is so worth it. I think it also forces you to bring your lunch and cook at home, which does save you money in the long run. There are tons of free workouts online, which I use all the time. They are fun and effective.
Hi Cindy,
I not sure what your shopping list might look like but just take a look at the average person’s shopping basket at Walmart. Notice how many bottles of soda, bags of chips, frozen pizzas, sugary juice drinks, and other ‘junk’ is in there. They are not ‘cheap’ either.
Sometimes the expense is not increased just because we are buying healthy food but we often over-buy more than we need. Sure these packaged items might have a longer shelf life and you can eat them later, but I think just having them sitting around will tempt you to eat more.
Amen its so crazy expensive to eat out financially and for your body.
Love this comment thanks Mihaela!
These are great tips but unfortunately healthy foods usually do cost more money than junk. Cooking at home is the easiest way to watch what you are eating because you control everything that goes into your meal.
Gwen – you don’t have to buy from ‘organic’ section.
You can shop deals on produce, and stores like Walmart will price match competitors. I usually get a bag of coleslaw and make my own dressing its less than $2.00 and makes a good side item for at least 4 of my meals. Pick up a rotisserie chicken and remove the skin I usually get mine from costco which is only $5 but most grocery stores have them for $7. If you are just making food for yourself that chicken can last at least 4-5meals.
You just have to shop smart. Make a plan of what you are going to cook before you walk in to the grocery store and you might be surprised at how much you had to spend. When you stick with a plan you save money!
Honestly, you don’t have to spend a lot to lose weight. I am loving these tips that you have here because they’re all tried and tested. They’re effective and they’re really going to help you a lot!
Amanda Love recently posted…My Life is Just as Busy as Yours – #LALAforLife
Hi Amanda –
Thanks for your comments <3 By the way I checked out your site and luv it. The owl designs got me! Keep doing a fantastic job.
These are such great tips! Packing your lunch or staying helps save so much!
Hi Kelly –
Yes it does help a lot. What are some things you usually pack in your lunch?
Cooking at home is so hard to do! But it does save a lot of money and is much healthier than eating out!
Hey Sam,
I’m with you I hate doing it, but I know the positive benefits and they are essential. Luckily for me I have an arrangement worked out with my partner. I usually have him do the cooking then I do the clean up of all the dishes. But, there are also other things which are quick and easy that I do make like mixing up a salad, putting something in the crock-pot, or making something easy like wholewheat pasta or even zucchini pasta. Best of luck!
Oh, right. This is really right, we should cut off our eating out and I should really start working out.
Nicole –
If you enjoy dining out – don’t eliminate it from your life. You should still have great experiences. Just set up a goal to plan when you are going to go out to eat for example I plan to eat home cooked food unless I have one of those days where nothing is looking appealing or I run out of food. Then I have a reason to go out for lunch.
Yeah, no excuses! I should really switch to healthy living and lose some weights.
I seldom dine out because I know it is healthier to cook at home. These are great tips.
Thanks Rose!
I am so guilty about being healthy. When we are tired from cooking, we will go out or have a delivery in our home.
Hey Ryan,
Since the work week is usually hectic – we try to make 2 or 3 different dishes of foods on a Sunday in large quantity so we can just ‘heat and eat’ throughout the week. When we get tired of having that we have a simple solution of making a home made sandwich and even im a fan of the occasional frozen pizza. But, if you are going to go with a pizza I would recommend a thin crust veggie pizza as its lower in fat and calories and you can indulge in a comfort food.
Healthy living doesn’t have to be complicated. In fact, keeping it simple is the greatest chance for success.
Since my move to West Virginia we have cut out a lot of eating out consider there is only 2 places to go here. So that helped us a lot!
Yeah very few things in West VA. Or you have to travel really far to get to them. So I can see how living there could be beneficial. I imagine probably lots of people have gardens there too.
Yes, Yes, Yes! Preach it. There is so much truth to this. It’s amazing how brainwashed we can get when listening to the hype. When eating healthier, I do feel like it’s cheaper because it’s simpler and oh the stress that relieves.
The How-to Guru
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Great point, I also think you start to feel better about yourself for making wiser food decisions and it gives you a boost of self confidence.
I love your points! It is really my goal to lose weight but I am over thinking that I might spend a large amount of money ongoing to gym, etc.
The gym is nice to have but it is not required. If you don’t work on your health now you will have to pay for it later in the forms of extra copays and medication. Start little by doing at home workouts and just setup a reminder in your calendar to help keep you focused.
This is so relevant because so many people think you have to spend a small fortune to lose weight. Saving this to my favourites! Need a good health kick!
I love a good home cooked meal and you really do save so much by entertaining in rather than dining out all the time.
XO, MJ
http://www.lush-fab-glam.com
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I completely agree. Eating out is not only pricey but think about what we don’t know is going into the food. I meal prep all the time and even the kids pitchin. I happen to have a gym membership because its only 10 dollars a month. But the apps you suggest are all fabulous. My fitness plan and map my run aided me in losing 35 pounds a few years ago
Eileen,
Losing 35 pounds is fantastic. Keep up the good work, my view on the gym memberships is they are 100% worth it IF you GO! So, if you are just slacking and only going a few times a month they are draining you but if you are going a few times a week and it is helping you lose or maintain then it is valuable for your health.
krista recently posted…The Five Food Groups of Weight Loss -Part 5: Grains
All great tips, I stopped eating out awhile ago and I actually prefer to eat at home now. I also exercise at home and outside to save money.
Great site. A lot of helpful information here. I’m sending it to several friends ans additionally sharing in delicious. And of course, thanks for your sweat!
Thanks for the share!
I definitely pack lunches for me and my family daily. We also enjoy eating out because well, who wants to cook every day?
All good tips. Truly helpful in terms of losing weight and saving some cash. Hope we can religiously follow your tips!
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Just keep trying – try to develop a plan and keep it at the front of your mind, if you put it on the back burner then nothing changes.
Weight management is something that could be so expensive at times and getting healthy options to get it done saving some money sounds great indeed. I agree that Gym has nothing to do with your fitness and some basic routine workouts could help a lot!
I love cooking my own meals and prefer buying Organic produce on daily basis. We love trying new restaurants…. but limit up to 4x a month
That’s a good idea – it gives you an opportunity to go out once a week and you can plan ahead by looking at the menu in advance.
I love the idea of using YouTube for workouts. I have never tried it but scanning through there are a ton of workouts available. I love this. Thanks for sharing!!!
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Hi Krista, this is a wonderful blog. Mostly weight lose plans are costlier, not any one can suffer it. This is the great ideas to lose weight with money saving. Thanks for sharing this imperative blog.
Great post! Your details are very helpful. Thanks for your work.