I am starting a new one. I am going to continue shopping like I have been. I am still going to try to keep it to 60 or less a week. So, that part isn't the challenge.
My challenge to myself is to continue shopping like I have been, AND lose weight. I NEED to lose weight. My knees and hips are starting to get sore from all this luggage.
I want to prove to myself, and demonstrate to others, that you can still eat healthily while on a budget. The key is serving sizes. Isn't that what we keep being told in weight loss/management classes? You can eat some crappy food like Hamburger Helper- as long as you eat ONE serving of it.
I eat better when I plan my food out for the week on Sundays. I have gotten away from that the last couple of months, and my weight loss has stopped. So, I need to start doing it again. I try to plan out 7 breakfasts, 7 lunches, and 6 dinners (we usually end up eating out one night, or having leftovers), but not in what order we'll eat them.
I have planned my breakfasts and lunches out for this week. It's a step in the right direction, and helps me the most, since my snackiness is worst during the day. If I have it planned out, I am not as likely to eat when I don't need to.
Breakfasts:
oatmeal + yogurt
oatmeal + orange + 1 cup milk
oatmeal + orange + 1 cup milk
raisin bran + 1/2 cup milk + banana
raisin bran + 1/2 cup milk + orange
2 eggs and toast
2 eggs and toast
Have you ever actually looked at how many servings are in a box or container? I got little canisters of oatmeal for about $1.00 a couple of months ago. There are 13 servings in each canister. That's only 8 cents per serving. Milk was on sale for 2.19 last week, and at 16 servings per jug that's only 14 cents per serving. I got bread on sale last week for 1.09 for a loaf that has 24 servings (24 slices of bread). Etc.
So, my whole week's breakfasts are only going to cost me about 3.00.
3 oatmeal x .08 = .24
1 yogurt = .21
3 oranges x .33 = .99
2 bananas x .20 = .40
2 cups raisin bran = .28
4 eggs x .09 = .36
4 pieces toast x .05 = .20
3 cups milk x .14 = .42
Lunches
Ah, lunches. Lunches are where I usually try to cram a ton of vegetables into my diet. And this week is especially cheap because the greens were on sale really cheap at Meijer last week.
Salads and vegetable soups, mostly. And some frozen vegetables sometimes, too. This week:
3 salads, with 2 cups spinach, 2 cups romaine salad, 1 serving of baby carrots, 4 ounces baked chicken breast, and 2 TB vinaigrette dressing.
2 progresso soups + 1/4 cup cheese melted in
2 packages frozen veggies + 1/4 cup cheese on top + toast
So, my lunches for the week are going to cost me about 8 dollars.
6 cups spinach x .20 = 1.20
6 cups romaine x .20 = 1.20
12 ounces chicken x .20 an ounce = 1.20
bunches of baby carrots, about a bag over the week = 1.00
Dressing = was free! no cost!
2 progresso soups x .60 = 1.20
1 cup shredded cheese x .25 = 1.00
2 frozen veggies x .50 = 1.00
I won't go into this much detail each week, but I wanted to be able to visualize it, at least at the start.
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