I’ve been told before the best way to lose weight is eat less, move more. Pretty basic definition, right? But it’s totally true. In order to become more fit, no matter how much cash you have to spend, you have to do those two things. Let me clarify the eat less portion of the theorem though. You need to eat less crap and MORE healthful foods.
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| Actual Pre-Chopped Veggies in my Fridge. Shh . . . don’t tell Lady Tammy they’re not in Tupperware. 😉 |
But those foods that are good for us are often most expensive in the grocery store AND the most time consuming to prepare. Here are my three favorite tips for saving on those yummy fruits and vegetables that your body needs more of for you to get Buff on a Budget.
1) Shop Aldi. I big puffy sparkle paint *heart* Aldi’s fresh and frozen produce. I really can’t say it enough. The prices are simply so low in comparison on most items weekly that you can’t do better whether you have a coupon or not. Meijer is a 2nd favorite with an occasional sale at Kroger or two coming in a distant third. Every week, I can count on purchasing a 2 lb. bag of whole carrots for $0.99 (or less occasionally), a bag of spinach for $1.49, a red and yellow pepper packaged together for $2.49 (all the way down to $1.49 in season), cucumbers 3/$1.49, and a package of mushrooms for about $1.89 at Aldi. LOVE it. If you haven’t shopped Aldi before, check it out.
2) Chop it Up. Early on in your week, spend 30 minutes chopping and peeling veggies and fruits. It’s the best 30 minutes you can spend not exercising for a great impact on both your health and your wallet. This morning, in 30 minutes’ time, I peeled and/or chopped 2 large sweet potatoes, 3 cucumbers, 3 heads of romaine lettuce, 1 package of mushrooms, 1 red pepper, 1 yellow pepper, and a quart of strawberries. Pre-chopping your veggies guarantees that you can quickly throw together Pizza, Omelets, Fajitas, Pasta, and Salad. It saves you time and keeps you from letting foods spoil. We are ALWAYS more likely to use what we have when it’s pre-prepared. Again, it’s the best 30 minutes I spend every week! And I almost forgot. All of the veggie peelings went right into the King of Free’s new compost bin this afternoon. LOVE using everything we’ve got.
3) Try New Things. Mom always said it was good for you to try new foods and I’m echoing that today. You never know what you might like that’s actually good for you. So set a goal of trying to use a new veggie per month (or week if you’re more adventuresome). Some experiences might be a flop but you just might find a new go to dish in the mix of your regular rotation. Over the last couple of years we’ve added several staple vegetables to our lives that neither the King nor I grew up eating. Spoiler alert, I’ll post a recipe of one such item tomorrow.
ROYAL TRAINING UPDATE: On the personal workout front, I haven’t been able to hit things as hard as I’d like in the last week but I have dropped some weight (still on the slow and steady trek). I’m guessing that I’m losing poundage due to my teeth. If you’re a Facebook Fan (which you should be), you know that I’ve had a couple of pretty invasive dental procedures over the last week. Anyway, today I’ve been feeling MUCH better and was able to get a little 1.5 mile run thrown in this sunny afternoon AND I started my Hundred Push Up Day #1. I think it’s going to be AWESOME. I actually did a few more than I was supposed to do because 3 sets into Day 1, I realized I was doing Column 2 instead of Column 3. D’oh. Oh well a few extra push ups never hurt anyone. Did they? You keep on getting Buff on a Budget, too and send me your health and fitness tips at thequeenoffree@gmail.com.
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