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buying healthy food
so i have a problem with eating out! i do it way too much and i know its burning out my pockets! so i have to stop. im going to go shopping this saturday before my college starts and i was wondering if i could get some help on what to buy. my schedule is wake up monday and wednesday, hit the gym, class at 930 till 1045. break. class again ay 1230 till 220. work at 330 til midnight. i have my lunch at 930. tuesday, thursday and friday i only have work at 330 til midnight. so i want to start eating healthy as well. if you could give me a list out of grocerys and maybe some healthy snacks i can have at work because ive been munching on candy bars, thatd be great! Thanks a bunches!!!
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Sorry it took me so long to answer this question! I set it aside to think about it, and forgot I hadn't answered it yet.
Granola bars are your best friend. I love Fibre One bars, but that's just me. They're my favourite thing to eat when I have to skip a meal or when I get hungry in between meals. I usually keep one in my purse just in case.
For meals to bring to work, you have a few options, depending on what you have access to. If you have access to a fridge, kettle or a microwave, you're all set. Here are some of my favourite work meals:
- Campbell's Cup-A-Soup. Creamy chicken in particular is really filling and tasty, and you can make it in a snap. You can even drink it on the go if you can't sit down to enjoy it!
- Microwave meals like Weight Watchers SmartOnes or the like are nice because it feels like real food. It's best if you can keep it in the freezer, though.
- Salads! You can get great tupperware that holds a salad and dressing, or you can even get one of those salad spray bottles to keep at work. Just don't make the mistake I always make and pack the salad with the dressing, because it always ends up limp and soggy.
- Wraps are always nice. I like to put lots in it so that I feel like I'm eating a real meal. Things like alfalfa sprouts, lettuce, tomato, avocado, etc.
For groceries, I stick to one simple rule. I shop the outside of the store. Fruits and veggies, meats, dairy. I do the occasional dive into the centre for pasta and canned or dried veggies, but it's actually a lot cheaper than you think to shop fresh and healthy. Those meal-in-a-box things are more expensive than you might think!
The key is to cook in batches and get yourself some good containers in single serving sizes. For instance, I love lentils (nutritious and inexpensive!), but they're a pain in the butt to cook. I don't have an hour to cook every day, so I will make a whole bunch all at once. Same goes for spaghetti sauce (always made fresh... never buy the canned stuff because it's full of salt and sugar!).
I'm not quite sure what foods you like, but here's a sample of what I keep on hand:
PRODUCE:
- Fruit x 7-9. I just look and see what looks good.
- Cucumbers x 2 (make a great snack, very low cal)
- Broccoli x 3 (an incredible low-cal snack when you eat it with dip. You can also add it to beef broth for a great soup)
- Tomatoes x 2 (for salad)
- Romaine lettuce x 3-4 (I clean and shred it 2 at a time and keep the extra in a Ziploc)
- Zucchini x 2 (really good in pasta)
- Alfalfa sprouts (tasty in wraps/sandwiches)
- Green peppers x 1 (for pasta/snacks)
- Mushrooms (for pasta)
CANNED/DRIED
- Dried lentils (so incredibly cheap, and really nutritious)
- Chickpeas (can be roasted with spices for a snack or cooked for meals as a meat alternative)
- Canned, crushed tomatoes x 2 (for pasta sauce)
- Package of whole wheat pasta
- Oatmeal (the cheapest, tastiest breakfast ever!)
MEAT
- 1 pkg ground beef
- If some fish looks really delicious, I'll treat myself. You can tell it's fresh if you poke it and it springs back.
- Fast fry steaks can be cooked all at once, sliced into strips and put on salads or in wraps.
- I find that chicken is overpriced and not all that tasty. I prefer lean pork.
DAIRY
- 1 container cottage cheese (for snacks or you can put it on pasta with tomato sauce for a lasagna experience)
- Cheese, if you need/want it. It's pretty expensive, though. Stock up when it goes on sale!
- I don't really drink milk, but you may need it.
- Yogourt is a tasty dessert, breakfast or snack.
I always keep Italian herbs, pepper and some packages of curry kicking around for flavour. You should also have some extra virgin olive oil and lemon juice.
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It would be helpful if I knew if you were living at home or in a dorm room. I am going to assume for the sake of this question that you are in a dorm and that you have a small combination/frig and freezer and a microwave oven. As a volunteer firefighter I have to advise against cooking on a hot plate or portable gas range in a dorm room.
Hopefully somewhere near campus there is a big box store such as a Super Wal-Mart, Target, Costco or something of this type; buying in bulk does saves money. If you want healthy choices you need to read labels. Just because it says healthy choice does not mean it is the right choice. Check to see how many calories per serving, sodium (salt) level, and fat content so on and so forth.
There are a number of fine products in the frozen food aisle from companies such as healthy choice, Lean cuisine and others that you should be able to find a variety of meal choices for breakfast, lunch and dinner and snacks including Pizza for one. Peanut Butter and Jelly is always a good staple is high on nutrition. Energy drinks can be as bad as soda as they contain high fructose levels; fructose is just another form of sugar. Check the labels on flavored water as they can contain fructose. Look for juices that are natural and unsweetened.
Eating healthy is more work than one might expect. Even shopping in a health food store requires reading labels as some of the nutritional content may be higher than you might expect or want. As for snacks the same thing holds true here as well. Plain yogurt is very healthy but does not taste all that good. When they start adding things to make it taste better the calorie count goes up. So when you go down the snack aisle and grab that box of granola bars with nuts and honey; check the nutrition label against the box of plain granola bars.
One suggestion; you might check with the heath service department at school. They should have a guide to healthy dorm living. This could help you with not only shopping but other parts of dorm life.
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