Eat healthy on a budget: the sweet spot.

With the advance in technology and social demand to meet nutritional needs of people with a busy Life, it is rather easy to find a snack that appeals to the senses, a quick meal that is “low fat, no sugar added” or just pick a on-the-go meal that surprisingly tastes like food (even if it costs way over its nutritional value).

Whether you work from home or not (or hybrid), you will still need to plan time schedule and meals to a more or less extent. Regardless of being on a weight loss journey or not, planning meals should be more than the cost we pay in money value but also with health. Just like I once heard on a Jay Shetty podcast, “If we don’t make time for our wellness, we’ll have to make time for illness“.

Lets break down how to look at meal/food planning from the different perspectives that will help you eating healthier, save money and take charge of your eating habits.

And if most of the topics are known to you, then take this thought with you:

Saving money on healthy food may very well be the same “savings” you will use for disease...

Meals and Ingredient Planning

When assessing your food habits, it can be that you need to plan for all the family or just for yourself. By listing all the criteria, it will help understanding what is required, food preferences and even quantities for everyone.

Planning meals has several (immediate) benefits, some listed below:

• Buying the right quantities prevents food waste & taking advantage of promotions and/or discounts.
• Meal planning helps building the habit of structure eating (timing and composition of each meal).
• Eating healthy is linked to cooking healthier meals (instead of buying ready meals) which will lead to buying the “raw ingredients”. Use the rule of asking yourself “Would my grandma know what this is?”.
• Following good food practices: less (or none) left overs, following “use by” dates for perishable foods like meat/fish (even if it means cooking when you would rather buy a takeaway).
• Assess type of confections (should include a reflection on utility bills), increase vegetable-based meals (if applicable) as these are often less expensive and secure food variety (prevents food boredom and promotes meeting nutritional needs).

Income vs outgoings: it’s not only about food

Besides the cost of food, our habits are part of an assessment we do in Health Coaching – if this is where we need to go next. It allows YOU to increase awareness and take control on your expenses to maximise incomes and cut unnecessary outgoings. Easier said than done, however, drifting should not be an option and understanding how health can indeed be your wealth is crucial for the equation.

Buying lunch outside, getting a coffee on the way to work or buying that protein powder that “builds muscle” may need an honest revision of its importance on the budget making, when we look at food-related expenses. But only you can decide and have an honest approach to this.

Once this coaching exercise is done and an action plan is in place, allocate how much you will be investing in food on a monthly and weekly basis. It is a very rich and rewarding exercise where we discuss value: the monetary and the nutritional one. And most importantly – you will be getting the tools to do this type of reflection and action it, independently, for Life.

How to eat out (and how to eat out out) on a budget?

Aside from convenience and potentially some time-saving (arguable), opting for takeaway meals or a “quick snack” when at work may not only costing you more – financially wise – but you could also be paying with your health.

Nutritionally, if getting a prepared meal is part of your working day, it is wise to trial meal preparations which will give room to improve how you fuel your body and save money at the same time.

When eating out out, avoiding alcoholic drinks and opting to stick with mains will help saving on the final bill. If you are going for a one-off meal (that would impact your health otherwise), chose wisely and avoid having high quantities of simple sugars alongside fats which hinder digestion and may impact your metabolism for the next 1-2 days (or take you out track).

Generally, Mediterranean foods will be healthier. From a nutritional point of view, ordering mains and sharing with a friend/family or simply requesting a smaller portion are also options when avoiding extra calories and keeping an healthy budget. Sides like bread/olives/cheese may be tempting so make sure you are not extremely hungry (like skipping a meal) which will likely make you feel you need these too.

Nutrient Loss in cooking

One argument and fact where prepared meals may not be ideal is linked to the nutrient loss and some level of palatability (from texture to the actual taste or even temperature). But by choosing the best cooking methods (for example, steaming instead of hard boiling) and foods that suit you and your preferences, this is still the best option when eating out whether you are on a budget or not.

In fact, even if the nutritional value is lower, takeaway meals are often higher in fats and preservatives. Supported by studies, people who prepare their meals to eat at work/out had a significantly higher intake of fibre, lower saturated fats and lower salt when comparing with takeaway meals.

How expensive is it eating healthy?

Based on a report by Which from April 2023, Aldi was one of the cheapest supermarkets. That said, lets compare a few basics unhealthy to be replaced with healthy (and cheap!) alternatives.

Health coaching will make you re-think your food choices and refresh your budget with money-saving options that also give you a 100% interest towards your health.

How about organic food?

As the awareness increases when it comes to eating pesticide-free foods, it is wise to consider an investment on the most at-risk foods when it comes to the presence of chemicals that will harm our health.

If eating organic is something that goes outside your budget, it is worth having an awareness of the Clean 15 List created by the Environmental Working Group¹ which lists which foods are “safer” to have without being certified organic. In contrast, another list for the Dirty Dozen¹ which you either avoid or chose organic if you want to avoid them.

1 These lists do change over time – if you want to stay up-to-date, subscribe to their newsletter.