Staying Healthy on a Budget March 12, 2009

Today everyone’s budgets are tight! Just because your budget it tight doesn’t mean you can’t eat healthy. Fruits and vegetables are typically more expensive than a box of mac and cheese, but it is important to still maintain your health in these tough times.

 

Here are a few tips in eating healthy on a tight budget:

 

–          Cut coupons from your Sunday newspaper

–          Buy fruits and vegetables at your local farmer’s market. They are cheaper and the money goes directly to the seller vs. the middleman when you buy it at the grocery store. Also majority of farmer’s market products are organic.

–          Next time you are out do some price checking. Buying in bulk doesn’t necessarily mean it is cheaper. I have compared prices with Costco and Target and I find that Target is generally cheaper (especially when I use the coupons I cut from the Sunday newspaper).

–          Bring your lunch to work/school. It is healthier, you know where you food came from and can save you up to $25 a week!

–          If you go out to eat, order water instead of soda. Water will help you metabolize food faster and carry nutrients to your cells.

–          Send an email to Amy’s Kitchen (http://www.amyskitchen.com/lemonslice/dear_amy/send_letter.php )stating you would like some coupons. You will get an email requesting your address to where they can send the coupons. (I just got mine yesterday!!)

–          Carry a snack with you if you are on the road a lot (bora bora bars, lara bars, nuts, peanut butter and jelly, raisins all travel well)—this works well too if you have kids.

–          Always carry a bottle of water with you. Better to stay hydrated throughout the day and it will help you to stay full and not over eat.

–          Look at your local grocery paper weekly for what is on sale. Try to buy products that are on sale as often as you can. This can save you a lot in the long run.

 

 

Healthier foods (whole wheat bread, fruits, vegetables) may be more expensive, but they will keep you fuller longer.  Eating healthy and saving money might require a bit of foot work, but it is worth it and your wallet will thank you!

 

Lastly, a friend recommend this site to me and I thought I would pass it along. The site is called Tip Jar: http://moderator.appspot.com/#16/e=3cfc

Energy Bars February 3, 2009

Clif Bar, Luna Bar, Balance Bar, PowerBar. Ever eaten one of these? Maybe you grab one before a long run or long bike ride …or maybe you grab one in the middle of the day to beat that mid afternoon slump. There are so many energy bars out there, what do you look for when you buy them? Do you fully understand all the ingredients in them? I pulled up the Clif Bar website and looked up some of the ingredients. Most ingredients I recognized, however, some ingredients I have no idea what they are like soy protein isolate. Sounds simple, but I don’t think it is as simple as it sounds. Also many of these so called healthy energy bars contain way too much sugar and processed ingredients.

 

I have found some energy bars that are healthy, have flavor and you actually recognize all the ingredients.

 

Energy Bar #1: Lara bars

–          Offer a wide variety of flavors

–          Sweetened with dates (natural sweetener)

–          My favorite is the Banana Nut (taste exactly like banana nut bread) and the Peanut Butter bar

–          Found at Trader Joes, WholeFoods, Henry’s and I have seen them at Vons/Safeway

Energy Bar #2: Bora Bora bars

–          Made mostly from nuts

–          Sweetened with agave syrup (natural sweetener)

–          My favorite is the Cinnamon Oatmeal

–          So far the only place I have been able to find these are at Costco, check your local markets I am sure they sold elsewhere (I think I saw them at Whole Foods, but I have not had time to confirm that)

Energy Bar #3: Trio Bar

–          Also made mostly from nuts

–          More of a crunchy texture

–          These are not particularly my favorite, but some of you might like them

–          Sweetened with dates (natural sweetener), evaporated cane juice, which isn’t the best, but at least you know what it is

–          I have also only seen these at Costco, but I am sure there are elsewhere as well

I do hope you get to try out one of these healthy energy bars. I am sure there are other healthy ones out there, but these are the ones I have tried, think they taste great and really recommend in place of your current energy bar.

Try this instead of that…. January 1, 2009

Bringing in the New Year many of us try and make a conscience effort to eat better. Below I created a chart to jump start your New Year with some healthy options. Enjoy and Happy New Year!

Instead of:	Try this:	Even better:
french Fries	baked potato	baked sweet potato
canned vegetables	frozen vegetables	fresh vegetables
soda	100% fruit juice	water with lemon
milk chocolate	70% or more dark chocolate	grain sweetened chocolate
cows milk	vanilla silk soy milk	unsweetened silk soy milk
white pasta	whole wheat pasta	spelt pasta
potato chips	100% stone ground chips	popcorn
canned fruit	dried fruit	fresh fruit
ice berg lettuce	romaine lettuce	spinach
Raisin Bran	Puffins (Barbara’s Bakery)	oatmeal
Nature  Valley granola bars	Barbara’s Bakery granola bars	lara bars or bora bora bars