Eating Healthy on a Budget

Your doctor tells you to do it. TV ads come on telling you to do it. News reports, articles are telling you the benefits of doing it. What's "it"? Eating healthy. And of course it's definitely a good thing to do and you WANT to do it. But let's face it, eating healthy is darn expensive.

People figure well, I can get this non nutritional meal or junk food for so much cheaper than if I were to buy a 'create your own salad' from some deli. Fast food restaurants bombard us every minute of every day with their value meals at bottom basement prices while having a healthy sandwich, soup and/or salad can cost you twice that fast food meal.

So how can you eat healthy on a budget? Here's how:

PLAN AHEAD + CREATE A LIST. If you have an idea of a meal or meals you want to prepare for the week, figure out all the ingredients you need and create a shopping list. Create a shopping list, period. It helps to reduce the need to impulse shop when you get to the supermarket. You know how that goes...you walk in thinking "Ok, I ONLY need milk, eggs and some bread", but you walk through those aisles and pick up things you now feel you need too, mostly because you are hungry at that moment. Make a list to help you stay on track of what you really need.

LOOK FOR STORE SALES/SPECIALS. I always pick up a store circular and browse through it for specials on the items I'm purchasing. At Whole Foods, I always get their circular because it will have coupons for various items and I usually find a coupon for at least 1-3 items I normally buy.

AIN'T NOTHING WRONG WITH STORE BRANDS! Yes I know that statement isn't grammatically correct but it's straight to the point! (smile) Store brands are usually a few dollars less than name brand items. Oatmeal, condiments, frozen vegetables are some items that you can almost always get the store brand for much less.

BUY FRUITS + VEGETABLES IN SEASON. This is something that I am doing more of lately. In season fruits and vegetables are cheaper. Some in season items: SUMMER - melons, corn, tomato, peaches, berries •• FALL - pumpkins, squash, apples •• WINTER - oranges, grapefruit, apples, grapes •• SPRING - strawberries, pineapples, broccoli, asparagus.

BUY FROZEN OR CANNED FRUITS AND VEGETABLES. Frozen fruits and veggies are less expensive and if you are purchasing an item that is not in season, this is the way to go because you'll spend less. Canned fruits are great; just be sure to purchase items in their natural juices or water because they can contain a lot of sugar. Canned vegetables are cool too but contain a lot of sodium (not cool for folks dealing with hypertension) so if you buy canned veggies, rinse them. It will help to remove about 30-40% of the sodium.

USE BEANS INSTEAD OF MEAT. Beans/legumes are very inexpensive, can be stretched beyond one, even two meals and are filling. Oh and of course they are nutritional great for you - lots of protein!. Use them instead of meat once or twice a week. It will help to cut down on your grocery bill.

BUY MEAT IN BIG PACKAGES. I'm sure everyone can remember their mom doing this; buying big packages of meat, chicken, splitting it up into several portions and freezing it. This definitely saves you money. My mom did this all the time with ground turkey and chicken and we'd be good for what seemed like weeks!

PURCHASE FOODS FROM A FARMER'S MARKET. Fruits and vegetables are almost always less expensive when you buy from the farmer's market. Here in NYC, there are quite a few set up and they offer more than reasonable pricing on their produce. And just think how you are 1) contributing to the growth of local farmers and 2) contributing to the reduction of energy used to transport and store produce from elsewhere.

SKIP THE BOTTLED WATER. Trust me, tap is just as good and safe and less expensive! If you don't trust your tap, then buy a filter...still saves you money.

Happy shopping! Be well!

Spring into Action + Get Fit! - Cleanse/Detox Programs

With Spring, people feel the need to clean house, eliminate clutter and of course lose weight. As it gets warmer (even though it hasn't even begun to get warmer here in NYC!), you want to shed any Winter remnants and just feel lighter. People not only want to clean house but cleanse their bodies as well; so they opt to do a cleanse or detox program. But what does it mean to do a cleanse or detox and is there a difference? When I was researching this topic, I found some interesting things.

Most say a cleanse is a way to focus solely on cleaning out and clearing up the digestive tract, which includes eliminating toxins, parasites, fungi (like Candida). By doing a cleanse you can remove from your body waste buildup and feel energized, relieve pain, disease and allergy symptoms. With a detox program, it's said that you are solely eliminating toxins from the body, sometimes focusing on specific organs and/or the bloodstream. A detox program allows the body to hone in on self healing and stimulate digestive health. After reading these 'definitions', I still felt that there really wasn't much of a difference between a cleanse and detox; maybe just a slight difference in focus.

The key is finding which cleanse/detox is right for you and that will take some research and asking people you know...people you trust. You can do a cleanse or detox for 1 day or up to 21 days. If you are new to cleanses/detoxing, I would not do it for more than 3 days. Reason is, like anything else, you have to be disciplined enough to do either of these for more than a few days. It takes practice. Also, I challenge you to look at why you are doing the cleanse/detox; is it solely for losing weight? That's cool but I encourage you to dig deeper and open your mind to doing a cleanse/detox to also help you to connect to your spiritual self and remove toxic energies and emotions from within. Just another added benefit to a cleanse/detox-smile.

Once you've decided on which program to follow, you should prepare for the cleanse/detox...yep, you should get your body ready for this shift. Prior to doing the cleanse/detox, there are certain foods/beverages you should begin to ween off of like refined sugar, alcohol, refined carbs, caffeine as it can interfere with your body beginning to eliminate toxins. If you drink caffeinated beverages on a regular you may experience withdrawals like headaches, fatigue so decrease these items gradually. And drink lots of water; this helps to start the process of flushing the body of toxins and keeping you hydrated.

Now after the cleanse/detox you cannot just go back to eating what you ate before because it will be a shock to your system. Most recommend continuing a diet of fresh fruit and vegetables, raw and steamed. Soups with only vegetables or broths will help your system maintain the cleansing and prolong the benefits of doing the program.

There are many benefits to doing a cleanse/detox as well: gives you more energy, you will feel healthier and sleep better, improved digestion and food absorption, to name a few. Below are some of the popular cleanses/detox programs:

BLUE PRINT CLEANSE
Offers a line of juice cleanses at various levels of intensity. I love the green juice! The levels they offer are RENOVATION, FOUNDATION and EXCAVATION. Founded by Zoe Sakoutis and her business partner Erica Huss, this juicing program isn't depriving and people rave about it. Can be done for 1 day and up to 5 days. http://www.blueprintcleanse.com

ORGANIC AVENUE
Founded by Denise Mari. I had the pleasure of sample their juices and they were amazing. They have 5 unique cleansing programs that keep your body nourished and healthy during and after the program. They also suggest you can do cleanse up to 5 days. Cost is pretty pricey but worth it. http://www.organicavenue.com

MASTER CLEANSE
Everyone I think has heard of this cleanse. It's a simple program: lemon juice, rich maple syrup and cayenne pepper in water and it calls for 6-8 glasses of this mixture per day. Also gives you a guide to ease into the program, what to do during and easing out of the program. http://www.themastercleanse.org

Or you can create your own cleanse/detox program by having a diet consisting of only fresh fruit and raw vegetables and lots of water. Look into foods that can assist the body with eliminating toxins i.e. green foods, lemons, oranges, limes, garlic and broccoli to name a few. The key is to only eat these foods for a period of one day or more, so as to clean and clear out your system.

So, do your research, ask questions (you can also ask me by using comment box below and I'll do my best to answer-smile) and most importantly, before doing any type of cleanse or detox program, please consult with your doctor; especially if you have pre-existing conditions or take medications.

Be well!