The Most Common Excuse

What excuse do you use for not eating healthy?  Time?  Money?  Work?  Lack of support?

The most common excuse I hear when people do not want to lose weight is that it costs more to eat healthy. 

Consider this:

Cancer is not an easy or inexpensive disease to treat.  People can spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on treatments and procedures.  Other diseases such as diabetes are ones you are stuck with for the rest of your life.  Digestive issues can be miserable to deal with.  Some diseases cannot even be diagnosed unless a thousand tests are run which exhausts the body and the pocketbook.  I have several older relatives who spend over $800 a MONTH on prescription medications for high blood pressure, diabetes, pain, ulcers, cancer, etc.  And think of the side effects!!!  Headaches, diarrhea, high blood pressure, constipation, ulcers, higher risk for some cancers...  these are all side effects I hear about on TV commercials for medications.  Is it worth it?????

I cannot guarantee that disease will not crop up in our lives, even if we eat healthy.  I have a very good friend who's mother ate healthy almost every day of her life and she still ended up with cancer.  BUT, if we can eat healthy and help reduce the chances for cancer, high blood pressure, diabetes, etc, isn't that worth it?  If we can eat healthy and reduce the risk (and completely get rid of the risk in some cases) for the need for some medications, isn't it worth it?

I found this article in the USA Today that really highlights some great points!!

1.  The five categories of food that were evaluated in this article in the order of least expensive to most expensive:  grains, dairy, vegetables, fruit, protein and less healthy foods.

2.  Consider your portion sizes.  A serving size of potato chips costs much more than a portion size of carrots and you will feel more full and satisfied!

3.  Proteins tend to be more expensive, such as chicken or fish, but eggs and beans are also sources of protein that is much cheaper. 

4.  The reason fruits and vegetables are higher in price is because we need more servings of them per day!! 

5.  In each of the food groups listed above, there are expensive items and inexpensive items.  If you always buy the most expensive, most exotic fruits, OF COURSE they will put a dent in your wallet. 

6.  Most people only allocate about 20-25% of their food budget towards fruits and vegetables.  The government suggests closer to 40%. 

Another great place that you can cut back is through what you drink!!  If you cut down on the soda, that will add up a lot!!  Even diet sodas that are horrible for you add a lot to your budget.  Try drinking water or iced tea with all your meals.  You can add lemon or cucumber or berries to your water or tea to make a nice refreshing treat that is not mundane. 

While I was doing the research for this blog post, I really evaluated my own grocery bill.  I spend on average about $80 every two weeks for Mike and I.  This usually includes some meat (chicken, pork chops, ground beef, steak), some almond milk, regular milk, healthy snacks for me, a few unhealthy snacks for Mike, and all kinds of veggies and fruits that I put into my shakes in the morning or salads at lunch or dinner.  I already have spices at home so I rarely need to buy those.  That totals about $160 a month for groceries from the store.  Then I look at my Shakeology and because I'm a Team Beachbody Coach, my Shakeology is only about $97 a month.  My entire grocery bill is a little over $260 a month for both Mike and I.  Now, if Mike ever decided to start drinking Shakeology, our bill would go up to about $360 a month. 

Eating clean is not really hard on the budget if you just look at what you're spending your budget on.  It can be harder on your creative brain cells though because it does take some thought to come up with food that is clean, not processed, healthy and NOT BORING, right? 

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I have a challenge for you:

Do some research and come up with three dinners that you can cook this week that are CLEAN. The Eat Clean Diet website has some awesome recipes.  Give three of them a try.  See how you feel and how your pocket book feels.  If you shop smart and eat smart, you will achieve great results both in how your body feels and how your budget feels!!

Weekly Meal Prep- Does it help????

I mentioned in another blog the importance of planning ahead.  When I am traveling and know I will be on the road, I plan ahead by making sure I have access to a refrigerator and/ or microwave and that there is a grocery store or Wal Mart near by.  That's the easy part.  What comes after that though???

When I find out that there is a Wal Mart or grocery store nearby, I plan out exactly what I will be eating for the week:  breakfast, lunch, and dinner.  Then I make a grocery list.  I also decide which ONE night I will either eat out or order room service (depending on the hotel).  

This week, I will be in Bowling Green, KY.  It's only about 2 hours away from me, so I will be able to drive there.  Which MEANS, YAY!! I get to take almost everything with me.  

Breakfasts are easy:  Shakeology!  I already cut up the cherries I will blend with it and I will buy bananas when I get there.  I will take with me my PB2 and Shakeology.  

Lunches are a bit more challenging as I need something to take with me as I don't have time to go out and grab something to eat in between sessions.  This week, I plan on buying cut up lettuce, cherry tomatoes, cucumber, broccoli, and radishes.  I'll take with me some balsamic spray dressing (10 sprays= 10 calories!!).  I will buy some turkey lunch meat (sliced from the deli if possible) for my protein.  I'll also buy some Greek yogurt for a mid-morning protein snack and some apples.  That should take care of my lunches.

I will go out to dinner on Thursday night.  Probably eat something at the hotel restaurant, such as salmon or steak, maybe grilled chicken with some grilled zucchini.  That sounds tasty.  Other dinners will include items similar to my lunch.  Lots of veggies, salads, and maybe some microwavable fish if I can find some.  

What is the benefit of planning ahead?  By planning ahead, I am able to stay on track and focused.  I know exactly what I'm eating, no matter where I am.  It's definitely worth the hour or two I spend planning on a Sunday evening.  

Tips while traveling: Lunch

It's hard when you're traveling to make smart decisions and stay on track.  I know.  As someone who has been on the road for half the year already (and it's only June 19), I understand.  I have my weeks where I just don't have the energy or the desire and then fall to the wayside and let my goals slip.  But when I pick myself back up and realize that I still have goals I want to achieve, I just make the decision to get it done.  One of the biggest challenges is when I am at a hotel that has a refrigerator but it barely counts because it's smaller than the suitcase I brought with me. 

So how do I overcome the suitcased size challenge I have?  Think and SHOP SMART!  Make a decision at the beginning of the week as to how you want your week to go.  Do you know that you have a dinner with co-workers one night?  Or do you have an event you're attending such as a wedding or a family reunion?  Think about the week, then make the decision and STICK TO IT.  Usually, I have one dinner a week out with co-workers.  I stick to that.  No more.  I allow myself to eat out once.  That includes breakfast, lunch, and dinner.  ONCE.

So what do I do the rest of the week?  This is where the SHOP SMART comes into play. 

I found these salads at the local grocery store and started to get creative.

I bought radishes, green onions, broccoli, some almond slices (unflavored), and some pomegranate vinaigrette dressing.

I also bought a large ziploc disposable container:

I dumped the premade salad into the ziploc container, cut up radishes and green onions (with my plastic knife, so that was fun), added the brocoli and the toasted almonds, put a couple tablespoons of salad dressing on, and wa-la!!! 

I turned the salad into this:

You can add turkey pepperoni (like I did) or some chicken for some protein.  You can also add a little mozerella cheese as well.  You can do all kinds of things with a salad and still have some delicious HEALTHY options available to you. 

It takes a lot of work and some thinking, but eating healthy for lunch in a hotel with a small refrigerator can be done if you take the time to think it through and plan out how you are going to succeed!!  I made a HUGE salad that will probably last me two days for under $10.  You can't eat out as healthy or as CHEAP!!!