Dieting on a budget

Jokerman

Hello H\A!

So after being disgusted with my current physique (Admitting you have a problem is half the battle, no?) and realizing that if I don't do something about it now, I'm going to only get worse, I have decided to go on a diet.

My two concerns are this: I have a fairly limited budget (200 dollars a month) and I drink a lot of coke, so I'm afraid of crashing out from the lack of sugar\ Caffeine.

I have given up coke only once in my life, and that was for the Army. I drink at least a 20oz a day, but don't have any other nasty habits (Don't drink much, don't smoke regularly, yadda yadda yadda) but I know realitically it's got to go.

I'm 26, currently at around 210-215, and would like to slim down to 200 by January, then 190 by the summer.

Help me H\A, you're my only hope.

Karrmer

Just going to Diet Coke will help immensely, and possibly be all you need honestly.

Other than that I suggest cutting out most of the sugars and refined carbs, start eating things like eggs or chicken

TychoCelchuuu

Cut out Coke! It's bad for you. If you crash you can cut it back in but... try to go without!

$200 per month is quite a lot of money for food. I spend $60 a month and could spend less than that if I were hurting for cash. Rice, beans, and vegetables are your friends. Shop at ethnic markets and buy whatever's fresh and on sale. Drink only water and if you want something sweet, eat actual fruit rather than anything else. You'll be healthier and eat cheaper!

Jokerman

Goddammed Tycho, do you ever leave H\A? You were one of the first to reply to my last post.

It's important to note I don't really have that much of a sweet tooth, it's the fizz that does it for me.

Are rice and beans going to help bring down my calloric intake? I know back when their was a fitness thread, @Thanatos always talked about buying brown rice over white since it was a complex carb.

Is there anyway I could get someone to type up an average days meal for someone trying to get their shit together dietarily?

Karrmer

Rice and beans aren't really amazing in any form for someone trying to lose weight, but they're definitely cheap. If you're going to eat them, don't make them more than 20-30% of your meal. Stick to more proteins like eggs/meat and get some good vegetables in, though vegetables can get pricy.

The key really is to cut out the sugar more than anything (again, just going to diet soda is a huge step in the right direction) and just trying to focus on smaller portions of things that don't contain sugars/refined carbs after that.

So even if you're eating a lot of rice and beans, if you're at least done with the coke and other sugary junk I'm sure you'll see progress. You can start tweaking after that Coke addiction is gone and things maybe slow down a little

Fyndir

If it's the fizz you like over sugar why not try carbonated water? I know here in the UK I could get something like 8 litres for £1 by buying 2 litre bottles from a cheaper brand, so it could help with your budget concerns if you were buying that instead of Coke.

Tube

I recommend coke zero for the sake of both your waistline and your teeth, but if you're on a budget it's worth pointing out that you're dropping an enormous amount of money on coke.

Jokerman

I'm going to pretty much move away from coke totally. Maybe have one every now and again, but it's not going to be a part of my diet the way it is now.

I was hoping that someone could give me a good outline for a meal plan. Right now a good meal might be pot roast with veggies and rice, or baked chicken and rosemary brussel sprouts.
Will I be totally off the rails, even after I drop my nasty Soda habit? Or will my diet only require minor tweeking?

Jam Warrior

Ween yourself off the coke slowly rather than cold turkey. I suggest following the many alternatives offered above in a step wise progression until you're on fizzy water.

As for dieting on a budget. The problem is not money, it's effort. Cooking your own food from base ingredients rather than buying processed shit is both cheaper and healthier! Lean meats, plenty of veg, grill don't fry, it's nothing groundbreaking but it works.

Also make a real effort to eat slower and reduce your portion sizes and you can start to train yourself to stop eating when you've had just enough, rather than just before you've had too much.

And exercise. Combine with basic low key exercise (i.e. just get your ass out the house and walk around somewhere a few times a week) for any real lasting weight change.

MentalExercise

I'm not a great exerciser so I tend to control my weight through diet. The keys for me have been:

Don't eat until I'm full, eat until I'm not hungry anymore.

Avoid snacking, if I'm hungry eat a meal, otherwise I'm probably just bored so find something better to do.

Don't eat things I don't like. I get plenty of nutrition, so eating 'healthy' things that I hate is probably just increasing my caloric intake.

Which is not to say getting good nutrition in the first place isn't important; it's a must.

Strong flavors are my friend! It helps keep me satisfied with more regular sized portions. It helps that I like spicy food also.

Mixed meals are good! If I eat steak I'll eat 12oz. plus a baked potato and a few measly vegetables. If I eat beef stir-fry I'll enjoy it just as much but only have 6oz of steak and plenty of healthy (and delicious) veggies.

Experiment! Eating healthy is not like sex or pizza. When it's good it's good, but when it's bad it sucks. So I try all kinds of things and stick with what's healthy and good. Asparagus with a smidge if olive oil then salt and pepper and charred on a really hot charcoal grill? Turns out I like asparagus! (although its pricey out of season).

Perfect is the enemy of good! It's better if I make a really tasty, decently healthy, homemade pepperoni pizza than avoiding pizza altogether until I break down and eat 1,500 calories of terrible frozen pizza.

Pay attention to what's in things. The day I realized my big ooey gooey homemade cinnamon rolls with cream cheese frosting actually had the same amount or less sugar than a can of pop, it made cutting my pop habit way easier.

Leading to spending my calories wisely in general. I regularly ask myself if its worth eating 300 calories of this or that. I mean I could eat a snickers bar in the afternoon.... Or have a third more of that pizza I love. Easy choice.

I try to make lunch my big meal of the day. Breakfast and dinner are for managing my hunger and energy (although they should still taste good).

Anyway, those are things that work for me. The list of things that don't is way way longer. It's taken me practically a decade to collect, build and maintain decent eating habits.

As for budgets:
Eating at home of course.
Slow cooked things that can be made in batches where you freeze half or more.
If it doesn't portion down easily or make great leftovers it probably isn't worth it.
Hamburger becomes tons of things, and lots if them can use 97% lean: Italian meatballs, Swedish meatballs, meat loaf, pizza burgers, chili sauce for chili dogs (on low-fat hotdogs cause you won't even notice the difference with that chili on top), tacos, lots more.

VoodooV

I've been doing boot camps for the last couple months and they've got me on a new diet that works for me (when I stay on it). Here's a sample

Breakfast:
cup of egg whites (approx. 6 eggs but I use egg beaters)

3/4 cup of oatmeal
1/2 cup almond milk (unsweetened)
1tbsp almond butter
1 cup blueberries

snack
1 scoop of protein powder (25g of protein)
14 almonds

meal 2
4oz of protein
1 cup cooked brown rice
1 cup broccoli
1/2 tbspn olive oil

snack
1 scoop protein
apple

meal 3
4oz protein
1 cup brown rice
2 cup broccoli

snack
1/2 cup 1% cottage cheese
14 almonds


basically it just boils down to complex carbs, proteins, healthy fats, fruits and veggies and you just swap stuff in and out as you get sick/bored of the various foods. Do note however this diet was tailored for me so YRMV (i'm 6'5" 235lbs...225 now

what's was shocking to me during the first week was how full I felt. I wasn't used to eating THAT often. felt like I was constantly eating. There are a bunch of things like spices and sweeteners they allow you to mix in since most of the food is rather bland, like cayenne pepper, mrs. dash, mostly it's about keeping it as natural and unprocessed as possible.

but yeah, cut out cola/diet cola period.

Anome

My mom was a huge pop drinker until she was diagnosed as diabetic and had to cut it out cold turkey. She hates diet anything, aspartame gives her a headache, but she drank pop for the fizz more than anything else just like you. In the end she has made the switch to club soda with lemon, maybe that would work for you, too.

Tube

I'm a weightlifter so this diet might not be your thing but when I'm eating strictly it's based around

Eggs for breakfast

chicken, vegetables (with rice if I'm trying to gain weight) in some kind of delicious concoction

Red meat based meal (chili, meatballs, burgers, whatever) with vegetables and a potato if I'm trying to gain weight

Bagginses

Given the history and taste of coke, I'd say seltzer and bitters would be a better substitute than seltzer and citrus.

For a cheap meal, breaking up a chicken can get really quick after a big of experience. I can do it in roughly ten minutes in a hurry while I once saw the guy who used to do a cooking show with Julia Child do it in less than ten seconds.

Inx

As a fellow soda addict who's trying to lose some pounds, I've had success by switching to tea when it comes to that caffeine fix. If you want it fizzy, you could make it iced with some seltzer water. Some teas can be pretty flavorful without adding any sugar, and can carry quite the caffeine punch. Add the fizz from the seltzer and you just might have a good replacement.

mts

just be aware, you will have better more substantial weight loss if you combine the diet with exercise. its way harder to loss weight and keep it off strictly by lowering calories