Dieting on a budget??

[missminimum]

I really need to lose at least 2 stone but also need to get our finances under more control in the New Year. I have a busy job and I know I should spend more time meal planning to help our food bills. The meals we eat are generally reasonably healthy, but my weight is down to snacking on really unhealthy foods and also not finding time for exercise, being embarrassed to be seen in a swim suit and feeling out of place in gym classes etc. I know a lot about what is a healthy diet but binge on rubbish in between meals. I don't spend a fortune at the supermarket, around £60- 80 a week for 3 adults in household, including cleaning and toiletries, but don't want any diet to increase my spending or involve time consuming food preparation.
Does anyone have any tips on weight loss for someone in their 50s, not much more than 5 foot tall and who wants to also eat more cheaply? Thank you

[StellaRockafella]

Just try to stop snacking completely and walk more. Weight loss is more about what you're eating than exercise, so as long as you're in a calorie deficit, you will lose weight.

Think about intermittent fasting too. I prefer 16:8 to 5:2.

Try to eat nothing with a barcode, and by that I mean nothing processed.

Good luck!

[FATEdestiny]

If you dont buy (and therefore dont eat) the snack food, think how much money you will save. It needs you to make a decision that everyone in the house will be healthy eating, but perfectly doable to just stop buying all snack food.

I spend a competitively similar amount on food shopping to you, if you multiply up for my big family. There are 2 adults, 2 teenagers and 2 children in our house. I spend roughly £60-80 weekly in the supermarket on everything apart from fresh food. I then spend another £60-£80 ish on fruit, vegetables and salad stuff through the week. But I have roughly double the mouths to feed than you, and do so on around double the budget.

Cooking from scratch really is the cheapest option. I do a lot of "meat and 3 veg" type meals. Chicken, fish fillets, various steaks etc. Even quorn sausages go down well (very low fat and low calorie). With 3 types of non-startchy veg.

Then there's loads of one-pot meals. Bolognese sauce (peppers, onions, tin of tomatoes, mince), savoury mince (onions, mushrooms, peas, grated carrot and stock), healthy BBQ sauce (3 peppers, tin of tomatoes, worstershire sauce and dark soy sauce, blitzed once cooked and add in whatever meat you want). Lamb and lentil stew is another favourite (Lamb, sweet potatoes, carrots, orange lentils, passata).

All of these I've mentioned so far can be cooked in about 30 minutes. Maybe 15 mins extra needed to peel and chop veg before starting, but we are not talking masses of cooking time needed and once they are in/on the oven you can mostly just leave them to cook. So not labour intensive.

I've lost nearly 8 stone since January 2018. My husband has lost 6 stone. Because I decides to stop buying crap food and cook everything from raw ingredients.

Same for lunches - cut out processes crap. Salads are cheap. Or blitz up some chickpeas and make some veggie sticks to drop in it. Or steam a chicken breast and have with veg if you're at home.

For exercise - start walking. Then start thinking about the Couch to 5K program, to teach youself how to run (don't discount as ludicrous, you may surprise yourself).

[JustWingingLifeAsUsual]

Stop snacking on the wrong things and snack on the right things! You eat if you're hungry. But eat the right stuff! Could be carrot sticks, apple, orange, etc. eat healthy snacks.

You don't need to pay to go gym. I promise! Just walking 30 mins a day helps so much. Or even parking your car further away from your workplace and walking all adds up. "Moving" means anything that gets you moving! You don't need to pay money or waste time at the gym when you can just enjoy the nature and use your legs instead :)

Drink lots of water. Get yourself a bottle with a straw and you'll find yourself sipping it during the day as long as you carry it around with you or put it into your handbag.

[missminimum]

Thanks everyone for your advice. Well doe Destiny on your fab weight loss, very inspiring! Going to start with not snacking and take up more walking