Eating healthily on a budget while trying to lose weight

[aliumbear]

This may sound like a ridiculous thing to start a post over.
I am trying to lose weight but I need it to be sustainable cost wise as well.
Granola/muesli I'm aware it has sugar and the more expensive brands don't but it is still mainly about half oats and nuts so is it better to just buy mixed nuts and oats.
There are individual own brand 100g yogurt pots for under £2.
900g fage yogurt for over £5 is with a difference of 2g more protein and has less calories per 100g than the pots and it also has multicultures which would help with my stomach. But I'm not sure if the benefit is worth the extra price.
Next is fresh fish which is my biggest expense. Is it honestly better to go frozen and get cheaper versions like cod and haddock or is there genuinely a worth while health benefit to fresh fish like salmon and mackerel.
Salad leaves are also expensive, is it better to only really buy spinach and kale, or is there a health benefit to the variety of the other packs like little bags of rocket

Hello I can advise you, I’m a registered dietitian and my specialty is public health so eating well on a budget is my thing. UK advice for fish is 2 portions per week, one of which should be oily fish for Omega 3’s. You can save money by eating frozen or tinned fish eg tinned pilchards will count as an oily fish - there is no difference in quality.

For breakfast look for a cereal which has less than 15g sugar per 100g (on the back of the pack look under carbohydrates for the ‘of which sugars’). That will be a better choice. Use low fat yoghurt. Lidl do a low sugar granola, but honestly any high fibre cereal is good eg own brand weetabix, add fruit, you don’t have to eat granola.
As for the salad, eat whatever you like. All veg and fruits are good. For budgeting I’d say that whole lettuce eg cos or baby gem last longer than bagged salad. Frozen fruit and veg is just as good as fresh. No extra benefit to mixed salad bags.

Eggs are healthy and relatively cost effective. Likewise pulses. The best thing you can do is cook using spices from the world foods aisle, very cheap tasty meals. Try batch cooking dhal and adding spinach or grated courgette and/or carrots.

Plain oats for cereal. Add your own dried fruit, nuts or seeds, baking aisle is sometimes cheaper.

Yes to tinned or frozen fish.

Seasonal veg, also cheaper veg like carrots, cabbage and broccoli. You could get whole lettuce and spinach that would work out much cheaper than baby leaves. Or you could try growing your own.

You don't need branded yogurt, plain own brand Greek style yogurt is fine and less than half the price of Fage.

I think you've gone down a rabbit hole with this. Keep it simple. If it's a colourful vegetable (lettuce, peppers, broccoli etc not potatoes) eat lots of it. Porridge for breakfast from just rolled oats, not a pack of granola etc. Frozen fish is great. Tinned soup is cheap, low calorie and not a bad option. Any low fat yogurt. With regards to gut health, just stay off alcohol and you'll do yourself a world of good.

If you like granola for breakfast then make your own then you know what’s in it.

@Booboomylovewhy do you suggest low fat yogurt? What it wrong with Fage? (Other than the price - Tesco Finest is very similar but cheaper, OP) I thought low-fat was so much worse as the good stuff has been taken out and replaced with rubbish to make it more palatable.

The smoked mackerel packs are much much cheaper than fresh salmon.

Aldi and Lidl both do their own brand of proper Greek yoghurt (not “Greek style”) which would be the same as Fage.

Spinach is usually cheaper than kale and you can get frozen blocks to add to curries etc

You could make your own muesli mix yes that’s a good idea - again, Aldi and Lidl have a really good range of nuts, seeds and dried fruit.

@Bjorkdiditalas the ‘Greek style’ yoghurt goes through a different process so doesn’t have the same protein / fat macros or the same gut cultures. You do need the actual Greek yoghurt but not necessarily the Fage brand

I use a lot of frozen veg for cooking, more for convenience than cost, but its a winner all round.

I always have frozen diced onions, sliced peppers, sliced mushrooms and spinach in my freezer, along with other things that I buy when I want or need them - diced sweet potato and butternut squash, chopped frozen herbs, garlic, plus the usuals like peas and I like the steam bags too (usually buy those on offer!)

It means you can use as much or as little as you need, and there's zero waste. Plus no prep time either.

This weekend ive batch cooked a chilli, a curry, bbq chicken, bolognese and fajitas filling, all with frozen veg. Didn't buy, peel or chop a single one.

Beans and pulses. Chickpeas. Kidney beans. Lentil soup. Add lentils to every minced beef dish. Eggs.

Agree, we buy the Greek yogurt from Aldi, it’s our favourite of all the supermarket own brand ones.

@manovertheroadall that has been taken out is fat, like skimmed milk. It’s not replaced with anything, supermarket own brand low fat plain yoghurt is fine - steer clear of flavoured yoghurts because they are often higher in sugar. Many people are unaware that calcium is found in the ‘milk’ part of milk, not the cream part so full fat dairy has no health benefit except for more calories.

Aldi for no sugar museli, fat free Greek yoghurt, tinned peaches, baking potatoes, fat free cottage cheese, lower fat cheddar cheese, 5% fat beef mince and meatballs, tinned chopped tomotoes... It is quite possible to eat healthily on a budget.

I eat very well on a budget by mostly eating plant based, cooking from scratch using a lot of tinned beans and chick peas, plus fresh veg and seasonal fuit, then get my two portions of oily fish a week in the form of tinned sardines or mackrel. I do eat meat but usually ony at weekends - mainly because vegan meals are quicker and easier to cook midweek, and batch cook well, but it's also an easy way to save calories and ££

I also eat a lot of Greek yogurt and nuts, which are excellent quality and very good value in Lidl.

A tip if anyone is interested, buy plain ordinary yogurt, no sugar etc. - own brand is fine as long as it has yogurt cultures. Strain it overnight and you have Greek yogurt just like the expensive branded stuff.

I have a yogurt strainer that I got from Shein (oops!) and it is fantastic for this, cost about a tenner and has paid me back in spades.

To the strained yogurt I add milled chia and flax, wheat bran, and a mashed fruit mix that I make up once a fortnight or so and freeze in portions, it has berries, kiwi, pears, avocado. BTW I buy frozen berries and defrost them, use them in the fruit mush and refreeze and it's safe to do that. Frozen berries are so much cheaper than fresh and for uses like fruit mix/mush they are perfect.

I eat what I consider to be a healthy well balanced died for very little - in todays climate

You dont need to buy Fage - Lidl do the same at half the price - I make my own at a third or less

I put hand on heart and say Lidls direley ( sp ) cottage cheese at 68p a largish tub is better then any of the top range - its like pure cream

Fish - frozen is actually fresher than fresh - unless you are catching yourself. Tinned is absolutely a fantastic way of getting those Omegas and protein without breaking the bank

Everyone is on the HIGH PROTEIN band wagon. Unless an athlete - no point. Yes we all need protein and there are plenty of calculators out there which will tell you how much you need - age and activity play their part , do a few and take the average is my advice

Protein dosent need to be meat. Beans, grains and lentils are packed with protein - as well as fibre - and fibre will fill you more then a white carb

Bags of leaves - for one person - waste of money _ plus they are a processed food. Think about what salad veg you actually do like and will eat - an iceberg will last 2 weeks in the salad drawer if you peel the leaves off for use rather then chopping into it. Im not really fussed on salad veg and as for spinach, unless you are buying frozen, you are flushing cash away . I also use pickles, no rush to used them, add texture and flavour

If it's just you or a couple. use your freezer for veg. Yes you may be paying 20p Kg more , but there is no waste, its always there

Eating healthy cheaply is very much possible. It means planning and maybe if you dont understand food groups a wee bit of research but once you get the basics, its so easy

Agree with all here. I buy either supermarket fat-free greek/style yoghurt or plain fat-free skyr when on offer.

Frozen fruit from Farmfoods - 6 bags for £10. Plus I use coupons & discounted gift vouchers on top.

Lidl low-sugar granola just as a topper, or value oats to make overnight oats.

Milled or mixed seeds from wherever is cheapest.

Tins of various beans, 3 for £1 from Farmfoods, massive bags of red lentils £1.29 too.

Currently both fresh (price matched to aldi) and frozen fish on a 3 for 2 deal at sains.

As I always say, know your prices, use the deals and add on coupons, discounted gift vouchers & loyalty schemes in addition.

Don't buy pre washed and cut salad leaves....I just buy a whole lettuce...lasts longer, is much cheaper and stays fresh for longer in the fridge.

I make my own muesli without added fat or sugars. Toast the oats, add whatever nuts, seeds, dried fruit you like - Lidl is great for ingredients. Put everything into ai to work out overall calories & portion accordingly.

lentils are great - I make a big pot of lentil soup - loosely based on Lebanese lentil lemon soup with kale, or a spicy Dahl & eat it all week.

I like the 10% Fage yoghurt- it’s more satisfying.

If you have the room get a grow bag & some mixed salad leave seeds. They grow quickly & should keep going into autumn.

Me too OP. I am on the lose weight but keep the other kinds of pounds mission!

For me decision fatigue is what derails healthy eating and any kind of change I want to make really. Having to constantly reinvent lunch or dinner but make it still tick all the boxes.

Here is what I am doing:

Breakfast 400cal: slow cooker porridge. Yep. Slow cooker. cooking while I am sleeping. No mess when I wake up either, since i cook it in a bain-marie in the slow cooker. I eat from the pot it cooks in. A little cocotte with a lid inside the slow cooker with a lid on and water up to halfway outside it. I pile it all in the cocotte the night before and a wifi switch turns it on at 4am and it cooks on low for three hours. Decision fatigue removed and I really want it when I walk in the kitchen because it is right there in front of me, looking delish and all it needs is a spoon.
40g oats, 120ml milk, splash of water, honey, and crucially - a cube of frozen double cream. (I freeze double cream in ice cube trays). if I don't add the cream then I am hungry again ten mins later. If I do, then i'm good until lunch.

Lunch 450-500cal: I work from home most days. and like I said I hate having to decide all the time on stuff. I have a baked potato every lunch, cooked in another slow cooker that comes on automatically at 7am, on high for 5 hours. I simply wrap a potato in foil and chuck it in the night before. This makes lunch dead easy because again - it is ready and waiting, already cooked. I do use butter, 15g, and toppings are tuna or beans or 70g cheese .
Weekend lunches are scrambled eggs on toast, or garlicky mushrooms on toast (with one portion of cream cheese stirred in)
Office-day lunches are cous-cous/pasta based.

Dinner again 500cal ish: this is the most variable as you'd expect. It's also where I get most of my veg. This tends to be something lentil/veggie based. If I got hold of some meat on offer. Mushroom and spinach lentil stew, pasta with frozen Mediterranean veg and pesto, Bubble&Squeak and 1/2 tin beans, kedgeree (frozen fish) , veggie biryani...You only need to find your groove with 5 or 6 repeatable easy meals.

Evening thing to stop me Netflix and snacking 150cal: Ovaltine. Seriously. 200ml milk and three teaspons (you don't need five like the packet says, they just want you to buy more).

YOUR FREEZER IS YOUR FRIEND - I freeze nearly anything and everything. In individual portions too (if you're single and cooking for one). The base of most things is onion and garlic, much easier to just take one portion of pre chopped onion and garlic out the freezer and crack on. Same with single portions of mash, make a load and freeze them in portions. Anything to reduce cooking friction because I bloody hate cooking. You know what to do and what you need to do, just reduce the friction and make it easy.
Your freezer is great for your budget too though, nearly everything can be frozen.

Re fresh vs frozen fish, I believe a lot of fresh fish has already been frozen anyway. When it’s caught it’s usually flash-frozen on the boat because otherwise it would deteriorate before they can get back to land and the fish filleted, packaged, and ready for sale. Unless you’re lucky to live somewhere where the catch is actually local and then it’s fresh.

Pea or lentil soup is pretty nutritious and an okay carb, once a week costs very little and you can have it twice in one day.

Lots of eggs and porridge as pps have said. Tesco do quite cheap natural yoghurt and kefir which can be eaten for breakfast without the sugar of the flavoured kinds, I put a bit of cinnamon on mine or soaked chia seeds, a bag of those lasts ages. LIDL seems to be cheapest for bags of unsalted nuts, Tesco and M&S prices are crazy.

Fish has got wildly expensive. I don't eat meat but my sons do, and jeez it costs a lot! Even previously cheaper fish like mackerel has shot up in price, but I'd say you are better eating this than cheaper cuts of salmon as it can be nasty stuff.

Some vegetables and salads are very easy to grow, namely, the green ones,
Try planting large pots or edges of your garden with Cos lettuce, ice berg lettuce, kale, cabbage, zucchini, broccoli, spring onions and herbs like basil, parsley, mint.
Make your own jars of crunchy bean sprouts and alfalfa.
Make your own mueslie - raw rolled oats 70%, 10% nuts and seeds - pepita, sunflower seeds, flaked almonds, walnuts, and 20% Special K or wholemeal Cherios.

cans of baked beans
cans of sardines
cans of tuna
canned fruit
bag of wholemeal brown rice
box of seconds fruit (or ugly fruit) from green grocer.
lentil curries
low fat mince in all sorts of ways
frozen fish

I just buy the large pots of yogurt from Lidl/tesco. I do overnight oats with frozen berries and also water down the yoghurt for that as the oats absorb the liquid and it’s too thick otherwise. I add chia seeds to the yoghurt and some ground flax on top, It’s a pretty cheap breakfast.

Chopped salads can be pretty cheap to make, I make one with a head of raw broccoli, carrots, apples, spring onions and homemade dressing, it’s cheap and stays crunchy a few days.