I wouldn't normally do a blog post about weight loss, but this weight loss actually fits my overall frugal blog theme! 5 months ago, I was weighing between 145 pounds on a good day, and 148 pounds on a bad day! I'm only 5'2", so either one of those weights is WAY too heavy. This morning I got on the scale, and I weighed 131 pounds. That's a weight loss of about 16 pounds! I'm really pleased about this. I don't really know why I had gotten so overweight before, but at least it's finally going away. Now here's the part where my weight loss fits into my frugal blog theme.:P I lost all of that weight just by being frugal! Here's how:
I STOPPED GOING OUT TO EAT
I really think this is the #1 reason for my weight loss, because it's not like I have really been counting calories at home, or anything. The really strange thing is, it's not like I went out to eat all of the time before! When my husband lived with us, we went out for dinner maybe once or twice a week. Since he has left, I just haven't been able to afford dining out. I just can't believe the huge difference that eating at home has made...In my waistline AND my wallet!
I TRIED TO FOCUS ON MORE NUTRITIOUS FOODS
Nothing forces you to think about what you eat, like having a tiny grocery budget. I only have $80 to buy groceries to feed 4 people for 2 weeks. I have to really think about everything I want to buy. I want to make sure my kids get all of the vitamins they need. "Extras" like chips, soda, and pre-packaged meals, just don't fit into my food budget. I make all of our meals from scratch, because I really can only afford the basic ingredients. When we eat snacks, it's usually carrot/celery sticks, homemade granola bars, yogurt, fruit, cereal, eggs, or homemade corn chips with avocado salad. I actually kind of snack a lot. Maybe if I didn't snack so much, I'd lose even more weight!:P
I ATE SIMPLER MEALS AT HOME
When my husband lived with us, dinner was kind of a big, family event. I used to serve meat, at least two side dishes, bread and a dessert almost every day. Not only is that expensive, it's a lot of calories! Now I serve much simpler meals. Sometimes we'll still eat a grand feast, but more often we'll just eat soup, or chili, or a casserole, or breakfast for dinner. I find that my kids actually enjoy the simpler meals a lot more than the elaborate ones I used to make. Simpler meals also have the added bonus of making you lose weight!
I've tried to lose weight before, on Weight Watchers, or on some other diet plan. I would lose weight, but it always seemed so hard! This time, I wasn't really even trying to lose weight, I was trying to save money! I guess frugality was the answer all along, as it so often is.:P
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2 comments:
Keep up the good work! By which I mean eating healthy foods and making positive choices. Lasting weight loss follows lasting changes - makes sense, right?
Do you follow the NYT food blogger Mark Bittman? He read an article about how agribiz farming and meat-raising (especially meat-raising) degredated the environment, and changed his diet to be more environmentally conscious. This meant almost no meat, lots of produce and whole grains, etc. Without meaning to, he lost a lot of weight, increased his cardio-vascular health, and lost most of his risk factors for diabetes. He then wrote a short book, "Food Matters," about his journey and his new cooking habits: half cheerleading & info, half techniques & recipes. It's worth a looksee if your library has it.
Is he the raw foodist?
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