Eating Healthy on a Budget
Food manufacturers today make it so easy to buy the food that’s bad for you because it is so much cheaper and, if you’re on a budget, it’s really hard to stretch your money to afford to eat good, whole fruits and vegetables, lean cuts of meat, non-processed stuff every day of the month. Trust me, I know. Usually, by the last week, we’re down to cereal and PB&J sandwiches and pasta and all of those things are problematic for weight loss because of the numerous amount of carbohydrates (carbs) they contain.
It’s the excess amount of carbs we consume, which turn into sugar and ultimately get stored as FAT in our bodies, that makes weight loss so difficult. If you cut out four basic ingredients, you’ll be healthier and lose weight. Those four ingredients are….
(PAUSE FOR EMPHASIS)
Flour, Fat, Sugar, and Salt.
Basically, you want to eat a diet rich in low fat protein (protein is our FRIEND), very little, if any, sugar and carbs, and reduced salt. Think the new Atkins diet. If you want to lose weight, you need to restrict carbs so your body starts to go into and burn your stored fat for energy. If you eat carbs, those carbs are what the body burns FIRST, then stores the rest which ultimately end up as stored FAT. No carbs in, the body still needs to burn someting for energy so it turns to your fat reserves and starts the process of ketosis which is burning fat for energy. That is what you ultimately want if you are trying to lose weight. You want your body to go into its fat reserves and start burning that fat for energy.
I know it’s difficult if you’re a carb addict like me who loves my bowl of cereal at 10:30 at night and loves a good sandwich for lunch, but remember, you don’t have to totally give up carbs forever…just until you reach your ideal, healthy weight and then you can start to incorporate carbs back into your diet.
Good luck on your journey!
