Keep The Spare Tire In The Trunk
After weeks of gorging your gizzard with fruitcake and guzzling eggnog, you know it’s time to sober up. Eating the right foods can mean the difference between looking like Hugh Jackman or a contender for the gossip rags’ worst celebrity beach body.
Here’s the 411 on how to eat healthfully and lose weight for less money.
Here’s the 411 on how to eat healthfully and lose weight for less money.
Purchase in-season produce at your local farmer’s market. Get fresh, locally grown, and often, organic produce at prices that are considerably lower than the supermarket’s. It’s usually more fully ripened and of better quality, too. Vine-ripening is critical to the nutritional value of produce, since 80% of a plant’s nutrients develop during the last two weeks of its growth cycle.
Ditch the sodas. Most people in the U.S. can cut out 450 calories a day just by giving up sodas, energy drinks, and sweetened teas, coffees, and juices. Even diet sodas cause weight gain. Plus, they contain aspartame, a chemical linked to brain tumors and lymphoma. Stick primarily to water; if you need caffeine, brew a cup or two of coffee or tea, then sweeten with stevia.
Get raw dairy products, eggs, organic poultry, and grass-fed meat from family farms and food coops. By cutting out the middleman, you’ll pay less. Buying in large quantities, such as a side of grass-fed beef, can also save you money in the long run. Click here to find farms and coops in your area.
Tip: If you don’t have access to free-range beef, the next best option is to choose the leanest cuts, such as flank steak and round steak, since toxins from hormones and anti-biotics settle in fattier tissue.
Another option is to ask the butcher to order some bison. In general, bison are raised much more naturally than other livestock, which means they're not given antibiotics or hormones, and the meat is very lean.
Skip prepared or pre-cut foods, which can cost up to twice the amount of unprepared foods. Don’t think you have the time to cook? Click here for tips on how to cook whole foods from scratch and still keep your day job.
Buy organic whole grains and beans from bulk bins. Quinoa, adzuki beans, and buckwheat groats are just a few of the delicious, exotic complex carb options available. Packed with fiber and nutrients, most are surprising easy to prepare: just cook in chicken broth, add some herbs, and top with a drizzle of olive oil. For the tastiest oatmeal ever, try using steel cut oats.
Pass on junk foods like potato chips, cookies, candy, and other processed snacks. Expensive and completely devoid of nutrients, these “foods” will make you fat and unhealthy. Instead snack on string cheese, nuts, fruit, and plain yogurt mixed with farmer’s market honey (Most honey at the supermarket comes from bees that have been fed corn syrup and antibiotics).
Choose ocean-caught rather than farm-raised fish. Good choices include fresh Alaskan salmon, arctic char, sardines, and anchovies. These fish are excellent sources of healthy fat and are usually lowest in toxins like PCBs and mercury.
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