Hello, I'm new to the site although I have been lurking for a while, so excited to maybe be a part of this! I'm trying to count calories but I don't have a lot of money to work with, and was wondering if anyone had any tips for low calorie, cheap daily menu ideas Thank you!!
Frozen veggie steamables are around a buck each and help to fill up with little cals. I try to eat veggies with every meal and they r my goto veggies because they r cheap, easy to make, and they don't go bad! Goodluck!
Even I am fairly new here, in fact started my journey from the 4th of this month. I am using the application "Noom weight loss coach" available on the android market. It seems fairly good, though the list of food items in the database is limited. However, it allows you to add your ow food item.
What would you like to know? The basics are just measuring out servings and having a kitchen scale becomes very very handy and worth the investment. If you are wanting to be specific on your calories burned you can also get a heart rate monitor which will take your age, weight, and heart rate to give you a calories burned result.
As far as keeping track, I like to use a free app on Android called "Simple Calorie Count" I like it as you don't have to look anything up (sometimes the other apps are not accurate when you look up servings) Plus, if you cook something you can actually imput your numbers in. You can also put -### for exercise.
For a 1lb a week weight loss you will want to shoot for a calorie deficit of 500 per day (3500 for 1 lb). So if you maintain at 2000, you will want to eat 1500. If you add exercise you may lose even quicker. Just don't go below 1200 every day as you will lose out on nutrients and your body will go into fat storage mode. Once in awhile it is ok and you can vary each day so don't beat yourself up if you eat 1800 one day.
Keep a log, whether here or at Startyourdiet.com.
Calorie counting can be very tedius if your cooking, but worth it I think. A good website to look up food calories is CalorieKing.com. They have most everything..if not google search an item.
That's it in a nutshell...you'll learn more as you go, but reading lables is important, and try to do so before you eat! Good luck!
Look for low calorie crock pot meals. A google search will probably do the trick. Crock pot meals tend to be bigger, thus you can make them into several meals especially if you are the only one eating them. Therefore when you buy a $7 pack of chicken, you can remember that you're getting at least 2 meals out of it, so it's cheaper! And if you don't have a crock pot, you should totally get one. They aren't that expensive and they are worth every penny!
Welcome! I use My Fitness Pal. Most of my input is using the Android app for my smartphone. It's super easy and handy. I also use the website from time to time if I want to check in on my friends and/or get inspired by the message boards.
As far as cheap ideas-- I like to shop at discount grocery stores. I'm not sure where you live, but there are several discount food chains like Aldi's or Save-a-Lot that offer their own brands of favorites. They also offer fresh veggies for about half what you'd pay in a regular grocery store; you just don't get as much selection. I load up on the veggies, granola bars, oatmeal, cereal, almond milk, greek yogurt, dried fruits, canned foods, and frozen food at the discount store. Those are my staples and I just supplement with the stuff I can't find by going to a regular grocery store. If I go to Aldi's and buy an entire cart full of food to last me a couple weeks, I pay about $70. If I buy the same things at a regular store, I'd pay $140.
Cheap and easy foods: oatmeal, beans, frozen veggies, brown rice.
Thank you!!
zooeygrace , 01-07-2013 12:41 AM
mandalinn82 , 01-07-2013 01:15 AM
Can't wait to get to know you better!
hopebewild , 01-07-2013 01:15 AM
JudgeDread , 01-07-2013 03:40 AM
