Spaghetti Squash-Fresh Produce

Hi, I recently moved to a new city "am living on my own for the first time. I have been trying to adjust and am just beginning to start working out regularly but I have been seeing many posts on tumblr reminding me that diet is everything. Living with three other roommates and being a student, I don't have a lot of extra money so it's hard for me to buy my own groceries for myself and to control

Hello! It’s true. Eating healthy is definitely most important. I don’t ever recommend counting calories because that’s an unnecessary hassle that could turn into a problem/addiction and calories don’t determine how healthy you are eating. Eating healthy is actually less expensive than regular eating (I guess you could call it that) if you know how to do the shopping. You don’t need to buy a bunch of expensive health food items.     Think about the foods that you eat that you don’t need. I assume you eat a lot of easy meals, maybe mac and cheese, cup of noodle soup, things like that. Even if you don’t, think about related things to that stuff that you don’t need to be eating. Fresh produce, depending on what is in season and where you buy it, can be cheap and you can do a lot with it. Even frozen produce (which is equally as healthy). You could definitely eat a lot of fruits and veggies for a good price, along with other things like oatmeal, sandwiches, burrito’s, wraps, etc. Fresh produce tends to be cheaper at local markets and little places like that. Figure out and write down about how much money you have a month for food, the things that you want to/should buy, the things that you don’t need to eat/buy, and work with that all from there. You could also write down the prices for some healthier foods that you want and make a grocery list and figure out all what you could buy. Coupons also come in handy. They don’t usually have them for healthier foods, depending on what store it is, but they can definitely help you save a few bucks that you could be spending on other items.     A simple way to eat healthier is to just to make swaps. White bread for whole grain or wheat, quinoa instead of pasta, or spaghetti squash or regular squash as the spaghetti (since the actual spaghetti squash is a winter fruit and more expensive in the summer), healthier cereals (whole grain cereals like honey bunches of oats), non-dairy milks like almond milk (vanilla is good), swap regular butter and mayo for Earth Balance natural spreads and veganaise (even if you’re not vegan, those items are healthier), greek yogurt for regular, healthier peanut butter (no sugar added or high fructose syrup), etc.     So it’s not really about having extra money, but using the money more wisely when buying. It might seem a bit tough at first but I think once you get the hang of it, once you figure out what foods you will be buying and like, it’ll get a lot easier. I hope this helps! read more..