Do you want to lose weight but expensive organic products and training sessions are making it difficult for you? Don’t worry! We have some helpful and budget-friendly solutions just for you!
Losing weight is more than just about burning calories. In a way, you have to change your entire lifestyle, which often means spending tons of money on diet plans, organic produce, expensive supplements, and personal trainers. Undoubtedly, it’s something only ultra-rich people can do. However, it is not completely impossible to lose weight in an affordable way. In fact, there are plenty of lifestyle changes you can make that facilitate your weight loss journey without breaking the bank! In this article, we’ll explore how to lose weight on a budget in a way that doesn’t leave you impoverished. So, read on!
But, before we get into the money-saving aspect of weight loss, we must first debunk some weight loss myths so you don’t jeopardize your efforts!
Debunking Top 3 Weight Loss Myths!
Yes, exercise is crucial for weight loss but no, you don’t have to hire a personal trainer, work out at the gym for hours, and plan every meal to lose weight. It can be a lot simpler with Nutrisystem Diet and South Beach diet plans. More on that later. For now, here are some key misconceptions about losing weight you need to understand.
1. Healthier People Simply Exercise More
While it’s true that exercise of any kind does burn calories, the notion that fitter people simply exercise more is not true. Consider this extensive study into the matter by Herman Pontzer, who set out to Tanzania to research one of the few remaining hunter-gatherer tribes on earth, the Hadza.
Given the nature of their daily lives, the Hadza are some of the most active people on the planet; the men set out daily to hunt, chasing animals and climbing trees to collect honey, while the women gather plant food from bushes and underground tubers. The two sexes walk an average of 8.4 km, or 5.4 miles a day (3.6 miles for women, and 7.1 miles for men), much more than an average American.
And yet, at the end of the study, Pontzer and his team came to a startling conclusion. Despite the Hadza being some of the most active people on earth, their total energy expenditure per day was not more than the people in the U.S. and Europe! Think about that for a second. The average American walks 5117 steps or 2.4 miles per day. That’s less than half what the Hadza cover, and yet, both sets of humans burn the same number of calories.
While this study was on a smaller sample size, it did help destroy the myth that people who lost major amounts of weight did so by simply becoming more active.
2. Exercise Alone Can Result in Major Weight Loss
Continuing on from the last point, it’s worrying to see how many gym instructors and health care professionals will tell you, you can eat whatever you want and still lose weight, as long as you’re getting enough exercise. This is simply not true!
Make no mistake about it, exercise is one of the healthiest things you can do for your body and your mind. Studies have linked regular exercise to numerous health benefits like reduced blood pressure, lower triglycerides in the blood, and even a reduced risk of stroke, and heart attack.
But, without a change of diet, those are the only benefits you’ll see from regular exercise. Study after study has proven that the effects of weight loss from exercise are only modest, to begin with, and will get less noticeable over the long term.
3. I Burn Most of my Calories Daily From Exercise
In truth, only about a third of all calories burned daily come from exercise. The majority of our energy expenditure comes from our basal metabolic rate, which we have no control over. This is basically the energy being used to keep up your basic functioning during the day, and to fire all activities when you’re asleep at night.
So, How to Lose Weight on a Budget Quickly? 8 Ways to Eat Healthy and Get Slimmer!
Sometimes, eating healthy can be even more expensive than eating junk food. That is one of the reasons many people fail to lose weight. However, losing weight is now more affordable and cheaper now, with the following tips.
1. Opt for Whole Foods Instead of Processed Ones
This can save you hundreds of bucks a month if you cook at home. For example, buy whole grains such as oats, rice, brown rice, etc, rather than packaged cereals. Moreover, instead of buying a pack of shredded cheese, buy a block of mozzarella cheese. Not only will you get more quantity in less price, be able to use the ingredients for longer but also avoid processed food and consequently loss weight in the process.
2. Is losing Weight Expensive? Not With Meal Subscription Service!
If you don’t want to go through the entire headache of planning a balanced meal unique to your weight loss goals, you can get a meal subscription service. For instance, Nutrisystem Lean 13 plan sends you meal plans along with already portioned ingredients that you can quickly whip up in your kitchen. The diet allows you to lose 13 lbs in one month, only by eating the meals. Furthermore, subscription services are often more economical in the long run than buying individual groceries.
3. Shop at the Farmer’s Market for Fresh Produce
Organic produce free of all pesticides can be super expensive and really make a hole in your wallet. Moreover, produce at supermarkets and grocery stores are not entirely healthy. It is better to shop at your local farmer’s market for fresh fruits and vegetables at a discounted price.
4. Cut out Junk Snacks in Favor of Cheap Healthy Alternatives
It is very easy to slip up and consume a high-calorie snack during the day. Unfortunately, it can mess up your entire diet plan. To stick to your weight loss diet, choose healthy snacks such as yogurt instead of probiotic supplements, and dry fruits instead of candies and chips. Regular snacks are rich in sodium, carbs, and sugars which makes you put on weight. On the other hand, fruits and nuts are nutrient-rich and make you feel full.
5. Choose Generic Brands Over Big, Popular Ones
People have a cognitive bias in favor of brands that are popular and that they see on TV a lot. However, in reality, these brands are not necessarily better than others in the category, but they are for sure more expensive. So, opting for generic food brands can save you a lot of money while also keeping you healthy.
6. Substitute Expensive Meat With Cheaper Protein Sources
Meat is an essential food for a balanced diet that helps in weight loss and building muscles. However, good meat cuts can cost up to hundreds of dollars. Instead, choose cheaper cuts that are also nutritious or you can substitute meat with other protein sources such as eggs, beans, cheese, lentils, etc.
7. Skip the bus and walk to work
Instead of paying heavy gym membership fees or buying expensive exercise equipment, you can incorporate physical activity into your daily routine. Rather than driving a car or taking a bus, you can walk to work or any other place you have to commute to. Surely, it is one of the best and most affordable ways to lose belly fat and weight overall.
8. Pack your lunch for the office
Social gatherings especially thanksgiving dinners can be a bane of weight loss plans. Eating out can overthrow your entire hard work and add extra pounds to your body. Therefore, it is a good idea to make homemade packed lunches for the office. If you have your healthy, proportioned meal with you, you’ll be less tempted to indulge in junk food.
5 Helpful Things to Keep in Mind During Your Weight Loss Journey
Here are some bonus tips that can facilitate your weight loss journey.
1. Cheat Meals Can Ruin all Your Hard Work
The first thing to understand is that while it’s extremely healthy for your mind and your body, exercise itself can actually be counterintuitive to weight loss. How, you ask?
Have you ever indulged in rich, high-calorie food after exercising, simply because you felt like you burned a lot of calories in the previous workout session? You’re certainly not alone, and this is one of the ways exercise isn’t helpful to weight loss. In fact, an entire study was done on the matter, and the results showed that people generally tend to overestimate their calorie burn from an hour’s worth of exercise. They then end up undoing all their good work, by snacking on a slice of pizza, or a similarly high-calorie meal.
With that established, the next important thing to understand is that it’s actually the calories going into your body that are making you fat. If you can begin to control these, you’re on the right path to finally slimming down or maintaining your current weight.
2. Look Into Better Diet Plans for Specific Health Conditions
The first step on the road to a healthier lifestyle is a better and more balanced diet. According to experts, a balanced diet contains various foods from all 5 major food groups i.e., fruits, vegetables, grains, protein-rich food, and dairy. Ask yourself if your current diet contains enough of all five groups.
If you feel you’re having trouble coming up with a diet plan that gives you the required nutrients daily, while still keeping the food healthy and delicious, you could look into specific diet plans, such as those offered by Nutrisystems. These plans are based on your height, weight, and age, and cater to any condition like diabetes, blood pressure, etc. The meals are also delivered straight to your doorstep, saving you the hassle of going out to the market without prior knowledge of what to shop for.
3. Restrict Your Calorie Intake
As we mentioned before, the excess calories going into your system are what cause the problems. A study of 629 women and 155 men showed that by simply monitoring their intake and adding a bit of exercise daily, the participants managed to lose an average of 30 kg (66 lbs), and sustained a weight loss of 13.6 kg (30 lbs) over the next 5 years.
Use this calorie counter to take a rough estimate of how many calories you should be consuming daily to maintain your current weight. Once you have a figure, simply cut down on those calories, and watch as your waist starts to shrink. Once again, having your daily meals already portioned is a great way to ensure you don’t overeat.
4. Watch Your Weight Weekly to Boost Motivation and Morale
The majority of overweight people are scared of weighing themselves, simply out of fear that a quantitative result would confirm their horrors. Once you begin the process of losing weight, it’s extremely crucial that you don’t get distracted. Weighing yourself weekly would help give you a nice dose of motivation to go on, as you could see the weight loss in action.
This becomes especially important for people who have lost weight, and would now like to maintain it. A weekly measurement would tell them how well they’re doing, and what changes they need to make.
5. Water Keeps you Hydrated and Feeling Fuller
There are countless studies on how beneficial a larger intake of water can be when looking to lose weight. Make sure to drink one glass of water before every meal. Not only does this help with digestion, but it’ll also aid you to feel a little fuller before you even take a bite, resulting in you eating a smaller portion of food.
Water becomes especially beneficial when you start to cut out sodas and other high-calorie fluids from your life. Remember, water has zero calories (compared to the 200+ contained in most soda cans), and makes up 70% of your body composition.
Key Takeaways
Losing weight is a challenge, for sure. A challenge that is made more difficult and inaccessible with expensive food, supplements, and training. Fortunately, with a little bit of planning, high-quality diet meal plans, and shopping savviness, you can overcome this challenge!
