How to Eat Healthy Food Without Blowing the Budget

So you've read the Body for Life book, you've made your exercise plan and prepared your grocery list following the eating plan outlined in the recipe book, Eating for Life. After seeing your first grocery bill, you might faint or be inclined to give up before you begin.

The sad fact is that following the eating program in Body for Life can be expensive. Fresh fruits and vegetables and meats are pricey, especially if you are used to shopping the buy-one-get-one-free method. Not to mention, Bill Phillips uses a lot of spices in his recipes, and he recommends fresh herbs whenever possible. Oh yeah, the Body for Life meal supplements are a real budget-breaker, too. So how can you follow the eating plan without going broke? Here are a few tips that have worked for me.

Double Up the Recipes

If you are following the recipes in Eating for Life, you can save money by doubling the recipes so they make four servings. Many of the lunch recipes only make one or two servings and call for chicken and other fresh vegetables in small amounts. Since you can't buy half a tomato or onion, it makes better sense to double the recipes so you use up a whole vegetable. Plus, a pound of chicken generally makes four servings, so half the package of chicken doesn't go to waste. This also cuts down on the amount of prep time if you make all four servings at once.

Make Soup

The soup recipes say they make six or eight servings, but I've found they generally make more than that. If money is tight, try making a soup for the week. If you get tired of eating soup all week, you can always freeze the extra servings for a later day.

Recycle Ingredients

Many of the recipes call for low-fat sour cream or plain non-fat yogurt, shredded cheese, tortillas or cottage cheese. The difficulty is sometimes finding a small container of these products that won't go bad before you have a chance to use all of it up. If all you can find is a large container of these perishable items, go through the recipe book and write down what other recipes call for these ingredients and make them the other meals for the week. At the end of the week, take inventory of all perishable items that you have not used up and compare them to what recipes call for these ingredients. Use those recipes the following week.

Substitute Supplements

The Body for Life bars and shakes are, well, expensive. They never seem to go on sale, either. Fortunately, there are plenty of diet bars and shakes out on the market these days and it is relatively easy to find one that is on sale. Not all diet bars and shakes are made equal, though, so take caution and read the ingredient label. Try to find ones that are high in protein and relatively low on sugars.

Skip Breakfast

I don't mean literally skip breakfast. I mean, skip the breakfast recipes and opt for a bar or shake instead. The breakfast recipes are not conducive to doubling where you could get more mileage out of their ingredients. Reheating scrambled eggs just doesn't really have tons of appeal. Not to mention, egg substitute and egg whites are costly. If you find you need more sustenance in the morning than what a bar or shake can provide, pick an easy breakfast recipe where you can buy the main ingredient in bulk. For example, the recipes calling for oatmeal tend to work well because oatmeal has a long shelf life. Cottage cheese and berries is also a quick and cheap breakfast, too.

In the beginning, the high grocery bill may be difficult to digest, but that is because you are replenishing your kitchen with the necessary spices and base ingredients for the meals. In a few weeks' time, following these tips, the grocery bill will be much more palatable, and you will be thinner, too!