Category: Healthy Diet

Eight Ways To Save Money on Your Groceries

Eight Ways To Save Money on Your Groceries by Jennifer Ledford

Photo by Tim Mossholder on Unsplash

Regardless of whether you’re shopping for one or feeding a whole family, you may be noticing that high quality groceries can be a bit costly.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that food is the third-largest household expense.  And for a family of four, the average monthly bill runs between $568 for the super frugal to $1,293 for those on a more liberal budget, according to the USDA.

Eating healthy is important but it shouldn’t cause financial stress in your life.  I personally believe that stress is just as bad for you as smoking.  The good news is that it is totally possible to eat well and still save money on your grocery bill.

Eight Ways To Save Money on Your Groceries

Here are eight of my own personal tips on how to save money on your groceries without compromising on quality.

Shop bargain stores first.  It can pay off big  to shop the discount grocery stores in your area. For years we were blessed to have a Trader Joe’s just minutes from our house which allowed us to eat really well without having to rent out a room in our house just to do it.  Now that we have moved, it’s not as easy for me to get to one.

After experiencing sticker shock at one of our local grocery stores, I decided I wanted to explore other options.  A friend recommended Grocery Outlet.  I have to admit I was avoiding this store because as a kid I remember something with a similar name that we had nicknamed the “dented can store.”  It seemed to be filled with dented cans of food that didn’t sell for a good reason. Since I trust my friend, I decided to give it a whirl. I was pleasantly surprised!  They have a variety of organic foods and high quality choices.  It turns out that the Grocery Outlet is a great place to shop first (it’s actually part of their advertising) and then you can hit up your supermarket to find the things on your list they weren’t able to fill.

Take a trip to the Farmer’s Market.  Buying locally sourced food in season is usually more affordable.  When going to the Farmer’s Market you may want to try what I call reverse meal planning.  Basically, you find the food that looks tasty and cost-effective and then do a search for recipes to help you cook it when you get home.

Do inventory and make a list.  Go through your pantry and refrigerator before making your grocery list.  Choose recipes that will use up food you already have on hand.  I find it helps to have a list I work on throughout the week.  I keep a list attached to the fridge that I can update when one of us notices we are out of something.  This method can save you time while meal planning, multiple trips to the store, and buying unnecessary duplicates.

Shop Imperfect Produce.  I love this concept! If you grew up in an area where people grew their own fruits and vegetables, you probably know that they don’t always look perfect when they are harvested.  Imperfect Produce is a company that sells the less than perfect fruits and veggies that grocery stores won’t accept and delivers them to your door for a cost savings of thirty to fifty percent.  Imperfect helps stop food waste by finding a home for ‘ugly’ produce. They source it directly from farms and deliver it to customers’ doors and offer subscription produce boxes that are affordable and customizable. By eating imperfect produce you’re helping build a more sustainable and effective food system while saving money.  Talk about a win-win!

Limit the extras.  Shopping once a week is a good way to avoid those tempting impulse buys.  I don’t recommend completely depriving yourself because that can contribute to binging. However, limiting  items in your cart  like desserts and sugary drinks can help lower the final bill at the checkout counter.

Take advantage of sales.  If possible, check for sales and design meals around the discounts. Buy extras of things you know you will use up or are able to freeze.  It may cost a bit more on the front end but will result in a yearly savings.

Invest in a soda machine.  Shaming people about their beverage choices seems to be commonplace on blogs these days and I refuse to do that here.  This is a safe place for EVERYONE.  With that being said, investing in a soda machine allows you to save on sparkling water and/or soda.  When you make your own soda you have more control over the ingredients while you are saving money.  We use our Soda Stream to make sparkling water and will add a splash of juice, a slice of lemon, or a squeeze of lime to make it a bit more interesting but most of the time, we just drink it plain.

Buy store brands.  Name brand isn’t always what it’s cracked up to be.  Just recently, I was checking labels on some stewed tomatoes and the store brand ended up having better ingredients than the high-end name brand which was double the price.  You can save quite a bit by buying store brands especially when it comes to non-food items.

No matter what your budget allows, it’s always nice to save money and use it for other things like vacations, investing, college funds, or a nice meal in a restaurant.

Here’s to eating healthy without straining your bank account.

Shared with love,
Jennifer

 

A Simple Guide To A Balanced Diet

Be Good To Yourself This Holiday Season - Jennifer Ledford - Certified Personal Trainer and Healthy Lifestyle Coach - Balanced Diet

Eating a balanced diet is an important part of maintaining good health and can help you feel and look your best.

While doing some research for this topic, I was able to read many “definitions” of what constitutes a balanced diet.  Of all the information I reviewed, the definition I believe describes a balanced diet the best is published by dictionary.com.  Their definition of a balanced diet is “a diet that contains the proper proportions of carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, minerals, and water necessary to maintain good health.”   It’s simple, scientific, and to the point.

It’s important to note that nowhere in the definition does it say the best diet to make you skinny. The focus is on health.

When it comes to connecting food and your health, diversity is important.  Each nutrient contributes to the overall function of your body and if one nutrient is missing, it doesn’t function  as well as it could.

It’s easy to get into a routine eating the same foods often.  Things like busy schedules and taste preferences can be a factor.  However, minimal food variation and/or elimination diets can cause you to miss out on some important nutrients that your body needs to help you age gracefully and combat disease.   

Thankfully, in the United States and many other countries around the world, we all have access to clean water so staying hydrated is one of the simplest parts of maintaining a balanced diet.

How do you know when you’re getting enough water?

The best way to tell if you are hydrated is the color of your urine. Clear to pale yellow is ideal. Yellow to dark yellow means you need water and if it looks like tea or beer ,you are dehydrated! Supplements can also cause urine to be dark yellow so keep that in consideration.

Avoid allowing yourself to get “thirsty.”  If you are getting a thirst signal, then the body is already too low on water!

Diet is very personal and we all have different energy requirements which is why it’s important to experiment and figure out what works best for you.  For example, some people need to consume more carbohydrates than others.  However, science proves that we need them to function at our best throughout the day.

At first, creating a balanced diet can seem a bit daunting if you are unsure which foods fall under the different categories.  Many foods supply multiple sources of nutrients so a diverse diet that includes lots of fruits and vegetables is usually your best bet.  I’ve put together some samples of carbohydrate, protein, and fat sources below to help you get started.

Examples of carbohydrates: Fruit, root vegetables such as potatoes, beets, and carrots, whole-grain products such as brown rice, whole-grain pasta, beans, whole wheat bread, whole oats, buckwheat, millet, whole rye, whole-grain barley and whole-grain corn, and quinoa (it’s technically a seed) are all carbohydrates. These foods are rich in fiber, vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients that are beneficial to your health.

Examples of protein sources:  Meat, poultry, fish and shellfish, dairy, nuts and seeds, beans and peas and other plants like quinoa, avocado, hemp, and soy are all protein sources.  I personally recommend avoiding soy; however, I’m listing it because it is considered a “complete” protein source.  If you like to eat it, I recommend sticking to the organic soy and limiting your consumption.  Bragg aminos are a great substitute for traditional soy sauce.

Examples of fat sources:  Oils like olive, walnut, avocado, grape seed, peanut, and coconut are all good sources of fat.   Avocados, nuts and seeds, meat, fatty fish, dairy, nut butters, olives, and dark chocolate are all considered fat sources as well.  Oils I personally avoid are any oil that is partially hydrogenated, canola, and palm oil.

Balanced Diet Research

Current research continues to prove that a whole food driven balanced diet (eating food in as close to its natural state as possible) is one of the best ways to fuel your body mentally and physically.  In fact, recent studies have shown that a whole food driven diet can actually boost your metabolism compared to a diet made up of processed foods which can cause your metabolism to slow down dramatically.

I personally believe it’s a good idea to eat as many whole foods as possible and to limit refined and heavily processed food in our diets.  Eating whole foods can help contribute to better energy.  With that being said, it’s also important to enjoy your food and not get too rigid about everything we eat.  Overly religious behavior around food can lead to dieting which can lead to stress and heartache which does not support mental health in a positive way.

Part of being healthy is to find balance in your life and allow yourself to enjoy the foods and drinks you like.  Life is too short to be on a diet!

Shared with love,
Jennifer

Disclaimer:  The information in the above article is based on general nutritional guidelines and is not intended nor should be considered a substitute for any advice provided by a medical professional.   

 

Being Fit Versus “Looking” Fit

Being Fit Versus "Looking" Fit - by Jennifer Ledford - Certified Personal Trainer and Lifestyle Coach

For years, the fitness and diet industry has used fitness models in their advertising to sell you the notion that if you achieve this “type” of body, you will be healthy and happy.  Unfortunately, many of the programs  promoted by the diet and fitness industry have produced the opposite effect for people.  Dieting and overtraining has done more harm than good and left people unhappy and dissatisfied.

There was a period in my life when I had  shrunk down to a size zero and became obsessed with being skinny and having a perfectly flat abdomen.  People were impressed with my tiny yet muscular physique and I was constantly complimented for it.  Life was good!  Until I crashed.

I became depressed, my body was in pain, and my hormonal system was going haywire.  It turns out that I had been overtraining and God didn’t design me to be a size zero.   The road to recovery physically was a combination of light exercise (twenty minute walks with my dogs) combined with proper rest, and a much more balanced diet that included way more fat than I had been consuming.

Fortunately, I completely recovered and times are changing.  The public is becoming more and more aware of focusing on health rather than forcing their bodies to become something they were never designed to be and we now have more models that support that concept.  People are rejecting the idea that they have to diet or beat their bodies to a pulp to be healthy.

Now that we are taking these important steps as a society to focus on health rather than dieting and overtraining, I believe it’s important for me as a personal trainer to help you learn  what focusing on being fit  looks like.

It’s important that I be completely up front with you.  Focusing on  your health is extremely personal and looks different for each individual.  We are all on our own personal journey.  For one person, focusing on health may be cutting their soda intake in half to stabilize their blood sugar and for another it could be walking their dog everyday for stress relief.

Being fit is about being able to do the things you need to do, want to do (i.e the things that bring you joy), and have to do in the event of an emergency.  It’s about getting good checkups at the doctor’s office and enjoying quality of life.  None of that has anything to do with the size of your jeans.

When it comes to overall health and fitness, balance is key.  If one area is neglected, your alignment can be off which leads to a bumpy ride.  Here are five major components that contribute to your overall health and well-being:

  1. Mentally fit.  Mental health is just as important as physical health.  Minimizing unnecessary stress in your life and talking time out to rest and restore are just as important for your mind and body as strengthening your muscles and eating leafy greens.  When your mind is strong and your body is recharged, you are able to push through challenging moments and seasons in your life.
  2. Nutritionally fit.  I personally believe it’s a good idea to eat as many whole foods as possible and to limit refined and heavily processed food in our diets.  Eating whole foods can help contribute to better energy.  With that being said, it’s also important to enjoy your food and not get too rigid about everything we eat.  Overly religious behavior around food can lead to dieting which can lead to stress and heartache which does not support mental health in a positive way.  Find balance in your life when it comes to diet and allow yourself to enjoy the foods you like.
  3. Physically fit.  Part of being physically fit is being able to perform your daily responsibilities, live a life that is fun, and being able to handle, God forbid, a crisis.  Physical fitness is generally  made up of three types of fitness.  Cardiovascular (aerobic) endurance, muscle strength, and flexibility.  Depending on your life’s demands, suggested programs will differ.  A sample program would be walking most days of the week, strength training with appropriate resistance two to three times per week, and performing stretches and self massage most days of the week.  It’s a good idea to choose exercise that focuses on function and not just “looks.”  One of the reasons I like exercising outdoors is that it can contribute to functional fitness.  Stepping over logs and/or curbs is a built-in agility routine that can protect us from falls.
  4. Financially fit.  I am not an expert on finance so I learn from others when it comes to money matters.  One thing that I do know is that money issues can cause stress.  It’s important to limit debt in our lives and to make sure we build saving accounts for surprise expenses that pop up and/or retirement.  Saving generally starts with creating a budget and living within our means.  Wise financial choices are equally as important to our health as exercise.  If you’d like more information on simple money management principles, one of my favorite people to learn from is Dave Ramsey.
  5. Environmental health.  This is a big one.  It’s important for us to be at peace where we live, work, and play.  Things like nurturing relationships, setting healthy boundaries, removing clutter from your home or life, planning family meals, taking time off to visit places that make you feel happy and restored, or spending time with your pets without your phone in hand are all examples of working  toward creating a healthy environment.  Sometimes creating a healthy environment for yourself requires changes.  My husband and I decided to move back to the area I grew up in to be closer to family and to live a simpler lifestyle.  This is an environmental change that will contribute to our overall health and well-being in a positive way.

A Fit and Healthy Lifestyle

Whether you’ve been working on these five components for awhile now or are just getting started, it’s important to remember to work at a pace that is doable for you.  We are all on our own journey and there is no need to compare your progress to anyone else.  Focus on creating a healthy lifestyle that is all your own!

Shared with love,
Jennifer