Help with losing weight and balanced diet on a budget

[brydee]

Hi, iv been raw for a week now after eating SAD food all through christmas, i was raw for a couple of weeks before that, but now i will be raw forever.

Im wanting to lose weight but still be healthy and im also a student on a budget.

I was just wondering if anyone knew of any foods i should 'avoid' whilst trying to lose weight, and whilst im on a budget foods that i should be eating everyday, foods that i can live without etc. im very unorganised with my eating habits and making sure im getting enough in my meals.:(

Thanks everyone

[subbacultcha]

1. SPROUT! You can buy mung beans, aduki beans, lentils etc incredibly cheaply and they bulk up sooo much when your sprout them!! I have been spending so much less money on food since I started basing my meals around sprouts. I will make sprouted mung beans the bulk of my salad and add other ingredients.
2. Plan what you are going to eat for the week and buy ONLY that when you go shopping so you don't waste stuff. If you live near shops shop every couple of days for small amounts of stuff, you will get more exercise walking to and from the shops and again won't waste stuff.
3. Save date soak water and use it instead of agave.
4. If you want to buy any 'luxuries' like cacao powder buy them in small quantities like 100g. It may be cheaper per gram to buy it in bulk but if you only have a small amount you will learn to limit yourself and be a lot more careful with how you use it!
5. If you have a garden or access to an allotment, grow your own veg. You can grow some things indoors in pots as well.
6. If you would be buying organic anyway you could set up a weekly veg delivery from an organic farm and just use those veggies. Here in the UK my mum gets weekly orders from Riverford organics.
7. Eat simply, limit the gourmet. This applies to weight loss as well as costs. Gourmet meals can conceal a lot of calories and often require expensive ingredients. By all means make them as a treat but it becomes expensive if you eat them on a regular basis.


Oh, and as far as foods to avoid goes I would watch out for dried fruits. I think it's more important when losing weight to limit the high-glycaemic foods than the fats, as the fats satisfy you and the high-GI foods make you hungier. If you want dried fruit I would go for dried apricots.

Hope this helps!

[bearlove]

Just a quick one , your a student do you live in halls? im about to go off and live in halls , a

nd I wanted to know how peopl would cope (if its the rite word)
with being raw, as your not allowed a fridge in your room , and I think maybe people would steal your fruit and veg? also your room is so small you could not have a juicer ,

so how would you cope? and does being raw warrant special circumstance as to needing a fridge ?

[luminea]

By switching from SAD to a raw diet you will definetly lose weight without even trying, as Alissa explains in her book. Our bodies store toxins in our fat cells, so when we go through detox we get the added bonus of losing weight. After this happens, you may gain some weight back, but don't panic--our bodies need to find their right & perfect weight. I was 155 lbs and went down to 120 lbs, which is what I weighed when I was in high school. Now my weight stays between 125 and 130 lbs, which I feel comfortable with on my frame.

Alissa is a raw bodybuilder, and any form of exercise will also help you to lose unwanted weight. Peter Ragnar has a free ebook on raw body building that you can download at:


http://www.roaringlionpublishing.com/store/merchant.mvc?

Just click on the ebooks link.

I would also recommend that you check out Philip McCluskey's website:

http://www.lovingraw.com/

Philip has lost over 140 lbs in the last year, and he is a very sweet, positive individual.

I have also found Frederic Patenaude's site very inspiring, not just in terms of living raw, but in making positive changes in my life and achieving my goals. I definitelt recommend signing up for his free newsletters. When I went raw, his starter kit really helped me out.

http://www.rawvegan.com
http://myoptinpage.com/?pid=3358467

As for the second part of your question, eating raw on a budget...sprouting is certainly a good way to go. You can also start a windowsill herbal garden for very little money, and it's fun to gropw your own dill, rosemary, etc. :)

I have found that raw nuts are the most expensive part of any raw diet, so I would recommend minimizing the nuts you eat--maybe just 2-3 times a week. If you do use nuts to make nut milk, be sure to save the pulp and use it to make pate or burger patties--same goes for carrot pulp.

Since you are transitioning from SAD at the moment, you may not feel full enough if you eat a lot of veggies, so make sure you do get some healthy fat such as avocadoes--try out Alissa's guacamole recipe. Fruits will give you most of the calories you need, and I recommend drinking a lot of green smoothies--it will take away your cravings for cooked foods.

I visit my local health store regularly and often buy the fruit, veggies, or greens that are on sale. Usually these need to be eaten quickly (which is why they are marked down) so just make sure to eat them that day or the next. If you buy local produce that's in season it is less expensive than something exported from a country on the oppostie side of the globe. Also if you shop at farmer's markets towards the end of the day (rather than first thing) you will get some great deals as the farmers are looking to unload their produce.

If you know any other raw vegans, you can also get together on bulk food orders to save a whole lot of money. As one person, you don't need a whole caseload of avacadoes, for example, but if you split it with one or two friends you all save money.

You can also sign up for a delivery service, depending where you live. Often you can set an amount, say $30 per week, and they will provide a basket of assorted raw fruits and veggies at that price. This helps a lot with budgeting! I live in Cananda, and I like SPUD for this.

Try not to waste anything, either. I find that most raw recipes can be frozen and then thawed later on. You can also freeze your bananas (remove peels first) or anything fruit that is starting to get over ripe.

I hope this helps you out, and I wish you success in your raw journey!

Blessings, Luminea

[ferg]

Lots of good tips...

Do you have a market close by? At my market they will sell me a huge bag of over ripe bananas for $1.00... I take them home peel them, freeze them and use them in smoothies.

About loosing weight... try not to eat too many fats or dehydrated foods. Limit yourself to one fat a day (ie., one avocado or small handful of nuts per day). Limiting fat is always a challenge for me and many other raw foodists becuase we are craving the fullness you get from them. I still need to loose 10 pounds and cutting down on fats is one of my 2008 Goals... hard to do because they are so yuuummmmy!!! I've heard that dehydrated foods can also cause bloating/weight gain, so try to limit those too.

[brydee]

Thanks for all the replies!!!

At the moment im not living in a hall, my situation is quite complicated to say the least, at the moment im at home with agrophobia:eek:
When i use to live in halls i was allowed a small fridge, like a mini fridge, this is in the uk though, im sure if you check they will let you.

Thanks for the sproating advice, iv just got one!
I havnt had any cravings yet, raw chocolate seems to help that and bananas. iv been feeling to full and not wanting to eat rather than wanting to eat.:confused:

I was also wondering about when your detoxing if it is normal for you urine to go GREEN:confused: because mine has the past couple of days, iv been drinking plenty.

Im going to grow things this summer, have a nice big garden to grow them in and a green house

Iv been exercising, rebounding and doing abit of yoga here and there.

Thanks for all the replies again i appreciate it:)