Moving to my own place for the first time, want to eat healthy

[cakecakecake]

If you're overweight and you want to eat healthy along with saving money, make sure you do the following:

1. Stop buying soda/juices. All these do is help you put on weight. I buy only water (by the case) or coconut water (a little more expensive but healthier than soda).

2. Don't buy white pastas. Enriched flour isn't great for anyone. Try to stick to whole grain. When you eat pasta, make a bowl and have that be it. You don't want to go overboard on pasta as it's a lot of carbs.

3. Stop buying snack type products. I use to buy bags of chips with salsa (virtually no nutrition in chips), microwave popcorn (also zero nutrition), and those pudding cups (yet again, no nutrition). All these do is bloat you and make your skin sag. All those sugar and salt bombs should be avoided and can help reduce the amount of money you spend.

4. Try to snack on fruit. I usually buy a watermelon which lasts me a week (2 if I conserve). Blueberries are great with oatmeal for breakfast with a little bit of honey (very nutritious start to the day). Cherries are good if you don't mind spitting out the pits.

5. Personally I'm not a huge meat eater (not that I won't enjoy a nice steak if I go out to dinner once in a while though). I buy a box of the Morning Star hamburgers and one of the chicken patty boxes each week which taste alright and fill me up. Lots of protein in them. Just be careful because I think it's soy protein. Some people are sensitive to soy products.

6. They sell brown rice with veggies in a microwavable bag that take like 3 minutes to cook. Not sure how nutritious it is but it doesn't make me feel bloated and it definitely fills me up. Brown rice > white rice.

7. Don't buy cereal. A lot of people think that because they see all the nutrition facts on the cereal box that it must be nutritious. This isn't the case. All those vitamins in there are man made and your body doesn't absorb that much of them. In fact, it tries to get rid of them as quickly as possible, leaving your body with excess sugar. Try to eat oatmeal or fruit or an egg sandwich for breakfast instead. More fulfilling if you ask me and healthier.

[fleetiebelle]

A basic question if you're going to start cooking for yourself, aside from what food you eat, is do you have kitchen stuff? Pots, pans, a knife and a cutting board, mixing bowls, a colander, storage containers, etc. That's a place to start, at least.

[victimofGM]

Frozen stir fry vegetable packs-you can either steam a single serving size or put them in a skillet with olive oil to use as a side with a main course meat.
Whole grain pasta-virtually no taste difference but still use in moderation. Can be combined with your favorite flavor dressing and canned tuna or chicken.
Ground chuck-After buying one pound, season to taste, divide into 4 balls, and store in the freezer. Put each ball in a zip lock bag. When ready for a burger, it won't take long to thaw in a sink full of water.
Frozen chicken breast-they come in a large bag you keep in the freezer. Thaw one breast (doesn't take long), season and either bake, pan fry in olive oil, or cut up in pieces to use in a stir fry type dish.