I am a 51 year old woman. I am overweight and was diagnosed with Diabetes-2 a year ago. I am on Disability with very limited income..Because of the medicines I take and with monthly bills, my grocery lists are narrowed down to mainly staples and very little meat. With the price of food nowadays it is Hard not to become overweight because "eating right" cost to much.

I was brought up eating what I call " the country supper". This consists of cornbread, red beans, fried potatoes and onion. This is definitely not good for you but what's a person to do with limited sources.

If anybody has an idea or plan on "How to lose weight with the food you have in your cupboard" -Please let me know!!!

I know I am not the only one with this problem so if you want to give me feedback- I would appreciate it.

I too am on a "fixed income".  I shop for sales.  Last nite, I served a London Broil 4 my family. It was on sale at $ a lb.  Its a lean cut of meat, but very tough, so u nd to marinate it overnite.  I found the recipe online by googling "tender london broil".  My d/h and nine yr old daughter r both choosy eaters, and they both loved it. I too have to figure out what to eat, so I'm thinking of serving the same meal each day of the wk. . Sat is a steak day, Friday pizza.  Second, I plan on going to WW, they allow u to attend for free if u want to just listen.  Good luck

Bahama mama 

Dear Txsuebaby

Your country supper is not bad at all. Steam the potatos with the onion and spices, whatever you like. Red beans protein and fiber, cornbread small amount and your dinner is not all that bad and fairly cheap. you may have already been on the internet if so there are plenty of sites to help us out. If you have friends with the same income try and buy in bulk and split the cost and the food, beans, rice etc. Have you tried the section on this web site that will take a recipe and make it healthy. We mainly have to learn to rethink how we prepair the food that we have. I have found spices will help out alot, my mother never used many i had to learn on my own. We can eat healthy just have to learn new tricks.

Happy Eating

As a single, working mother, i definitely  can relate to eating healthy on a budget! I struggle with it also. So far the only thing I've figured out is to make meals in bulk, and make the staples (pastas breads) all healthy. yoplait yogurts are good ideas for breakfast and snacks, and they don't cost much.

With Wal-mart carrying more organic and natural foods, it's getting easier to buy healthy foods for less. If there's a Trader Joe's in your area, try them out. They're much cheaper than Whole Foods, in my experience. 

It does get frustrating trying to find the healthiest options at an affordable price. The best way to go is look at the food labels, though. I've found that a lot of the commercially known brands say they have really healthy options, but a quick look at the ingredient list shows that they're full of preservatives, partially hydrogenated oils, and high fructose corn syrup. Yoplait yogurt was mentioned in the last post as something healthy...but it is actually full of sugar. You can get plain (not vanilla, that has a lot of sugar added) Dannon yogurt for pretty cheap. Then flavor it yourself with cinammon, honey, real maple syrup, or frozen fruits. 

For pastas, breads, etc, I'm finding more and more affordable whole wheat options which take just a little getting used to (the pasta, at least), but are still good and much better for you. Often, it's only a difference of a couple dimes to get whole wheat.

I also get coupons from and use a credit card that gives me a 5% rebate at grocery stores (which doesn't include super-walmart as a grocer). I've found different cooking magazines for healthy low-budget meals, too.

I wish the food production companies would get a conscience and stop creating so much junk food...or at least make the healthy food just as affordable as the not-so-good-for-you junk. You'd think they'd SAVE money in the long run by not processing it so much. 

I am another one on a low icome with my husband having all the doctor bills. He has diabetes, takes pills for that plus high bp, cholesterol, and thyroid cancer. I have just been trying to eat smaller portions of regular foods. I already made corn muffins with skim milk. Just if you have a teflon pan, take your finger and grease the pan slightly and fry the potatoes, or boil them. Beans, I always use dry, and cook myself because of the salt in the cans for him. I don't know how you make your beans so I couldn't help there. One of my problems is fruit. I can't afford a pound for peaches, plums, etc. so I have been mainly sticking with apples, bananas canned peaches, pears, fruit coctail, and oranges when they aren't so high. Strawberries once in awhile. I was raised on meat, potatoes, gravy, and little vegetables. Now I try to go really light on meat and eat alot more veggies. I might only eat a half of  a smaller. potato at a meal where I used to eat a whole large. I just try to do the best I can. Hope that helped a little. Try to eat whole wheat store brand bread, as it fills you up a little more than white and is healthier. We try to go to discount stores like Aldi's or buy store brands. Hope that helps a little!

Hi,   I too am on low income.  I am 46 .I have epilepsy, bypolar, which used to be called madic depression. I used to weigh over 300 lbs.  today, I weigh 235.  All those other diets did nothing for me but made me more depressed and I'm too poor to have a credit card to get discounts, not every one can afford a credit card. So, I experimented a little.  I cut back on my eating, staying away from bread,porkchops, because they're high in fat. so is beef.  I eat chicken breasts, skined and baked in the oven with aluminum foil to cover it to keep the steam in, bake for 1hr. 1/4 cp water to prevent dryness and burning. Some times I biol it. (now I look at the back of the cans at the store to see which has the least starch,carbohydrates or fat). Have chicken or fish only twice a week for lunch. in the evening, maybe a (1) sandwich and a small bag of popcorn. I eat other things!  . today I had roast, yes ROAST.  with carrots,bell peppers,cellary, and onions, and the soup from it? well, keep that for the evening meal. soup and crackers.  instead of useing a plate, use a saucer to eat out of.  This roast will last me 3 or 4 days. wean your self from eating big meals.  for breakfast, I some times have 2 cups of coffee(try getting used to drinking black coffee, cream or milk causes bloating.) 2 slices of whole wheat toast and 1 egg. What works for one won't always work for all. At the price of food today, I just try to eat less.  When I first started, the first two weeks, I felt starved! after I got used to it, I lost weight.  Some times for breakfast ?  I even eat doughnuts, but I limit myself. no more than two glazed or 3 small powdered ones, yes and 2cps  of black coffee. I am type 1 dibetes. the meds I take cause weight gain also.   Please give me feed back   and let me know if you think i'm crazy or if you like this.  I can handle criticism.  you won't loose 100lbs    over night, but in a few weeks you should see a difference. I know diebetics can't fast that's why I say      WEAN your self.  it worked for me. 

Yes, I know about being on a low income because this is how my life evolves.  I will keep you in my prayer.

Hi Miraclemarian,  I would like to say something, I humbly hope you don't get offended at what I have to say.  When I weighed 325lbs I hurt, not only on the out side, but mostly on the inside. No one wanted to be arround me because I was so sad. all they would say is i'll keep you in my prayers. but their prayers did nothing for me. it didn't help me loose weight, didn't make me stop hurting, and didn't give me any friends.  That was what I needed most, some one to listen to me, give me encouragement.  Simply saying i'll keep you in my prayers to me was just a cop out. They probably meant well by it, but depressed people need a listening ear. My epilepsy made me feel suicidal. I had this problem I didn't know how to deal with. My medication, phenobarbatal and dialanton made me gain so much weight, people just made fun of me. [:'(]. they would say "you need to learn how to shop and quit buying that cheap stuff" people on fixed .                    this goofed me up! it erased half of what i had.       

 I  do not think that you have to purchase high priced, made for dieting food to lose weight. Buy what is in season, watch the sales ads and purchase a little extra if storagable. Think of all the food sources,  Frozen, Canned, Fresh and Dried AND compare prices.  Avoid convience foods and eating out. Make some meals meatless, as meat is usually the highest price item in the market;  try scrambled eggs, or a scoop of cottage cheese, or  simply a baked potao topped with a little shreaded cheese. The key is actually PORTION CONTROL. There is no bad food, only some that needs to be limited somewhat.  Use a small plate, limit yourself to single servings (Follow the serving size on the box) usually about 1/2 cup and if your still hungry, take seconds of the fruit or the vegetable. Allow yourself some time, eat slower and remember that it takes about 15 minutes for your tummy to tell your brain that you are really full. Do not let yourself get starving hungry by eating a little healthy snack every 2 to 3 hours. Hope some of this helps and gives you some food for thought.

Dear Txsuebaby,

I too grew up very poor and with a limited food budget.  However, beans are very good for you, and extremely cheap.  Add some onions and a ham hock, also very cheap, and you have an excellent meal. You can make cornbread from scratch much cheaper than with a mix too.  Brown rice is also good for you, and cheap.  These things you can buy in bulk and store.  Onions and potatoes, also cheap.  They also dress up the beans and rice quite well.  But you have to be careful of too much starch and loading your potato with bad things.  I like to scavenge the sales papers, and try to buy healthy items that are on sale.  My local grocer has several items on sale each week in a 10 for $10 sale.  Many of the items are not healthy options, but when they have a good juice or beans or something I can work with, I will stock up on those too.  Granted, I have to go to the store weekly, but it keeps my budget in check, and fresh items in my house.  Slow cooking cheaper cuts of meat, or marinating in citrus juice or yogurt tenderizes even the toughest cuts, also helping you stay on budget.

Hope some of this is helpful!  Good Luck!

Natalie 

Thank you so much for the prayers. I know that I am not the ONLY one but it helps when one gets support.

Thank you again,

Sue

No, I don't think you're crazy. If you

are then I guess we all are. Ha!

The idea you presented are Great for

me but my fiance' is a Meat man. I can

live with chicken, fish, and soups but He

has to have hamburger meat and all

kinds of beef. Its so hard to take care

of 2 different tastes on 1 budget. Got

 any ideas that involves "cheap" cuts of

meat??

Thank you for your help.

Sue