Calorie Counting on a Budget

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Trying to lose weight is never easy, and the stress of making diet foods fit into a tight budget doesn't make that goal any easier. Find out ways to count calories without it costing you a fortune.

There’s a lot of belt-tightening going on, and not all of it is due to weight-loss success. In fact, dieting can increase your food budget — fish, chicken, and fresh produce are more expensive than pasta, rice, and other cheap, high-carb staples. Your calorie counting doesn’t have to go the way of subprime mortgages, however. It is possible to diet on a tight budget.

Calorie Counting on a Budget

There’s no doubt that the economy has people stressed. According to results of a survey by the American Psychological Association, four out of five Americans are worried about the economy and half say they overeat or eat less healthfully as a result. That stress doesn’t help when you’re counting calories and trying to make better food choices that may cost you more.
What’s the answer? You know how to do the math to find a calorie advantage — start applying the same skills to saving money.

Here are ways to cut calories and your budget:

• Limit pre-packaged diet foods. If you have been relying on foods like frozen diet meals that do the calorie counting for you, you may save money by cooking at home and calculating the calories in your dishes yourself. All you have to do is add up the calories in each ingredient and divide the total by the number of portions the recipe makes.
• Buy fresh fruits and vegetables in season. Whether you shop at the supermarket or the farmer’s market, seasonal, local produce is often the better deal. If you’re craving a dish that calls for out-of-season produce, use frozen — it’s cheaper and whatever you don’t use will keep for a later date.
• Make beans and rice a protein substitute. Beans and rice are affordable, especially if you buy them dry and prepare them yourself. “The one thing with beans is that you really have to watch your portion sizes,” says Catherine Bethea Dempsey, RD, LD, a dietitian and research coordinator at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. “You want to stick with half a cup serving. It goes from being a high-fiber, nutritious food to being high-calorie very quickly.” You can stretch your dish by adding veggies, such as onions, peppers, celery, and tomatoes.
• Do the prep work yourself. The more preparation that has gone into your food before you buy it, the more it will cost. You can save a lot by buying fresh greens instead of bagged salad and whole chicken instead of boneless breasts (always remove the skin).
• Maximize the value of your meals. When you cook a dish, make enough to freeze servings for other meals. Apply the same approach when you treat yourself to a meal out: Veteran calorie-counters know restaurant portions are too big, so consider your splurge to be dinner plus lunch tomorrow and take home half in a doggy bag.
• Plan ahead with healthy snacks. If you know snacking is a weak spot for you midday at work, plan ahead. Packing a snack you make at home will save money and calories. Also keep in mind that a container of raw veggies or melon chunks is more budget-friendly than the box of cookies or bag of chips you used to buy.

Two Tasty Meal Ideas on a Budget

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To satisfy a tight budget and the need for convenience, Dempsey recommends two basic meals that lend themselves to many variations:

• Grill, baby, grill. “Try to do as much grilling as possible,” says Dempsey. Grilled vegetables, chicken, fish, and lean meats are healthy, tasty, and low in fat, and you won’t need to spend money on sauces or other recipe ingredients. This approach works for low-fat, low-carb, and low-calorie diets. If you’re not counting carbs, add a small potato or ear of corn, which can be tossed on the grill, too.
• Shrimp and salad. Buy one pound of shrimp (frozen or in season) and ask the store to steam it for you, or steam or boil at home yourself. Add steamed fresh veggies, or a frozen veggie blend, and a salad. This works for all diets, too. If you’re not counting carbs, add a serving of rice, like a half-cup of a wild rice blend.

It may take some discipline, but following these budget-saving tips will help you cut calories and costs.

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