Black Weight Loss Success

The Official Blog of the Black Women Losing Weight Community. Tips, articles and weight loss resources for African American Women.

Join Our Email List:
We respect your email privacy
You are here: Home / Archives for weight loss on a budget

weight loss on a budget

Weight Loss on a Budget Tip #31: Commit to Your Weight Loss Goals!

by Leave a Comment

This is the last tip in our Weight Loss on a Budget series – Tip #31: Commit to Your Weight Loss Goals!

commit goals weight lossYo-Yo dieting is expensive.  Buying into weight loss plans over and over again is expensive.  Gym memberships and personal trainers cost money.  Buying pills and supplements for fad diets is expensive. Time is money, and you will spend a lot of it on your weight loss efforts in terms of workouts, preparing meals, etc.  Knowing all of this, means that it is important to commit to your weight loss goals and do the work so that all of your effort doesn’t go to waste.

  • Prepare your meals in advance and plan what you will eat daily.
  • Commit to regular exercise – 3-6 days per week.
  • Focus on lifestyle change, not dieting or short term goals. Your goal should be to never have to go through the same, long process of weight loss ever again.
  • Consider your health and how it is important.  Use your health and your desire for greater wellness as a primary motivating factor, even more than looking good.
  • Know that you will stumble and that you might have set backs, but you don’t have to stay in the place of being hindered or stalled by your actions.  One or two bad days doesn’t have to be the reason you got off the weight loss wagon for weeks and months.  RECOMMIT and get back on track if you have a bad day.
  • Write down/Record your goals, your meals and your habits.
  • Be accountable and don’t lie to yourself.  We must be honest in order to be free from our bad habits and food addictions.

When you commit to losing the weight for good and not having to repeat your efforts over and over again, you will ensure that you will save money and time in the long run.

Weight Loss on a Budget Tip #30: Best Coupon Sites

by Leave a Comment

coupon sitesWeight Loss on a Budget Tip #30: Best Coupon Sites for Food and Retail Savings – Today, I want to share some of the best coupon sites I found for deals on food, health food products, and workout gear. The great thing is that it’s not just about cutting coupons from your local newspaper.  You can get coupons on apps and online. (Check out the rest of our tips)

TIP: Eating healthy doesn’t have to be expensive. Use coupons to save money on household items (detergent, cleaning supplies, paper towels), snacks for the kids and toiletries, like razors and deodorant. Use the money you save to buy more high quality, healthy food that will help you reach your goals.

Coupons.com – This is one of the best, popular coupon sites.  It’s very easy to use and to share deals on social media channels with friends.  You just select the coupons you want and  print them out.  It’s pretty simple, but you do have to download their printer program to print out coupons.

TheKrazyCouponLady.com – This is my FAVORITE coupon site.  This site not only tells you about deep discounts and deals at your favorite stores, but it teaches you how to clip coupons like a pro.   You will find deals on food, restaurants, magazines, travel and more. The best thing about this site: They match up coupons with deals from sales papers and websites so that it’s easy for you to use the coupons you’re clipping in the most effective way.

RetailMeNot.com – I check this before I buy any clothing online to look for coupon codes.  You can find deals of workout clothes, fitness gear, vitamins and supplements, as well as things that you use on a daily basis.  There is a lot of potential here for you to save money.  I also like that people can chime in and note if a code is on the site, but has expired so you don’t waste time with old coupon codes.

RedPlum.com – This is another classic coupon clipping website with their own printing software.  I didn’t find as many healthy food coupons, but I did find a lot of coupons that I would actually use on a monthly basis for things we buy regularly.  If you can save money on things like shampoo, soap, frozen food, staple foods, etc…you can use that savings on things that help you lose weight.

Ibotta App – If you make shopping lists in advance, this is the app for you. Ibotta is a free app that pays you a cash rebate for everyday purchases. How does it work?  Basically, after you’ve shopped for items that have rebates on the app, you scan the UPC code on the package of the item and scan your receipt with the app.  The info is verified and you get a rebate.

Honorable mentions… Couponmom.com and Smartsource.com

Major Grocery Store Chains – Many grocery stores have a coupon section on their websites.  You can check out these sites before going to the store for deals on what you have on your shopping list.  Here are some examples:

Target: You can also use Target’s Cartwheel app on your mobile phone for in store coupons for food, clothing and more.

Weight Loss on a Budget Tip #28: Feed Your Family Healthy Food and Save Money

by Leave a Comment

family healthy food save moneyToday’s tip for weight loss on a budget: Tip #28: Feed Your Family Healthy Food and Save Money. One of the main issues I hear from mothers is that they have to be able to feed their whole families while changing to healthier eating habits.  Many people think that eating quality food has to be expensive, but it doesn’t have to be if you are strategic and do your research about deals, sales and pricing.

Here are my tips:

  • Focus on Healthy Staples in Bulk: Whole wheat pasta, healthy low-sugar cereal, oatmeal, beans, whole grain rice, chicken breast and yogurt.  These are just some of the foods that you can buy in bulk.  Focus on things that you know your family eats a lot of that will not spoil quickly and can be stored in bulk.
  • Create Family Staple Foods: Think about what cheap things you can use as the base for meals.  Example: Canned tuna, beans, rice, sweet potatoes, romaine lettuce, lean pork, ground turkey.  You want to look for cheap, healthy ingredients that have a lot of versatility and can be used in a variety of ways in terms of the recipes you make for your family.
  • Sacrifice Variety for Health and Cost: Create a set of 10-15 dinner meals that you know your family will eat (meals your kids will eat, especially) and cook those meals regularly.  Make this list the basis of most of your dinners. Prepare a new or different healthy meal selection, that’s not on the list, at least 4 times a month.  This will help you to control cost, save time and know exactly what nutrition your family is getting.  You can do the same with other meals, like breakfast.
  • Don’t Buy Junk Food – NO brainer.  Junk food that is full of empty calories and has little nutritional value is not worth the money or inches on your waistline.  In addition, your kids need quality food for their health and development.
  • Freeze Leftovers –  Leftover meals and portions should be saved for later.  If you think that you may not get to the food for a few days, freeze it to avoid spoilage.
  • Make a Grocery List and Stick to IT – When you are shopping with kids, you can end up with a lot of unplanned items in your cart.  If you go to the grocery store while you are hungry or craving junk, you could also end up with some unplanned items.  A shopping list can help serve as a reminder of what you committed to buying and of what you have allotted in your budget for groceries.  It’s not a guarantee, but it’s better than not having a plan.

Weight Loss on a Budget Tip #27: Bring Your Lunch From Home

by Leave a Comment

It’s almost the end of our Weight Loss on a Budget Challenge so I just have a few more tips.  Today’s Tip #27: Bring Your Lunch From Home.

bring your own lunchThere are 3 major benefits to bringing your lunch to work or while you are out.

  1. Saving Money – Buying your lunch everyday can be very expensive.  The cheaper options (dollar menus for example) tend to be very convenient, but also FULL of empty calories, fatty meats and simple carbs.  You can save money by planning out your meals according to your daily budget.  Create your own healthy meal plan with low cost items like greek yogurt, low sodium deli meat, cereal, bulk items (nuts, beans, etc), cottage cheese, apples, oranges, protein shakes, etc.
  2. Calorie Control and Healthy Ingredients – When your make your lunch, you know exactly what’s in it.  You will have selected the ingredients and you’ll know how the food was prepared.  Also, you will have already considered things like calories and the nutritional value (vitamins, fiber, etc).  If you have a calorie goal for the day, it’s easier to stay on track because youl know in advance what your calorie counts should be.
  3. Portion Control – When you order your lunch, sometimes you may not be aware of what the true portion size is for what you’re eating because you’re on the run.  You may think you’re eating 1 serving of a food when you are really eating 4 servings.  That’s because there are so many great restaurants out there that have huge portions that don’t work for people who want to cut back to lose weight.  In the end, you may feel like you’re getting a deal on food, but you are sabotaging your weight loss efforts with those huge portions.  In addition, many of us were raised to eat everything on our plates, so the thought of not eating what we just paid top dollar for doesn’t compute.  Thus we end up eating more food than we need to.  That leads to guilt because we don’t want to “waste” food, so we eat it.  When you make your own lunch, you can better control how much food you eat.

Weight Loss on a Budget Tip #26: Use Free Weight Loss and Fitness Apps

by Leave a Comment

Mobile apps are part of our daily lives.  Today for our Weight Loss on a Budget Tip for day 26, we want to encourage you to try some great, free weight loss and fitness focused apps. Tip #26: Use Free Weight Loss and Fitness Apps.

weight loss apps

My Fitness Pal – This is a calorie counter app, online community and database that contains the nutritional information for million foods. This app can really help you stay on track with your eating. Hundreds of BWLW members are on the site so check out this list of their usernames.  It’s FREE

Nike Training Club – This app from Nike gives you access to over 10o workouts at the click of a button.  It includes some great High Intensity Interval Training routines to help you burn calories.  You can set up goals and you’re rewarded for your progress.  It’s like a personal trainer in your pocket because there is a cool audio feature that talks to your to help you stay motivated during your workout.  Very user friendly.  It’s FREE.

Loseit – Track calories, workouts and your overall weight loss progress with this app.  You can keep track of macronutrients, sleep patterns and even your blood pressure so you see a great snapshot of your health as you work on your overall wellness.  My favorite part of this FREE app is the bar code scanning.  It saves me a lot of time when I’m logging what I’ve eaten (protein powders, dairy, etc).

Fooducate – If you want to really know what’s in your food and get some help with making food decisions based on nutrition, get this FREE app.  It will open your eyes.  Their site says that “Fooducate’s scientific algorithms grade each product and provide simple, concise explanations. Grading system developed by scientists, dietitians and concerned parents.”  They emphasize REAL, unprocessed foods.

 

Weight Loss on a Budget Tip #25: Save Money at the Doctor’s Office

by Leave a Comment

Losing weight can help you achieve Tip #25: Saving Money at the Doctor’s Office.  “A person who is obese has annual medical costs $1,429 higher than someone of a normal weight, according to the CDC.” – Bankrate.com

save money medicine

  • Losing weight can reduce your risk factors for things like diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, stroke and some cancers.
  • Reduce medications for diseases for which symptoms are improved when you lose weight.
  • Weight loss and getting healthy can help improve your immune system, thus helping you to stay our of the doctor’s office for common colds or infections.
  • “$1,850 more per year in medical costs for an overweight person than for someone of healthy weight, among employees at the Mayo Clinic and their adult dependents. $3,086 more per year in medical costs for a Mayo worker with a body mass index (BMI) of 35 to 40. $5,530 more per year in medical costs for a Mayo worker with a BMI above 40. By comparison, smokers’ medical costs were only $1,274 a year higher than nonsmokers’, who generally die earlier.” – Reuters

A few weeks ago, I posted an article where I outlined how obesity could cause you to have higher interest rates.  Here is part of that article:

Why being overweight could now cost more to insure.

It is an accepted medical fact that being overweight can increase a person’s risk for disease and complications from other treatments to the point that it can be life threatening or develop into chronic conditions. Obesity is linked to asthma, type-2 diabetes, stroke risk, high blood pressure, cardiac issues and recently a direct link between being overweight and an increased risk of breast cancer has been found. For health insurers, this flags those who are overweight as high risks for coverage. Federal regulations prohibit insurers from denying or limiting coverage to those who are overweight by denying it qualification as a pre-existing condition, but they have put in options for health insurers to charge higher rates to the obese.

How much higher will my rates be if I am overweight?

According to the new federal regulations, you could be charged anywhere from 30 to 50% more for the same health insurance that someone who has a healthy BMI is paying. For employers, this will help defray the costs of the group insurance plans they help carry.  The many of the people with health issues that the new health mandates are supposed to be helping get affordable coverage may become stuck in the catch-22 of having to pay higher rates than before.

Weight Loss on a Budget Tip #24: Create a Home Gym and Save Money

by Leave a Comment

home gym save moneyTip #24: Create a Home Gym to Save Money.  The number one way that a home gym can help you lose weight on a budget is that you won’t have to pay for a gym membership.  This is the most obvious benefit, but let me share another 5 tips with you.

  • Time is Money:  When you can roll out of bed and workout or workout as soon as you get home it can be a huge time saver.  Whether using less gas or having time for other things, you will see a savings on top of more convenience.
  • World Class Personal Trainers in Your Living Room: Workout at home with workout DVDs and have some of the best trainers in the world as your exercise coaches.  Bob Harper and Dolvet Quince in the Biggest Loser DVDs.  Tony Horton in P90X.  Jillian Michaels in her various workout DVDs.  Chalene Johnson in the Turbo Jam and Turbo Fire series.  Shaun T in the Insanity series.  Leslie Sansone’s Walk Away the Pounds series.  These are just few titles that feature some of the best trainers in the world.  In your home gym, you can workout with them on the cheap compared to what it might cost to workout regularly with a local personal trainer.  Here is a list of top workout DVDs.
  • No Drama – Save yourself from the drama of going to the gym.  Yes, you can avoid feeling awkward, anxious or self conscious about your body.  You can avoid the meat heads who are grunting and dropping weights.  You can avoid the people who are just there to hit on women or be seen.  At home, you can focus on getting your workout on, not on who’s in the gym and what they are doing.  Less distractions, More focus!
  • Low Cost Equiptment – You can start with workout DVDs, a yoga mat, dumbbells (3 different sizes), an exercise ball for around $75-150 dollars.  You may be able to get second hand workout equipment from friends and family or at a discount on sites like Ebay.  Put together your equipment list based on the exercises you like to do.  In the future, You might even work up to buying an elliptical machine or spin bike if you are even more serious about working out at home vs. paying for a gym membership.
  • Your Apartment/Condo’s Workout Room – If you have a free, well maintained workout room in your condo, apartment or community club house that can be your home gym.  Many residents don’t take advantage of gyms on the premises where they live, and they can be basically empty during non peak hours (Most people workout right after work or in the morning.

Weight Loss on a Budget Tip #23: You Can Save Money on Organic Food

by Leave a Comment

Tip #23 of our Weight Loss on a Budget Tips: You Can Save Money on Organic Food.  Here are 5 ways to make organic more affordable.

save on organic food

  1. Look for coupons on organic brands – You may not find many coupons for organics in your local paper, so you’ll need to visit the websites for the brands you like and look for coupons.  Many companies offer coupons and special offers to their email list, so sign up for deals.
  2. Buy in Bulk – You can get all the benefits of organically grown food at a reduced cost when you buy in bulk.  Focus on foods that are not prone to go bad quickly like cereal, nuts, beans, protein powder, grains and healthy snack foods.  If you are a member of a club, like BJ’s or Costco, make sure you are taking advantage of specials and monthly store coupons for greater deals.
  3. Buy the Store Brand – As long as the product is certified organic (USDA) it doesn’t matter what the brand is.  If you like the taste and it meets your nutritional needs, buy it instead of the name brand and save money.  A lot of grocery stores now carry a house organic brand because of consumer demand.
  4. Grow Your Own – If you have enough space and an interest in gardening, consider getting a book and heading to your local home improvement store for what you need to get a garden started.  There is actually a whole urban gardening movement going on where people use methods like square foot gardening to raise their own food in limited spaces.
  5. Clean 15 / Dirty Dozen – There are actually fruits and veggies that are not exposed to a lot of pesticides and don’t have a lot of pesticide residue.  They are called the “Clean 15™”.  You can save money buy NOT buying them organic.
    • onions
    • avocados
    • sweet corn
    • pineapples
    • mango
    • sweet peas
    • asparagus
    • kiwi fruit
    • cabbage
    • eggplant
    • cantaloupe
    • watermelon
    • grapefruit
    • sweet potatoes
    • sweet onions

On the other side of the spectrum there is the “Dirty Dozen™” list of foods that most people recommend be purchased in organic form due to the amount of pesticide they are exposed to and what has been found in testing in terms of residue.

    • celery
    • peaches
    • strawberries
    • apples
    • domestic blueberries
    • nectarines
    • sweet bell peppers
    • spinach, kale and collard greens
    • cherries
    • potatoes
    • imported grapes
    • lettuce

Weight Loss on a Budget Tip #22: Skip Diet Foods, Drinks & Pre-packed “Healthy” Snacks

by 1 Comment

diet foods diet drinks pre-packagedIt’s day 22 of our October Challenge and we are focused on how we can save some money while losing the weight at the same time.  Today’s Weight Loss on a Budget Tip: #22 – Skip Diet Foods and Pre-packed “Healthy” Snacks.

That’s right!  I’m talking about snack packs, frozen diet meals and powdered diet drinks.  You just don’t need them to lose weight.  Focus on eating REAL, unprocessed foods and drinking lots of water.

Diet Snack Packs – You save money by buying in larger quantities and breaking the food down.  You can repackage your own snacks that you buy in bulk.  Weight or divide out the food in small, low calorie portions and put it in sandwich bags.  It’s all about portion control.  You ALSO should not be fooled into thinking that just because you ate 3 100 calorie packages that it wasn’t as bad, because they are diet portions. 🙂  Most people don’t just have one portion of diet products, they have 2 or 3.

Diet Drinks – When it comes to diet drinks, sometimes the extreme sweetness just continues to keep your sweet tooth alive, super charging it.  You never divorce yourself from the sugar rush with these drinks, thus your cravings continue to rage on.  Drink more water and save your money.  Drink tea with a little natural sweetener like honey or agave when your willpower is low.

Frozen Diet Meals – Do you research and really consider how much money you’re spending on frozen diet meals.  Could you avoid things like sodium and preservatives by not eating those foods?  How much money would you save if you made your own meals and ate leftovers as well?  Are the foods too high in calories, hidden sugars or fats?

Other Diet Foods – If the diet products are being sold at a premium, avoid them.  There are cheaper options.  You don’t have to buy something because it’s labelled low-fat or diet. Buy the most health food you can afford.  That should be your goal.  Don’t let the marketing tactics suck you in.

 

 

Weight Loss on a Budget Tip #21: Look for Free Weight Loss Related Offers Online

by Leave a Comment

free offers weight loss relatedWeight Loss on a Budget Tip #21: Look for Free Weight Loss Related Offers Online!  That’s right!  If you are willing to do the work you can find lots of offers for free stuff online that can help you with your weight loss efforts.  Here are just a few examples (some are limited time offers):

Free Meal Plans:

Sites where you can find offers for free stuff:

Take your time and do your research.  Check out the websites for your favorite brands and plan how to buy them.