Switching to Clean Eating and a Healthy Lifestyle on a Budget
The food you eat affects everything from your mood and energy levels to your focus and ability to be productive. You need to eat healthy food to remain healthy, essentially. And contrary to what you might think, you don’t need to blow a fortune to ensure you eat right. Here, a guest contributor Sheila Olson for Broke Girl in the City offers information about switching to clean eating on a limited budget.
What is Clean Eating?
Eat Your Way Clean notes that clean eating, if you’re new to the concept, is consuming real foods that nourish your body and adequately meet your biological needs. With clean eating, you avoid artificial additives that upset your hormonal balance and disturb your bodily functions. The practice involves limiting or dispensing with packaged foods, sugar, thickeners, and generally anything harmful, artificial, or toxic.
Of course, we understand that switching to clean eating may seem tough – groceries are expensive, especially the organic, all-natural ones, and sometimes you don’t have the willpower to abstain from junk. Still, you can become a clean eater on a budget, even if you’re a busy person with a busy lifestyle. Here’s how:
Plan Out Your Meals
Planning your meals ensures you only buy the (healthy) ingredients you need. No more and no less. Also, you are more likely to eat an appropriate amount without overindulging. And when focusing only on these key ingredients, you are also less likely to buy junk food. Needless to say, planning also allows you to budget better.
Meal planning does require some foresight and planning, but there are plenty of great resources online to help you out. You can choose meal themes, like Taco Tuesday and Slow Cooker Sunday, to guide your planning, too.
Cook Your Own Food
Cooking your own food kills two birds with one stone — you don’t waste money on takeout or supermarket meals, and you can cook clean, highly-nutritious recipes. Of course, you may not have time to cook every single meal, but even one home-cooked meal is better than none. For the best results, you should cook clean recipes.
Switching to healthier snacks can lead to improved energy levels and better nutritional balance, as these options are often packed with essential nutrients while being lower in unhealthy fats and sugars. This change not only supports physical health but also promotes better mental clarity and overall well-being, making it a valuable shift in anyone’s dietary habits.
Express Gratitude
Practicing and sharing gratitude has profound health and wellness benefits. Engaging in gratitude activities, such as keeping a gratitude journal or expressing thanks to others, is linked to improved mental health by reducing stress and fostering a positive outlook on life. These practices can also enhance physical health by improving sleep quality and even potentially boosting the immune system.
Socially, sharing gratitude strengthens relationships and builds a supportive community, as it encourages a cycle of positivity and appreciation. Integrating gratitude into daily life can lead to a more fulfilling and healthier existence, reinforcing the connection between a grateful mindset and overall well-being.
Pair Clean Eating with a Self-Care Routine
Eating healthy is only one part of being healthy. You also need to ensure you get enough physical exercise and have a healthy mind besides. BetterUp notes that following a self-care routine allows you to do both. You can fill up your day with healthful activities like yoga, meditating, painting, walking in nature, and listening to music.
If you want additional accountability or if you work out best in a group setting, many gyms and fitness centers offer classes and personal training to help you reach your fitness goals.
Start Walking
Walking is a simple, yet highly effective form of exercise that offers a myriad of health benefits. It aids in weight management, improves cardiovascular health, and enhances mental well-being by reducing stress and anxiety. Moreover, walking strengthens muscles and bones, helping to increase balance and endurance.
Monetize Your Healthy Lifestyle
If you master your clean eating – or another healthy – lifestyle, you could potentially make money from it. For instance, you could inspire or teach others to be clean eaters, start a clean-eating blog, or become a social media influencer with a focus on wellness. If you’re serious about monetization, you should launch your own company with the help of a solid business plan. The business plan is a document that will help you organize your business, including figuring out details on selling your services and pinpointing funding sources and financial projections.
As you can tell, it’s possible to eat clean and stay healthy on a comparative shoestring budget. Needless to say, being healthy has several benefits – money savings being amongst the biggest ones. You spend less on insurance and healthcare-related expenses and are more productive at work. Finally, you could even make money by monetizing your clean eating or healthy lifestyle by starting a business.
Broke Girl in the City offers top tips on how to lead your best life even when on a budget. Life is about thriving, not just surviving.
