body on a budget: week 1

well hello there! so it has been a year since this blog has been in action and it is time to let it out!! for those of you who don't know where this started or where i've started, go back to the first couple of posts over three years ago and read up! ;)

so now for the fun stuff. friends of mine that are reading this know that i have recently quit my job as a full time high school diploma/ged teacher in order to pursue my personal training career a little more.  i was stuck in a job that while it seemed to make good money, there was no room for growth and it was completely sucking the life out of me. it has been SO scary. but, you know me, i suck it up and make it happen.  as for now, i need to save save save! this led me to the idea to create this blog series. i decided to call it "body on a budget" because that's what we're all working toward, right? a healthy, fit body that we can get at the least expense. my goal is to spend less than $200/month on food. 

this means preparing meals in order to avoid eating out (plus, made from home is ALWAYS better). what have i done? so i have broken down exactly what i do to achieve this and i am going to update you every week for the next month to show you it CAN be done.

how i begin:

1. first things first. i am trying to lose weight. not maintain. so i am being strict on what my caloric and macronutrient intake. another thing, i have a gluten intolerance, therefore, i do not eat wheat/barley/rye. this is not too difficult to achieve and often puts me in the paleo zone, however, i am not on a strict paleo diet
2. i use a food tracking website. sparkpeople is my personal favorite but there are a billion others like fatsecret and myfitnesspal. however, i dont really reference this site until i am finished cooking for the week and need to portion out my food.
3. every BIG meal (breakfast, lunch, dinner) consists of fat, protein and carbs. snacks usually make-up whatever is lacking.
4. i am assuming you have SOME stuff in your house. not starting from absolute nothing.

and now the fun starts:

1. step one: get weekly ads from local grocery stores. my favorite stores are fresh&easy, sprouts, staterbros & winco. winco usually does not put out a weekly ad but i tend to have an idea of what they have there. i ALWAYS look for fresh chicken (not frozen) on sale and never pay more than 1.99/lb. i also cook depending on what veggies and fruits are on sale and my goal is to never pay more than $1/lb for fruits or veggies. this week, i had a $5 off $25 coupon for fresh and easy and also $4 in friends rewards that is spent as cash so i knew i would shop there, plus, their chicken was on sale (SCORE!!).
   
2. make a menu of what i am going to eat for the week. this includes breakfast, lunch, dinner and multiple snacks.
3. make a grocery list including stores of all things needed to complete the menu i just made. be sure to look in your cabinets and see what you already have to start with.
   
4. be flexible but not TOO flexible when at the stores. for example, i had certain things on my list to get at winco, but when i got to fresh and easy i saw a deal that couldn't be passed up. (2 bell peppers for $1?! YES PLEASE!) this may have made my bill at fresh and easy go up but it made my overall bill go down, this is ok! but BE CAREFUL. do not stray from your list!! it was very tempting looking at all the foods, especially with a hungry stomach! 
   
   
   
   
5. don't be afraid to take your time and calculate the best deal! i was there calculating price per lb on my phone multiple times, no shame, i'm tryin to save here!!

the end results:

1. first thing to make, egg muffins. see recipe on my fb page: JAMfit Personal Training 
2. next, i made brown rice pasta (if you're paleo it would be great with spaghetti squash) with this amazing paleo spaghetti sauce. my trick is added bell peppers and mushrooms to the mix so that i get more veggies in! where did i find the recipe? hint: GOOGLE, keywords: EASY paleo spaghetti sauce (don't forget the easy, it def helps).
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
3. lastly, i baked chicken, sweet potatoes (splurged on these instead of yams) and steamed veggies. i use salt free seasonings like mrs.dash on my chicken. it helps that winco saves a TON on spices!!
   
   
   
   
   
   
4. so how do i figure out how much to serve myself? now here's the fun part. i go online to my sparkpeople site, i enter the foods im going to eat as just about one serving. then i look the my daily totals for monday and if it is within range, i know how much to serve myself, if not, i tweak until i'm hitting the correct range of macronutrients for the day. 
   
   
   
   
5. grand total spend for the week: $30.38
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

i'll take it!!!! and this is only SOME of what i made. that's all i've got for you for this week. please leave me questions/comments/etc. so i can make it even better next week!! until then, happy eating!!!!
be sure to follow me on instagram for more food, workouts and fun! @jamfittrainer 
and *like* my facebook page: www.facebook.com/JAMfitTraining