Hello lovely followers,
Now i know that being a uni student, it's quite hard to eat healthily, and can quite be hard on the pocket. Most of the time its easier for us to whack a microwave meal in the oven and be done with it! But there are ways in which you can eat healthier on a student budget!
By no means am i a dietician or telling you to do this, but this has worked great for me.
1. i buy fresh meat and freeze it. I find that buying 5 turkey steaks (that are quite large) dividing them into 2, makes 10 meals. This also helps with portion control. You can even buy bags of frozen chicken breasts sometimes for about £2, they're great but they're often injected with water in order to appear bigger and then shrink once cooked. Like i mentioned before, try to envision your plate like this:
2. Frozen fruit and vegetables. These are a saviour. I know most people will think 'frozen? how is that healthy?' but there is research to say that they are just as good for you as fresh. Here's an article on why. By buying frozen vegetables, you're already saving money. Fresh vegetables can be expensive, especially if they're not in season, and obviously there isnt much time for you to eat them. Frozen berries also go great with natural low fat yoghurt, or even just as a snack. they're like little ice lollies :-) If you can afford to buy them fresh, then by all means go for it, but if you're on a budget, frozen is great! You can eat a small portion of turkey and then load on the vegetables!
3. If you must buy your vegetables fresh, a great place to buy them is your local market! Often they're much cheaper and you may even find a wider selection. I know the Cardiff market has a great vegetable stand and is pretty cheap!
4. Buying 'filler' foods. These are foods such as rice, bread or pasta. Now this doesn't mean going out and buying a tonne of white bread and pasta, keep it whole grain! White breads and other white carbs are terrible for you! I tend to pick a healthy carb that i can 'fill' my food with. Such as wholegrain or brown rice. An example of this is that i'll cook half a cup of brown rice, and eat it with turkey chunks, spinach and tomatoes with a dash of soy sauce. Fillings like these are cheap. However, try not to overload on carbs, and overload more on the vegetables!
5. Cook large batches of food, and freeze extras for meals. This is great because a) it saves on cooking time, and b) it means you can make larger batches of healthy food, and stretch out how long they'll keep.
6. Ditch the take away menus! Having them in your house or within your reaching distance is often a reason why you order take away. Just think of all the terrible things that go into that kebab they're serving you!
I hope these tips helped, what ways do you try to keep healthy on a budget?
Now i know that being a uni student, it's quite hard to eat healthily, and can quite be hard on the pocket. Most of the time its easier for us to whack a microwave meal in the oven and be done with it! But there are ways in which you can eat healthier on a student budget!
By no means am i a dietician or telling you to do this, but this has worked great for me.
1. i buy fresh meat and freeze it. I find that buying 5 turkey steaks (that are quite large) dividing them into 2, makes 10 meals. This also helps with portion control. You can even buy bags of frozen chicken breasts sometimes for about £2, they're great but they're often injected with water in order to appear bigger and then shrink once cooked. Like i mentioned before, try to envision your plate like this:
2. Frozen fruit and vegetables. These are a saviour. I know most people will think 'frozen? how is that healthy?' but there is research to say that they are just as good for you as fresh. Here's an article on why. By buying frozen vegetables, you're already saving money. Fresh vegetables can be expensive, especially if they're not in season, and obviously there isnt much time for you to eat them. Frozen berries also go great with natural low fat yoghurt, or even just as a snack. they're like little ice lollies :-) If you can afford to buy them fresh, then by all means go for it, but if you're on a budget, frozen is great! You can eat a small portion of turkey and then load on the vegetables!
3. If you must buy your vegetables fresh, a great place to buy them is your local market! Often they're much cheaper and you may even find a wider selection. I know the Cardiff market has a great vegetable stand and is pretty cheap!
4. Buying 'filler' foods. These are foods such as rice, bread or pasta. Now this doesn't mean going out and buying a tonne of white bread and pasta, keep it whole grain! White breads and other white carbs are terrible for you! I tend to pick a healthy carb that i can 'fill' my food with. Such as wholegrain or brown rice. An example of this is that i'll cook half a cup of brown rice, and eat it with turkey chunks, spinach and tomatoes with a dash of soy sauce. Fillings like these are cheap. However, try not to overload on carbs, and overload more on the vegetables!
5. Cook large batches of food, and freeze extras for meals. This is great because a) it saves on cooking time, and b) it means you can make larger batches of healthy food, and stretch out how long they'll keep.
6. Ditch the take away menus! Having them in your house or within your reaching distance is often a reason why you order take away. Just think of all the terrible things that go into that kebab they're serving you!
I hope these tips helped, what ways do you try to keep healthy on a budget?
This is a great post. I know so many people eat crap because they're on a student budget but it is actually really easy to make healthy choices.
ReplyDeleteX
thanks! i know so many students who do the same and then complain that they're always getting ill! its because theyre not getting enough nutrients xxx
Deleteorder food in pairs! this allows you to eat both cheaper and have a wider range of meals. i always plan my meals as well... great post :)
ReplyDeletehttp://hollydocx.blogspot.co.uk/
Good advice!
ReplyDeleteI like to eat fruit and drink lots of water.
ReplyDelete