One of the first things that come to mind of many when they think of a whole foods plant-based diet is how expensive they are.
Not to refute this, healthy eating may be quite expensive considering there is less production of agricultural produce in urban areas.
In this article, I will suggest ways you can make healthy eating less expensive than it is.
1. Make a diet plan
Having a meal plan is the first step to ensuring you stick to a budget when eating healthy. Working with a diet plan will restrict you to only eating food that is listed on the schedule. It will prevent you from overeating or eating at regular times during the day. With a diet plan, you will know which food goes well with which and please you can cut costs on dieting.
Having a dieting plan will also guide you on the sort of food you need to incorporate in your diet that best suits your energy demand.
Athletes need more energy giving food and will therefore have diet plans that cater for that while diet plans for teens will consist majorly of bodybuilding foods.
2. Shop online
For anyone who wants to cut down the costs of their grocery shopping, I would suggest shopping online. Many grocery stores have shifted their services online because e-commerce is growing, and it just perfectly fits to grow your business as well. With this in mind, to increase the number of customers many shops offer discounts and coupons.
With the right store, you can save a lot of money when you order healthy food online.
3. Grow a garden
Growing a garden is one of the easiest things you can do, and it will save you tons of money on grocery shopping. Many plants can be grown right from our gardens, and you don’t have to spend extra money shopping for them.
You will not only be saving money but also depending on healthy and more sustainable food which is good for your health and the environment.
4. Eat-in
Not many people embrace the idea of home-cooked meals because of the time demands it comes with.
For anybody who wants to save money perhaps, it’s time you consider eating at fresh home-cooked meals rather than buying from restaurants.
On average you can spend over £40 a day in London eating out in restaurants which do not guarantee healthy food.
It is, therefore, safer and much cheaper to make your meals from home.
5. Opt for nutrients dense food
It is possible to eat a variety of food that supplement various sources of nutrients, but the food individually can be very expensive.
It is a better and more realistic option to choose foods that are packed with a lot of macronutrients them.
To make more sense of this, instead of choosing meals with only a few nutrients, it is a good option to go for nutrient-dense foods such as salmon, kale, liver, etc.
6. Meal preps
One of the main reasons why many people choose to, or the food is because they have no time to prepare home-cooked meals.
Meal prepping is the process of planning and preparing food in advance.
Not only does it save you time for when you need to grab a quick meal but also it saves you money that you would have used to order food.
You’ll have your plan laid out before moving out to do your grocery shopping.
Cooking in larger portions is also an option to reduce the cost of preparing healthy food.
7. Reduce meaty diets
We cannot deny that meat and the number one source of proteins and the most consumed. Nonetheless, they are very expensive.
The cost to produce, distribute, and retail meat in the UK is very high coupled with the fact that the UK’s animal welfare laws place stringent regulations on meat supply.
With these facts, you can cut down the cost of healthy eating by reducing meaty diets.
Opt for more plant-based and easy meals and once or twice a week you can devour a meaty menu.
8. Stick to your grocery list
Lastly, the one simple trick to make eating healthy less expensive is by sticking to the grocery list.
Avoid shopping for foodstuff you will not probably cook or use.
Make a list of essential healthy food that you need before heading out to the grocery store.