Food Breakdown

Along this journey, I have gotten a number of questions, but one in particular is consistently proposed. And it is, “Isn’t it expensive to eat healthy and do you think you will be able to afford that long-term?” To which I have typically explained that in my old lifestyle throughout the course of one weekend, defined as Friday night through Sunday night, I would spend approximately $70-80 feeding myself at Chinese buffets and all-you-can eat brunch cafes a year ago. I allowed myself to justify this expense because I thought I was getting the most “bang for my buck.” However, I now spend less than that on one week’s worth of groceries. Listed below is an example of my current daily diet and budget first, which is then compared to an example of my former daily diet and budget second. If you will notice, I save approximately $9/day on my new diet and I am eating a much higher quality of food. Therefore, I conclude that “yes” I will be able to afford to eat healthy long-term. The follow-up question then is, “Do you ever feel hungry?” I have rarely found myself hungry during this weight-loss journey and when I have, it is because of a failure to properly plan for a situation on my part. One of my biggest mottoes throughout this weight-loss journey has been; “failing to plan is planning to fail.” Forgetting to pack a snack or the appropriate amount of food for my day has led me to feel hunger a few times, but it has been rare. I try to never place myself in a situation where I am without a healthy food choice. Also, please find an example of one of my grocery lists below with the cost of the products listed as well.   

New Daily Food Budget

Breakfast: $4.00

Smoothie (blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, 1 cup of water, and 1 cup of unsweetened almond milk)

Mid-morning Snack: $0.50

Individual bag of carrots

Lunch: $2.50

Salad (baked chicken, baby spinach, black pepper, olive oil, and ¼  lemon/lime squeezed; optional: nuts)

Mid-afternoon Snack: $1.50

One apple

Dinner: $3.00

One Grilled Chicken Breast

Steamed Broccoli (half a lemon squeezed and black pepper), Brussels sprouts, and Green Beans

Mid-evening Snack: $0.50

Handful of Almonds 

Total Food Cost for the Day: $12

Old Daily Food Budget

Old Breakfast: $4.89

Two Chick-fil-A Chicken Biscuits with Jelly and Mayonnaise

Old Mid-morning Snack: $1.25

Popcorn (Buttered – Movie Theatre Style)

Old Lunch: $6.27

Two Slices of Pepperoni Pizza and Drink

Old Mid-afternoon Snack: $1.25

Pop-tarts (Frosted)

Old Dinner: $6.15

2 or 3 Pieces of Fried Chicken, Mashed Potatoes with Gravy, and a Biscuit

Old Mid-evening Snack: $1.19

Big Bowl of Ice-cream

Total Food Cost for the Day: $21

Grocery List:

Blueberries: $4.99 x 4

Raspberries: $3.49 x 4

Strawberries: $3.99 x 4

Unsweetened Almond Milk: $2.49 x 2

Individually Wrapped Carrots: $1.79 x 2

Tray of Chicken Breasts: $11.47 x 4

Box of Baby Spinach: $4.49 x 2

Extra Virgin Olive Oil: $2.33 x 1

Lemon: $0.59 x 2

Lime: $0.39 x 2 

Apple: $1.19 x 10

Broccoli, Brussels sprouts, and Green Beans: $1.00 x 10

Unsalted and Raw Almonds: $5.99 x 1

Total Grocery List Cost: $137.16 (for two weeks’ worth of groceries)

As of the posting of this blog I have gotten rid of a total 168 pounds in 41 weeks.

Disclaimer: I primarily shop for groceries at Kroger which may not exist in your area or due to the cost of living in your area items may be less expensive where I live. Also, I do not often deviate from this diet or grocery list but I get a wild hair from time-to-time hence the week of recipes I recently put posted, but this is my typical diet and budget.