How do you eat healthy and maintain weight loss when time and money are tight?

One of my readers, sent in a question I thought I’d share with you. Maggie T. is a 33-year-old nursing student with a 14-year-old who is very active in sports, a six-year-old who goes with the flow, and a husband with Type I Diabetes who works up to 65 hours some weeks.

She’s entering her final semester of nursing school, which will prove to be her busiest yet. In all of this chaos, she recently lost 65 pounds, so healthy eating is a priority. Here’s her question:

I am looking to save time when I have so little of it to spare, eat well and healthy, and keep my budget within reason. I have the next two weeks off from school and I return on January 12th. If there is any advice that you can give, I would do flips in return!

Here was my response to her:

Hi Maggie, congrats on your weight loss so far! Here are some quick suggestions:

• Look into cooking up doing healthy freezer meals and using a crockpot. Some good cookbooks are Holly Clegg's Trim & Terrific Freezer Friendly Meals, which has diabetic exchanges for your husband’s dietary needs. Another one to check out is FIX-IT and FORGET-IT LIGHTLY : Healthy, Low-Fat Recipes for Your Slow Cooker. This cookbook comes an analysis of its calories, fats, carbs, daily vitamins and nutrients.
• Get the kids to help you cook, plan meals and create shopping lists. Your 14-year-old who can probably cook a few things himself. The Six O'Clock Scramble: Quick, Healthy, and Delicious Dinner Recipes for Busy Families comes with weekly menus and has recipes that the older kids can prepare.
• Make exercise a priority. Get up early before everyone else is up and do a workout video. My favorites for the Wii are The Biggest Loser and EA Sports Active .
• Look into exercising at school. Can you sign up for a PE class? Does your school have a workout facility that you can use between classes? If not, walk around campus or do the stairs in one of the buildings.
• Get an exercise buddy at school. Find a friend from class who will workout or walk with you.
• Pack healthy lunches for the whole family. Invest in a few insulated lunch bags for you and the kids.
• Make sure to bring your water bottle or hot beverage holder (for hot tea or skinny lattes) everywhere. Make beverages at home so you don’t have to spend money at Starbucks or in the school cafeteria.
• Keep snacks and sugar substitute (if you use it) in your purse and car. I like Kashi’s GOLEAN Crunchy bars – only 3 Weight Watchers POINTS. They really fill you up and give you a chocolate treat. Truvia is one of my fave sugar substitutes, too.

Good luck!

Readers, do you have any more suggestions for Maggie? If so, please share in the comments below!

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Posted on January 11, 2010 in Dieting and Weight Loss Tips

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