Investing In Your Health

Isn't this picture beautiful?  Maybe it only is to me, but we LOVE fruit in this house.  We call it natures candy.  Who needs a snickers when you can have this healthy NATURAL sweetness?  Not me!  

I'm sure you have heard the old saying "An apple a day keeps the doctor away."  I tend to believe this is true because fruit is packed full of vitamin, minerals, and fiber.  All of these things are important to our health.  Fruit also has phytochemicals which can help in fighting against cancer, diabetes, high blood pressure, and heart disease.  Sounds like eating fruit is a no brainer, so why don't people eat enough?

I always hear the excuse that fruit is expensive...organic fruit especially.  I USED TO BE ONE OF THESE PEOPLE!  I'm a bit ashamed of it now that I look back.  

Would you rather eat the top picture, or the bottom?  I for one would MUCH rather eat the bottom picture.  For those who think the bottom picture costs more...think again.  For my husband and I to eat fast food, three times a day, it would cost us roughly $40 ($10 breakfast and $15 for lunch and dinner).  Sure it would be cheaper if we ate off the value menu, but I know that wouldn't happen.  This doesn't even include snacks and any other drinks we would want.

In other words, for us to eat all our meals out (fast food) for ONE week would cost us $280.  That is a lot for the little amount of food you get!  

Instead, we spend on average $75 a week on groceries (mostly unprocessed and organic).  Then I spend about $50 every 2-3 months at our local locker for meat.  For the sake of easy math let's say I spend $20 a month on meat.  That is $95 a week on groceries for two people.  We eat all breakfasts at home.  I eat lunch at home and my husband takes his lunch to work.  I make 5-6 dinners at home a week for us as well. 

For $95 we are able to eat most meals from scratch.  We are eating healthy and saving money!  I know that grocery prices depend on region and store, but I think we can all agree that eating at home saves money and saves on our health.

I think it is important to look at healthy unprocessed foods as an investment in our health.  Sure I could get out of the grocery store for less money if I filled my cart with chips, cookies, and sugary cereals.  Is that really wise though? 

The next time you are in the grocery store and shocked by the cost of wholesome non processed foods STOP yourself.  Think of it as fueling your body in a natural way.  Are you tired of always going to the doctor?  Are you tired of feeling bloated and lethargic?  Are you tired of your kids bouncing off the walls with all the sugar they consume?  Changing your diet can help alleviate all of this!  You are investing in your families overall well being.  :) 

Ch-Ch-Ch-Chia...Seeds.

Last week I talked about nutritional yeast.  This week I want to talk about something else you may have never heard of.  Chia Seeds.  I LOVE chia seeds.  Yes, these are the same seeds used when growing a chia pet.  *LOL*  Do you think I'm nuts yet?  I promise I'm not.  :)

These little seeds hold so many health benefits!

1.  They help you lose weight.  They help you feel full faster because they absorb liquid and bulk up.  

2.  They are packed full of Omega-3.  This is great for preventing heart disease.  They actually have more Omega -3 than Salmon! 

3.  They help control blood sugar.  Chia seeds help slow down how fast our bodies convert carbs to sugar.

4. They are a complete protein.   This means you are going to have more energy through out the day. 

For me, adding chia seeds into my diet was a no brainer.  I heard about them a few years ago, but I was intimidated.  I basically forgot about them until about 2 months ago.  This is when I went to see a dietician.  She reintroduced them to me and told me about all the great benefits they pack.  

 

I just had no idea WHAT to do with them.  I was afraid they would taste horrible.  Basically, I was dumb and uneducated about their greatness.  Chai seeds are so easy to incorporate into our daily diets and they have no taste!  

 

 

I like adding mine to greek yogurt and oatmeal.  They are also great to add to your baking.  I don't do much baking, but on occasion we like muffins for breakfast.  Adding chia seeds to the muffins is great!  I also recommend adding them to smoothies and fruit salads.  

There are A LOT of brands out there.  And most grocery stores carry chia seeds in their health food section.  I just chose the Dole brand because it was about $5 cheaper than the others.  I will need more in a few weeks and I think I will try another brand.  These are the milled seeds and they say they don't lose any nutritional value, but next time I will be getting the whole seed variety.  I am still fairly new to the chia bandwagon.  ;) 

If you can't find them in your store, look on Amazon.  Amazon has everything.  :)  

What are you waiting for?  Go get some chia seeds and get healthy! 

Saving Money on Lunch

Did you know that lunch time is where a lot of Americans waste money and calories?  When you are working it is so easy to just grab something on your morning/afternoon break and lunch break.  

My husbands place of employment is a perfect example of this!  Everyday 95% of the people he works with go down to the gas stations for their morning break.  Then at lunch they generally go back to the gas station, or order burgers from one of the restaurants in town. 

They figured on average they are spending at least $10 a day on food and pop.  That is $50 a week, or $200 a month!  Oy!  Those numbers are on the conservative side as well.  

My husband works with no one who has a concept of a healthy lifestyle.  These guys live off cigarettes, beer, Mountain Dew, and Little Debbies.  No joke.  

In the last few years my husband has lost nearly 50lbs.  All of this has been done through proper diet and cutting out pop.  After seeing our family doctor last month he is now on a mission to maintain this wonderful weight loss.  She wants him losing no more weight because where he is at now is perfect and healthy.  I am so proud of him!  

One of the easiest ways to cut the fat is by....get this...are you waiting for it?  BRING YOUR OWN FOOD TO WORK!  :)  

Every night I pack his lunch for the following day.  For his morning snack he generally likes fruit, celery with peanut butter, or a homemade yogurt parfait.  For lunch I generally just make extra of what we had for dinner the night before.  If we have no leftovers then he LOVES salads.  I wish I loved salads as much as he did!  Otherwise, sometimes he will request a couple peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.  Nothing fancy here!  

He also only drinks water at work.  We have a reverse osmosis system and a filtered water pitcher at home.  He takes a 32oz water jug with him in the morning and drinks that at his desk until lunch.  Then he will drink the 24oz water bottle you see in the picture above.  

We save so much money just by him taking his snacks, lunch, and water to work everyday.  I am fortunate enough to be home by 1:00 in the afternoon, so I eat lunch at home as well.  I just can't imagine us spending $200+ a month on eating lunch out.  I think it is a waste of money and calories!  

Do you take your lunch to work? 

Nutritional Yeast

Have you ever heard of nutritional yeast?  I hadn't until last April when I went to our local Natural Living Expo.  My husband and I attended a cooking demonstration put on by a raw food chef.   She made us Cheesy Cauliflower Popcorn.  It was delicious!  The star of the show was nutritional yeast.

You might be wondering WHY I would want to eat yeast?  Well, nutritional yeast isn't really yeast.  It is a great source of protein, amino acids, iron, B vitamins, and potassium.  Can I just tell you how much this stuff rocks?!

My favorite way to eat it is sprinkled on popcorn.  Nutritional yeast has a cheesy taste and is great to use as a cheese replacement.  We also like to add it on top of our pasta sauces.  

I cannot find it in my local grocery store (my small town organic store closed), so I order mine on Amazon.  Their are several different brands, but I use Red Star.  This is the brand the chef used in the demonstration, so I have just stuck with it.  

If you are trying to get healthier, lose weight, live a cleaner lifestyle, ect then I would recommend trying nutritional yeast as a cheese replacement for certain dishes.  

 

Let me know what you think of nutritional yeast!

Side Note:  If you live in the middle of nowhere, like me, then it might be hard to find some of these products in your local grocery store.  Amazon is a GREAT way to get these food products.  If you don't have Prime I HIGHLY recommend getting it.  We get free two day shipping on almost everything we buy!  And we buy a lot from Amazon.  I hate having to drive 30-50 minutes (one way!) to get to a store that carries what I need.