Did you know one of the best ways to save money throughout your life is to eat well? Health care spending for obese adults is about 50% higher than for adults at a normal or slightly heavier than normal weight!

Unfortunately, when you head to the grocery store, it can seem like you can’t afford to eat healthy in order to maintain a healthy, cost-efficient weight.

It’s true that processed foods that lack nutrition are often a lot cheaper than unprocessed foods. However, anyone can eat well on a budget with the right outlook and techniques. Here are some ways you can eat healthy foods without spending a fortune on groceries:

1. Cook at home from scratch. Processed foods are cheap because they’re full of cheap, non-nutritional fillers and are made in a factory. Foods that aren’t full of those fillers – think healthy frozen meals, canned soups without the added sodium, etc. – can be good for you, but they’re some of the most expensive out there. Instead of resorting to healthy frozen meals because you feel you don’t have time to cook, start making cooking at home from scratch a bigger priority in your life.

One way to make this easier is to fix healthy meals ahead of time and freeze them. Things like turkey loaf (as opposed to regular meatloaf), shredded chicken, casseroles, and soups can be put into individual or family-sized containers and saved for later. Also, try out quick, healthy recipes like spaghetti with homemade sauce and chicken noodle soup. Once you’ve made them a few times, they’ll be super easy to throw together on a busy weeknight.

2. Steer clear of specialty health foods, unless you have a reason for eating them. If you’re really on a budget, you probably don’t want to shop at Whole Foods Market or try the latest health innovations. Even foods like soy milks and almond milk as opposed to regular skim milk can add to your grocery bill.

Unless you have a reason to eat specialty health foods, just be reasonable in your grocery shopping. Chances are likely that your grandparents lived healthy, full lives without the help of special foods. You can, too!

3. Load up on whole grains. Grains like brown rice and whole-wheat pasta are super cheap, especially if you can find them at a discount grocery store or buy them in bulk. They keep practically forever, and they make a versatile base for all sorts of meals. Learn to use different recipes that can be served over rice and pasta, and experiment with other types of grains, such as quinoa and oats.

While your entire diet shouldn’t be based on grains, it’s a good idea to include them with every meal. They’re filling, low in fat, and deliciously affordable!

4. Buy meat when it’s on sale. One of the best ways to save on your entire healthy grocery bill is to save on the meat. This is what makes up the bulk of the cost of most meals, after all. Meat is very resource-intensive, so it’s no surprise that it costs so much more than other types of food!

Cutting back on meat is a good idea for many people health-wise, but it can also be a good way to save. If you’re already comfortable with your level of meat consumption, then you can save by buying it in bulk when it’s on sale. The goal here is to try to buy meat for under $2 a pound. How possible this is will depend largely on where you’re from and where you’re shopping!

If you do find a great deal on meat, though, you can pick up enough for a few meals. Freeze it either unprepared or prepared in a basic way. For instance, you can boil and shred chicken before freezing it, and it’ll be versatile enough for tons of recipes. Another option is to brown beef with onions and garlic and freeze it. You can use it in all sorts of quick recipes.

The great part about preparing beef this way, too, is that you can get the cheaper, higher-fat ground beef. Just drain it really well after you cook it, and you’ll get rid of most of the excess fat!

5. Buy fruits and vegetables in season, and be choosy about your organics. This is really two tips rolled into one!

Buying your produce in season is cheaper and healthier. More and more studies are showing that the nutrients in fresh foods break down so quickly that the closer you are to the produce’s source, the more nutritious your food will be. Plus, when you’re buying seasonal, local produce, you aren’t paying extra for shipping costs, so you get healthier food on the cheap.

While many diet books recommend you only ever eat organics, this just isn’t possible for some people. Do some research to see which non-organic produce absorbs the most pesticides, and try to buy those things in organic. Don’t go overboard, though. Produce like oranges and bananas, for instance, don’t take in lots of pesticides because of their thick skins that we peel of before we eat them!

Abigail Hall blogs for the family credit card comparison website, www.creditdonkey.com.  Visit CreditDonkey to compare grocery credit cards to save money while eating healthy.

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Diet and exercise seem to be hot topics every year. Diets are always evolving and companies are coming out with the latest and greatest ways to help people lose weight.

Often times these diets are a bit of a laugh, but one thing that never changes is our need to eat healthy. Most people wake up exhausted every morning to the sound of their alarm clock.

They rush to get ready, grab some coffee and head off to work. They didn’t have time to pack a lunch so they grab some fast food, with a nice big soft drink to wash everything down. They come home, eat a big dinner maybe enjoy some wine or beer.

Then after dinner they watch TV for three hours so that they can wind down from all of the caffeine, and before they know its midnight. Leno is over so it’s time to hit the sack. 6:30 rolls around and it’s time to do it all over again. No wonder so many Americans are overweight and feel so terrible. Even if you aren’t extremely unhealthy or don’t fit the stereotypical profile here are a few reasons why it’s a good idea to eat healthy:

1. Fit Into More Clothes- Okay so this may be superficial but it feels good to be comfortable in your clothes and not worry about how your love handles are on display.

2. Reduce Pain- By eating healthy and dropping some weight you can reduce lower back pain and unnecessary stress on joints.

3. Do the Activities that you Want- A lot of people would love to go swimming with their friends if only they felt more comfortable with how they looked.

4. Live Longer- The second leading cause of preventable death is obesity. Don’t become a statistic.

5. Avoid Sickness- Healthy food equals healthier you!

6. Be Smarter- Eating healthy helps you think and recall information better.

7. Find More Confidence- Setting and achieving goals helps you to be more confident in your own abilities.

8. More Energy- If you eat right and exercise you’ll have more energy to do the things you want/need to do.

9. Improve your Heart Health- Healthy food will help your heart to function better and reduce your risk of heart attack.

10. Speed up your Metabolism- A good diet will help you to speed up the rate at which you break down food, meaning more weight loss!

Even those who want to lose weight without exercise will need to eat healthy. For example the HCG drops diet can help you lose a pound of fat a day and there is no need to exercise. While on the HCG drops diet, however, eating healthy is extremely important to the success of your weight loss and your overall health. Ultimately eating healthy can change more than the way you look, it can change your whole lifestyle.

Micah Castro is a freelance writer for HCG Drops Diet, the home of HCG drops. To learn more about HCG drops click here.

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There are many benefits to consuming five nutrient dense meals per day over fewer, large meals that are so common in our society. Below is a discussion of several of these benefits.

Increased Energy

Five evenly spaced meals throughout the day can have a noticeable, positive impact on energy levels. So many people in our society rely on caffeinated beverages such as sodas, coffee, and energy drinks to give them a boost. The fact is that these stimulant infused beverages actually perpetuate fatigue by providing only a temporary increase in energy that often results in a drastic and rapid crash. Additionally, caffeine and similar stimulants can remain in the body for well over twelve hours, causing disturbed sleep and prolonged anxiety, which has a negative effect on energy levels. By consuming five nutritious meals distributed evenly throughout the day, blood sugar levels remain stable, which results in an efficient use of nutrients by the body and sustained energy levels.

Weight Loss

It is counterintuitive to believe that eating more often can result in weight loss and maintenance of a healthy weight. As previously mentioned, eating five nutritious meals spaced evenly throughout the day ensures stable blood sugar levels. When blood sugar is stable and does not drastically fluctuate, the frequency of insulin production is reduced. The body’s insulin response acts as a mechanism to remove sugar from the blood and can result in excessive body fat production if it is over stimulated. The best way to combat this phenomenon is to consume the recommended daily allotment of calories in five separate meals.

Reduced Cravings

One of the primary obstacles to successful weight loss is food cravings, which are most common in the evening. Cravings that result in food binging are a double edged sword. Consuming an excessive amount of calories at one sitting stimulates the insulin response that is detrimental to weight loss efforts. Also, eating a large quantity of food, especially in the evening, reduces the body’s opportunity to experience a neutral or negative calorie balance, and creates an environment that is not conducive to maintaining a healthy body weight.

Enhanced Mood

Failing to eat at regular intervals throughout the day can cause a person to become irritable and grouchy. The reasons for the potential mood fluctuation are a result of inadequate or unstable levels of blood sugar and are not remedied by simply eating once or twice a day. Along with drinking things like juiced vegetables, green tea, or scientifically structured health drinks like Monavie acai juice, eating five nutritious meals per day allows the body to efficiently operate and maintain a stable hormonal environment that may result in enhanced mood and reduced anxiety and irritability.

Overall Health

Consuming five nutritious meals per day allows the body to absorb nutrients vital to health that it otherwise would not be able to when fewer, larger meals are consumed. Stress placed on the digestive system caused by consuming infrequent, high calorie meals reduces the body’s effective absorption of nutrients. Eating multiple, nutrient dense meals per day also gives the person a greater opportunity for food variety, thus resulting in more vitamins, minerals and other healthy compounds being ingested and absorbed. These nutrients are critical to health through enhancing immune system integrity, reducing free radical damage, and preventing disease.

As with regular exercise, consumption of five quality meals per day is essential to overall health. The benefits of maintaining a healthy weight, enhanced mood and increased energy can last a lifetime.

This article was written by Anthony Benedict. Anthony helps run monavie.com, which is a company that provides healthy juices like the Monavie acai juice.

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*This is a guest post by very awesome Heather*

I hear two things all the time in regards to healthy living and coupon shopping: Either people complain they can’t eat well because it costs too much or they can’t use coupons because they like to eat healthy. I’m here to bust the myths, since my family does both!

Coupons are only for processed junk

This is probably one of the biggest myths surrounding couponing. Sure, you’ll find a lot of coupons for boxed goods, canned goods and snack foods. You’ll also find tons of coupons for health& beauty items, organic foods, frozen foods and, yes, even fresh meat or produce! My girls love when the Cuties coupon comes out – clementines are a huge hit at our house.

If you want to save even more on healthy or organic foods, watch for coupons from Earthbound Farms, Nature’s Best and Horizon. Sign up for the Mambo Sprouts coupons – each quarter, you’ll receive a booklet in the mail for your favorite healthy brands. You can even print several coupons on their website, in between mailings.

Fresh food costs more

Partly true – fresh food will be priced higher than boxed goods, but you can watch for sales & coupons to keep your costs down. Be sure to look at frozen produce as well. It is frozen at the peak of freshness, typically with no preservatives. Buying fruits & vegetables in the freezer section is a great way to save money while you enjoy your favorites outside of their season.

One of the easiest ways to lower your food budget is to plan your weekly meals around sales at the store. If you decide on a meal, then go out to buy the ingredients, you’re likely to be way over budget on your groceries. However, if you pay attention to sales & seasons to choose recipes based on what is readily available at a discount, you can drastically cut your budget.

I have to buy all organic food

Okay, this one is a personal preference, and I’m not about to tell you it’s wrong! However, there are ways to cut back just a bit if you really need to lower your budget. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has named 12 foods most likely to retain pesticides (apples/pears, peaches/nectarines, celery, cherries, strawberries, grapes, spinach, potatoes, bell peppers and raspberries).

Focusing on these produce items will provide the most benefit for your body & wallet. They have also listed 12 items least likely to be contaminated after harvest (asparagus, avocado, banana, broccoli/cauliflower, corn, kiwi, mango/papaya, onion, pineapples and sweet peas), if you want to skip the expensive organics for thicker skinned fruits & veggies.

Eating well doesn’t have to be expensive. A watchful eye can keep your fridge & pantry stocked with healthy favorites for less than a typical shopper. Plan ahead, clip coupons and think carefully about each purchase.  It will be healthier for the body and wallet!

Heather Sokol is a married mother of 3 beautiful, active girls. In between carpool, serving healthy meals and other miscellaneous mom jobs, she’s sharing her secrets for doing it all inexpensively.

Go into the break room of any office or workplace, and you will surely find every manner of chips, cookies, cakes, coffee, and soft drinks. Westerners love food, and we love fatty, unhealthy junk foods more than any other, it seems. It appears that English-speaking peoples have developed some decidedly unhealthy eating habits, exchanging wholesome, fresh food for synthetic, over-processed pseudo-food. Some people tend to snack at work, when they are sitting at a desk performing a monotonous task, while others habitually “munch” while they are at home. People who are trying to quit smoking have a tendency to snack in order to cope with their desire for a cigarette.

JoEllen Marks, of CcurvyGirlFitness.blogspot.com, andCurvyGirlFitness.comdiscussed yesterday on her vlog about sticking to the inside perimeter of the grocery store, where the natural, unprocessed foods are. Today, she discusses using those fresh, nutrient-enriched foods as means of smart snacking, thereby maintaining a sensible diet regimen.

FitnessJo, as JoEllen calls herself on her vlog, advocates healthy snacking as a way to maintain good health and weight. Eating small, nutritious snacks throughout the day is proven to curb hunger, preventing filling up on “junk” foods. JoEllen points out everyone gets hungry throughout the day. Being hungry makes one more likely to make hasty, poor decisions about what to eat. She gives an example of someone sitting in an early-morning meeting hungry and with a plate of doughnuts right in front of them. Being hungry with no alternative snack foods around would make someone less likely to be able to resist the temptation to eat the fatty, greasy food.

JoEllen advises keeping healthy snacks everywhere to alleviate temptation. She suggests good snacks for snacking while in the car, such as almonds, cranberries and apples. Boiled eggs can be kept in a cooler in the car providing a filling, energizing snack. Keeping the refrigerator full of healthy fruits and vegetables allows for plenty of choices and variety, preventing boredom and munching out of habit. Traditional knowledge cautions care with fruit high in sugar, less than ideal snacks, but better than the over-processed synthetic snacks made with refined that can be bought from the inner isles at the grocery store.

The old standards like celery and carrots can be dipped in low-fat dips, along with broccoli and cauliflower. The key is to use low-fat instead of fat-free, because without fat there is no flavor. Sugar is usually used to replace the flavor but has more calories than fat, which entirely defeats the original purpose altogether. JoEllen suggests other alternatives to fatty snacks such as sugar snap peas and low-fat cheese. Grapes and carrots are good sweet and crunchy snacks, and are not high in natural sugar.

JoEllen promotes an active, healthy lifestyle combined with smart, careful eating habits. According to her five-meal-a-day plan, interspersing the five daily meals with light, nutritious snacks will keep the hunger beast at bay. Following her recommended advice for snacking and food choices will allow you to eat and be satisfied while still following your diet regimen.

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