​Eating Healthy on a Budget

With the economic situation in the world being what it is, it's important to find ways of eating healthy on a budget. It's possible to purchase foods that are good for you and your budget; you merely have to plan ahead to get the best food you can for the money you have available.

Having a plan and sticking to it can help you get more food at less cost and allow you to prepare better, more healthy meals.

Here are some tips to help you succeed in eating healthy on a budget:

Grocery Shopping

1. Set aside time to make your food plan. Find the sales ads for each of the grocery stores in your area and decide on your meals for the coming week ahead of time.

2. Make a list. After you've planned your meals, write down everything you need for each meal. Check your pantry, freezer, and refrigerator to see if you already have some of the items. Make your grocery list and determine to stick with it!

• Include what you'll need for drinks, snacks and desserts.
• Remember your ingredients for preparation, such as butter, flour, sugar, and spices.
• Replenish cleaning supplies.

3. Clip coupons for items you know you'll use. Leave the remainder of the coupons at home so you're not tempted to save money on items you don't need.

4. Never go grocery shopping on an empty stomach because you're more likely to buy items that look good rather than those on your list.

• If you can't go to the store right after a meal, take along a light snack to help you resist temptation while in the store.

5. Buy items on the perimeter of the store first because these items are the healthiest choices. This will include fruits, vegetables, meats, and dairy items. The center items are processed or convenience foods. Not only are they more expensive, but they aren't healthy.

6. Look for fruits and vegetables that are in season as these will often be cheaper than non-seasonal choices. While you're looking at the fruits and vegetables, see if there are any sales on these healthy, nutrient rich foods.

• Choose large bags rather than individual pieces of fruit. The larger bags are often cheaper by the pound.

7. Buy store or generic brands. There usually isn't much difference in the way the foods taste but you can definitely see a difference in the price.

Other Ways to Eat Healthy on a Budget

1. Make your own snacks for your family's time away from home rather than allowing them to purchase food from vending machines. Fresh fruit and vegetable sticks with dip are much healthier than the bags of chips or crackers that come from the machines.

2. Eat at home. Whenever possible, make your food from scratch and eat it at home. Not only will this give you more control over what your family eats, but it can also save you a considerable amount of money.

• Eating out also encourages overeating because portion sizes are massive.

3. Drink healthy. Finally, when eating healthy on a budget, don't forget to think about what you're drinking. Expensive, sugar-laden drinks are the bane of your budget and counter-productive to healthy eating.
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• Look for 100% pure juices.
• Drink low fat milk.
• Drink more water.
• Cut out soft drinks.

If you follow these tips, you'll soon discover the joys of healthy eating and you'll save money in the process. You may have to spend some extra time preparing food, but the benefits are astounding!

​The Surprising Connection Between Being Busy and Being Healthy

Do you believe the stereotype of busy professionals grabbing fast food burgers and letting their treadmills collect dust while they’re rushing from one meeting to the next? In reality, a growing body of research shows that being busy helps you to make healthier choices.

To be more precise, thinking you’re busy seems to increase your sense of self-importance, as well as your self-control. That’s the conclusion from several recent studies of university students at a global business school.

After writing an essay about how much they had to do, they were more likely to opt for apples over brownies and extra credit over a day off.

There are at least two exceptions to the findings. Feeling pressed for time undermined self-control and made the students more likely to indulge themselves. Also, being busy had less effect on students who were described as having a low work ethic.

If you’re trying to live healthier, cultivating a busy mindset may help. See how having a full plate can and busy mindset may help you to stay focused on your long-term wellbeing.

Doing Meaningful Work

If you find your job fulfilling, being busy at the office may enhance your fitness as well as your finances. On the other hand, if you’re not fully engaged, you may need to change your thinking or rely on other activities to boost your self-esteem.

1. Continue learning. Keeping your skills and knowledge up to date will give you the qualifications you need to work on challenging and interesting projects. 1 Sign up for workplace trainings and take courses online.

2. Build community. Developing relationships with your colleagues adds to job satisfaction. Be generous with your time and assistance and attend office parties.

3. Recognize your power. Regardless of your job description, you have the ability to make your job more gratifying. Learn as much as possible about your company and your industry. Think about the purpose behind your tasks.

4. Reshape your job. You may even be able to adjust your responsibilities. Volunteer for assignments that leverage your strengths and join committees that will make you more visible.

5. Pursue your passions. Channel your time and efforts into activities that excite you, whether it’s during the work day or on your own time. Think less about money and more about doing what you love and making a difference.

Dealing with Time Pressures

A long to do list will backfire if you feel like you lack the time to complete it. Learn how to manage your time so you can stay busy without becoming burnt out.

1. Track your time. Figure out where you currently spend most of your hours. You can find free apps online like Clockify or Toggle or use a plain old paper journal.

2. Set priorities. Block out time for the activities that add the most value to your life. Limit distractions like watching TV and superficial phone conversations.

3. Break things down. If you’re feeling overwhelmed, organize large projects into 2 smaller steps. Work backwards from the final deadline so you can set reasonable targets that you can meet.

4. Work mindfully. You’ll accomplish more with less stress by tackling one thing at a time. If you’re still distracted by other thoughts, write them down so you can return to them later.

5. Sleep well. To remain productive and healthy, resist any temptation to cut back on the TV. Go to bed early so you’ll be refreshed and ready for your next busy day.

​A demanding job can actually be an asset when you’re trying to stay healthy. Use those busy feelings to reinforce your sense of self-esteem and encourage you to make choices that will keep you strong and fit.

Data bombards you. We have more data than we ever did due to the internet and storage technologies such as the cloud. It’s great to slice the data every which way you can think of and create nice-looking reports that impress your managers. However, when it comes to decision making, you have to get to the point of making the decision. You’ll need to stop your data gathering and analysis and use what you have to decide. 

Computers give you the ability to divide your data in a way that makes sense for you or your company. But, some people will spend hours deriving report after report, and none of them will get them any further in coming to a decision. They believe they need to see ten years of data instead of five. They need to see the impact of sales on each region, even though they are responsible only for one or two.  

Data is an important component in the decision-making process. It can let you know who are your customers, how much they have bought, and it can even tell you who your customers aren’t. Information is also important to make confident decisions. Without the information, you could be shooting in the dark, and that is as bad as having too much information. Probably worse. 

To help you overcome the situation of analysis paralysis or paralysis by analysis as many will refer to it, speak to your boss or the people who are going to be impacted by the data and your decisions. Ask them what they need from the data, and structure the reports around that information. Don’t include any other data in the report. If you can’t defend the position based on the data they asked for, it doesn’t belong in the report. 

Don’t be a hero when it comes to analysis. You may be tempted to show a different level of data to that required as it may show better insight. But, if it isn’t within the scope of your decision, save it for future analysis. It is okay to let managers know that further analysis is possible. They may even extend the deadline and the scope of the project due to this extra information.

​What’s more likely to happen, however, is they will increase the scope while keeping the deadline the same. In essence, you have just given yourself more work to do by letting them know about this extra data. ​