Eating a low-calorie diet does not have to mean an inflated-grocery bill. Smart shopping strategies and advance planning can help you save money and calories. Learn which foods to purchase and how to incorporate them into tasty, figure-friendly meals.
Features
Inexpensive low-calorie meals feature whole grains, lean proteins, non-fat dairy and fruits and vegetables. The number of calories each meal contains depends on your total calorie needs for weight loss. Each meal should contain a lean source of protein and a healthy carbohydrate. Small amounts of unsaturated fats and non-fat dairy accent low-calorie meals.
Protein Options
Fresh fish, extra lean beef and chicken breasts are lean protein options, but often come with a high price tag. Instead, build your meals around lower cost, high quality proteins, such as egg whites, dried or canned beans and water-packed tuna. Natural peanut butter is another source of inexpensive protein that can fit into a low-calorie meal as long as you stick to one or two tbsp. Non-fat cottage cheese and yogurt are additional sources of protein that are diet- and budget-friendly.
Plant Foods
Shop seasonally to get the best price deals on produce. Go for green beans, zucchini and tomatoes in the summer, choose asparagus and snap peas in the spring, opt for dark leafy greens and apples in the fall and stick to grapefruit, oranges and butternut or acorn squash in the winter. Supplement your choices with frozen, steam-in-the-bag vegetables that are often on sale. Frozen vegetables are also less likely to go bad in your refrigerator, wasting your money. Consider buying whole grains in bulk and stick to low-cost options such as brown rice, oatmeal and whole wheat pasta. Even quinoa and millet, although exotic sounding, are affordable in bulk and a source of nutrition. Although olive oil seems expensive, you use very small amounts for cooking and dressings while preparing low-calorie meals so a bottle lasts a long time. It is a source of heart-healthy unsaturated fats which are necessary for proper body functioning, even when trying to lose weight.
Strategies
Make your meals seem generous by filling your plate with watery, fibrous vegetables and sticking to just ½ cup of whole grains and 2 oz. of proteins. Instead of purchasing pre-measured convenience foods such as 100-calorie packs of snacks or single servings of boil-in-the-bag brown rice, purchase larger bags and apportion out your own individual servings. Plan flexible menus, so if the vegetables or proteins you wanted to prepare are not on sale, you can opt for a less-expensive option.
Meal Ideas
A low-calorie, inexpensive breakfast could include one egg scrambled with two egg whites, ½ cup of oatmeal with skim milk and ½ of an apple to total approximately 350 calories. At lunch, enjoy 2 tbsp. of peanut butter on a whole wheat English muffin with carrot sticks on the side for about 380 calories. At dinner, heat a can of black beans with minced garlic, sliced red onion, ground cumin and chili powder. Serve yourself ½ cup over 1 cup of brown rice and enjoy with steamed zucchini or frozen broccoli for about 400 calories. Have cottage cheese, yogurt, fresh fruit or cut-up vegetables between meals for snacks.
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