A common complaint of both individuals and families is that it’s too expensive to eat regular healthy meals.

Watching the prices of proteins and produce rise over the years, it’s hard not to become downhearted about what your shopping bill might look like if you pack your trolley with healthy foods. But, before you opt for the processed route (which can often end up even more expensive), take a look at these tips and hacks for eating healthy on a tight budget.

Make a list – check it twice:

• Planning your shopping list is five minutes in your day that you won’t regret.
• A staggering amount of household rubbish is attributed to unused/wasted produce that sits in your fridge like an abandoned afterthought.
• Jot down the meals you want to make for the week, then only list the ingredients and quantities you actually need so nothing goes to waste.

Add staple foods to your meals:

• Certain foods are metabolised slower than others, and fill you up quicker, keeping you satisfied for longer. Foods such as fresh potatoes, pasta, rice, oats, whole grains, and legumes are cheap, healthy, and a great source of slow-burning energy.

Buy what’s in season:

• Do some digging on seasonal fruit and vegetables and stick to the list for each season to make sure you’re not paying top dollar. Prices are generally set on supply and demand, so in-season fruit and vegetables are typically much cheaper, more plentiful, and tastier!

Minimise the meat:

• Our bodies don’t tend to need as much meat as we statistically consume at each mealtime. Meals that use meat as an ingredient rather than the star attraction of the dish can help spread out the quantities and get more bang for your buck. It’s also a great idea to mix in some vegetarian meals throughout the week to minimise the need for buying larger quantities of meat.

Go cheaper over convenient:

• It’s easy to fall into the habit of getting all your groceries in the one place to make things more convenient, but the habit is hurting your hip pocket!
• Shop around at different places such as fruit and vegetable stores, produce farms, butchers, and bulk discount stores to find yourself a better bargain. Specialty shops are often cheaper and better quality, making the extra trip worth your time.

Go for budget over brand:

• Unless you have a very refined palette, it’s often difficult to spot the difference between budget brand products and their name brand equivalents. In most cases, the ingredients tend to be identical (beans, corn, beetroot, crushed tomatoes), and the rest is just fancy labels and a higher price bracket.

Swap out soft drinks:

• Not only are these beverages harmful to your health, but they also add up on the docket. Consider swapping soft drinks out for soda water, fresh juices, or cheaper alternatives.

Your body and your wallet will thank you!

PPF Team x

It’s easy to be positive when everything in life is going great. The hard part is staying positive when life kicks you down and knocks you around.

• It’s even harder when we see so many people, friends, family and the media around us and on television who are enjoying great success. As a society we celebrate the rich, successful and famous and too often focus on the picture of success rather than the journey it took to create it.
• It’s as if we see only a picture of someone enjoying the best moment of their life while the video of the struggle and pain it took to get to that moment sits in the closet. We don’t hear about the obstacles and adversities people, organisations and businesses had to encounter to create their success.
• The fact is no one goes through life untested. If you study history and business you will find that every great leader and team had to overcome adversity and challenges to define themselves and their success.
• Working within health and fitness is a minefield when it comes to mindset. We often work with clients who are full of enthusiasm at the start but it only takes a small blip for everything to spiral downwards and as the professionals we need to be mindful of this.

Is it not our job to help our clients develop the strategies to not allow life events to put an obstacle in the way of their dreams?

• Clients (and probably ourselves too) are very good at assuming some people find their own personal successes easily and without problems. In truth, I know of no one that it applies to, either friends, colleagues or famous celebrities.
• We all have a journey. We all have a past. We all have to learn and that includes clients, some will welcome this challenge, some will not and they will put every block in your path, this is where your skills come in, we need to sell it to them, to show them they are far stronger than they ever realised.
• The concept of the “overnight success” is a myth. Get rich quick schemes don’t work. Life is a test and a deciding factor of whether we pass or fail is the answer to the following question “Are you going to stay positive in the face of your doubts, fears and challenges?”
• It is important that our clients realise that staying positive is not about putting on a fake smile or believing you can do it all yourself. Rather it’s about being optimistic and living with hope and having faith. The measure of our success will not be determined by how we act during the great times in our life but rather by how we think and respond to the challenges of our most difficult moments.

Pole Perfect Fitness Team x