Happy Holidays! With the holiday season in full effect many of us are trying to find a way to stay within our budget. This budget is not only a financial one, but a nutrition one as well. I know for myself and my family we love buying gifts, donating to charities and going out to eat. However, we must be mindful of our spending. Ways we try to not over spend is to choose those charities that we feel are most important to us and budget accordingly. We also write down the names of all of those we would like to buy gifts for and write down the gifts we are looking to purchase. Finally we try to plan weekly where we may go out to eat and add that to our weekly spending.
Another way to watch your spending is when you go to the grocery store. This can help you to not waste money and/or food this holiday season. Often times, we have the best intentions in eating healthy but because we are going out to eat more we end up not eating all the food we bought at the store and we waste. Another way we end up wasting food and money is by not noticing the expiration date on the foods we purchase.
Here are my tips on how to not waste food and money this holiday season.
- Read the label. If you don’t think you’ll eat the food within the date of its expiration, don’t buy it. Also, know if the label reads “best by” it doesn’t necessarily mean you have to throw it away on that date. I do suggest you smell it, feel it and then taste it. If it smells “funny” feels slimming or then tastes strange toss it.
- When it comes to veggies if you don’t think you’ll eat them in time, juice them! This is a great way to take care of a ton of veggies at once and make sure you’re getting your recommended amount daily intake. I suggest for most 3-5 servings a day. A serving can be considered a fist full.
- Freeze it! If you don’t think you’ll eat it in time, freeze it and have it another time.
- Buy frozen. I know most of us like to buy fresh veggies, fruit and/or lean meats. However, if you’re not certain you’re going to eat it in time, buy frozen.
- Plan and Execute. Plan your meals for the week (including going out) go to the grocery store and buy what is necessary and stick to the plan. This will help you from overspending both monetarily and nutritionally. If you know you’ll be having some extra “treats” make sure you eat that much “cleaner’ when you are able. Clean eating in my view is eating foods that help you feel your best. For some that may be gluten free, others may be wheat free, dairy free, low fat, low sugar, etc.. If you’re not sure what the ideal way for you to eat is, let us know. We help our clients with both their exercise and nutrition. We even coach virtually!
Happy Holidays!
Scott Keppel