Speaker 1: So just how rich does one have to be in order to actually eat healthy? I'm here to tell you that if you are looking to get healthy and to start following a cleanish lifestyle, you don't have to break the bank and it's not gonna cost you a ton of money. Are certain foods really expensive? Yes, but that doesn't mean they have to stock your entire fridge and pantry. So in this video, I'm gonna show you how you can actually reach your goals, eat healthy and maintain a budget. Really, I wanna show you how affordable eating healthy can be. And you know me, I'm always here to focus on how to make something be sustainable. That's something we can do for the rest of our lives. And budget plays a huge role in whether or not something's gonna be sustainable. I want you to be happy, I want you to be healthy and I want you to follow a realistic cleanish lifestyle. All right, so let's get started. So why do people think that it's expensive to eat healthy? I think a lot of people equate healthy food with being more expensive. But the problem here is that's because we're equating those healthy foods with the brands that are giving us those healthy foods. So for example, gluten-free foods or organic foods come at a higher cost at the store. And those expensive markets that have all of those types of foods, those tend to be more expensive. Health food stores in general always come at a little bit more of a price. But if we just follow a clean eating lifestyle and of generally finding things that are unprocessed, I think you'll be surprised at just how easy it is to eat healthy and to pick foods that are whole foods, not at Whole Foods, but whole foods from the grocery store that don't have all the marketing that are much less expensive. You know, you pay for it either way. Prevention, as they say, is cheaper than the cure. So by eating healthy today, you're gonna be reducing the cost of the medical expenses in the future for any ailments you might have because of your choosing to not focus on your diet. And you're also gonna be saving yourself all of that extra time on trying to fix it after it happens. All right, let's start off with the simple stuff. Two easy steps to making your healthy lifestyle budget-friendly. One, you're gonna wanna start cooking and prepping your food. By making and eating your food at home, you are gonna drastically cut out costs. Compare buying a small meal at Starbucks for $12. And at Starbucks, you know it's only gonna be a small meal because $12 doesn't go very far at Starbucks. Then take that same $12. You can meal prep out a whole week's worth of breakfast smoothies. And number two, cut your spending on the less important things. I'm gonna rag on Starbucks here again. A really expensive $10 latte, is that as important as your overall health? Can we replace those things? If we can't replace that one thing and you're mad at me for even bringing it up, let's find something else you can replace. Something that you don't really need in your daily life that if someone was like, you need to get rid of this now, you'd be like, okay. Those types of things, they really creep over time. And if we can start to reduce those and replace it with a healthy alternative, it's gonna be so much easier and budget friendly. All right, so you know me, I am all about setting yourself up for success, being intentional and identifying your goals and working backwards from there in order to make it work. So let me give you some tips on how to eat healthy on a budget. Hopefully a lot of these tips help you right away. The message behind many of these following tips is all about intentionality and organization. Avoid the pricier stores. Yes, they're pretty. Yes, they look amazing. Yes, they feel glorious when you enter them, but it comes at a price and you don't need to pay that. Focus on paying for the food rather than on the ambiance. You can get a ton of cheap food at your local farmer's market as well. Number two, plan in advance and meal prep. These are big. You know I'm all about the meal prep. By planning in advance, you're reducing all those extra add-on trips to the grocery store that always adds in. I swear, it's like Target. You always have to add more in. You find things to buy. It just happens. And then with meal prepping, you're planning ahead for those times that you're hungry. You're planning ahead so that you know you'll be able to grab healthy food that's easy to have, easy to eat and delicious and helps you reach your goals. Number three, buying food in bulk is gonna be your friend. Foods like whole grains, lentils, beans, nuts, dried fruits. Those can all be stored in the pantry and can last for a while. So buying them in bulk reduces the overall cost of your servings and has that food ready for you in your house. Number four, choose foods that are in season. The foods that are in season at the grocery store are gonna be the cheapest because they have the most supply of them. There isn't as much of a demand because they wanna get rid of them because they have so many of them. Number five, buy whole foods. Whole foods are really easy to spot. They have no ingredients list. So an apple, a carrot, rolled oats, these are gonna be high in fiber. They're gonna be very minimally processed, if anything. And they're gonna be a lot cheaper because there's no extra processing that went into it that the marketer then needs to charge you for. Whole foods make great snacks because they have that fiber so they're gonna make you feel fuller longer as well, as opposed to a granola bar that's highly processed, full of sugar, and it's gonna make you crave food faster than having just an apple. Number six, stick to your grocery list. I use an app to track my groceries and I make sure that I go and I don't go off of my list. I make my plan, I'm intentional about it, and when I go to the grocery store, I make sure to pick out the foods that are on that list. It's easy to get caught up in marketing. It's easy to hear the kids tell you, oh, I want this, I want that. And it's also easy to see something that's on sale and you wanna go grab it. That all adds up and if you have your plan and you know what you need, just stay focused and get what's on your list. Number seven, make your own blends and spices at home. You know, I have a recipe for everything seasoning, for garlic salt, for taco seasoning, for fajita seasoning, all of those you can find on this channel. Not paying for someone else to do that work for you will save you money in the long run. Plus, you learn how to make all those spices and you kind of can tweak things to fit what you like. Number eight, meal prepping. This one I wanted to talk a little bit more about because it really does save you money. Because not only are you able to buy the food in bulk when you're getting it, you're also able to cook it in bulk and have it in bulk throughout the week. All of that reduces the total amount you're paying per portion. Plus, meal prepping doesn't only save you money, it also saves you precious time. And time is so valuable. So if you can get all of your cooking done for the week in two to three hours on one day, rather than every day for an hour and a half at night when you're tired, it's gonna be a lot easier. It's gonna keep you on track eating healthy. It's just gonna be life-changing. And you know, I have a gazillion meal prep recipe videos for you. Go check it out, find what looks good for you, and just go for it. Try one recipe out in a week and see what you think. And if you need some help understanding clean eating and organizing your meal planning, you can check out my 30-day healthy program where I run you through all sorts of education on clean eating and I also provide you with four weeks of meal plans that I created. A lot of people have said that it's a really great way to be introduced to meal planning and they will never go back. So check out that program if you're interested and I will see you in the next video.