Want to Diet on a Budget?

By WLR's Food Information Executive, Laurence Beeken

It’s often imagined that dieting is expensive and that buying all of the nutritious and tasty ingredients needed for a balanced diet will increase your food bills to astronomical proportions. 

We have been conditioned to think that with all the cheap ‘ready’ meals available in the shops, if you are shopping on a budget then dieting and a healthy eating lifestyle are not possible.  We’ve created a 4 week plan and some handy hints and tips to follow that will help you lose weight without spending a fortune at the supermarket.

The food in our Budget Diet Plan comes in at just £99.50 for one person for one month if bought from Sainsbury’s (cheapest according to www.mysupermarket.co.uk Jan 2010). That’s £24.88 per week for all your meals!

How to Diet on a Budget

There’s no reason why you need to throw your food budgeting out the window as soon as you start to count your calories. You just need to remember a few handy hints for keeping those costs down.

We’ll show you how to plan properly, shop economically and how to get the most from your food while still achieving your weight loss goals. By joining WLR using our completely free trial and using our cheap diet meal plan, you’ll find that following a diet on a budget is no longer a problem, and you’ll soon become an expert at creating delicious healthy meals for a fraction of the price.

Our 4 week budget diet plan has been designed to give you a host of practical, cheap recipes that can often be prepared in advance and frozen for later use. This will enable you to save money as well as keeping to your target calorie allowance.

Built into the budget recipe instructions are some simple tools and ideas to help you save time and money, enjoy yourself and rediscover your kitchen.  If you know the right places to make adjustments there’s no reason why shopping for diet meals should cost any more than if you were to buy convenience foods – in fact you might even save yourself a few pennies whilst you shed the pounds and lose weight!

Plan, Plan Plan!

Planning is the key to dieting on a budget – if you make time to plan you will save yourself plenty of pounds. We have made this easier for you by giving you two weeks of meals and recipes to help you diet on a budget - including breakfast, lunch and dinner (which repeat for the last two weeks of the month). This means any frozen leftovers can be used at a later date and you will know what you need to buy in and when.
As you see how the diet plan fits together and how you can carry ingredients over, you can start to think about next month, and how you can add your own little tweaks and preferences to create new and exciting ideas.

Savvy Diet Shopping

When you do go shopping, always have a list of exactly what you need for your budget diet meals and always stick to it! Don’t be tempted by seemingly good offers, they are there to get rid of the supermarket’s own planning errors -  if it’s not on your list then you don’t need it.

Planning ahead with our diet meal plan means you can buy in bulk and drive the costs down even further. If you do spot an item you need as an ingredient at a bargain price then you can save even more, knowing that you will be using it! Our diet meal plan eliminates the trouble of planning for you - stick to it and you’ll see how eating healthy on a budget should be done.

Get the Most from Your food

We’ll help you maximise your whole roast chicken for up to 4 days, while at the same time cutting your calories and tantalising your taste buds. We’ve tossed in plenty of sumptuous salads and hearty soups and a plentiful serving of perfect pasta recipes.  Not content with that, you will be spoiled with traditional favourites such as the Sunday Roast and Full English Breakfast, not to mention a good portion of your 5 a day!

If you can, Freeze it!

If you’ve bought in bulk or just haven’t got time to eat something before the use-by-date, just freeze it. You can make your food last much longer by popping it in the freezer, eliminating waste and saving you money.

Look out for meals that can be frozen in our budget diet plan to see how you can make your food and your money go further.  You can also save time by making a batch of food ahead of time and freezing in individual packs: your own ready meals!

Keep Those Portions in Check!

Watching your portion sizes isn’t only important for your weight loss.  Our diet plan has pre set the servings for you, as the left over’s will be key to the following day’s meals. Making sure you don’t cook unwanted food means your shopping will last much longer and you won’t throw so much away. Divide packets and measure out portions so you know exactly what you need.

Do It Yourself!

It is far cheaper to cook a meal from scratch than it is to buy a ready meal – and often it’s healthier too. You don’t have to be a Delia in the kitchen as these recipes are simple and effective, and if you give them a try you’ll be surprised by some of the dishes you can make - and the cost of them! 

One simple trick is to mix oil in a spray bottle to coat your frying pan. Simply dilute 5ml extra virgin olive oil with 45ml water or use the ratio 1 oil to 9 water. Remember to shake the bottle well before use as oil and water will not mix. Not only will a £3.00 bottle of olive oil go further and last much longer, but you’ll reduce your calories at the same time!

‘Diet on a Budget’ Plan

View the plan meals for weeks 1 and 3

View the plan meals for weeks 2 and 4