Here’s one for my budget-conscious athletes!
Your athletic performance relies on you eating enough to sustain your training demands and to recover optimally.
You need to eat food, and you need to eat enough of it!
And with athlete’s needing more food to match their higher energy and nutrient demands, being able to eat well and fuel your athletic performance without getting into serious financial debt is a genuine concern at the moment.
But, fear not, because money does NOT need to get in the way of you eating well and fuelling your body.
You can create tasty, balanced meals on a budget, and it’s really not as hard as it sounds…especially when you follow my top tips
Here’s how to eat healthy and support your training whilst on a budget so you can save money, cut you time in the kitchen and fuel your body!
Shop smart - Set aside a day to plan your meals for the week, write a shopping list and buy only what you need
Keep it simple - Keep your meals simple and use <5 ingredients
Avoid big brands - Buy budget and own branded products over branded
Fresh isn’t always best - Use tinned, dried or frozen over fresh - they are just as nutritious, last longer and are cheaper
Prep your own food - Cook from scratch and avoid pre-prepped or convenience foods
Fake it till you make it - Swap your take-aways for fake-aways
Eat seasonally - Eat more fruits and vegetables that are in season
Batch cook and freeze - save yourself time and money by batch cooking your meals
Load up on veggies - Bulk out meals with vegetables
Include more plant-based proteins - Swap animal protein foods for plant-based such as lentils, beans and pulse
Shop Smart - Set aside a day to plan your meals for the week, write a shopping list and buy only what you need Set aside a day each week to plan your meals and the food you will need. Check to see what's already in your cupboards and then write a shopping list for everything you need to buy. Not only will this save you from buying things you don't need, but it ensures you can be prepared and have everything you need for your upcoming training demands so your performance and recovery isn't affected and you’re not having to resort to convenience food or take aways. TIP - Assess your schedule for the week! If you know you have busy or hectic days that week, plan meals that will take you less time to make or will make your life easier.
Keep it simple - Keep your meals simple and use <5 ingredients Sticking to simpler meals that only require a few ingredients can help to keep costs down as the less ingredients you need, the less you need to buy. Plus, it can reduce the amount of time you need to spend in the kitchen. TIP - Batch cook 1-2 different foods for your protein, carbohydrate and vegetables and then add variety and flavour by adding different seasonings, herbs, spices and sauces to vary up your meals.
Avoid big brands - Buy budget and own branded products over branded Big brands come with a big price tag and are generally identical in taste and quality to their cheaper, budget or supermarket-branded counterparts. TIP - Check the supermarket’s website to compare prices and see which one offers the cheapest price.
Fresh isn’t always best - Use tinned, dried or frozen over fresh; they are just as nutritious and last longer. Tinned, dried and frozen foods are convenient, cheaper and nutritionally comparable to their fresh alternatives. Frozen and tinned foods are typically picked and packed within 24 hours allowing to retain a lot of their nutrients and can be stored for much longer than fresh food. TIP - Try making swaps such as frozen fruit and vegetables, tinned fish and dried rice and lentils.
Prep your own food - Cook from scratch and avoid pre-prepped or convenience foods Pre-prepared or convenience foods can make your life easier but you pay for it - you’re quite simply paying for the convenience and to save a bit of time (which might be necessary sometimes). The more you can cook from scratch and prepare your own meals, the more money you can save. TIP - Use Tips 1, 2 and 8 to make your time in the kitchen easy, simple and cost-effective.
Fake it till you make it - Swap your take-aways for fake-aways We all enjoy a meal out or a takeaway every now and then but they can be expensive, calorie-dense and contain high amounts of fat, salt and sugar which can negatively impact performance and your bank balance. By swapping your take-away for a fake-away, you can still enjoy a take-away style meal for a fraction of the price with the added bonus of being able to make it healthier. TIP - Search online for recipes -ASDA have some great ones here https://www.asda.com/good-living/article/fakeaway-recipes And here are some others from Beat the Budget https://beatthebudget.com/recipe_category/mains/
Eat seasonally - Eat more fruits and vegetables that are in season Eating foods that are seasonal can help you save money as they are more widely available and don’t have to be shipped from overseas or force-grown. Plus it’s better for the environment ;) TIP - Use a season calendar when planning your meals- BBC Good Food have a great one here https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/seasonal-calendar
Batch cook and freeze - save yourself time and money by batch cooking your meals Not only does batch cooking save you precious time in the kitchen, but you can save money when you buy your ingredients in bulk and cook multiple portions to then freeze, store and eat when needed. TIP - Have 3-4 staple batch-cooked meals to hand so that you can always have some handy, go-to meals ready when short on time.
Load up on veggies - Bulk out meals with vegetables Vegetables are relatively cheap, provide lots of essential vitamins and minerals and help you feel full and satisfied after a meal. TIP - If your meal needs to be more carb-focussed, for example pre- or post-exercise, then use starchier vegetables such as potatoes, parsnips, peas and sweetcorn. If your meal needs to be less carb-focussed, for example, on a rest day, then use non-starchy vegetables such as tomatoes, cucumber, spinach and courgette.
Include more plant-based proteins - Swap animal protein foods for plant-based such as lentils, beans and pulses Protein is an essential component to your diet and it’s important you get enough to enable muscle protein synthesis and to support your immune system. However, animal based protein sources such as chicken breast, lean mince and fresh fish can be quite pricey when compared to plant-based protein sources such as lentils, beans and Quorn. Swapping out some of your animal-based protein sources for plant-based protein sources can help you save money without impacting your protein intake. Adding plant-based protein sources is also a great way to bulk out meals, giving you more food for the same, or even less, cost. TIP - Try adding in more plant-based protein sources by: adding kidney beans to a turkey mince chilli, adding chickpeas to a curry or adding Quorn mince to a beef mince bolognese.
Comments