Fat Free Friday 3

After last week’s Fat Free Friday post, I had several requests to give more information about what we buy and what we eat. People are always intrigued by us spending so little on such healthy food. I intended to post a really detailed answer to that request, but that will have to wait until next week. It has been insane around here and I haven’t been able to really write drafts ahead of time.

I will give you a very quick idea and next week, I’ll show you my actual list and spreadsheet, as well as menu for the week.

I have two tried-and-true methods of shopping on a budget.

1. Buy staples, sale meats, and sale veggies.

Every family has a list of items they buy every week or so, regardless of cost. They are the things we have to have to get through each day. For us, it’s bacon, eggs, milk, butter, peanut butter, spinach, juice. All of these come from Sam’s Club, with the exception of almond milk, peanut butter, and juice, which we get from Winn Dixie or Target.

I then buy enough veggies and meats for the week’s dinners, simply by seeing what’s on sale and counting it out. For example, if we need dinner for Saturday through Thursday, then I count out 6 meats and 6-8 veggies (sometimes I like 2 veggies with our meal).

We don’t buy a lot of snacks other than fruit and we just buy what’s on sale there too. Add in some extras like, cheese, sour cream, cream cheese, and salsa – again, on sale. If I use this method, there isn’t really a meal plan that week. Whoever is cooking each night basically chooses and a veggie and a meat and cooks it up!

2. Make a meal plan and list with the sale circulars and stick to it.

Aside from our weekly musts, as mentioned in the first method, I pull up the week’s circulars from my favorite grocery stores (Winn Dixie and Target), make a list of what items we like are on sale, then make a meal plan revolving around those items.

So in a nutshell, that’s how we shop for healthy food on a budget.

NOW. Here’s what I really wanted to tell you. Not only have I finally hit 135, I am in a SIZE SIX (6!). This was so surprising. I went to buy size 8 pants. Actually, I think I told you that Wednesday, but it’s worth repeating again. I barely worked out this past week, but my diet was spot-on. Other than a cupcake and some chips for the Super Bowl, I have lived off veggies and protein this week. And it paid off big! I also said earlier this week that those size 6 fit snug. Lies. Once I got them on and walked around, they fit perfectly.

I’m thrilled! Now I just have to get into size 6 jeans. They still don’t fit. My size goal is a 4 and I am so not far from that now! I need to burn a bunch of fat from my midsection and inner thighs, then I’m toning up like crazy.

I finally saw immediate effects of eating grain and sugar today. I decided to let myself have a treat and I got chocolate covered pretzels. Within five minutes, I had a headache and felt queasy and light-headed. This is after over a week of feeling amazing. No coincidence, my friends.

Did you have any shocking (and thrilling) successes this week?