F is for Frugal still

As I wrote about here, we made some significant changes in our diet after reading about the effects of excess sugar and carbs. My primary motivation was my skin, and Jeff is just a champ and loves jumping on board with healthy living however it may look. My kids are addicted to my homemade bread, which clued me in that we needed change things up a bit.

But several of you have asked, “What about the budget?” We do have a $200/month budget for groceries (all food, household, toiletries, etc.), and I wasn’t sure  if that would last through this transition. I relied heavily on cheap items like bread, pasta, and rice to fill these four tummies. Would our budget survive on this healthier diet?

Thankfully, the answer is yes.

Diet is such a personal thing, so I certainly don’t mean to imply you need to make these same changes. But my whole philosophy is if something works for us, why not share it? I hope you do the same for me.

(You can read more details of what we’re eating here.)

• Less is more. I guess the big change is eating fewer items, but more nutrient-dense foods.  So these items are gone from my grocery list: Sugar, brown sugar, milk, snacks (I discovered milk was a problem food). But these items are added: uncured turkey bacon, almond milk, nuts, lots of fresh local eggs. The added items are much more rich in nutrients so it doesn’t take much to get filled. Veggies, protein, beans, and nuts are all pretty simple foods that pack a lot of nutrients power.  Coffee also is a very expensive habit, even at home. I still love my coffee, but I’m trying to mostly drink tea at home, then let myself have coffee as a treat.
• Head hunger. In my opinion, the most positive thing about making these changes is cutting out head hunger. It’s really hard to crave or overeat eggs and green beans, no matter how tasty they are. Most of our head hunger or emotional eating is of sugary carbs (since those are addictive). And though I can’t lie, I do miss sugar sometimes, it is really freeing to get back to the basics of eating to live. The only time I really miss “treats” is when I want to do something special for the kids, so I’m still experimenting with ways to make treat-like food in sugar-free ways. However, let’s just say my sugarless banana bread and sugarless chocolate cookies were not he hit I’d hoped they’d be. 🙂  But I do find that removing head hunger benefits the budget greatly. (And for the record, I do still think that a slice of cake for a birthday and such is part of celebrating! It’s just that our daily consumption of sugar has gotten way out of hand.)
• 10 Meals: I am loving the switch to a simple two-week rotation meal plan. There’s plenty of freedom for switching things around or modifying meals depending upon time constraints or what we feel like eating, but it saves so much time and money just simplifying down to 10 basic, healthy, delicious dinners.

Overall, I’m just finding myself drawn to the idea of a simple lifestyle which makes the occasional coffee or sweet actually a treat. So many things that used to be considered luxuries are now considered necessities. I read that after you have eliminated sugar for a month, all foods begin to taste better because you “re-sensitized” your tastebuds to the taste of real food.  The bombarding of sugar in our food desensitizes our tastes so that “natural” foods taste unappealing. After doing this for almost two months I’m finding this very true.

Makes me wonder if we can do this with our lives as well. In some ways we’ve “desensitized” ourselves to the beautiful gifts of life because we’ve indulged ourselves, numbing our souls. Having less, whether it’s sugar or stuff, can make us appreciate the sweet treats of life more than ever. I haven’t mastered simplicity in either of those areas, but I’m sure enjoying the journey. (Oh, for the sake of full-disclosure, I did have to take out an extra $50 this month to stock up when I found a sale on whole chickens and organic apples for applesauce.  So yes, I go over-budget when need be; that’s what’s so nice about frugality–gives us the wiggle room when we need it.)

Happy Friday. Thanks for reading.