cost of food

[grollyzbird]

Hello everyone
I am hoping to join slimming world tomorrow, but I am a little worried about the cost of food, it would be for myself and my partner.
Is it possible to eat all this food on a budget of £60 a week including fruit etc for both of us? shopping mainly in morrisons but at a push can go tesco.

I can buy cheap pasta and own brand products, its not a problem, but looking at a lot of the recipes it looks pricey, I will only buy free range egg's its from an ethical point of view because caged ones makes me feel awful, the poor things! but I can get 6 large free range egg's from morrisons for £1, hmm starting to ramble lol! We are not bothered about eating meat, maybe the odd roast dinner or the odd 'fry' up would be nice, but if it isn't doable with meat then its ok I have read about green and red meals, I would prefer to do green days and my partner would prefer red days due to protein, but once again if red is not possible on this amount then its fine

I don't want to go and pay membership tomorrow and find out I can't afford the weekly shop once I go through the books, I know £30 each a week doesn't sound like a lot but I lost my job due to ill health and am now on benefits

Any advice would be great, I see it says about 400g loafs, but in all honesty I can't afford those as 800g in morrisons is 69-79p a loaf which is better than 50p for 400g, I have also seen branded bread, I cannot afford branded bread.

I really really want to join as I weigh 17 stone and I am only 5 ft 2 inches tall! my health is going to hell and I am only 32!

Please can you help me?
Many thanks
Liz x

 

[Elvisfan4life]

I don't pay for classes and use the resources on here..maybe just go to one class to get the books and then try it from home? I shop at aldi and save a fortune compared to my old weekly shop at tesco s....i buy fruit in bulk and use it all ditto mushrooms and onions and tomatoes which i use to bulk up all my meals. Fish is also much cheaper there i get 2packs ofsalmon and 2 packs of cod each week and plenty of cans of beans and mushy peas..have actually saved money by being on SW

 

[Theria]

I'd second Aldi, if you can get to one, as it's masses cheaper, great quality stuff, less choice (so less dithering for me trying to work out which one of a hundred different items to buy!), and less time - I can do a whole shop, including driving 10 mins each way in well under an hour. Their Super 6 fruit and veg is really great value and my local one does great meat too. There is a selection of free range stuff available.

As to bread - the allowance is 60g of wholemeal bread. SW have *simplified* that to two slices of wholemeal from a 400g loaf, but actually, if you weigh them out those two slices are often less than 60g. So *any* wholemeal bread will do - just weigh out 60g. You'll quickly discover how much that is of your usual wholemeal bread and you'll know that you can have, say a slice and a half or two slices if you cut the crusts off or whatever.

 

[grollyzbird]

thanks for getting back to me
I need to go to the class, I know I would slip into bad eating habits if I didn't have a class to go to each week, its why I am so interested in slimming world, I have a group 10 minute walk away which is very handy, I have aldi but I don't drive and it is at the bottom of a very long steep hill as it stands I can walk down it but not up, I won't be able to afford taxi's either, morrisons is a 10 minute flat walk away, tesco I can do online, but prefer morrisons purely for the extra walk and not paying for delivery.

unfortunately I don't eat fish unless it is tinned tuna in brine. morrisons has reduced a lot of their prices luckily and the fruit is a lot cheaper, almost matches aldi, plus the salad is really cheap now

I need structure and guidance, I am a nightmare, I used to follow a diet before but decided to do it alone and put all my weight on plus more, it will just be myself going to group, my partner will weigh at home once a week, and will eat whatever I serve him, so saving costs there

I hope someone can advise of cheap meals, not to fussed about syns, I will probably use some every now and then, but don't drink alcohol and I do like chocolate but never eaten it everyday, crisps are my downfall and I could eat 12 packs a day!!! but have cut it all down now, I have been trying to do a VLCD and it costs for us both £60 a week roughly, but I don't feel healthy on it, I can cope with it, but its not what I really want for long term, its not teaching me anything at all. just rapid weight loss, but I have seen people can lose 3lb a week eating on slimming world, which to me it is more sensible, sorry I am rambling again lol

hope what I have written makes sense
Liz xx

 

[AnnaFaraday]

There is no reason why it should be any more expensive. SW doesn't say you have to eat any particular foods. Their recipes may mention things that you can't afford but there is no compulsion to have them. There are loads of cheaper equivalents.

For example, people often complain about the cost of Muller Light yogurts. But there are loads of cheaper yogurts that are just as good (better, probably) - or don't have it at all. Nothing is compulsory.

You mention the cost of fruit - but aqain, there is no need to eat loads of fruit. Superfree, of which you should be having 1/3 at every meal, is fruit AND/OR vegetables. And vegetables are much cheaper than fruit.

You can go on buying cheap pasta and own brand products - that's no problem. Aldi and Lidl and Iceland are often mentioned on here as good places to go for cheaper alternatives. And Theria has already explained very well about the bread.

Search around this site for threads on Aldi and Lidl and on budgets. You should find lots of inspiration.

 

[jen3]

Get yourself to your doctors and get a referral to sw and you'll get 12 weeks free

Frozen fruit is free and much cheaper

Bulk out meat dishes with extra vegies and freeze in portion sizes

 

[grollyzbird]

ahhhhhhhhhhhh thank you

I thought fruit was a must! lol so I could just buy some apples and satsumas that we can snack on and then can just bulk out in veggies thats great to know!
I love veg and so does he, I love pasta, I don't eat huge portions either, I love making pasta bakes making my own tomato based sauces with broccoli and onions mushrooms etc

Thank you for explaining about the bread! I feel better now lol so its basically just shop sensibly, bulk out on veggies, you don't need fruit, weigh out the bread, sounds really simple!

Looks like I will be heading to my first meeting tomorrow morning, coming home and having a read through the books, making a meal planner for the week then going shopping!
Do you have to pay extra for the books or is that included in your first payment? I would go to my dr but getting an appointment can take upto 2 weeks if it is not an emergency, and in all honesty I need to start this now, I feel awful
Thank you all once again, looks like the support on this forum is going to be fantastic if I have got all of this advice in less than an hour haha
xxx

 

[grollyzbird]

I was worried as it was a gi diet I did before and you had to have certain foods or it wouldn't work, this slimming world sounds so much easier! thanks again x

 

[Theria]

I was worried as it was a gi diet I did before and you had to have certain foods or it wouldn't work, this slimming world sounds so much easier! thanks again x

It really is simple. Cook things with no / very little fat from scratch. Major on vegetables, lean meat and fish (canned tuna in brine is good!) and veggie alternatives like plain quorn / soya. For sweet tooth needs have fruit and low fat yoghurts (your books will tell you which are low syn / free). A measured portion of fibre (bread, cereal, nuts, some cooked fruit etc.) and a measured portion of dairy (milk, cheese) every day on the Extra Easy plan.

There are so many threads on here about converting recipes to SW style so you can still have chips, curries, pasta sauces etc. etc. just cooked slightly differently. And then, on top of all that (you will feel like you're eating too much, pretty much everyone does in the first couple of weeks, but trust the plan!) you can have ordinary crisps, chocolate, cake etc. etc. but in small, measured portions. You just need to forget everything else you've ever been told about calories, diets, points and so on

 

[grollyzbird]

It really is simple. Cook things with no / very little fat from scratch. Major on vegetables, lean meat and fish (canned tuna in brine is good!) and veggie alternatives like plain quorn / soya. For sweet tooth needs have fruit and low fat yoghurts (your books will tell you which are low syn / free). A measured portion of fibre (bread, cereal, nuts, some cooked fruit etc.) and a measured portion of dairy (milk, cheese) every day on the Extra Easy plan.

There are so many threads on here about converting recipes to SW style so you can still have chips, curries, pasta sauces etc. etc. just cooked slightly differently. And then, on top of all that (you will feel like you're eating too much, pretty much everyone does in the first couple of weeks, but trust the plan!) you can have ordinary crisps, chocolate, cake etc. etc. but in small, measured portions. You just need to forget everything else you've ever been told about calories, diets, points and so on

my local shop was selling 2 tins of princes tuna in brine for £1 so thinking of going to stock up lol, got tuna pasta on the brain right now! haha I will ignore the cake, I have never been able to eat a small piece, so would rather not go there hehe

I have always dry fried everything, even onions I add water instead, little things like that make a difference so luckily I won't struggle there
I like quorn, so that will be good at times, but I personally am not big on eating meat anyway, I am close to being a vegetarian apart from bacon! do you have to buy lean bacon or can you buy regular bacon and chop all the rind/fat off? and can it be smoked? lol I am busy bothering you with questions that will probably be in my book so I do apologise, I am just a nightmare for getting as much info on things as possible lol I have googled it a lot but seem to come across old posts

I have just been going through a magazine and have discovered a voucher for free membership to slimming world! I just pay £5 for my first week! It must be a sign brilliant haha it expires on the 14th, yay happy lol
Thank you once again for your advice!
xx

 

[Theria]

my local shop was selling 2 tins of princes tuna in brine for £1 so thinking of going to stock up lol, got tuna pasta on the brain right now! haha I will ignore the cake, I have never been able to eat a small piece, so would rather not go there hehe

I have always dry fried everything, even onions I add water instead, little things like that make a difference so luckily I won't struggle there
I like quorn, so that will be good at times, but I personally am not big on eating meat anyway, I am close to being a vegetarian apart from bacon! do you have to buy lean bacon or can you buy regular bacon and chop all the rind/fat off? and can it be smoked? lol I am busy bothering you with questions that will probably be in my book so I do apologise, I am just a nightmare for getting as much info on things as possible lol I have googled it a lot but seem to come across old posts

I have just been going through a magazine and have discovered a voucher for free membership to slimming world! I just pay £5 for my first week! It must be a sign brilliant haha it expires on the 14th, yay happy lol
Thank you once again for your advice!
xx

If you are veggie (or close to it) get the consultant at the meeting to explain the Green plan to you. This basically means you get more Healthy Extras - so double the quantity of bread / cereal /nuts etc and double the dairy - so you can have milk and cheese. But you must measure and count meat or fish as a Healthy Extra B. The lists will be in the books you'll get, but SW are big on the Extra Easy plan so don't always explain the Green and Red plans very well. (The Red plan is basically lots of lean protein and measured portions of starchy veggies like potatoes, sweetcorn, peas and beans - it's basically a low-carb version of SW).

You can use FryLite or dry fry with a splash of water - yep that's fine. With meat, always get the leanest you can - under 5% fat tends to be free. Bacon - get the regular stuff, smioked is fine, and chop off the fat.

There are loads of diaries in the Forum, go and have a mooch and see what other people are eating - I know there are lots of folks who just follow the Green plan all the time so you'll get lots of ideas from them, I'm sure.

 

[grollyzbird]

If you are veggie (or close to it) get the consultant at the meeting to explain the Green plan to you. This basically means you get more Healthy Extras - so double the quantity of bread / cereal /nuts etc and double the dairy - so you can have milk and cheese. But you must measure and count meat or fish as a Healthy Extra B. The lists will be in the books you'll get, but SW are big on the Extra Easy plan so don't always explain the Green and Red plans very well. (The Red plan is basically lots of lean protein and measured portions of starchy veggies like potatoes, sweetcorn, peas and beans - it's basically a low-carb version of SW).

You can use FryLite or dry fry with a splash of water - yep that's fine. With meat, always get the leanest you can - under 5% fat tends to be free. Bacon - get the regular stuff, smioked is fine, and chop off the fat.

There are loads of diaries in the Forum, go and have a mooch and see what other people are eating - I know there are lots of folks who just follow the Green plan all the time so you'll get lots of ideas from them, I'm sure.

Thanks hun
Green plan does sound good for me, I will explain to the lady when I go there

I am going to go and have a look at those food diaries, its great to know about the bacon, lean bacon is expensive, I use a george forman for things like that or grill it, never fry it, so will make it as healthy as possible. now I understand what all the hexa and hexb I have seen on here is about haha, I was worried about the extra easy plan as I noticed a lot of meat, its fine for him but not me thank you xx

 

[Gwella]

You sound really committed, well done! Maybe it's worth getting a GP appointment even in a couple of weeks, and then you could say to them you've tried out a SW meeting and that you think it could really work for you and can they refer you now as you're struggling financially. I think not all NHS areas offer it but worth a try!

I've found I do spend a bit more on food since starting SW due to the fruit and veg. But then I also spend less on occasional readymeals (like pizza or tortelloni), and a LOT less on cheese, snacks and booze and meals out. Of course it depends whether you eat those things already...

There are ways round it though. Frozen fruit and veg can be a lot cheaper. I don't like frozen mixed veg but frozen sprouts and broccoli are great to have in and I eat lots of frozen berries at breakfast. I buy the cheapest chopped tomatoes and usually they're fine.

I've spent a bit on a new wardrobe but am now buying hardly any clothes as I feel happier with myself with what I have!

 

[grollyzbird]

Hi Gwella

I called my Dr's a few minutes ago and the receptionist was really snotty with me! telling me they don't offer that anymore, and she is sure £5 a week won't break my bank as I get enough to live on in benefits! I put the phone down on her, was horrified!! I guess she is having a bad day, they are normally lovely. :sigh:

I am committed I need to do this, plus I want to get married next year, we are thinking September, so got 14 months to get from 17st to about 9st, is that doable on sw? I hope it is lol

I am not a lover of berries, so will avoid the frozen kind, I won't bother with fresh strawberries as they can be expensive, but I am happy with an apple or banana a day, both are normally available at a decent price, I love veg just not mixed veg, not sure why lol, I don't mind frozen broccoli or sprouts, so normally have those in anyway, carrots are super cheap and I love those fresh, so will be great to snack on carrot sticks and cucumber, I love yoghurt, so will ask what cheaper alternatives I can have, but stock up on mullerlights once they are on offer.

Thanks for your advice hun, and I know I won't complain about money when it comes to buying a new wardrobe hehe thats the whole point of us losing weight xx

 

[Gwella]

Wow, that's very rude and unprofessional. How on earth does she know whether you have enough to live on on benefits or not?! And over time £5 a week can add up! Grrrrr. I suppose at least you have a (probably correct?) answer about whether they offer it...

Good luck!

 

[Gwella]

Oh and 17st to 9st in 14 months... so that's 112lb, or 8lb a month. Theoretically yes you could do it, because health people usually advise 1-2lb a week as a healthy rate of loss. But I think needing to lose 2lb every week could put a lot of pressure on you. Some people find their weight loss varies a lot (eg time of the month) and they get plateaus every now and then even when sticking to plan, which is your body adjusting. I would say focus on a shorter-term, smaller goal for now and just see how you go. You could lose a very big chunk of weight by your wedding anyway, even if you don't get to exactly 9 stone by then.

 

[grollyzbird]

Oh and 17st to 9st in 14 months... so that's 112lb, or 8lb a month. Theoretically yes you could do it, because health people usually advise 1-2lb a week as a healthy rate of loss. But I think needing to lose 2lb every week could put a lot of pressure on you. Some people find their weight loss varies a lot (eg time of the month) and they get plateaus every now and then even when sticking to plan, which is your body adjusting. I would say focus on a shorter-term, smaller goal for now and just see how you go. You could lose a very big chunk of weight by your wedding anyway, even if you don't get to exactly 9 stone by then.

I don't understand what her problem was with me, I didn't give my name either, but never mind I will do it on my own
I understand about pressure, I was thinking if I lost about 6lb a month it should be ok but I understand weight fluctuating with totm gaining water weight etc, so I won't get down on myself, If I am not happy with my body size by next september then I will just put it off until I am happy hahaha I want to finally look nice and hold my head high! I will do it eventually, if it takes longer but I get to goal then its all good

But for now I am taking it dress size by dress size, not going to think about my target weight, I am 5ft 2in so my weight is very noticeable. I also can't remember a time I was in a size 16 so half way goal is a size 16! I am a size 22-24 right now.

I will stick to plan, I will do this hehehe xx

 

[Elvisfan4life]

Id report that receptionist too appalling behaviour

 

[NotsofattyPatty]

You've already been given plenty of advice which I won't repeat but I would suggest you also consider beans and lentils as they are cheap but nutritious - they are also free on both the Extra Easy and Green plans ('free' on SW terms, that is!).

Jack Monroe (aka as a Girl called Jack) has many useful tips about cooking on a budget and recipes on her own and the Guardian website, or you may be able to get her recipe book from your local library. The recipes are easily adapted to the SW way of cooking.

 

[pippalata]

You've already been given plenty of advice which I won't repeat but I would suggest you also consider beans and lentils as they are cheap but nutritious - they are also free on both the Extra Easy and Green plans ('free' on SW terms, that is!). Jack Monroe (aka as a Girl called Jack) has many useful tips about cooking on a budget and recipes on her own and the Guardian website, or you may be able to get her recipe book from your local library. The recipes are easily adapted to the SW way of cooking.

I'm glad I read to the end as this was going to be my advice! Beans are nutritious and full of fibre and protein, but they're cheap - especially if you can buy dried beans in bulk. Butterbeans and cannellini beans are both superspeed foods too so should help give you an extra little push. Good luck