hi again - sw on a budget

[nicnocks]

Hey everyone

Not been on minimins for ages, ive been round all the diets and had no success, heavier than i have ever been, in a wee bit of a bad place at the moment too. I want to start back sw again, but on a budget this time. I am a mature student at university and have a hubby and 2 kids to look after. Money is tight at the moment as i have had to self fund uni this year, (only this year). Plus in my madness i joined curves a few weeks ago, not realising that it is a 12mth contract that i can't really get out of. So have decided to do sw and visit curves 4 times a week, may as well make the most of it. Feeling a bit depressed just now too. Im am so overweight and out of shape that it is affecting everything in my life. I feel im just getting too lazy the bigger i get, the housework is getting left, washing baskets are piling up, house is over run with clutter, i'd me mortified if anyone dropped by to visit. Some mornings i can't be bothered with the whole process of going to uni, mainly because im so out of breath walking from house to station and station to uni, i end up sweaty and bright red. My grades are suffering due to missing lectures and have stopped going to my usual time of lectures to avoid friends, going to repeated ones at a different time.

Im on anti depressants too. I really don't want the kids to suffer, or have to come into a messy home everyday. Also i sit and binge eat every night. On a friday and saturday i have half a bottle of vodka too, i would really like to stop this also. I have just got stuck in a rut of bad habbits and need to get out of it.

I also don't have much time to cook etc when i get home, so going to have to be really organised . I need to lose 10 stone exactly, i can't go on like this. Just made a small start to the house, a bit at a time.

Sorry to be so depressing, does anyone have any good ideas for sw on a budget, with not very much time.

Thanks x

 

[sunnies]

Hi Well done for coming back; I'm a serial rebounder but this time is different as like you, I've got a fitness focus (doing a sprint triathlon in June) and the weight is going alongside it.

I don't have a family to feed but I am trying to keep to a budget. I plan out 7 meals a week (depending on what OH and I are doing and what we fancy). Things like buying the frozen chicken pieces instead of fresh meat works out cheaper, also frozen mince (check syns); I find that I only take out what I need and not do all of it for the sake of it.
One yummy meal I love is to cook a piece of gammon in the slow cooker, we have it with veg etc one night and then chop the leftovers up and cook with roasted buttnernut squash, pasta and tinned tomatoes. Nice and cheap but very filling.

I try and mix and match my shopping depdning on Lidl and Aldi super veg/fruit deals - there are some real bargains to be had.

Hope that helps!!

 

[Needtodothis]

hey well done for doing sw again, i too have tried many diets, as yr weight loss joureny beigins and you start to feel healthier and fitter other things will fall into place, yr have more energy to do housework and walking to and from the train will become easier, i felt similar to you before i started but as you get into a routine it will get better, ive struggled this week as the children have been on half term so have had no routine, looking forward to getiing back to school and work tmrw.
sw doesnt have to be expensive its all about planning yr meals, this week is my hard week as hubby get paid tmrw so have been stuggling with sw food, ive had egg, bacon beans and tinned tomatos most days and have been using up bit from the fridge. also get loads of spices, its surprising how much you can change a piece of chicken with chucking spices on it.
good luck with your journey, use this site as much as you can, ppl leave great tips on here and if your having a 'bad' day theres some great insperation (i use it loads)
will be checking back to see how your getting on
lots of love x

 

[hedgewytch13]

I also meal plan for my family of 4. If I need a packed lunch then I try to make something the night before for tea that i can take the leftovers with me. I've found quorn can work out cheaper than meat and often do things like quorn bolo pasta and pad it out with mushrooms, onions and peppers. My cheap meals include tuna pasta bake, spaghetti hoops or beans on toast, egg, sw chips and mushy peas, home made carrot and lentil soup, chilli with rice and veg, quorn stirfry. I'm saving money with slimming world because I no longer buy sandwiches, crisps and rubbish for work. I don't need to buy biscuits for the work biscuit tin because I don't eat them. You can get alot of bits from the £1 shop as well, tinned bits and bobs and two finger kit kats (which I have as my syn treat with a cup of tea at the end of the day).
Once you get a routine going you'll be able to fit it around your other commitments. A friend of mine has a cooking day once a week and then freezes her meals in advance so she always has something at hand to eat. Steamed fish or chicken with rice and veggies don't take long.

I found once I started SW and exercising my moods became so much better, I became more focused about housework and having a routine. I ended up feeling that good I stopped smoking too. Good luck

 

[Snozzberry]

I always have bags of frozen veg in the freezer and just sling things into whatever I'm cooking. I do enjoy cooking from scratch but I have a 4 and 1 year old demanding attention and more often than not my little boy follows me around and hangs on to my legs, so the quicker I can chuck a meal together and get both of us out of the kitchen safely the better.

Last night we had spag bol with quorn mince, frozen onion/mushrooms/garlic chucked in, tinned tomatoes, a dollop of tomato purée to thicken and a bit of beef oxo stock and oregano for flavour. Plus pasta of course!

Today was a roast beef dinner, but we buy a cheaper joint and put it in the slow cooker first thing and then put it in the oven with the spuds for the last 20 minutes to brown off. It literally melts in the mouth. Plus frozen carrots, sprouts, spuds and a ready made Yorkshire pudding.

Tomorrow will be veggie cottage pie - the rest of the bag of quorn mince, frozen onion and mixed veg thrown in, some gravy made with granules and the only effort is with the mashed potato topping.

Sent from my iPhone using MiniMins

 

[Jaq]

My favourite budget meal that I've recently discovered is mushy pea curry. I've made it twice now and it's done 6 servings each time.

 

[Roziee]

I felt like I had no control of my life- and it sounds like you do as well.

The biggest thing you can do is acknowledge how you're feeling and decide that you want to change.

Once you start to lose weight you will feel better but you do need a lot of emotional support, and I am more than happy to help

I, too need to lose 10 stones so I know exactly how you feel.

You need to be organised and keep busy so that your negative thoughts do not have the time to enter your mind.

Let me know if you need any help x

 

[Clover89]

Hi hun. So sorry to hear how Ur feeling. U have taken a big step in writing so honestly on here. I had some similar issues mainly due to my hectic uni course and not looking after myself. Once you start eating better you will feel better. I have been bk on Sw for a week and feeling better. Exercise helps but it is hard to over come the tiredness to do the exercise in the first place. I'm working on it and getting better and feeling better.

Hope you can feel supported here. Good luck and keep writing on here, it definitely helps xxxx

 

[cat yoyo greaves]

i too have felt like you are feeling had bad depression and the house got on top of me too its horrible but tiny steps and you will get there

i started with setting a timer for 15 min and for 15 min i would clean or do some kind of housework or de cluttering you can do anything for 15 min well i can anyway and it helped me alot with the house (a room at a time) i started with kitchen which helped me alot

 

[Potato]

Hi nicnocks, Kudos to you for opening up & sharing what you're feeling right now; that is a hugely difficult thing to do to make what you're going through 'real' by putting it in writing. I had about 11 stones to lose back when I started in Sept but I've lost 4 stones already, I have to say my biggest change was cutting way back on my lovely gin. I forgot there were calories in there just because I didn't have to chew. My advice would be to stick o your 15 syns, use them on (measured) vodkas if that's what you would prefer.
I like to go to the supermarkets late and pick up the reduced to clear veg & improvise with a big pot of something that'll last a few days. Preparation is key.
really hope you can overcome this unhappy time; like you, I did a masters while balancing other things & it was mightily tough; your hard work now will pay dividends later on. You can do it!

 

[FionaMcd]

Frozen peppers that I can chuck in everything last loads longer than fresh and only £1 a bag.
Asda chopped tomatoes smart price ones something like 30p a can also get turfed in all meals so making up super free.
I go local market on a Saturday but fruit and veg there and once a month I buy my meat £53 buys enough chicken breast mince and steaks to last all month good luck xx

 

[TheOnlyPink]

My heart goes out to you, you poor pet. i feel alot like you, especially about the housework and general unhappiness. I am currently 18 stone, so have about 8 stone to lose.

As for doing it on a budget, I have always had a tight food budget and am finding its just about changing what I spend money on. I did a huge weeks shop today, and I actually came in under budget. It was my first proper SW shop, for 2 adults and 2 children. I was a bit shocked tbh, cos I felt I had bought so much. But when you look at it, a bag of rice, I paid €1.13 for a bag, that will do me for 2 family dinners and 2 lunches, at least. A 1kg bag of pasta was €0.94 cent, will get 2 meals out of it this week, and prob 2 next week too.
Tinned tomatoes are really cheap, and if you change the seasoning, you can make chili, pasta bake, sausage casserole, curry out of it.
Meat is probably the biggest expense. I bought a bigger than usual chicken for about €3 extra, but will get a second days dinner out of it. Prawns are cheaper than meat as i find a bag of frozen prawns for €4 will go further than say chicken breasts.

I got a tip on here recently to look in the reduced section for fruit and veg, and I did that this week, will buy a few times a week from there. Got a good lot of fruit and veg for the next few days for far less, they are perfect, just closer to the best before.

Hope this helps you a bit, if you need any meal ideas I would be glad to share my weeks meal plan or some recipe ideas with you.

 

[Happy Holidays]

Hi, nice to see you back here again.

Have you thought of doing green days? as pasta/potatoes/rice/noodles are relatively cheap & if you don't do EE you don't have to have the 1/3 superfree, just a thought. Otherwise, I buy a fair amount of frozen veg, I also try & buy what veg is in season as this tends to be a little bit cheaper.

 

[nicnocks]

Hey everyone, thanks for the replies. I have made a couple of positive steps since i last posted. I tidied my room and threw out about 5 bags of rubbish , well clutter. Put brand new sheets and duvet set on my bed. Cleared out the hall which was full of junk. Im just going to try and do a bit each day, no matter how small. I havent' really been following sw the last couple days, but i haven't been extremley bad either. Im going to go for a sw shop tomorrow when i get paid. But however i am making sw chicken curry and rice for dinner tonight.

Thanks for the food shopping tips, i think i will include more green days and defo more fruit and veg in my diet. I will be using lidl and aldi and also iceland a lot more. I am going to try and be more organised and do a batch cook so that when i come in from uni i can just heat something healthy from the freezer up, rather than picking up the phone. I normally have take away once or twice a week at £20.00 per time, that money could defo be better spent.

I feel slightly better today now that i have achieved a couple of things, but still feel i have a long way to go. Thanks everyone so much for replying.

Roziee, thank you so much, yeah would be good to have some help, we also have the same amount to lose xx

 

[SARAHP]

Hi hun, im very similar to you I suffer depression and really let things get on top of me. Money has never been so low and im finding it a real struggle but ive just had 8.5lb loss on my first week and thats helped. I went to a local butchers last week got 2 trays of steak, a pork joint, 9 chicken breasts and 3 big packs of bacon cost me around £30 but has been a god send this week. Not expecting the money situation to imprve any time soon so I will just have to plan. I have hubby and a 13 year old and 3 year old to provide food to but im not letting them be picky they either eat with me or starve lol. Good luck with your journey youve already taken the biggest steps and well done for going to uni I wish I had the confidence to do spmething along the lines so well done you xx

 

[hollys nan]

Hi nicnocks, so sorry to hear about all yr troubles. However you seem a bit brighter in your last post and thats a positive. Sounds as if you have made some very positive steps to change things. Dont think about how far you have got to go, just make mini goals which are achievable. Each one is a step along the way and one day you will wake up and think "wow, I've done it". We are all here to help you. I would try some green days like has been suggested. I love my red and green days, pasta,rice,spuds, with lots of filling veg. You will soooooooooooooooo do this x

 

[nicnocks]

aww thanks sarah and hollys nan. Iam just going to make small changes and take sw day by day. So far so good today. Doing extra easy, but i think i will mix it up all week, perhaps do green and red a couple of times too. if i feel better in a few days i'll incorporate exercise too. Just been really down lately. I think if i can stick to this thought it will be half my battle xx

 

[hollys nan]

I am sure you will and we are all here to support and encourage you (sending virtual hugs)