9 Tips for Eating Healthy When You’re Broke AF
Summer can be a very difficult time in a broke girl’s life.
You can’t afford air conditioning, so you have to make due with a few fans that barely make any difference, you have one million social engagements that require your time and energy, and as much as your budget would like you to subsist on dollar pizza and samples from grocery stores, it’s bikini season, so that’s literally not an option.
Plus, it’s so hot outside that if all you ate were food samples you’d be fainting every day, and that’s not a cute look.
But this year doesn’t have to be like that because we talked to nutrition expert Amanda Meixner, and got her to spill all her secrets on how to stay healthy this summer, even when you’re broke AF and melting into a pool of sweat in your kitchen.
1. Go grocery shopping for the week
Half of the time, we make our worst food decisions when there’s nothing in our fridges that we can eat, so instead of setting yourself up for failure, buy all of the groceries you need for the week at once.
Yes, it’s annoying to plan ahead and carry that much stuff back to your apartment, but it will save you money and calories so suck it up.
2. Prepare your meals ahead of time
The other half of the time, we make our worst food decisions when we’re hungry and feel like we need to stuff our faces immediately or else we’ll die, or whatever melodramatic nonsense our empty stomachs make us feel at the time.
Once again, yes we get that it’s annoying to plan ahead, but you will thank yourself later when you have a delicious, nutritious meal already ready to go into your stomach.
3. Make something in bulk that you can put on everything
This is one of the easiest ways to stay healthy this summer.
For example, Amanda recommends her Turkey Marinara, which can easily be made vegetarian or vegan by swapping out the turkey for seitan or tofu.
4. Two words: zucchini noodles
The next time you have a hankering for pasta, replace your carby noodles with 2 or more peeled zucchinis.
I know I know, this sounds like bull shit, but coincidentally, last night I made myself two peeled zucchinis with tomatoes and sauce on them for dinner and they actually kept me full for the next four hours. And I even got stoned – twice!!!
Plus, do you know how cheap zucchinis are? Because yesterday I bought two for less than $2 at the bodega around the corner from my apartment.
Seriously, this shit is legit. Follow Amanda’s recipe above, or follow mine, which is even cheaper.
5. Salads. Eat them
6. Save the carbs for a special occasion, and snack on some fruit
Isn’t it nice to be able to go to town on something without feeling guilty for it?
7. Don’t deny yourself desert
We all know what happens when we try and be good girls and cut all the unhealthy shit out of our lives. So this summer, treat yourself responsibly, kay?
Amanda suggests you sate your sweet tooth with almond butter covered bananas:
Sliced apples drizzled with almond butter, chocolate hazelnut butter and chocolate chips if you’re feeling decadent, or just had a really bad day at work:
And gluten-free peanut butter snickerdoodle cookies, for those times when everything sucks, and cookies are the only medicine that’ll do the job:
Save your calories for edibles, kay?
8. Bean salads. Get into them.
Bean salads are a great way to stay healthy this summer!
They’re easy to make in bulk, blessedly best served cold, something you can feed all your vegan/vegetarian friends, and are full of all the protein you need to party hard all night.
9. Make fun dinners
Amanda suggests this egg and turkey bacon-stuffed sweet potato because it looks really complicated and extravagant, but it’s actually really healthy and simple to put together.
Stay healthy this summer, kay?
