Dieting in the credit crunch

Credit Crunch can be credit munch

Credit Crunch Diet hints

In these increasingly hard times it can seem hard to diet. Diet foods often cost a lot more than normal foods. But do you really need to buy special diet foods?
Look at the labels. Some diet foods aren't that different to standard foods - you should compare the products in the supermarket. Don't feel shy about taking your time to read the calorie information - that's what it's there for to help you make a decision. Some times they confuse you, perhaps deliberately, by putting calories per portion on one and by 100g on another. Use the calculator on your mobile phone if you can't work it out!

Reading the nutritional information helps you decide whether something is that much badder for you, or whether you should just have a bit smaller portion of it. That just means you've got to weigh things out and be honest with yourself and weigh accurately.

Fruit and vegetables can be expensive, specially when they're out of season, so it can be a good idea to look tound the greengrocers and compare prices with the supermarket as well as shopping seasonally. Luckily carrots and onions are generally very cheap all year round, seasonal things like tomatoes are also available but in the height of winter will have come from abroad which makes them dearer.

By looking at market stalls for vegetables, or the local green grocers shop you might find you can save money on all your fruit and vegetables. This is a great help to dieters are fresh foods are good for you, packed with vitamins and fibre and not so many calories as other foods!

Look at the supermarket for loose vegetables as these are often cheaper than packs. But again, always check!

Another great way of saving is to make sure you use everything you buy. If you throw food away then you have wasted money - so buy enough to use before things go off, or freeze them if you want to make them last! If you waste a third of your food budget by throwing it away you can see instant savings here!

Sometimes the temptation is to buy diet ready meals as they are calorie counted for you, but they are often disappointing in portion size and much more expensive. Look at buying normal foods and eating half of a pack portion and making the meal up with lots of extra vegetables. This can be a real money saving idea as you get two meals from one portion then! This requires will power not to eat the full portion though!

Learn how to freeze left overs properly. By knowing how to freeze things - find the right container and learning the best way of defrosting things, with a little forward planning your diet can be made loads easier by preparing and freezing your low calories meals.

If you've got more hints for dieting in the credit crunch then get in touch!