You might have said to someone, "I can't afford all that expensive organic food." You might have also read on line some statistic like, "Low income people, as a rule, have a very unhealthy diet." But it doesn't have to be this way! So listen up...
Number one thing - stop eating all bread products, unless you can afford whole-grain organic bread without any additives or preservatives. No white bread or white noodles, no bagels, no pastries, no cookies. Now, eliminating foods from your diet shouldn't cost anything. Okay, if you must have cookies, then make oatmeal-raisin cookies. If you go to food banks for your food, then just don't take any bread, unless it is fancy whole grain bread. They usually give plenty of rice, beans, oatmeal and potatoes in most food banks. I know, that not eating bread is the hardest thing of all to do, and I myself am struggling with my freshly baked French bread and pastry habit. But if you really want to be healthy keep telling yourself that it is worth the struggle.
Also, start cooking soups and don't eat any canned soups. Cooking soup for dinner is cheaper than buying it in can, and super easy! A little bag of split peas is only like 99 cents, and you only need a small cup to make a pot of soup, which will feed you for two days! So a little 99 cent bag will feed you nearly a week. Way cheaper than pea soup in cans. Just throw the peas in the water and boil them on slow to medium heat until soft. Add salt and pepper, throw in a piece of chopped onion and a chopped carrot for more soup appeal. Do exactly the same with lentils.
Food banks give away tons of dry beans and seemingly useless cans with canned tomatoes. What I found very tasty is making a bean-tomato soup. Soak beans in the pot of water for a day or two - saves money on energy - otherwise takes forever to boil them. So, boil the beans until soft, empty in that can of tomatoes, put in a bunch of pepper and boil a few more minutes. Real easy, cheap or almost free, and very yammy.
The second healthy thing to do - walk instead of driving or taking the bus whenever it is not unreasonably far. If you go somewhere new, do some walking around and exploring before going back.
Late summer is the time for picking berries! Berries are the healthiest food you could ever eat, so go pick as many blackberries as you possibly can. They are growing everywhere wild, and they are absolutely delicious. If you pick more than you can eat - make jam or freeze them. You can also make berry wine, it is quite easy. There is a blueberry park in South Tacoma, WA where you can pick blueberries as much as you like absolutely free. It's located at 7402 E D St. Take bus #1 to 74th and then walk east a few blocks. There are very many people who have apple or plum trees in their yards and they let fruit just fall to the ground and rot - go knock on their door and ask them if you can pick the apples. I bet they'd be delighted to have you clean up for them.
If you have any scrap of earth where you live - use it to plant vegetables. If you live in an apartment, plant them in flower pots and wooden boxes. Find a friend who lives in a house and ask to share some garden space. Join a community garden. Find some unused land nearby behind some bushes and plant potatoes. You know how potatoes get what's called 'eyes' and they start sprouting when they sit around in your drawer a while? You cut these 'eyes' out and throw them away, so instead of throwing them away, plant them somewhere, where no one is likely to care about it - where they don't mow the grass or do any regular landscaping. Potatoes grow like crazy, you don't even have to water them. Then come back later and dig some out. You'd be doing the world a service.
If you don't own an animal - get one immediately. Pets are a must for a healthy heart, that has been proven by many studies. Cats' purr improves your overall health, and dogs keep you up and walking them a couple of times a day. Cats can be trained to use a regular toilet so you don't have to bother with the sand (of course, you have to start them young and go super slow on that training, because they take a while to take a liking to it). If you live in an apartment that doesn't allow cats or dogs, get a rat. Rats are very cool pets, they are sweet, loving and fun to hold and play with. You can potty train them like cats. You can hide a rat in your pocket or any small box under your bed or in the closet, so no one has to know you even have it. You might want to get a girl rat, rather than a boy rat, because the boy rats get such huge balls, it is scary. When I got my first ever rat, and he started maturing, I became worried that he had a tumor and actually took him to the vet. Everyone there laughed at me - it was normal!
Number one thing - stop eating all bread products, unless you can afford whole-grain organic bread without any additives or preservatives. No white bread or white noodles, no bagels, no pastries, no cookies. Now, eliminating foods from your diet shouldn't cost anything. Okay, if you must have cookies, then make oatmeal-raisin cookies. If you go to food banks for your food, then just don't take any bread, unless it is fancy whole grain bread. They usually give plenty of rice, beans, oatmeal and potatoes in most food banks. I know, that not eating bread is the hardest thing of all to do, and I myself am struggling with my freshly baked French bread and pastry habit. But if you really want to be healthy keep telling yourself that it is worth the struggle.
Also, start cooking soups and don't eat any canned soups. Cooking soup for dinner is cheaper than buying it in can, and super easy! A little bag of split peas is only like 99 cents, and you only need a small cup to make a pot of soup, which will feed you for two days! So a little 99 cent bag will feed you nearly a week. Way cheaper than pea soup in cans. Just throw the peas in the water and boil them on slow to medium heat until soft. Add salt and pepper, throw in a piece of chopped onion and a chopped carrot for more soup appeal. Do exactly the same with lentils.
Food banks give away tons of dry beans and seemingly useless cans with canned tomatoes. What I found very tasty is making a bean-tomato soup. Soak beans in the pot of water for a day or two - saves money on energy - otherwise takes forever to boil them. So, boil the beans until soft, empty in that can of tomatoes, put in a bunch of pepper and boil a few more minutes. Real easy, cheap or almost free, and very yammy.
The second healthy thing to do - walk instead of driving or taking the bus whenever it is not unreasonably far. If you go somewhere new, do some walking around and exploring before going back.
Late summer is the time for picking berries! Berries are the healthiest food you could ever eat, so go pick as many blackberries as you possibly can. They are growing everywhere wild, and they are absolutely delicious. If you pick more than you can eat - make jam or freeze them. You can also make berry wine, it is quite easy. There is a blueberry park in South Tacoma, WA where you can pick blueberries as much as you like absolutely free. It's located at 7402 E D St. Take bus #1 to 74th and then walk east a few blocks. There are very many people who have apple or plum trees in their yards and they let fruit just fall to the ground and rot - go knock on their door and ask them if you can pick the apples. I bet they'd be delighted to have you clean up for them.
If you have any scrap of earth where you live - use it to plant vegetables. If you live in an apartment, plant them in flower pots and wooden boxes. Find a friend who lives in a house and ask to share some garden space. Join a community garden. Find some unused land nearby behind some bushes and plant potatoes. You know how potatoes get what's called 'eyes' and they start sprouting when they sit around in your drawer a while? You cut these 'eyes' out and throw them away, so instead of throwing them away, plant them somewhere, where no one is likely to care about it - where they don't mow the grass or do any regular landscaping. Potatoes grow like crazy, you don't even have to water them. Then come back later and dig some out. You'd be doing the world a service.
If you don't own an animal - get one immediately. Pets are a must for a healthy heart, that has been proven by many studies. Cats' purr improves your overall health, and dogs keep you up and walking them a couple of times a day. Cats can be trained to use a regular toilet so you don't have to bother with the sand (of course, you have to start them young and go super slow on that training, because they take a while to take a liking to it). If you live in an apartment that doesn't allow cats or dogs, get a rat. Rats are very cool pets, they are sweet, loving and fun to hold and play with. You can potty train them like cats. You can hide a rat in your pocket or any small box under your bed or in the closet, so no one has to know you even have it. You might want to get a girl rat, rather than a boy rat, because the boy rats get such huge balls, it is scary. When I got my first ever rat, and he started maturing, I became worried that he had a tumor and actually took him to the vet. Everyone there laughed at me - it was normal!
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