Current Diet

[conwy]

Hi all,

I thought I'd most my current daily diet, which I more-or-less stick to.

The following is a breakdown of the items, and their approximate cost, calories and protein.

MORNING SNACK ------
Instant Coffee (1 tbsp), £0.10

BREAKFAST -----
½ tub of Yogurt, £1.15, 150cal, 15g protein
Strawberries, £2.25, 300cal
Piece of Dark Chocolate, £1, 100cal

LUNCH -----
1 pckt of Steamed Salmon, £3.50, 350cal, 30g+ protein

AFTERNOON TEA ------
1 tub Quark, £1, 175cal, 30g protein
1 Carrot, £0.10, 50cal

SNACK ------
1 pack of Nattō, £0.50, 80cal
Handful of nuts, £1, 100cal

DINNER, 1st course ------
500g Brown Rice + ½ tin Beans, £1, 500cal
1 slice of Cheese, £0.50, 50cal
½ tube of Tomato Paste, £0.25, 50cal

DINNER, 2nd course ------
Handful of Mushrooms, £0.25, 25cal
Red Onion, £0.50, 80cal
½ tin Tomatoes, £0.25, 50cal
2 tins Sardines, £1, 260cal, 30g+ protein
Herbs/seasonings, £0.10

DINNER, 3nd course ------
1 packet Kale, £1, 105cal
4 olives, £0.25, 50cal
Herbs/seasonings, £0.10

SUPPER ------
1 tub Quark, £1, 175cal, 30g protein
1 beetroot, £0.25, 50cal, 30g protein
2 Eggs, £0.50, 160cal, 10g protein

NIGHTCAP ------
1 glass Red Wine, £0.75, 100cal

TOTAL CALORIES: 2,960
TOTAL PROTEIN: 135g or above
TOTAL COST: £18.30 or $24.70 USD

I'm looking to gradually decrease the spending. I *might* also look to decrease calories, but if I manage to sustain a habit I recently started, of walking to work (2 hours each way, so 4 hours walking per day) I might be able to keep calories constant, or even go up in calories (without, obviously, going up in cost.)

Keen to hear comments, thoughts and perhaps critique from anyone who thinks I could be spending less.

And also, if you wish to, please share your daily diet (optionally with cost and/or calories)! Keen to compare!

CONWY

[Eureka]

Wow, you eat a lot! Are you huge?

I eat different stuff than you (plantbased food), but lots of what you eat in a day (500 g rice, 2 handfuls nuts, 1 £ worth of chokolate aso) is more than I eat in a week. My weekly spending for food is also lower than your daily cost.

I walk about 2 hours a day, do yoga for 90 minutes, do gardening and bicycle for local transportation. Thus, I am probably as physically active as you. I have no idea about my calory or protein intakes, but they are for sure much lower than yours and I do absolutely fine, keep my weight and is full of energy.

Super easy ways to cut costs in your current food budget, even if you'd like to keep the same diet:

- Skip the strawberries and buy fruit in season (apples right now).
- Buy you nuts in bulk - 60 £ per month can only be if you buy in small bags.
- Buy your chokolate in bulk - 30 £ per month is a ridiculous amout for that.
- find a cheaper shop for diaries, you spend 3.15 £ per day right now.

[Bankai]

Hi conwy!

You seem to be spending a lot of money on food as well as time on cooking/eating/walking. If you work full time and walk for 4 hours on top of that, between this and cooking/eating you probably have close to no time left during the week. Reducing cost of food would then allow you to redirect part of these funds to pay for commuting (and save the rest) and hence save a lot of time for more productive pursuits. Also, you could consider intermittent fasting and only eating after work to further save time. I walk to work 45-50 minutes each way (3miles) and I’m OK not eating from the night before until I’m back from work. There are multiple topics about intermittent fasting on the forums.

Regarding your diet, £18 a day is very expensive. We spend about £3 each and we feel like we eat like kings. Considering you’re in London, it should still be possible to cut your expenses to maybe 1/3 of what they currently are, without changing many of the ingredients?

Not sure where you buy your groceries, but some prices you gave are extremely high – do you buy all your food organic? My first step would be to find the nearest Aldi or Lidl and only buy your groceries there. This alone should drastically cut your expenses. So, for example:

Piece of Dark Chocolate, £1, 100cal
Good quality dark chocolate (75-85% cocoa) can be bought at Aldi for ~£1 per 100g, so 100 kcal worth would be ~£0.2.

Handful of nuts, £1, 100ca
Almonds cost ~£8.6 per kilo at Aldi, so 100kcal worth would be ~£0.15.

Red Onion, £0.50, 80cal
You can buy a 1kg bag for ~£0.7 at Aldi. 1 onion would then cost ~£0.07-0.08 maybe?

These are just few examples, but generally, you should be able to find almost everything on your list at both Aldi and Lidl, for much less than what you’re paying now.

One more thing, you seem to be eating tons of proteins, definitely way more than you need. This is also adding to the total bill since protein quite expensive per kcal. For comparison, I eat a plant-based diet, around 2500 kcal a day and this includes ~70g of protein, which is already more than I need.

This is what I ate yesterday:

Dinner: 3 plates of wholewheat pasta with kala-chana and red kidney beans, peppers, red onions, spinach, sweetcorn and spices including lots of turmeric, steamed ¼ of broccoli. Also, a smoothie with banana, frozen berries, cashew nuts, flaxseeds, soy milk and spices. During the evening walk, I also had an apple and ~40 almonds, and finally an orange just before bed. Drinks were several cups of red tea and coffee. I estimate all this cost ~£3 since this was a typical day and we spend ~£200 a month on food for both of us. We do 90% of our grocery shopping between Aldi and Lidl, and occasionally we shop at Morrisons.

[stand@desk]

Go Vegan, simplify your life. Fruits, Veg, Beans, Humus, Whole Grains, breads, pasta, nuts, seeds, peanut butter, rice, lentils. Easy on the pocket book, digestive system, planet.

[conwy]

Thanks for the thoughts, Eureka!

Yeah, I could go easier on the berries. I've heard of the wondrous health benefits of them, but I don't think they have to be a daily thing, and it may even be healthier to eat more of a variety. I'm thinking I might make them a once- or twice-a-week treat, and normally stick to whatever's cheapest. I had a browse today at Waitrose and couldn't find anything significantly cheaper per-kilo than berries, but I mightn't be looking in the right places.

Good point about getting nuts in bulk! I think I overestimated my spend, it's more likely £0.25 or less than £1, as I did get a big bag. But I reckon once that bag is done, I should really shop around for a much bulkier and cheaper-per-gram deal.

Yep true about the chocolate being expensive. Going to hunt around and see if I can find a place that does chocolate in bulk.

And good point about dairy. I probably should reduce my dairy intake, as it's not the healthiest, though I do stick to low-fat, low-calorie. But I'm thinking perhaps I don't need 2 servings of quark per day, when I can easily meet equivalent protein needs with £1-2 work of sardines. (I'd have to cook them and keep take them to work in a lunchbox, but it's likely worth it for the cost savings and health benefits.)

[conwy]

Thanks for your suggestions, Bankai and stand@desk!

Yep, sounds like I could do way better.

First step will be to try and find my closest Aldi/Lidl, as it sounds like I'm being ridiculously ripped off for onions and other vegetables.

I probably am taking in a lot too much protein. I want to maintain muscle, but I'm realising I could probably get enough protein from plants and Sardines.

About the walking, I've started to quite enjoy the walks, as they give me space and time to think and/or listen to audiobooks. However, 4 hours p/day probably is a bit much, so I might try and move closer in to work. The rents do seem to shoot up as soon as I get within a 1.5 hour walking distance, but it may be worth it to pay a bit more if I can avoid using the tube. I find the £30.00 or so I'd pay weekly for the tube a bit excessive. I'd rather pay a bit more in rent and avoid all the pollution and over-crowding.

£3 a day sounds awesome! I hope I can reach that ideal, or at least get close!

[conwy]

Ok, so since my original post, and with all of your encouragement and support, I've started to bring costs down a little.

Here's what I'm currently spending daily:

------------------------------------

MORNING SNACK ------
Instant Coffee (1 tbsp) 0.1

BREAKFAST -----
1 piece of Dark Chocolate 0.37 100

LUNCH -----
2 tins of Sardines 0.8 460 44
1 piece of Fruit 0.08 80

AFTERNOON TEA ------
2 carrots 0.15 100

SNACK ------
1 pack of Nattō, £0.50, 80cal 0.5 80
Handful of nuts, £1, 100cal 1 100

DINNER, 1st course ------
250g Brown Rice, £0.08, 250cal 0.08 250 5
1 tin Beans, £0.50, 200cal 0.5 200 10
½ slice of Gouda Cheese, £0.08, 50cal 0.08 60 3.5
½ tube of Tomato Paste, £0.25, 50cal 0.25 50

DINNER, 2nd course ------
Handful of Mushrooms, £0.25, 25cal 0.25 25
Red Onion, £0.15, 80cal 0.15 80
1 tin Tomatoes, £0.33, 100cal 0.33 100
Chilis, £0.07, 15cal 0.07 15
Quark 0.8 175

DINNER, 3rd course ------
2 tins of Sardines 0.8 460 44
Herbs/seasonings, £0.15 0.15 15

DINNER, 3nd course ------
2 green leafy vegetables, £1, 250cal 1 250
4 olives, £0.25, 50cal 0.25 50
Herbs/seasonings, £0.15 0.15 15

NIGHTCAP ------
1 glass Red Wine, £0.75, 100cal 0.75 150

TOTAL CALORIES: 2815
TOTAL PROTEIN: 106.5
TOTAL COST: £8.61 or ~$18 AUD or ~$13 USD (exchange rate + some padding, rounded up)

------------------------------------

Not a massive change, I admit, but a significant reduction from the $24 AUD or so I was spending before.

I've started shopping almost exclusively at Lidl, which I'm lucky enough to be pretty close to. Much cheaper for veggies, fruit and sardines (which I've substituted for the salmon that was costing me the earth)! I also found a cheaper and healthier dark chocolate, which costs £2.65, and lasts me a week, thus costing £0.37 per day.

Hoping to gradually bring it down further by finding cheaper nuts, instant coffee and beans (perhaps using lentils instead, which are easy to cook from dry form, and can be bought in bulk).

[Bankai]

Well you just cut your food expenses by more than half - good job! Nuts, canned beans and olives are all cheaper in Lidl, so this should further cut your budget. Not sure about fish and dairy as I don't eat these, but generally if you buy them at Lidl that's probably as cheap as it gets.

[Eureka]

I like how you have been experimenting with your diet.

As for getting cheaper beans, just buy bulk and cook yourself. Once you have the routine it is super easy and you can cook for many days at a time so you don't have to cook beans every day.

The environment will love you for throwing out less tins and cans.

[BRUTE]

reading this thread, brute just realized he went for groceries today and doesn't even know how much he paid. he neither checked at the register, nor the receipt either at the store or at home.

[conwy]

As for getting cheaper beans, just buy bulk and cook yourself. Once you have the routine it is super easy and you can cook for many days at a time so you don't have to cook beans every day.

The environment will love you for throwing out less tins and cans.

Great idea. I started cooking beans myself. Just soak overnight on Saturday, boil them on Sunday, and store them in a container in the fridge to last the following week. Better taste, less trips to the shops, and as you rightly said, easier on the environment.