I recently found out I need to lose weight fast to avoid a certain health condition. In my experience, health-themed restaurants are expensive compared to fast food restaurants, organic fruits and veggies are more expensive than non-organic, healthy nuts are very expensive, and multi-grain or rye breads are more expensive than white breads. Is it possible to eat healthy without breaking the bank? Subscribe below to follow my diet progress and food costs.
Subscribe to our newsletter!
Initial State:
My usual daily breakfast diet includes an egg and cheese sandwich (often with Avocado) and a cup of coffee with creamer and sugar. As for lunch or dinner, I usually eat rice with beans and/or chicken, and some kind of Pasta. When I eat out, I typically order a sandwich, burrito, or unhealthy Italian food. I end up drinking soda at almost every restaurant I visit for lunch or dinner. On rare occasions, I eat salmon or tilapia.
I never drank alcohol and I don’t consume pork.
My Diet Plan
In addition to intermittent fasting and switching to smaller portions with smaller plates, I am following this simple diet outlined below.
| Old Diet | Replace With |
|---|---|
| Scrambled Eggs with Cheese & Avocado on Sourdough Bread | Hard Boiled Eggs with Avocado on Rye or Pumpernickel Bread |
| White Rice | Quinoa, the Peruvian superfood |
| Pasta’s with Red Sauce, Cheese, & Ground Beef | Wheat Spaghetti with Basil & Spinach Pesto Sauce |
| Coffee with Hazelnut Creamer | Dark Coffee or Green Tea |
| Low Fat Milk | Fat-Free Milk |
| Juices & Soda | Water or Zero Sugar Vitamin Water |
| Fast Food or Fried Food | Salad or Veggie filled sandwiches/wraps. |
| Snacking on Peanut Butter, Nutella, chocolate desserts | Snacking on Walnuts, Sunflower Seeds, & Pistachios. |
Progress
I started my food-only diet July 14th, 2022 without intermittent fasting. After just 7 days, I lost 9 LBS. I noticed that I am losing my lunch time hunger pains. I skipped lunch over the past few days because I was not in the mood to eat. For example, I ate an egg and avocado sandwich with pumpernickel bread for breakfast, and a chicken sandwich with lettuce and tomatoes for lunch last Saturday. That is all I ate. I did not feel hungry enough to have dinner. I only drank 1 cup of dark coffee, 4 cups of water, and 2 cups of Vitamin Water that day. Nearing the end of my second week, I already lost another 6 lbs. for a total of 15 lbs.
| Progress | Weight Loss |
|---|---|
| Week 1 | 9 lbs |
| Week 2 | 6 lbs |
| Week 3 | … |
Intermittent Fasting
I am the type of person who can lose and gain weight very quickly. Before I started my diet, I tried intermittent fasting. This is a weight loss strategy where you do not eat or drink calorized drinks for at least 16 hours straight. This was easy since I slept for 8 of those 16 hours. I stopped eating by 8pm and continued eating 12pm the next day. After 1 week of intermittent fasting, I lost 8 lbs. I quickly gained the weight back when I stopped. When my progress slows down, I will combine intermittent fasting with my new diet.
My Grocery Shopping Plan
Whole Foods Supermarket is too expensive. I never bought food from there before and I won’t start now. I visited Trader Joes over the past weekend and found that, while they are much cheaper than Whole Foods, they are still pricy. Costco or SamsClub sells quinoa at a good price. I can get almost everything else from Wegman’s or Aldi’s supermarket’s.
I will post an update on my diet and grocery costs next month. Subscribe below to follow me.
Subscribe to our newsletter!
