Shopping can be stressful at the best of times, not to mention when you’ve got budgetary concerns AND you’re trying to lose weight. There’s a reason why people in poorer areas are more prone to obesity – cheap food is often bad for you. Those heavily processed frozen meals might seem cheap and convenient, but they could be actively hurting your health – and your waistline.

Shop Smart and Buy the Right Foods

Knowing which foods to steer clear of when a diet can be a real minefield, especially when you need to save money as well. You should start with fruit, as they are probably one of the healthiest snacks around. Many people would rather eat a bag of crisps or some other unhealthy snack, but that’s not how you’re going to lose weight.

It’s understandable that the thought of eating fruit so many times a day might be off-putting to many, but if you want to lose weight, it’s highly recommended. If you can manage to replace a meal with a couple of fruit, then you can save money as well. Try a couple of bananas instead of that large lunch you used to have. If you can’t get over the prospect of eating up to 5 fruit a day, you can always make some fun and interesting smoothies to liven things up a little.

Some fruits also provide natural nutrients to your body that help burn fat and quench your appetite, helping your diet on a number of levels.

Exercise to Help Your Diet

The more you work out – the more you’ll be able to eat. That’s why top athletes can eat so many calories, because they burn so many in daily training. Another way of looking at it is like this – if you exercise enough, you won’t have to eat as much to lose weight, and you can therefore save money on your grocery bill.

Dieting can help you two-fold. Although processed unhealthy food is often cheaper, eating lots of it isn’t. By cutting back on your shopping bill, you can save money AND lose weight. The less you eat, the better – within reason. You obviously don’t want to starve yourself, but for someone used to consuming far too much, cutting back to normal levels can make a real difference.

Find Special Offers on Healthy Alternatives

Most special offers focus on unhealthy or heavily processed foods, and that’s unfortunate. Because diet and healthy eating options are newer and more specialised, food companies can get away with charging more for them. That’s not to mean you can’t find a bargain if you look in the right places. Consider buying bulk on fruit and vegetables, or visiting your local market rather than the supermarket.