We are all aware at this stage that nutrition plays a huge part in our health and fitness. We know we can work out 5 days a week but if we fuel our bodies with the wrong nutrients we might as well have sat on the sofa and not bothered our butts ( I would have said fat arses but I don’t want to be rude)!
We seem to forget that as adults we are solely responsible for our own bodies and how we nurture them and therefore must accept the outcome of our individual choices. It’s like this, if you buy cheap oil for your car what do you think it’s going to do over time to your engine? You are going to be every mechanics/car salesman’s dream €€€€€’s Well the same goes for our bodies, if we don’t think seriously about what we consume and the quality of what we consume then it’s only a matter of time before our ‘parts’ start giving us problems and all those euros will heading in the GP or HSE’s pocket instead!
Yes I agree it can be more expensive to eat healthy, unless you’re shrewd like me!! We see in every supermarket they have offers all the time on fizzy drinks/pizzas/crisps/biscuits and its rare you would see offers on organic veg or salmon darnes or real greek yoghurt or free range chickens etc. 
So of course, in this age we live in where money is tight, we are inclined to think feeding ourselves or our family on ‘special offers’ are a better deal, more ‘value‘ for money.
Let me remind you that “Dr Smith” won’t be doing a 25% off “Weak and Weary Wednesdays” or Limerick Regional won’t be giving a “3 for 2 night stay special“!! There are so many worse places those hard earned euros could be going than on a healthy nutritious diet making us feel great and live longer.
I can’t afford to eat the best of the best anymore than the next but I have found ways where you can eat well, very well, on a budget. The main lesson I have learned is meal planning before I write my shopping list. I plan what breakfasts we will have during the week, what lunches, dinners and even snacks. I make sure I have plenty of my staple ingredients that I can always fall back on in my cupboards like wholewheat pasta, mixed beans, quinoa, canned tomatoes, spices/dried herbs, oats, olives, sundried tomatoes, brown rice, 
wholewheat flour, cashew butter, rice cakes, lentils, pita breads, wholewheat wraps, onions and chickpeas to name a few and then long life refridgerated foods like chorizo, greek yoghurt, feta cheese, almond milk, eggs and (hidden in the back that bar of 80% cocoa chocolate for those Oh Sweet Lord I neeeeeeed chocolate moments)!! There are robust veg that will keep for a week in the fridge like carrots, celery, broccoli, squash, courgettes, sweet potatoes. It all goes by individual taste but I know with ingredients like that, which are not too expensive to buy, I can rustle up many hearty and nutritious family meals and snacks by just adding fresh ingredients like fish or chicken.
Over the next few weeks I will share my favourite ‘recipes’ with you and explain why they are beneficial to our bodies and their functionality. A large number of diseases occur only due to wrong diet. Some certain diets may itself cause disease or alter the course of a known disorder such as diabetes, heart or kidney disease. This is why it is extremely important for us to not cut out the vital nutrients we get from the good Proteins, Carbohydrates, and Fats…we need em all!
A healthy nutritious diet doesn’t have to break the bank or bore you in the slightest or make you feel in any way deprived. You will find it can be quicker, cheaper and tastier to make your own pizza/curry/fish supper than it is to head down to the local takeaway for a Friday night bag of cholesterol!!
So remember…….
Until next time,
Louise
