Eating Healthy on a Budget

Eating Healthy on a Budget
By Jennifer and Andrea Kirby,
Kirby Financial Group 

www.kirbyfinancialgroup.com

Food can make up a significant part of our budget. And while we juggle workplace and family roles, our grocery bills can mount and our health can suffer as we opt for pre-packaged or fast food. This month, we asked Andrea Holwegner, a Registered dietitian and founder of Health Stand Nutrition Consulting, Inc. in Calgary for her tips to eat healthier, better balanced meals at work.

Preparation is key
Andrea suggests cooking big-batch, freezer friendly meals. If you cook extra salmon fillets for dinner, you can use the leftover portion later in the week with a salmon salad sandwich, to top a salad, or as fish cakes.

Grilled chicken breast can later augment a pasta salad, sandwich, wrap, or as a pizza topping to be brought with you to work.

By spending an hour or two on the weekend roasting vegetables, making hummus as a vegetable dip, or freezing lunch-sized portions of soup, you can save a lot of money and make healthier choices at work.

On Monday morning, why not arrive at the office with a week's worth of fruit? Not only will a fruit bowl on your desk encourage you to grab an apple instead of a chocolate bar, it will look very chic.

Skip the Food Channel
Andrea feels that chefs on TV are can make people feel that they have to be gourmet or go home. Hard-to-find ingredients that tend to be quite expensive can not only dissuade the most earnest cook, but can also cause your food budget to swell.

Instead, eat simply. Use real food in the dishes you prepare. Andrea advises that real food means things that come from a tree, the ground, and does not come with a list of 30 ingredients that you can't pronounce. The items that should comprise the bulk of your diet come from the periphery of the grocery store: fruits, vegetables, dairy products, seafood, poultry, and eggs.

It's donut day at work:
The temptation of swinging by Tim Horton's for a 24-pack of timbits for less than $5 can be hard to resist, but there are other affordable snack solutions that you could take to work. Andrea Holwegner suggests buying large containers of yogurt, frozen berries and bananas with some granola. Everyone could dish up their own "yogurt parfait".

Alternatively, slice up some seasonal fruit and put it in a central place at the office.  With preparation, an awareness of the kinds of food you're comfortable preparing and eating, and a little bit of creativity your workplace meals and snacks can help - rather than hinder - your path to a healthier you.

Andrea Holwegner BSc, RD
"The Chocoholic Dietitian"
www.chocoholicdietitian.com   www.healthstandnutrition.com 
Keynotes, Workshops, Retreats & Coaching

Andrea Holwegner, the "Chocoholic Dietitian" is founder and president of Health Stand Nutrition Consulting Inc., a member of the Canadian Association of Professional Speakers and a media expert for the Dietitians of Canada.  Andrea is a regular guest on Global News-Morning, CITY-TV's Breakfast Television, and a regular writer for CBC News Online. She is an inspiring professional speaker who captures audiences with a buzz that's better than caffeine with simple nutrition and lifestyle ideas to look and feel your best every day.  Combining lessons learned from counseling hundreds of clients plus her work with Olympic athletes, Andrea will show you the recipe for success is learning how to enjoy guilt-free eating and balance ALL foods! 

Email us your healthy eating tips for the workplace!
Email Jennifer@kirbyfinancialgroup.com or Andrea@kirbyfinancialgroup.com

Jennifer Kirby is a Certified Financial Planner, Chartered Life Underwriter and Registered Health Underwriter with a passion for making sense out of complex financial products. Jennifer has been working in the financial planning industry since 1995 and has a proven track record for helping clients clarify their personal and financial objectives.

Andrea Kirby has and MBA from Simon Fraser University and joined Kirby Financial Group in 2007. Andrea is dedicated to providing clients with candid, up-front advice and excellent customer service.

Please contact us anytime if we can help you with creating a financial plan.

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