Keeping fit past the age of fifty is a wonderful exercise in frugality. Think of it this way: while most of your mid-life peers are spending massive amounts of money on pills to treat their weary arteries and hearts, or on unhealthy foods, you’re eating properly working out, and saving money. Weight loss and fitness don’t need to become more complicated once you go past the middle-life marker than they were before. There are plenty of great value dieting plans that cater to mid-lifers, with plenty of information about them available on the Internet. By following a few simple tips and tricks, just about anyone can save up while slimming down.
Whole foods have plenty of advantages when it comes to macrobiotic balance that you need to attain in order to drop some pounds – besides, they come with the boon of costing far less than highly processed foods in the long run. Sure, for the short term, springing for frozen pizzas or kabobs might seem like the more economic option. After all, you are buying several portions for the price of whole, natural ingredients that will also take a long while to prepare, aside from not looking like they’re going to keep your hunger at bay for too long.
The above sentence contains several fallacies that we’ll deconstruct in the following. First off, processed foods that contain refined ingredients, such as white flour, sugars, and saturated fats, will only make you feel hungry faster. Refined ingredients cause spikes in blood sugar levels. After the spike, your blood sugar will plummet, causing the release of ghrelin and leptin, the two hormones that trigger the feeling of hunger. Secondly, thinking you can withhold from eating a whole pre-assembled, frozen pizza in one sitting is usually wishful thinking that you’re using to sabotage your own way out of a diet. More often than not, people struggling with weight issues will not be able to limit themselves to a single recommended portion. As such, you might be buying food that’s supposed to last you for several days, but you will often end up polishing it off in a single sitting – and there goes your frugal lifestyle, right down the drain.
Lastly, whole foods, be they raw or frozen, are so much better from a dietary point of view. Legumes, fruits, vegetables and whole grains contain plenty of fiber. Several acknowledged weight loss plans advocate eating plenty of fiber (in excess of 25 g per day) for those who want to shed their extra pounds fast – for more information on the effects of popular diet Medifast, access website here and get educated. Moreover, whole foods usually contain antioxidants, such as vitamin C, selenium, vitamin E, and betacarotene, all of them great for keeping young and healthful. Great sources of antioxidants include most fruits and vegetables, as well as dark leafy greens, such as spinach and kale. Recent studies have proven that fruit and vegetables will ward off angina and stroke risks with 39 per cent more positive odds in people over 50 who choose to consume lots of them.
Another key issue is that buying whole foods will usually mean you’re buying locally. Aside from supporting small producers and stimulating the local economy, buying foods that are ‘in season’ will cost far less than splurging on exotic cheeses and meats.
Last, but definitely not least, avoid excess consumption levels of sugars, trans and saturated fats, as well as sodium. Most processed foods contain them, and they stand to damage your health to a great extent. The same goes for alcohol and tobacco products – quitting smoking, irrespective of the age at which it occurs, is likely to save you massive amounts of money, as well as cleansing your body of the toxins which make it more difficult to lose weight.
