Hello everyone! Welcome to this weeks Simple Slimming Suppers!
Firstly, as always, I will update you on my weight loss this week. As you may know if you read last weeks blog post, I decided to try a mainly vegetarian diet to see if it would speed up my weight loss. I spent the week eating mainly Quorn and veggies. Now, I weighed myself this morning and I have lost 2lbs, about the same as usual. I do have to say I wont be carrying on the veggie diet, not because I didn't like the food, but because it just didn't agree with me. I have never mentioned it on here before because I didn't feel like it was necessary but I suffer quite badly from IBS. Certain foods trigger it and make it worse therefore making me feel very unwell. I have been terrible this week and put it down to the change in diet. After doing some research online (good old Google), I discovered that Quorn seems to disagree with lots of peoples stomachs. I don't feel like it is worth feeling so poorly when it didn't even make any difference to my weight loss, so I have decided to go back to what I am used to and keep plodding along :).
Now, for this weeks Simple Slimming Suppers we have decided to do something a bit different again. Since being on Slimming World I have had lots of people saying they would love to try it but healthy food is too expensive. So this week we thought we would look into how much more it is per week to eat healthily compared to eating junk food.
I made a weekly meal plan that consisted of meals that can be made both unhealthily and Slimming World style. Then, we did both a junk food shop and a Slimming World shop with the four major supermarkets. These supermarkets were Asda, Tesco, Sainsburys and Morrisons.
So here is the weekly meal plan and a list of what you would need to make the meals both ways, we worked as a family of 4-
Monday- Spaghetti Bolognese
Unhealthy version- full fat beef mince, jar of full fat spag bol sauce, 1 onion, spaghetti, oil.
Slimming World version- lean beef mince, 1 onion, 1 punnet of mushrooms, fresh garlic, dried chilli, dried cinnamon, dried mixed herbs, balsamic vinegar, 2 tins chopped toms, passata, spaghetti, fry light.
Tuesday- Southern Fried Chicken with Chips and Coleslaw
Unhealthy version- ready made southern fried chicken breasts, frozen chips, ready made coleslaw.
Slimming World version- 4 fresh chicken breasts, wholemeal bread, dried oregano, dried ginger, dried paprika, eggs, bag of potatoes, cabbage, carrots, red onion, light mayo, fat free natural yogurt.
Wednesday- Sweet and Sour Pork with Rice
Unhealthy version- full fat diced pork, full fat jar of sweet and sour sauce, rice.
Slimming World version- lean diced pork, onion, red pepper, carrots (already added to basket), sugar snap peas, Chinese 5 spice, fresh garlic (added), cornflour, white wine vinegar, tomato puree, light soy sauce, fresh pineapple, rice.
Thursday- Chilli Con Carne
Unhealthy version- full fat beef mince, 1 onion, 1 tin kidney beans, 2 tins chopped toms, 1 packet of chilli con carne mix (its shocking how high in cals these can be!), rice.
Slimming World version- lean beef mince, 1 onion, punnet of mushrooms, yellow pepper, green pepper, fresh garlic (added), beef stock cubes, tin chopped toms, passata, tin kidney beans in chilli sauce, dried cumin, dried cinnamon (added), dried smoked paprika, dried cayenne pepper, dried coriander, granulated sweetener, rice.
Friday- Fish, Chips and Mushy Peas
Unhealthy version- 4 pieces of frozen battered or breaded fish, oven chips, 2 tins mushy peas.
Slimming World version- 4 pieces fresh cod, dried breadcrumbs, egg (added), bag of potatoes, 2 tins mushy peas.
Saturday- Chicken Tikka Masala and Rice
Unhealthy version- diced chicken, full fat jar of tikka masala sauce, rice.
Slimming World version- diced chicken, 1 lime, 1 onion, fat free natural yogurt, tikka curry powder, fresh garlic (added), fresh ginger, dried chilli (added), passata, dried cinnamon (added), cumin (added), fresh coriander, tomato puree, rice.
Sunday- Cottage Pie and Veg
Unhealthy version- ready made cottage pie, frozen veg.
Slimming World Version- lean beef mince, 1 onion, fresh garlic (added), kale, tin chopped tomatoes, passata, lea and perrins sauce, bag of potatoes, skimmed milk, frozen veg.
So this is what we found..
The first place we shopped was Asda and here's what we found..
Cost of unhealthy shop= £48.33
Cost of Slimming World shop= £76.22
This means it would cost you an extra £27.89 a week to eat healthily if you were shopping in Asda!
The second place we shopped was Tesco and here's what we found there
Cost of unhealthy shop= £35.94
Cost of Slimming World shop= £74.35
This means it would cost you an extra £38.41 a week to eat healthily if you shopped in Tesco!
The third place we shopped was Sainsburys and this is what we found
Cost of unhealthy shop= £36.58
Cost of Slimming World shop= £78.61
This means it would cost you an extra £42.03 a week to eat healthily if you shopped at Sainsburys!
The final place we shopped was Morrisons and here are the results
Cost of unhealthy shop= £34.64
Cost of Slimming World shop= £75.10
This means it would cost you an extra £40.46 a week to eat healthily if you shopped at Morrisons!
So there you have it, it does cost a LOT more to eat healthily by shopping at the major supermarkets. However, I can assure you that it is still totally possible to eat healthily without breaking the bank at all" All you need to do is change where you shop! Places like Lidl and Aldi offer amazing value for money and you could find that by shopping at these places your food bill could literally half! Allan and I moved house a year ago and we have a Lidl literally at the bottom of the road. We had never shopped there before but thought we would try it one day as it was so close and we were gobsmacked when the total flashed up on the screen at the end, it was SO much cheaper than our usual shop and we have never looked back! I know a few people who are put off by Aldi and Lidl because they seem to think that because its so cheap the quality must be bad, but I can assure you it's not, the quality is fantastic. In fact, the quality of their fresh food is usually better than the more expensive supermarkets, we have also found that their fruit and veg lasts a lot longer too! We don't shop anywhere else now apart from maybe the odd online shop if we are poorly or cant get to Lidl for whatever reason, but this is very rare.
Another thing that puts some people off Lidl and Aldi is the fact that they cant online shop and they don't deliver to your door. But just think, that hour walking around the supermarket and packing and unpacking your bags is that little bit more exercise which all helps to boost your weight loss! I actually enjoy going to Lidl as I like to walk around as see what bargains they have on offer that week (yes, i'm sad lol)!.
It was over £70 to do a healthy shop in Asda, Tesco, Sainsburys and Morrisons, and that was just for your evening meals, without lunches or breakfasts, add those and it would be well over £100!
Allan and I get a whole weeks Slimming World shop in Lidl, including breakfasts, lunches, evening meals, snacks, drinks and food for Rosie for under £65 a week, most weeks it is less that £60! BARGAIN OR WHAT??!! I know lots of people who shop in Aldi and they are also very impressed by the prices and quality they have to offer too!
So there you have it, you can eat healthily without spending a fortune! This post just goes to show, its not what you buy, but where you buy it that is expensive!
Don't be afraid to try Lidl or Aldi, I can promise you, you wont be disappointed!
See you next week :)
Anna
xx
