2. How to Buy Real Food on a Budget

In this Episode, I talk about how to prepare real food on a real budget.

Real Food on a Budget

It seems like “real food” is one of those terms that has a hundred meanings on the internet. For the most part, I think all of the “real food” definitions are an improvement of the standard american diet, but I also think it is important to define that term these days.

For me, real food simply means un-processed, non-modified foods in as close to their natural state as possible with a focus on nutrient dense foods. At our house, the bulk of our diet is made up of proteins like grassfed meats and pastured poultry, vegetables, fruit and lots of healthy fats.

In this episode, I cover:

• Why fat is a more efficient fuel than carbohydrates or proteins
• Why counting calories is not effective
• What my typical daily and weekly meal plan template looks like
• Foods I prioritize when budget is tight
• Specific foods I consume when pregnant or nursing
• First foods for baby
• Foods to avoid during pre-conception, pregnancy and nursing
• The one food I avoid at all costs – it might not be the one you’d think
• Supplements I take daily
• Foods I make sure my children get each day
• How I get my kids to eat real food without a fight
• My five tips for eating healthy on a tight budget

Posts I mention:

• My Food Rules for helping kids eat real food
• Stocking a Real Food Kitchen
• 7 Meal Planning Basics

Read Transcript

Hello and welcome to episode 2 of the “Wellness Mama Podcast” where we provide simple answers for healthier families.

In my first episode, I talked about why I wanted to start a podcast in the first place and my mission in doing so. And I’ve asked my readers online what would be helpful for me to cover in this second episode. And a lot of the feedback I got was that help in figuring out what actually it practically means to be on a real food diet and how to make that happen especially on a budget. So that’s what I’ll be covering today.

Just my most asked questions in dealing with real food. And it seems like “real food” is one of those terms that has a hundred meanings on the internet. For the most part, I think that all of the real food “definitions” are an improvement over the standard American diet certainly, but I also think it’s important to define that term these days because it’s used so often across the board.

So for me, real food just simply means unprocessed, non-modified foods and as close to their natural state as possible with a focus on the most nutrient dense foods available. And obviously just doing the best we can with where we are in our state of life.

So at our house, the bulk of our diet is made up of proteins like grass-fed meats and pastured poultry, lots of vegetables. There’s a hashtag online going around called “more vegetables than a vegetarian,” and I think that’s extremely important especially when we’re talking about green vegetables, and that’s an easy way to get extra nutrition in the diet. And then also things like fruits and healthy fats.