Flat Stomach + Fat Wallet

We all seek happiness in one way or another. It's a natural human goal. We spend our whole lives attempting to achieve happiness and most of the time, we fly right past opportunities to be joyful and content no matter our current situation. However, there are two elements which certainly up our chances of sustaining an enjoyable lifestyle. Today, we take a look at a few simple tips on how to boost your health and your wealth simultaneously.

For starters, let's take a look at where our income is going. "The average American spends $232 per month eating meals prepared outside the home. Given that there are 18.2 meals eaten outside the home in an average month by the average American, the average meal outside the home costs a person $12.75. Again, that's reasonable." (thesimpledollar.com)

Two hundred and thirty-two dollars spent in restaurants per month! That's the price we pay for convenience. Not to mention, our bodies are paying an even heftier price with our extremely high intake of processed foods. Now let's take a look at how easy it can be to take the extra weight from our gut and hefty up our cash bags.

Let's say we reduce our eating at restaurants to once per week. Following our same average of $12.75 per meal, that takes us to $51.00 per week. Quite a savings already, right? Now, I'm sure you're saying "But what about my other ~77 meals per month!?" ( 3 meals a day, multiplied by 7 days a week, multiplied by 4 weeks per month). Well here's where buying and prepping in bulk come to the rescue.

The most time-effective way to cut fat and fatten your wallet is to meal prep using whole, mass amounts of nutritional food. Below are lists of foods recommended by their macronutrient focuses. All macronutrients (protein, fat, carbohydrate) are necessary for proper bodily function. However, some are needed in higher quantities than others depending on your personal goals. 

PROTEINS

• Chicken Breast and Thighs
• Tilapia
• Tuna
• Pork Tenderloin
• Ground Beef
• Greek Yogurt
• Cottage Cheese
• Beans (Navy, Pinto, White, Black, Anasazi, Great Northern etc.)

FATS

• Coconut Oil
• Fish Oils
• Organic Peanut Butter
• Fats From Meats
• Avocados

CARBOHYDRATES

• Sweet Potatoes
• Brown Rice
• Basmati Rice
• Jasmine Rice
• Squash
• Oatmeal
• Fruit

Of course, it is also important to be eating vegetables to stay regular and to maintain normal levels of enzymes, but most roughage has a negligible amount of macronutrients and calories. Therefore, consume in between meals when hunger kicks in to hold you over. Another way to get your greens in daily is to take a supplement such as Athletic Greens.

This is the perfect supplement for those who want the benefits of vegetables without having to eat pound after pound of the green stuff.

So let's crunch the numbers and see just how much money we can potentially save by implementing this meal-prepping strategy.

Chicken Breast: $2.20 per lb.

Sweet Potatoes: $0.50 per lb.

Pinto Beans: $0.70 per lb.

Brown Rice: $0.42 per lb.

Using these basic ingredients as the foundations of each meal, we can figure out approximately how much it would cost per meal, per week, and per month to support a healthy diet such as this.

Example Meal:

• 6 oz. chicken breast
• 376 calories
• $0.83
• 3 oz. sweet potato
• d
• $0.10
• 3 oz. pinto beans
• d
• $0.13
• 3 oz. brown rice
• d
• $0.08

So then, adding up our cost of items per meal, we get $1.14. A VERY affordable meal. In fact, it's 89.4% less costly than the $12.75 average per meal at a restaurant. Multiply this out for 3 meals a day, 7 days a week, 4 weeks per month and we're getting a grand total of $95.76 per month. Of course, no one wants to eat the same meal every day, but this provides for us a good basis of what we could be saving by switching to meal prep. With our previous figure of $232 per month, spent on just 18 meals, we are now saving $136.42 per month AND getting 84 meals! Even if we were to spend a few extra dollars on beef or pork periodically, we would still be saving a drastic amount of money instead of eating out.

Even if this isn't enough to persuade you to flip a 180 on your eating and spending habits, it can be implemented on a smaller scale. Try it out at first for only 1 week per month. See how you feel at the end of the week in comparison to how you've been feeling after eating processed foods. Take a look at your savings. Think of where that money could be benefitting you even more. At the end of the day, we do what we do to be happy. If this change can positively effect the health and wealth of someone you love, pass it along.

As always, Good fortune and Godspeed.

-Mike Knipp