Does SB have to be so expensive?

[dmay]

HI, I'm new to the South Beach Diet. The family started on it just Saturday. We are doing this for many reasons, my weight, my sons weight, my hubby's diabetes and blood pressure etc. I read the book and I am following phase one faithfully. However to buy everything it called for cost me a small fortune and there is no way I can do that weekly. So I came looking for advise and help from the people who know best, the ones that have been at it for a while. I would appreciate any advise I can get.

[RedRox]

First of all you do not have to follow the menus in the book at all which to many are overly complicated and yes expensive. Work with the food lists and meal models here and you can probably find more inexpensive meals and ways to make this work for you. For instance, some homemade chili is a great P1 meal with some side veggies or side salad, but that ain't in the book!
????: South Beach Diet Forums http://www.southbeachdietbulletinboard.com/south-beach-diet-forums/5656-does-sb-have-so-expensive.html

Beans/legumes are a great way to stretch meals and still feel satisfied. Shop specials and stock up in advance when you can. Use stores that sell things cheaper in bulk. I can buy 6 hearts of romaine lettuce at costco for about the same as a package of 3 at the grocery store and a 1 lb bin of mixed greens is about the same price as the small 5-6 oz bags at the groceries. And don't forget that you may be saving money by not eating out as much and avoiding a lot of snack foods and prepackaged stuff that tends to be more expensive as well.

[dmay]

Thank you for helping. This is something I am determined to stick too, you just made it much easier to do!

[logmyloss.com]

I agree totally with RedRox. I think the menus in the book are sometimes discouraging for newbies because they seem to make the diet very prescribed. In reality, you just need to learn the acceptable foods. Study the lists of acceptable foods, even carry a copy with you. Once you know the foods, buying the food will be far easier and less expensive.

[dmay]

Thank you, everyone on this forum is so helpful.

[Mandee]

Hi Dawn!

Frozen veggies (such as broccoli and cauliflower) are cheaper than the fresh ones and they will last longer, too. Also, I love chicken breasts, so I get a bag of frozen ones at Walmart and I think that's cheaper than buying fresh ones.

The menus in the book call for all kinds of crazy ingredients, and to me they just sound yucky anyway. lol. I haven't tried any of the recipes yet. I do not follow the menu guides, I just eat things that are "beachy" and appropriate for phase one.

Good luck!!

[Wsu_Coug]

I followed the book exactly for the first two weeks and spent almost 700$ on food! I decided to plan out menus and make grocery lists and it has gotten sooooooo much cheeper, now its about 100$ a week including all the fresh fruits and vegis, it gets way easier and like others have said . . . buy canned or frozen goods on sale, buy seasonal, its starting to be summer where I am and I am looking forward to produce stands and farmers markets because those are almost always cheeper then the grocery store. With some shopping tweaks I have been able to stick with this for over two months now and stay on budget.

[RedRox]

Originally Posted by Mandee

I do not follow the menu guides, I just eat things that are "beachy" and appropriate for phase one.

Good luck!!

But there is a danger in that you can overeat some categories and undereat others and still not really have a very "beachy" overall menu. You do not have to use a menu in the book EVER, but you do need to understand the meal models in conjunction with the food lists to create appropriate meals and snacks to maximize nutrition and limit the most calorie dense items keep things in overall appropriate proportions.

[Mandee]

I know that, thank you.

[dmay]

I really appreciate all the help and advice, I have been coming to the forum daily and reading guides and such. What a wonderful tool this forum is. I have printed the model for phase 1 and the list of what I can have. I plan to take both with me grocery shopping. I plan to do the same for phase II next week. You guys are the best!