This is the final section on this topic where we will cover the following:
Lesson 3
- Maintaining a healthy diet on a budget
- Work-life balance
- Wrap up
- Want to learn more?
Lets get into it!
Maintaining a healthy diet on a budget
As food costs continue to rise, eating healthy on a budget can be a challenge. Saving money on food can be tricky. You might be able to resist the temptation to shop for clothes, tech and entertainment, but you need food to survive. So how can you save cash without compromising on taste, health and portion size?
Having a healthy diet now is something you’ll thank yourself for, for decades to come.
Avoiding waste;
It’s estimated that between a fifth and a quarter of food that we buy is wasted. Planning what you will eat will help you make sure you’re eating a healthy, balanced diet, and reduce waste. Writing a meal plan doesn’t have to be complicated, and helps you plan for days when you might not have time to cook, and so avoid buying food you might not get round to cooking.
Almost any leftover vegetables can be made into soup, perhaps with a tin of cannellini or butter beans to make it more substantial. This can be healthier than buying soup, as you can make it without adding salt, and add herbs or spices instead of salty stock. You can freeze soup in portions for another day. Sliced bread, muffins, crumpets and buns won’t go mouldy or stale if you store them in the freezer and just take out what you need. Freezing is also a good way to take advantage of end-of-the-day offers on wholegrain bread.
5 a day;
Any fresh fruit and vegetables can be included in your 5-a-day (apart from potatoes, yams and plantains which are starchy carbohydrates) – ideally, try to have as much variety through the week as you can. It’s worth looking out for special offers on fruit and veg, and buying them in season will be cheaper and tastier than out of season. Frozen fruit and veg also count towards your 5-a-day, and can be cheaper (especially when it comes to things like berries and cherrie
s), as well as helping to avoid waste. Tinned fruit and veg count towards your 5-a-day if they’re tinned in water or juice, without added sugar or salt.
Budget protein;
Plant proteins – like beans, lentils and tofu – are generally the cheapest way to get protein, and because they’re lower in saturated fat than meat, they’re a great choice for your heart health too. If you want to include meat in your diet, extra-lean mince is the healthiest way to buy mince, but it does cost more. The cheapest mince contains around four times as much unhealthy (saturated) fat, compared to extra-lean. If you need to buy the cheapest mince, you can reduce the fat if you cook it the day before, allow it to cool, refrigerate, and then remove the fat from the top the next day. Or you might be able to use less meat in dishes like shepherd’s pie, Bolognese sauce, stews and curries, by adding beans and vegetables. This will reduce the fat content, and if you don’t need to buy as much meat, leaner options might become more affordable.
Healthy carbs;
Wholegrain versions of bread, pasta, or rice don’t necessarily cost more than the white versions. They’ll help to keep your digestive system healthy, and can be more filling too. Porridge oats are a healthy choice, and cheaper than many cereals. If you don’t want to make porridge, you could try overnight oats (just soak porridge oats overnight in water, or low-fat milk or plant milk, mix in a pinch of cinnamon and some fruit).
Work-life balance
Starting out in your professional career can be very exciting. It’s very easy to get carried away with your new job in order to make a good impression and forget about making time for yourself. A work-life balance is extremely important for young professionals.
Work-life balance is the idea of achieving a healthy equilibrium between your professional and personal life. This means having time and energy left over, whether to spend with loved ones, pursuing hobbies and interests, or just having enough energy to get through your day. Work-life balance is different for everyone, but the key is to figure out what works for you. Some people prefer to work a ton in order to climb the corporate ladder as quickly as possible, while others value a less demanding job with more room for outside interests.
Many professionals experience work-related anxiety, which can lead to a more serious mental illness if left untreated. Working too much is one of the leading causes of work-related anxiety. Young professionals should be especially careful not to overextend themselves to impress their manager in order to get ahead corporately. Self care has never been spoken about more. So, don’t slave away in the office when you know it could have a negative effect on your mental health.
One way to maintain your work-life balance is to set boundaries. You’ll want to draw a clear line between your work and home life, as well as your work and social life. This will help you avoid taking work home, as well as prevent your social or family time from being interrupted by work. Depending on your job, you’ll want to set different boundaries. For example, a doctor may need to be available 24/7 in the event of an emergency, while a marketing manager may be able to ignore work calls and emails after hours.
Some things to consider include;
- Taking your lunch break; we have a lunch break for a reason, and its not to eat a sandwich at our desk. Consider a walk to either pick up a meal or after something you’ve brought with you if you’re a meal-prepper! The fresh air and time to digest your food will give you physical and mental clarity. You can walk with a colleague or go on your own whilst listening to a podcast or let your thoughts wonder and creativity flow. You will be far more productive in the afternoon for the break!
- Say no; there is no point agreeing to things that you realistically cannot do, both in the workplace and socially. Don’t be rude. Apologise for whatever it is you cannot do/make and then explain why.
- Turn off notifications outside of the office; If you’ll be out of the office for a few days, be sure to turn off any push notifications or email alerts on your phone. This will prevent you from feeling the need to instantly respond to emails.
Work life balance includes a lot of personal choice. Whilst taking more breaks and protecting your personal life will do wonders for your mental health – some people take the view that they would rather work longer hours while they are young, to get ahead in their career. It is a unique time prior to significant family or other commitments – so it is possible, and some very high reward careers (Doctor, Lawyer, Accountant etc) can even demand it. So this is not to say you should never work overtime, or check your emails in the evening – that can actually be very beneficial for your career (at times!) – but it’s a personal choice, and we should be cognisant of our mental and physical health, and the risk of burn-out.
Wrap up
You are the most important person in your entire life – so treat yourself like it. When we’re young, we think we’re invincible – but this feeling is not necessarily true, and won’t last forever. Taking care of ourselves now can support our mental and physical health in the future. It’s important to take care of ourselves when things are going well and when things are hard.
Take responsibility for monitoring your health and wellbeing. If you have any concerns, there are many resources available to support you, some of which are outlined below.
Want to learn more?
- ‘Orchid’ is a British charity which funds research into the diagnosis, prevention and treatment of prostate, penile and testicular cancer and promotes awareness about these diseases.
- ‘CoppaFeel!’ is a breast cancer awareness charity based in London focused on promoting early detection of breast cancer by encouraging women under 30 to regularly check their breasts.
- NHS guidance on;