Weight loss and healthy living doesn’t have to be expensive and these six points show just how easy it is to lose a few pounds and maintain a healthy lifestyle on a budget.

1. Grab yourself a free gym pass – you may believe that gyms are expensive and depending on where you live in the country and which one you go to, they can be.

However, with a little work and research, such as checking for online promotions and using cash back websites, you can get yourself a completely free gym pass that you can utilize to aid with your weight loss and health regime.

2. Don’t skip breakfast – apart from the fact that the first meal of the day is the one that kick starts your metabolism (and so the sooner you have it after you wake up, the quicker your metabolic rate starts to speed up), if you miss breakfast, you’re more likely to snack during the morning, which means increased calories and a decreased bank balance.

3. Take your own lunch – next time you go to work and grab a sandwich or salad from the shop for your lunch, just have a look at how much of your Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA) it contains for both saturated fats and salts.

Both salads and sandwiches might seem healthy options – and they are if you make them yourself – but most shop bought, pre-packed choices will contain around a third of your daily fat and salt allowances.

4. Include carbohydrates in your dinner – a good, well balanced meal should consist of a portion of protein (chicken or fish, for example), a portion of vegetables and a portion of carbohydrates (pasta, rice or potatoes are the most common options).

On a basic level, the protein is the taste part of the meal, the vegetables are the part that’s good for you and the carbs are the part that fill you up and therefore if you’re feeling hungry, add some additional carbohydrates to your plate – just make sure you do something afterwards to burn them off.

Plus, carbs are usually the prescription cialis generic cheapest part of your meal – a 1kg bag of fusilli pasta, for instance, will only cost you around 1 pound, but it can be used in at least a week’s worth of meals.

5. Drink water with a meal – it’s a simple trick, but if you drink water (tap water is fine) with your meal, you’ll find you feel fuller for longer, reducing the chances of you snacking before your next meal.

6. Grow your own – if you’ve never done it before, when you think of vegetable gardening, it can be easy to believe it requires a lot of hard work, dedication and more importantly, a lot of open land in your garden.

Whilst there is no doubt a need for some regular dedication, unless you want to plant enough vegetables to feed an army, it’s a lot easier than you think.

And it isn’t a problem if you live in a flat with just a balcony, either.

Potatoes, for example, are great in large pots (simply place some potatoes that have sprouted into the compost, with the sprouts facing upwards, water regularly and within 12 weeks you’ll have a pot full of potatoes), as are chilli peppers (place one or two seeds in a tub of compost, water regularly and when they’re a few inches high, support them with a cane), beetroot and carrots (same process as potatoes) and tomatoes are easy to do in a grow bag (just place two seeds in the bag at either end and like chilli peppers, when they’re a few inches high, start to support them with canes).

It’s not as easy as going to a supermarket to buy your vegetables, but it’s a lot more rewarding, a lot healthier and after the initial outlay of the seeds and compost, a better option financially.

Author Bio: For more information about gym accessories, visit the Fitness First, web shop.

Category: Fitness
Keywords: gym, health clubs, fitness