How being frugal can help you lose weight

Not getting takeout: This has been a major change for us, especially after our daughter was born and we were both working full time with a toddler and an infant at home. I’ve blogged about getting out of the takeout trap before (it was hard!), but now that we’ve managed to do it, we are eating far less high-sodium, high-fat food. Our favourite takeout items used to be Thai, pizza and Indian food — all loaded with fat and calories. We still eat all of those things — we just make them at home with our own ingredients and a heck of a lot less added salt and fat. 

Meal planning: Now that we don’t dial up our meals, we have to make do with the food we have in our fridge and pantry. We try to be really careful and make sure the kitchen is stocked well with good food, otherwise we can end up opening cans or eating too many high-carbohydrate foods because they are easy and quick to prepare. Planning our meals and shopping accordingly means we now have access to the ingredients we need to put together a healthy meal quickly and easily. Plus we waste a lot less food in the process.

Toting lunch and snacks: Food courts will not only drain your wallet, they’re not exactly the healthiest places to find lunch. My husband started bringing his own lunch — low-salt, low-calorie food that’s far tastier than what he can find at the run-of-the-mill lunch joints. 

Cutting out taxis: Since I work at home, I often have to travel downtown for meetings. And since I’m always pressed for time, I got into the habit of calling a cab. Taxis in most major Canadian cities are expensive — and I could easily spend $40 getting to and from a single meeting. I now use public transit for most of my meetings — I not only save money, I get exercise by walking to the streetcar stop. Okay, it’s not a marathon — but for a writer who is used to sitting on her behind all day, it’s a start.