When I was in the Inspiration phase of my new plane, I watched lots of food documentaries – you’d be surprised at the number of them out there – and read a couple of Rip Esselstyn’s books – The Engine 2 Diet and The Engine 2 Seven Day Rescue Diet. To tell you the truth, I haven’t quite finished either book. They both contain essentially the same information and much of that information I’ve already gotten in Forks Over Knives, which I did read cover to cover. All of these contain great recipes, diet results from others and lists of foods to buy and foods to avoid.

The thing is, I already have a bunch of food in my kitchen that I’ve already paid for. Now, I don’t have a lot of the bad stuff like ice cream or cookies; but, I do have butter, white potatoes, white rice, white pasta and white flour. And I’m not throwing all of that out. It’s paid for. So, what I am doing is mixing it in with things. When I serve the rice, it’s half white, half brown or black or red. (The black and red varieties are also whole grains. I don’t notice them tasting any different really, they’re just pretty on the plate.) When I make pancakes, I used half whole wheat flour and half white. I will eat the white pasta and potatoes until they are gone; I just won’t buy anymore. In this economy and being on medical leave, I can’t afford to just through my cupboards throwing food out. I don’t know anyone who can, frankly.

So, as I consume what is already in the larder, I use those lists of safe foods provided in the book to restock. I’ll admit straightaway that I won’t be restocking whole wheat pasta. I’ll just remove pasta from my diet because I just don’t like the whole wheat variety. There has to be some balance for me because I live in the real world with real budgets. Eating fresh fruits and vegetables is no more expensive than eating prepared foods, although I don’t get coupons for the fresh stuff. I just do what I’ve always done – I shop by circular, I check the discount bins, I chop everything for myself (although prechopped onions are SUCH a temptation) and I go to Aldi first.

There are lots of way to eat healthfully without breaking the bank. I just have to pay attention so that I can get the most of out my old budget for this new plan.