Seniors on a Budget: Simple and Healthy Eating Tips

Health Eating for Seniors  |  July 18, 2024

What Every Senior in North Vancouver and West Vancouver, BC Needs to Know About Eating on a Budget

Seniors on a Budget | There is a lot of information on eating healthy and a lot of confusion that goes with it. What is certain is that we all know that we are supposed to eat healthily. 

Before we can do that, though, we need to understand what this means. Breastcancer.org gives an excellent, simple definition, one that applies to all people, not just cancer patients, of what eating healthy means

“Healthy eating means eating a variety of foods that give you the nutrients you need to maintain your health, feel good, and have energy. These nutrients include protein, carbohydrates, fat, water, vitamins, and minerals.”

While this definition seems straightforward, implementing it can be challenging for many individuals. For seniors, maintaining a healthy diet can be particularly difficult for two primary reasons: physical limitations that make food preparation difficult, and the belief that healthy eating is unaffordable.

However, strategies that help a working mother or a busy single father quickly, easily, and affordably put healthy food on the table can also benefit seniors with physical limitations and budget constraints.

Tips for Tackling Time and Physical Limitations of Seniors

#1. Plan, plan, and plan:

That is the secret to a regular, healthy lifestyle. It is easy to resort to fast, processed, convenience foods. This type of food does not match the definition of healthy eating. A better approach to avoid resorting to unhealthy foods and snacks is to take some time one day a week to plan meals. This takes the guesswork out of daily meal preparation.

#2. Making a large quantity of food:

Cut down on the work involved in meal preparation; this can then be portioned into individual serving containers to freeze for later consumption. Homemade TV dinners are healthy alternatives to buying food out of a box. One-pot meals, such as soups and stews, are easy to prepare and freeze well, they do not dirty many dishes, so cleanup is easy. 

Alternatively, when preparing a meal, always make extra servings and freeze the rest for later. This has an added advantage for seniors whose caregivers may not come for every meal: if the caregiver prepares extra meals when they are present, the seniors will have extra meals for those times when they are on their own.

#3. Ready-to-eat foods:

Another strategy is to ensure items that are ready to eat are on hand. Have a stock of whole-grain, no-added-sugar cereals available. Honey or fruit can add sweetness if allowed. 

Make sure that ready-to-eat fresh fruits and vegetables are available for snacking. Try to buy “the rainbow” when shopping; look for leafy green vegetables, bright orange, red, yellow, and purple vegetables and fruits so the senior has a colourful plate with many nutrients. Dried fruits are also healthy choices, but should be eaten in moderation as these are concentrated forms of the fruit and therefore high in sugar.

Simple and Healthy Eating on a Budget

Many seniors are on a fixed budget and watch their overall expenses. When shopping for food with your senior, shop the perimeter of the store where the fresh foods are displayed and buy fruits and vegetables in season. (Out-of-season produce is always more expensive.) 

Unhealthier, processed foods are strategically located directly in the middle of the store. Shoppers need to walk past these foods to get to popular fresh products such as dairy or cheeses, increasing the chance that they will buy unhealthier products. Be aware of this and shop smartly.

While processed food choices may seem cheaper than fresh food, you generally need to eat greater quantities of these to feel full, and you tend to feel hungrier soon after eating foods high in fats, refined sugars, and carbohydrates. 

Complex carbohydrates (e.g. whole grains, quinoa, barley, wild rice); fresh fruits and vegetables, especially green, leafy vegetables; and good protein such as chicken, fish, beans, and nuts break down more slowly in your system leaving you full longer. Some fresh products may seem too expensive, but eating smaller quantities equals spending less overall.

Good Food on a Tight Budget

If the price of fresh products is concerning, the Environmental Working Group (EWG) offers a useful resource, Good Food on a Tight Budget. This guide lists the most popular fresh foods, rating them according to nutritional value versus cost. 

For example, fruits that pack the most nutrients for the lowest cost include bananas, pears, nectarines, and orange juice. Broccoli, collards and romaine lettuce are your most nutritious best values for vegetables. The EWG also offers shopping tips and recipes and you can plan meals with your senior using healthy foods while staying within budget. 

Download the free guide at www.ewg.org

Tips for Simple and Healthy Eating for Seniors

Tip #1. Portion Control:

You can reduce your senior’s food expenses by reducing the portion sizes of meals. Seniors may have increased nutritional requirements, but they also may have decreased caloric requirements. There has been a growing trend over the past decades of “super-sizing” everything, including meal portions, and since many of us are raised to believe we must eat everything on our plates, obesity is on the rise. 

Tip #2. Smaller Plate Size:

A simple method to combat this is to serve food on smaller plates; this tricks the brain into believing that you are eating more than you are. Fill the plate with a variety of vegetables, grains, and complex carbohydrates rather than with more expensive cuts of meats, and serve meats in smaller portions (e.g. cut a steak in half for two meals). 

Tip #3. Bulk Cooking:

A good way to make meats stretch is by making soups and stews. These are filling and nutritious and can provide more meals than they would if prepared as a main dish. These techniques allow you to enjoy the foods you love, but in smaller quantities and more cheaply, and walk away from the table feeling satisfied.

Tip #4. Eating Out:

When going out to eat, seniors should avoid fast food establishments and look for local places that may have good, healthy food at reasonable prices. Local farmer’s markets and diners may be good alternatives for an inexpensive lunch. Taking home leftovers can also save money. This can convert one meal into two meals for the same price as one.

Simple and Healthy Eating Resources for Seniors

There are many resources available that can help you and your senior plan meals that are healthy while not breaking the bank. In addition to the resources already mentioned, MyPlate.gov, The Harvard School of Public Health and Livestrong.com can provide additional information on nutrition and meal planning and offer healthy recipes. 

The key to maintaining a healthy lifestyle in later years is to keep it simple. Look for fresh foods, prepare them simply, use minimal saturated fats, and enjoy your meals.

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References

• BreastCancer.org. (January 2014). What Does Healthy Eating Mean? Retrieved from http://www.breastcancer.org/tips/nutrition/healthy_eat
• Environmental Working Group. (August 2012). Good Food on a Tight Budget. Retrieved from http://www.ewg.org/goodfood/

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