Eating Healthily for $3 a Day • Hacker News Board

Re: Eating Healthily for $3 a Day

#11

Post by icegreentea » Thu, Apr 28, 2011, 3:37 AM UTC

Joakal wrote: post #3

orenmazor wrote: post #2

as somebody who exercises a great deal (and consumes over 3000cal a day), I can't recommend egg whites enough. for $4 (canadian) you can get almost a liter at costco. construct your menu right, and you can easily consume a great deal of healthy food for very little. another tip: while YMMV, stay away from most beans other than black or chickpeas. those are the ones that tend to cause the least disturbance in the forc…

Even lentils?

It's really a matter of how long/how often you're willing to stick with it. If you eat lentils (or any other bean) long enough, consistently enough, the uh... disturbances in the force will subside.

Anyhow, this is an interesting setup. Rice and beans is a fairly standard South/Central American diet (for the same reason chosen here... high energy, full protein complex, and cheeaappp). This is totally a workable diet, but the moment you start wanting to eat fish/meat, your food expenses will skyrocket. Even if it's just Tilipia (yuck!). Which sucks =/

Re: Eating Healthily for $3 a Day

#12

Post by code_duck » Thu, Apr 28, 2011, 3:37 AM UTC

That's about what I eat: home cooked beans, brown rice, random vegetables, some bread, nuts, olive oil, occasional cheese and milk, plus a vitamin.

Re: Eating Healthily for $3 a Day

#13

Post by tokenadult » Thu, Apr 28, 2011, 3:37 AM UTC

xriddle wrote: post #5

Protein fail

Reading the fine article reveals "This diet is quite high in protein (at 174% the daily recommended value). I don’t think there are any problems with that, but it’s something to keep in mind. (And it’s interesting to note, since many think vegetarian diets are low in protein.)"

That's quite plausible, given that he planned the diet from the beginning to make use of complementary sources of vegetable protein, and includes milk.

Re: Eating Healthily for $3 a Day

#14

Post by orenmazor » Thu, Apr 28, 2011, 3:41 AM UTC

code_duck wrote: post #8

orenmazor wrote: post #2

as somebody who exercises a great deal (and consumes over 3000cal a day), I can't recommend egg whites enough. for $4 (canadian) you can get almost a liter at costco. construct your menu right, and you can easily consume a great deal of healthy food for very little. another tip: while YMMV, stay away from most beans other than black or chickpeas. those are the ones that tend to cause the least disturbance in the forc…

Soaking beans for 6-12 hours while changing the water as frequently as possible makes a big difference.

I've heard this too, actually. I haven't tried it yet though. I've actually been terrible at the dry bean angle, opting for canned way too often out of sheer laziness.

Re: Eating Healthily for $3 a Day

#15

Post by noodle » Thu, Apr 28, 2011, 3:41 AM UTC

bdclimber14 wrote: post #10

This reminds me slightly of Tim Ferris' "The 4 Hour Body". Has anyone had any real experience with his suggested diets? I find eating consistent and similar meals is cheaper and healthier.

yes, what do you want to know? there have been a few discussions on the topic in the past, i'll link them if they're relevant

Re: Eating Healthily for $3 a Day

#16

Post by mberning » Thu, Apr 28, 2011, 3:44 AM UTC

bdclimber14 wrote: post #10

This reminds me slightly of Tim Ferris' "The 4 Hour Body". Has anyone had any real experience with his suggested diets? I find eating consistent and similar meals is cheaper and healthier.

I have followed Tim's slow carb diet for about 2.5 months and have lost around 50 lbs. It works for me.

Re: Eating Healthily for $3 a Day

#17

Post by charlieflowers » Thu, Apr 28, 2011, 3:47 AM UTC

I'd really like to see someone do an analysis like this, but including meat. I'm a meat lover, but would like to get an idea of just how cheaply I could eat healthily.

Re: Eating Healthily for $3 a Day

#18

Post by Devilboy » Thu, Apr 28, 2011, 3:48 AM UTC

xriddle wrote: post #5

Protein fail

First comment on HN fail

Re: Eating Healthily for $3 a Day

#19

Post by colanderman » Thu, Apr 28, 2011, 3:48 AM UTC

As a vegan on a limited budget, this approximates many of my meals (though I could stand to eat more nuts and seeds and fewer grains), and I can attest that any day I eat roughly this mix of foods is a day I feel superbly healthy.

I would suggest replacing the low-fat dairy milk with a non-dairy alternative such as soy or almond milk. Although this would up the cost to $3.50ish/day, non-dairy milks are usually fortified with more calcium than dairy milk contains naturally, and are often fortified with B12 as well.

Re: Eating Healthily for $3 a Day

#20

Post by giardini » Thu, Apr 28, 2011, 3:48 AM UTC

Joakal wrote: post #3

orenmazor wrote: post #2

as somebody who exercises a great deal (and consumes over 3000cal a day), I can't recommend egg whites enough. for $4 (canadian) you can get almost a liter at costco. construct your menu right, and you can easily consume a great deal of healthy food for very little. another tip: while YMMV, stay away from most beans other than black or chickpeas. those are the ones that tend to cause the least disturbance in the forc…

Even lentils?

Lentils? My god, lentils!

I once lived in a happy big house with fellow students. We took turns cooking. One of us, an excellent vegetarian cook, whipped up a terrific lentil stew that was so fantastic I had two large bowls. What a tasty meal!

What a night! My roommate had to abandon the room, and two individuals in adjoining rooms were driven downstairs to the living room. I slept only fitfully between blasts. No one spoke to me for 3 days.

Lentils! Never again!