Financial Security Made Weight Loss Easier Too

Does your financial situation affect weight loss? I had hardly thought about it before. I had mostly seen calorie counting through food and my own habits: I know how much I eat and roughly how much I burn, so it should be simple. In reality, it isn't always. In this article I explain how getting my finances on a more stable footing also made my eating surprisingly much easier.

Money is one of those things that easily runs in the background all the time. What does food cost, will the money last until the end of the month, can I afford this, and do I need to cut back somewhere? When your finances are uncertain, everything else is harder to plan too.

When you don't have to stress about money, eating gets easier

For me, a big relief has been not having to think of food in terms of the cheapest possible option every single time. I don't mean that you should spend a lot of money on food. Quite the opposite: a fairly modest food budget has helped precisely because I know roughly how much food costs me each month. I don't have to wonder every day whether I can afford something.

When the basics are covered, it is easier to make food choices with calories in mind as well. I can buy foods that I know give me enough protein and a suitable amount of calories without every purchase feeling like a financial decision. It sounds like a small thing, but in practice the effect has been surprisingly large.

Money can be a hidden reason why weight loss stalls

When people talk about weight loss, you often hear that someone lacks motivation or can't stick to a diet. Sometimes the real problem is somewhere else entirely.

If money is tight, you end up thinking about food in terms of price. The cheapest option isn't always the one that best fits how you would like to eat. At the same time, stress builds up. When your financial situation is constantly on your mind, it's understandable that carefully thinking about calories doesn't feel like the most important thing of the day.

I used to see this a bit wrongly myself. I thought I just needed to be more disciplined. Today I think that the fewer extra problems there are around you, the easier calorie tracking becomes.

Read also: making calorie counting easier and self-discipline.

A food budget removes one uncertainty

I don't need a food budget planned down to the cent. A much simpler idea has been enough for me: I know roughly how much my normal eating costs per month. After that, food is no longer something I constantly have to guess about.

I can buy the same staple foods again and already know roughly what they cost and how much food they give. Calorie counting gets easier at the same time. When I already know what I usually eat, I don't have to make a new plan from scratch every day.

So the main benefit isn't even that I save money. The main benefit is that one extra worry goes away.

Weight loss is a whole

When I think about it this way, weight loss feels more like a whole than just a calorie number. Many things affect how easy it is to stick to your own eating:

• what I eat
• how much I move in everyday life
• whether I sleep well
• whether there is stress
• whether the money lasts
• whether everyday life is otherwise in order.

That's why I now think that stabilising my finances was also one way to make weight loss easier. You don't need a lot of money. What has mattered more to me is that the situation isn't uncertain all the time. When I know the basics are in order, I can focus on other things.

You don't have to fix everything at once

I find something comforting in this. You don't have to start weight loss by trying to change everything about your eating right away. If there is a lot of other stress in your life, it may make more sense to first get some of those things on a more stable footing. For me, money was one of them.

When your finances are better under control and you roughly know your food costs, thinking about them doesn't take as much energy. Then logging calories feels easier too.

Maybe weight loss isn't always about finding more self-discipline. Sometimes it's enough to remove the things from your life that make the whole thing needlessly hard. When money isn't constantly in the way, one reason to fail goes away, and the relief shows up surprisingly quickly in how you eat as well.

How I do it in practice

1. Check what a normal month costs. A rough figure is enough. The point is to know the ballpark, not to track every cent.
2. Pick a few staple foods. I buy the same foods week after week, because I know their price, calories and protein.
3. Save them in your food diary. When the same foods and meals repeat, logging takes a moment.
4. Cook ahead. Meals prepared in advance save both money and decisions.

Frequently asked questions

Does your financial situation affect weight loss?

In my case it did. When I didn't have to stress about money all the time, making food choices and logging calories became easier. Money doesn't change the fact that weight drops in a calorie deficit, but it can affect how easy it is to stay in one.

Can you lose weight on a small food budget?

Yes. Weight drops in a calorie deficit regardless of the price of the food. Affordable staples such as potatoes, oats, eggs, frozen vegetables and pulses work well for calorie tracking.

Does a food budget have to be precise?

For me it has been enough to know roughly how much food costs me per month. The point is to remove uncertainty, not to add more things to track.

Where do I start if I'm under a lot of stress?

One thing at a time. If your finances or other parts of everyday life take all your attention, stabilising them first can make weight loss easier later. You can start logging calories lightly without changing your eating at all.