Speaking of food, something I've found really handy is to cook large batches of tasty, not super-unhealthy stuff, and then freeze individual portions in tupperware containers. Having ready-to-go meals in the freezer makes it so much easier to not get stuck eating takeout because you forgot to organize anything and you're hungry. And as a general rule, things you cook yourself tend to be a lot healthier than whatever you might be able to pick up on your way to work, at least in my experience.

I started the Power 90 (precursor workout to p90x) on Monday.  Doing things the right way this time instead of jumping into a tough workout then hurting myself two weeks in like I did with p90x back in December.  All it requires is a resistance band and a chair.

I've also been tracking what I eat and have basically discovered that I don't need to track - as long as I'm consistent in eating at home.  My problem is almost exclusively eating and drinking too much at bars.  It's becoming a lot easier now because my fiance has become obsessed with vegan, low fat cooking over the past two months and both of us are growing to be a little bit disgusted when we go out to eat and get vegetarian dishes loaded with oil and cheese.  I've come to the conclusion that chefs in the US simply don't understand what spices are and make up for it with lots of fat and salt.

"I've come to the conclusion that chefs in the US simply don't understand what spices are and make up for it with lots of fat and salt." --Emp

They give us what people crave. It may be an irrational learned craving but still valid over the majority of the general population. That's why there are so many obese people everywhere we look. Plus eating healthy is far more expensive.

I think eating healthy might be more time consuming, but my grocery bills have trended down the healthier I have been eating (I categorized all of my spending over the past couple of years earlier this week, so it's fresh in my mind).

The majority of what I have eaten every day over the past couple months is bulk-purchased staples (brown rice, lentils, beans, etc), supplemented with smaller amounts of more expensive things like seeds, nuts, fruit, and vegetables.   

I will definitely use the link provided. Thanks. I really like the idea that I will have a visual aid that will validate my accountability with this.

Where I am unfortunately located, the absolute most inexpensive foods are not even foods, in my opinion.
Boxed, dehydrated Monsanto-Dinner Surprise, basically.
I have a limited income, and a  very specific amount I use for food, and when I buy real foods, fresh and frozen produce, dried beans and lentils, rice, and spices, (Yep, I know what spices are for  =])  I end up having to borrow money from other areas, like the electric bill money.
If I  stick to the boxed crap, and no fresh food, I almost always end up with 20$ left over.

Even the farmers market here, is more expensive than canned  fruit/veggies.

In the Organic and/or Local section of the markets here, you will find that the size of the product is smaller, AND twice the price of the shipped-in stuff.

I am in no way commending Hamburger Helper....... (or anything that resembles that shit).... I have been on a very satisfying vegan diet before... until I could no longer afford the food.

I strongly dislike Any food that I do not prepare with my own hands.

you dont have to buy dried beans, lentils, rice and spices regularly. get to an asian area and buy it in bulk cheap, its what we do. they last for ages and if youre cooking just for yourself it'll take you a long while to get through them...

I find I save a ton of money if we cook and it's healthier. Japan is pretty good for health however... small portions and you have to eat a crap-load of rice and fish to put on weight here. I will go out of my way to pay for locally grown produce. The food tastes better, it's better for you and it supports the community. It's not really more expensive here either, maybe a little but not noticeably.

Here alcohol is expensive and food relatively cheap (if you earn yen), my wife doesn't drink so I don't when we're together so I think our dining costs are half what a lot of people here pay.

I want to go where underclass is.

What's the unit price for imported California avocados Nick?

The price fluctuates wildly here, anywhere from $0.50 to $1.50 each. But that's for the smaller seconds. All of the prime produce is shipped out. I knew a guy from Japan back in 1984, he told me at that time avocados were going for $4.00 each over there. Here you could get like 5-6 pretty decent ones for $1.00 back then.
So it isn't any wonder why all the best stuff get's shipped out and we are left with crap in the common supermarkets.

When I lived in Idaho, they would ship all of the prime potatoes out.  You could go fill a huge bag with all the remnants you wanted for next to nothing after the machines had moved through, though.  We just got prime potatoes for free, though, because my mom was friends with one of the farmers. 

$12 a kilogram for banana's here at the minute... ridiculous.

8-12 here.

It'll drop to 4, once the harvest comes in, now the crops have recovered from cyclone yasi.

Over the next few weeks it will start moving down and bottom out just before christmas.

unless strong breeze hits the north.

Avos from Mexico are 100 yen each. Used to be a bit more but the high yen has worked its way through the supply chain and now shops are undercutting each other like crazy, good stuff. Food has come down a lot and will get even cheaper as the economy nears its end game over the next decade.

I hope durum pasta comes down in price soon, it's 2.5-3x regular "sugar rush" pasta... that said it's still 1/6 the cost of eating out.

When I lived in Rwanda they were giving away Tutsi skulls... mostly children's...

I'm going to "honeymoon" in Rwanda. Maybe I can make pencil holders for my writing desk if there are any free skulls left...

i'm sure there are

Or just kill some kids there; their laws don't apply to you ...

Or just kill some kids there; their laws don't apply to you ...

But that's just heartless.

Or just kill some kids there; their laws don't apply to you ...

For the fifteenth time, you live in Jacksonville not Rwanda

Lucky recommended a recipe once a few years ago when I was obsessed with eating cheap (and a recipe I still use pretty frequently, though may not be exactly what he said at the time):

a few cloves of garlic
1 cup brown rice
1 cup lentils
4 cups of water + a bullion cube or vegetable stock if you have it.
8 oz can tomato sauce
1 carrot, chopped
1 small eggplant, cubed
1 cup chopped mushrooms
1 onion, chopped
Spices - I usually have Italian spices growing in my kitchen, so whatever looks good.
Any other vegetables you feel like throwing in (frozen spinach, whatever)

Basically just throw everything into a slow cooker, stir it up, and forget about it for 6-8 hours.

I make something similar to that pretty often. I use basically the same things, too. The small differences are that I usually have some sort of stock on hand, in the freezer, as I keep any and all liquid from cooking, especially vegetables and humans. That way I still get to consume the "boiled off" nutrients. And I add a cup of beans to my "dish". That's what I call it.

Or just kill some kids there; their laws don't apply to you ...

For the fifteenth time, you live in Jacksonville not Rwanda

Enough kids get killed In Jacksonville; you, nor I, need to help, nigga!

Sounds good, Emp. I think my mum has a slow cooker she's not using, I might see if I can borrow it.

nigga!

Tasted better than I expected it would the first time I made it - it's basically just reddish-brown vegan mush and doesn't look that appetizing. 

I like that kinda stuff, though. I'm a big fan of all-in-one-pot cooking, and make more stews and soups and sauces than anything else.

Me too ...
... I'm all for the "throw it in, go to work, come home to a cooked meal" thing as well

I was going to say that I'm too anal to do that, but realized I would have walked right I to an Anal joke. So for the sake of this, and most of my other posts, let's just use the word obsessive.  Anyway
I like slow-cooker dishes too but I get all freaked out when it turns out as mush. So I add different things at different times so everything is in good shape when it's time to eat it. Lime how some lentils only really need about twenty minutes to cook whereas some beans need several hours. And things like carrots need several hours but onions cook up pretty quickly in a crock-pot. See? I'm even obsessive about adding forums discussion- because I'm pretty sure everyone here Already knows all of this.

I'd like to interrupt this conversation about grandmother food to say that sushi and beer rock! thank you

So does anal ...