Healthy for less

Rising living costs have meant many of us are trying to make savings where we can.

There are lots of ways to make healthy changes in 2022 and save money at the same time. One You Health Improvement Officer Kate Lucas shares her top tips for getting healthy on a budget.

Find budget-friendly recipes

Cheap doesn’t have to mean less tasty. There are plenty of websites offering recipes for budget-friendly meals and using leftover ingredients. Check out One You Easy Meals app for inspiration and easy meal ideas and find ways to cut food waste at www.lovefoodhatewaste.com.

Frozen fruit and vegetables are just as good for you if not better and are often cheaper than fresh varieties. A jacket potato with beans and cheese is a really filling and nutritious meal.

Bulk out meals

Add vegetables, beans and pulses to winter warmers to make your meal go further and keep you fuller for longer. Try to go half-and-half, can you swap half your beef mince for lentils? Or half your chicken for chickpeas? Try to have two meat-free days a week to help to keep the cost down.

Eat smaller portions

Do you always have too much cooked pasta left over? Weigh out pasta and rice to reduce the amount thrown away or keep any leftovers for the next day. Try mixing cooked pasta with some low fat mayonnaise, sweetcorn and cooked meat or tuna for a tasty lunch. Using a smaller plate also helps you keep portion sizes down.

Get active on a budget

You don’t need an expensive gym membership to be more active. Walking is free and is one of the easiest ways to move more, lose weight and become healthier. Local Health Walks can help you connect with other people, enjoy the outdoors and get active. Find out more at www.walkingforhealth.org.uk.

Join the millions who have started (or returned) to running with the free Couch to 5k app which helps you to build up to a 5k run in just nine weeks. Or you could try Parkrun – visit www.parkrun.org.uk/ to find your nearest location.

Go smokefree

Cigarettes cost more than £11 a packet, so going smokefree can save you a fortune.

Quitting smoking is much easier with the right help. One You smokefree advisors offer free, friendly support including free nicotine replacement therapy. They’ve supported more than 3,000 smokers to quit in the past year and can help you be smokefree for life too.

Don’t be tempted to buy cheaper cigarettes ‘under the counter’, as these can be unregulated and smuggled from other countries and could do you even more harm than regular cigarettes.

If you’d like support to get 2022 off to a healthy start, phone One You Kent on 0300 123 1220 or visit www.oneyoukent.org.uk

Recipes from One You Kent

Breakfast

Overnight oats recipe – the perfect on-the-go breakfast.

1. In a large bowl, mix 150g porridge oats and 100g dried fruit of your choice, including raisons, cranberries or apricots. Add 300ml of unsweetened apple juice and stir well.

2. In the morning, serve with two tablespoons of yoghurt per person. You can top with blueberries or raspberries to get even more of your five-a-day.

Dinner

Tasty veggie chilli – hot and spicy, just the thing to wake you up on a cold evening. You can use lean beef or turkey mince if you prefer.

1. Heat two teaspoons of vegetable oil and gently fry a medium chopped onion. Add one finely chopped carrot, two crushed garlic cloves, one chopped and deseeded red chilli and two chopped peppers of any colour – fry this all gently for a few minutes.

2. Add 300g of frozen vegetarian mince, a can of red kidney beans, 400g of chopped tomatoes, two teaspoons of tomato puree and 100ml of reduced salt vegetable stock. Bring this to the boil and reduce the heat and simmer for 25 to 30 minutes. Add 200g easy cook long grain brain rice to boiling water – this will take 25 to 30 minutes to cook.

3. Season with pepper and serve the chilli with the cooked, drained rice.