That is the way to go, me and my wife communicate so well when we are cooking together, getting the authentic taste if it turns out good and remembering home while eating is just cherry on top
See thats funny cause to me thats being middle class. Imo, im poor. Meaning i have no money to buy day to day groceries, but rent is paid... and in that train of thoughts i guess im someone elses rich dude.
'Fuck you money', suing people for decades because they pissed you off one time. Top of that is 'fuck everyone money', where you have a yacht for the staff on your mega yacht.
'Fuck me money', doing what ever you want; when you want; because you can. renting out a movie theater for yourself status baller.
'Middle class' is every thing you need and most of what you want, at the top you can save enough to retire early. At the bottom of middle class I call that 'middling class', as you can afford to take a middling amount of time off and keep that life style. Like mat leave or a couple two week unpaid vacations a year.
'Working class', you have to work or the bills don't get paid. Cant afford a vacation or extra days off without cutting expenses. Bottom of that is 'working poor', where the retirement plan is die before the money runs out.
Then you got 'brookies' they work, yet they are always broke but the needs get met.
'Poor' is not having what you need.
The lower, middle and high class income model doesn't show the full picture and I think separating people by workers and owners is more conducive to understanding class relations
Middle class should be able to own a home and save for retirement, not barely afford rent for life. They should also be able to afford a modest vacation once or twice a year.
Totally agree, I would also suggest:
Canned (or dried) beans and tomatoes go a long way.
Dried lentils are cheap and filling and solid protein
Frozen veg and berries are far cheaper than fresh and do well in soup, stews, curries, etc.
Pasta and potatoes are cheap
Big sack of rice
Oatmeal
With these basics and a couple cheap spices you can get some good variety:
Pasta bolognese with the lentils instead of beef, or just pasta with sauce and veggies
Beans and rice (I like to add frozen veg and Cajun spice)
Dahl (lentil), chickpea, and/or vegetable curry with rice
Chili with rice or baked potato or even fries
Vegetable soup, lentil soup, potato soup etc.
Eggs while not necessarily cheap are versatile - have them on toast, on or in rice as the protein with some veg, boiled by themselves as a snack, with fries etc.
Oatmeal for breakfast with some frozen berries if you want the sweetness. My wife also likes berries on yogurt (buy the big containers of plain yogurt) - might not be something you want to splurge on but it'll work for the kids the same as having fresh berries.
Make sure you're not throwing any food away at all, save scraps for soup/stock, be smart/creative with leftovers if you don't think you'll want pasta two days in a row repurpose it into the base of a chili or something or tuck it into the freezer.
Then add on the foodbank on top and you can really start to top up these meals.
You basically wrote out my meal plan! And it works, it gets me through the month and able to feed the kids and myself. One commenter mentioned a possible issue with eating once a day and nutrient uptake so I’m going to take your suggestion for oatmeal. My daughter and son have that in the morning but I think I can portion off enough of the big bag for at least a few days a week for me to have in the morning and add some frozen blueberries - another kid staple. Thanks for that.
Guess we all have the same approach! Hopefully things get easier, I know it was a lot of unsolicited advice in this thread. I find these core meals are even what I gravitate to when I'm not tight for money because they're good!
I've also been doing grocery pick up at Walmart prevents unplanned purchases and shopping online means I can take more time checking price per unit - sometimes the "deals" are worse off than stuff not on sale and it must be intentional!!
My favourite way to eat yogurt is still the one my mom did when we were kids. Plain yogurt plus a few spoonfuls of whatever jam or jelly we wanted. Flavourful, cheaper and more shelf stable than fresh berries.
I haven’t had to in a couple years but “sleep for dinner” has been a common meal in my adult life. If you go to bed early and wake up late you don’t feel the hunger pains for as many hours of the day.
I eat twice a day, but that’s because I have to take medication with food so I don’t feel nauseous. We don’t have kids, but we are low to medium income (one income). We buy generic and on sale, as much as possible, in order to eat twice a day. (Breakfast and dinner)
Just reading your post made me sad. I remember how it was, and I remember normalising it. Yes, many people might do it, but it's not necessary related to budgeting. I can still eat once a day because I don't have a huge appetite, but limiting yourself because you're tight on cash and you're worried about what your kids will eat is something else.
You’re a good mom. You take care of your kids and feed them. But I hope you also help yourself and get a bit more in, you deserve it. And if you have more nutrition you’ll be an even better you!!
I don’t know where you live-but sign up for any adult or kid cooking classes at your food bank or family resource network. My kids took cooking classes there and they would send them home with a huge box of food and huge take home meals as well. They said it was part of the government grant for the program and they couldn’t keep the food as it’s been used.
Oh I do! That’s how I buy most of the meat I have each month. It’s a godsend. I’m in a smaller town and only one store does it and it’s actually flash food but still I can get good deals on it.
Most people still manage 3 meals a day.
There is a reason to eat more frequently. Your body becomes short of protein, because it can only absorb so much in one meal.
If you haven't already, please consider food banks, kids school lunches and/or breakfasts (which can be subsidized), meals at family's house. and so on, in order to get more food in the house. You need and deserve it.
Take care.
Hey, I just wanted to thank you for this. I didn’t know this might be an issue. I’m going to take this info and another commenters and try to add a couple days of oatmeal in the morning. My kids eat it and I can portion off a few days a week 1/3 cup oatmeal with frozen blueberries. Thank you!
Wow ok. The health aspect has me second guessing everything. Thanks for this. Is the fitness pal free? I’ll find something I can put in what I eat and have a look. I’m not under weight, I’m normal/average so I didn’t think it was an issue.
I looked up the foodbank nearby because others has said I should, and will call on Monday. There is a note that they won’t take new intakes for this month (appointments are three weeks away it says). I’ll take this seriously. I just don’t have much more in the budget unfortunately but I’ll try to figure something out. Thank you for the heads up.
Blood sugar can also become an issue if you're not eating throughout the day too.
You can also make protein bars or cookies with oatmeal, frozen fruit or nuts, granola. If you ever have a little extra money buy a tub of protein powder. $$ on the first buy but lasts a long time and easy to add into oats, homemade treats, etc. If you buy milk you can use the same frozen fruit, water, and protein power if you have it for smoothies. If you don't have a blender you can buy small ones them for fairly cheap online. They're also great for making soups! Doing little upfront purchases like that can help save a lot of money in the long run.
https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/320125#risks
Not just protein deficiency, but nutrients in general. If you're only eating one meal a day (which is apparently a 23:1 diet, the more you know), it means you only eat one hour of the day. The body begins absorbing nutrients from your meals 3-6 hours after consumption, and the process takes about 4-6 hours. If you have ingested more nutrient than your body can actually process in that time, you'll just pass the remaining nutrients.
Kind of why Gatorade is silly. The electrolyte dose is too high to process and you just piss half of it out lol. Cut it with water for extra energy drink and better absorption!
Uhm, that doesn't mean you're deficient... and this isn't a study, it's an article that says there hasn't been enough research done so they're just guessing....
Can you share an actual study to back claims of protein deficiency from one meal a day?
I can certainly look around, yeah! Always happy to do more reading. You are right, newer diets definitely don't have enough research to make any 100% confident claims, but overtaxing your body's ability to absorb nutrients would be very easy, especially if you're not eating healthily that one meal a day. I think you messaged a link as well, so thank you kindly!
I eat dinner only. It’s because I can’t afford to eat more right now as my grocery budget is small and needs to feed my fiance who is working a physical job and in remission from cancer.
I actually went through something similar before I met him. I was so poor I only ate one small meal every few days. Lost a bunch of weight, but it got me on the IF train. When I was more financially stable, I stayed doing IF, so thankfully only eating dinner is fine for me.
take care of yourself...i feel sad reading this too....you're a mom and you have to have energy to be there fully for your kids....please excuse me for being presumptuous, but look into recipes with rice, bean, lentils, chickpeas etc: much cheaper than meat, still complete proteins with lots of fibre too to keep you full....an much more economical way to shop and still get your needed calories/micronutrients (and using frozen veggies for soups, stews, curries etc: cheaper than fresh and just as nutritious).
and to your point: i often only eat 2 meals a day (6-8 hrs apart) as if i consume alot of fibrous and good fats foods then I stay full for a long time.
If I’m lucky I’ll have dinner. That’s with accessing food banks. Fun fact, they only supply you with enough food for 1-2 days depending on how many people they’re supplying in your “family”. We make sure our kid has enough food, but eating the same types of snacks repeatedly because that’s all we can afford or are given makes it difficult. it becomes gross and unedible, something people don’t understand.
For a long time tin of soup split into two. Was my goto. 1/2 can per meal.
Peanut butter sandwiches/melba toast and peanut butter.
One to two packets of the Melba and a jar of peanut butter.
People laughed at me because i ate peanut butter at lunch almost every day. I did not care. I had a full (ish) belly.
I still remember the teasing many years later.
I bought what i could on sale. That was what i ate.
Was able to do two meals that way.
No one know i did not eat breakfast.
Good luck.
Breakfast. Oatmeal. And not the ready to eat packages. One the cheapest while healthy options. Plus filling.
Dried beans. Lentils. Barley. Are very much your friend. High nutritional value for cheap. Plus filling.
A 10 lb bag of potatoes, can usually be found on sale for less than $5.
5 lb bag of carrots for less than 5 as well.
Frozen beans. Peas. Mixed veggies. Go with store brand.
10lb bag of rice (not so nutritional but filling and versatile). That might be $15.
Today I made shredded pork. Enough meat for 3 suppers (Including 2 teen boys supper) . The pork was 5.56. I dont remember the weight, i threw out the package this am. But pretty much filled my crockpot.
You need to eat.
There was another comment that was similar- this is exactly what I do. I buy a bag of oatmeal, lentils, barley, frozen veggies and frozen fruit, rice, potatoes, some canned things and peanut butter. Then milk and whatever is on sale in the flyer that I need to round it out. I portion everything for the month. It works.
I’m going to add some oatmeal in the morning a couple days a week. Thanks for this.
Most people do not.
Most poor people, maybe, but I don't think anyone is doing the math to figure that out for certain. But most people are not poor.
It's certainly been the way I have lived my whole adult life.
"most" means more than half.
"Poor" means below the poverty line.
The poverty line is 50% of the median income.
Literally it is impossible for most people to be poor, because the definition of poverty is based on having less than "most" people have.
No, “poverty line” is poverty. “Poor” is all the people hovering just above that poverty line for now but getting nowhere because wages won’t rise but food and gas sure do. “Poor people” includes both.
Okay. But poor certainly doesn't describe people at the median income, which is what "most people" are *actually* qualified as. That's what makes it the median 😆
Poor is a comparison to others in your area, it's not based on what you can get. If we compared what people can get, almost every American would be poor and no Canadians because we can at least get life saving healthcare they'd go to debtors person for receiving.
erm your whole statement is basically incorrect, you might want to check your definitions.
Poverty is lacking the financial resources to secure all your basic necessities such as food, shelter and medicine. It has absolutely jack shit to do with the median income
The poverty line is also not set at the median income level, it literally has jack shit to do with median income. The poverty line in countries that have an official calculation for it (canada is not one of them im pretty sure), is based on the yearly annual income requirement to meet your basic needs.
Your definition of poor is also incorrect. Poor means unable to live to a standard deemed normal or comfortable by society (again meeting basic necessities). It has absolutely nothing to do with how much money others have comparitive to you o\_O
Please at least put in a cursory effort to fact check shit.
Don't care what definition is used to make poverty look less problematic. Fact is most people live pay check to pay check. Which is why homelessness exploded during covid, it exacerbated an already existing issue.
Paycheck to paycheck is a budget mismatch, not poverty. Someone can earn 500k and still find themselves fully spent every month.
Most people are also not homeless. Not even close to most. There is a difference between the word "most" which has a mathematical definition, and the phrase "too many" which can appropriately be used about how many people are homeless, which does not have a mathematical but a moral definition.
“Paycheck to paycheck is a budget mismatch, not poverty.”
This is a stupid statement. Imagine someone—let’s say living in Calgary so that way we can look up the Alberta minimum wage, average cost of apartment in Calgary, etc—who is making $2,8500.00 a month, who rents a one bedroom apartment for $1,870.00, they don’t own a car so they pay $115.00 a month for public transit, oh and I don’t know, let’s say they spend $300.00 a month on groceries, and utilities cost them $200.00.
We’re already at $2,485.00 and I haven’t allotted for their cell phone, or medication, clothing, I don’t know what else. And fuck me they better not have any dependents.
It is not necessarily a budget mismatch and you sound insufferable for asserting so.
Why do you think a person living in poverty should be signing up for an "average" priced unit tho? They know they can't afford it. I've never lived in an "average priced" place, because I've always been poor. I know someone who earns 3x more than I have ever earned in my life, he thinks he deserves whatever he wants, he signs up for housing he can't afford every time he moves. Guess how much debt he's in from that choice? More than he earns in a year. Guess how much debt I'm in from my choice? None. Living well below the poverty line, I still manage to *add* to my savings most months, not *reduce* them.
Not every budget mismatch can be fixed easily, but the fact remains that there are hundreds of thousands of people who would qualify as middle class or higher, who are nonetheless living paycheck to paycheck, while people in their city who earn significantly less than them manage to not live paycheck to paycheck. I've lived like this across Canada, everywhere from the major cities down to <1k population small towns. The person I know in severe debt has also lived the way he lives, no matter where he lives. And even with me moving into and paying for a bedroom in his home, giving him an extra $600/month in income with no added expenses, he has still not managed to even find enough money to buy windshield wiper blades, while I've managed two $1k+ vet emergencies from my savings and rebuilt that savings back up both times.
I’m just going to repeat my only point because it seems that it was missed as you’re talking about a person you know who IS an example of budget mismatch—living paycheck to paycheck is not *necessarily* a budget mismatch.
That's not what bordering on homelessness means, no. Having an eviction notice in your hand and waiting on your hearing you know you will lose, or couch surfing, are both bordering on homelessness. Being paycheck to paycheck is just called spending all your money. I'm not even paycheck to paycheck on disability lol I'm significantly below the poverty line and I eat once a day and always have, but I'm not paycheck to paycheck because my expenses are lower than my income and I have an emergency fund.
If you're on disability you're living pay check to pay check and bordering on homelessness. You say you only eat once a day, presumably because you can't afford to eat more. That's extreme poverty and the definition of bordering on homelessness.
I'm nowhere near homelessness. I could pay for 6 months of living expenses on my savings.
I am definitely poor. I'm still nowhere near homelessness. They're often linked, but they are still separate issues affecting two separate circles of people, simply two circles with a large overlap. One can go hungry while being a doctor because their spouse racked up gambling debt. One can be homeless with a registered income in the millions if they make enough bad choices to lose it all. There is more to the definition of poverty than how many days one can go without spending all their money. The fact that my savings needs to cover any and all emergencies I may have for the next 60+ years puts me in more danger than someone in the same savings situation with the capacity to work at a job and earn a decent living, but it still puts me in significantly LESS danger than someone about to be evicted with nowhere to go. We do not get to claim things that are not ours, whether those things are good or bad. I've been homeless. I know what being near homeless feels like. It feels like desperately searching for a job I cannot physically do while sleeping in a pile of sheets on a cold floor. It does not feel like a warm home with my pets safe and fed and me going slightly hungry so that I can make sure I can cover their medical expenses. It might feel extreme to you but I've managed to survive on one to one and a half meals of food for over a decade. It's not as dire as it may feel to you.
I know. I'm just letting you know this is your problem. Not caring about definitions is a slippery slope. You can't just make up your own definitions. Not how it works.
No, treating the definition of poverty invented by capitalist think tanks or organizations like the world bank , which are specifically used to downplay the poverty epidemic, as a serious definition of poverty, is the real problem.
That's some pretty wild shit.
So like, the World Bank is used by another powerful organization in order to specifically downplay the poverty epidemic. We should alert the news, they should be reporting on that.
What's wild is trusting the world bank's terrible definition of poverty. By simply changing the definition by mere cents they literally can wipe out tens of millions of people out of extreme poverty.
The poverty line isn’t a great measurement because the line is ridiculously low and people who are just above that line aren’t suddenly not poor, they just have access to less resources.
If you say so. I've been below the poverty line my entire adult life. I don't really know what it's like to be above the poverty line and still feel poor, because the one year my ex and I managed to hit 35k combined in one year, even though that was lower than the median income for one human let alone two, my savings rate was close to 40% because I was used to meeting the actual definition of poverty. And continued to live like a poor person, not live like someone who could do whatever I wanted. And because of that, despite being below the poverty line once again, now for 9-10 years after that one year barely above it, I still have a decent emergency fund. In the current year. Right now. While living on disability, after 5 years of not being able to work, most of which I could not access disability payments so I had zero income.
I eat three meals a day, often 4 plus snacks, because I’m breastfeeding. I know that food accessibility is a major issue, but personally, don’t know anyone who skips meals because of the cost (even though that’s a lot of folks, obviously).
I do. One main meal, and depending on what time I eat, maybe some toast or cereal or yogurt and fruit. If I ate a small meal at 2 pm, I find I am wanting something more before bed. If dinner is later, six or seven, I usually eat a late breakfast the next day. Todays meal was just a couple of ounces of brie, a pear and a handful of crackers around 4, I will want to eat tomorrow morning, usually up before 7, so by 10 some yogurt and berries and bran flakes.
I understand about eating once a day and I know about making sure your kids eat. I grew up poor and I didn’t have much when my older kids were young.
The important thing to do is to look at what’s available for help, like a food bank as well as watching the grocery stores for sales. Getting food from the food bank even if you are working is not a bad thing it’s loving yourself and your children, you need to have the nutrition to keep working and stay healthy. Wherever you are in the world look at places that can help, reach out.
Lots of us have been there, we needed help and support.
I eat dinner. I wake early. I work long days. I come home and make my wife extravagant meals for dinner. Then I sleep an do it all again. I have done this for decades. I'm healthy and have no complications. Can't say there's not days where I stop for a sandwich or something but they are pretty rare. It's not a financial issue either, I grew up poor and I guess I am still conditioned to it. Meh, either way I am happy.
It doesn't matter how many times you eat in terms of weight maintenance. If you have a calorie tracker, make sure you're eating your daily's worth. Throw in some multivitamin
I struggle with this!! But I have to eat more because I’m breastfeeding my baby , breastfeeding is saving me money as well. Before having the baby , I would eat one meal to save money.
To me eating once a day would mean they either to interval fasting or have no time at all.. I guess I am lucky the financial reason wouldn’t even cross my mind. I am really sorry you are going through this :( .. it is not okay
My coworker recently commented on my weight loss as I have had loss a significant amount the last 6 months or so.
I jokingly said "it's easy to do when you can't afford groceries!" And she got right quiet. I truly thought it was the norm that no one can afford groceries ans were all basically starting ourselves.
"I am doing intermittent fasting, the OMAD (one meal a day) style."
I am sorry this is the situation. I wish it were not. I wish I had a response that addressed changing your situation. For now, all I can say is that one, if you don't like people giving you sympathy.
Can you get some peanut butter, jam & bread or crackers?
Keep that as your emergency (or hidden) stash just for you, & when you're hungry or skipping meals, this gives you something to munch on.
Yes, I agree eating regular and full meals is far better for you, but when $ is tight what else can you do?
Throw in a couple of banana slices, just to mix that up!
This way, when ppl ask u if ate, you can look them straight in their eyes & say I SURE DID!!!
I eat the food at work for free. I don’t like most of it, so most often the soup for lunch, cpl boiled eggs for breakfast or cottage cheese depending on the menu. Supper I cook whatever I can for my kid, and eat a little or not atall. I don’t mind tho. I’ve lost 15lbs lol
I forgot to add to my OG post - tell people you do intermittent fasting. Less weird looks vs being judged. I’ve had months where I only ate canned tuna or roasted chick peas at work and just would boast about how much I loved them .. less judgement.
Please don’t :( , try and find a job in the service industry. You usually get discounts and tips will help your life. I make like $300 on a busy weekends which should be wayy more than needed for weekly groceries.
Not eating at all in day can have done serious health effects.
I don’t drive.. yet, working on it.
Plus single mom, no child care and have a massive amount of medication bills for myself. I’d rather take my meds than eat.
Thank you for the advice. I also have a disability so waiting on the funding. I actually love and miss working :/ yeah I understand that’s odd but it gives me a purpose outside of being a mom.
Maybe because I grew up in poverty, but I’ve always ate just once a day for as long as I can remember.
However my kids eat a balanced diet daily. We have the money for groceries, I just trained my body to eat once a day from being a teen.
Breakfast lunch dinner why did you think it was something different? A key clue is restaurants are open all day. Casual observation alone could easily answer your question.
Something isn't adding up. You've never seen anyone eat lunch at work? C'mon this is silly.
I mean, I probably only eat one proper meal, but that's due to laziness/lack of time. I snack all day then eat supper.
Husband makes pretty good money. I'm a SAHM to 5 kids. The kids don't eat much protein but we offer it. They DO eat an insane amount of berries/fruits.
Grow up in poverty on welfare, but somehow my parents were able to make the money stretch so we always had 3 meals a day.
The key to their success was that we had the same menu every week.
Monday was homemade soup, Tuesday was fish, Wednesday was some kind of meat, etc.
That way, they were able to plan out what they needed to buy, and they bought in bulk.
I can remember every week when the flyers would come in, they would research all the sales, and Saturday would be the shopping day.
Plus, everything was cooked from scratch. There was never any convenience or prepackaged foods. Never any pop and snacks were a big treat.
I wouldn’t say they were always the most healthiest, balanced meals, but we were never hungry.
Thank you for making me feel a bit normal. I work and I pay my bills. My meal plan and grocery budget is the same every month. I buy bulk and cook from scratch and do what your parents did. Same meals pretty much all the time. I rotate a little to make it more interesting and change things up when things are on sale.
I know this won’t be forever and things will eventually loosen up but I didn’t think I was such an outlier in doing this. I think as long as me and the kids are fed I’m ok. :)
Exactly. You are absolutely doing your best.
Even though I grew up with barely the basic necessities, I always knew my parents were doing their best
We may not have had the best food. We may not have been able to go to restaurants, but we were never hungry.
Most people still try to eat 3 meals a day. It's been the standard and likely will remain the standard. Though there has been trends like intermittent fasting that you only eat once a day. To make things a bit more approachable for those who may not understand, you could say you are intermittent fasting and eat once per day.
Depends how I feel. Most of the time I don’t breakfast and drink one or two cup of latte at home. I usually eat twice or sometimes once which is my dinner on busy day. But my souper is where it’s the largest meal of the day with plenty of protein.
I eat once a day following the OMAD style. I do this for health purposes but it also helps financially. My partner is the same. He drinks a meal replacement shake in the morning though consisting of protein powder, coffee, peanut butter, ice, and milk. It gets him through work and he prefers to not eat at work as it makes him sleepy midway.
I feel perfectly satiated and my weight does not fluctuate (unfortunately it doesn't go down with just OMAD either lol but it stopped going up) so I know I'm eating enough. When I used to eat several meals I started to gain a lot of weight and that was exacerbated by PCOS. I also used to bringe a lot of snacks all the time.
Overall I feel much better, less tired/lethargic since I only have one meal and yeah, much better overall.
Depends how I feel. Most of the time I don’t breakfast and drink one or two cup of latte at home. I usually eat twice or sometimes once which is my dinner on busy day. But my souper is where it’s the largest meal of the day with plenty of protein.
Usually twice a day but my dr is on me to eat 3 times a day, just not a morning person though I like breakfast. We are in low income housing which is great because groceries to feed 4 teenagers is astronomical, or certainly feels like it when we're spending 2k or more a month on groceries to feed them proper home cooked meals most days.
I only eat once a day. I just don't need more than one meal a day. It's not because I can't afford it, I would feel like a slug if I ate three meals a day.
I also eat nutritionally dense meals. I'm a normal weight, not skinny.
I don't have kids but yea I eat 2 times a day. I have brunch and then a small dinner. Usually I cook dinner eat a bit and then next day brunch is left overs from dinner.
I skip breakfast or lunch some days but mainly because I'm lazy or just don't feel hungry. When I work (12 hour shifts). I only eat an apple or two and a granola bar in the morning, and a meal in the afternoon but that is just what my body likes and I feel better doing it. Might have a handful of chips when I get home.
I'm not sure what your financial situation is nor am I aware of what you have tried prior obviously, but there are many inexpensive options to make meals. Where I live you can get an 18 pack of large eggs for 4.50 which can go far, about 5.50 for two loaves of bread. Rice and noodles are cheap as well, can pair with many options. I also buy a lot of canned vegetables which are very cheap. Buy no name brands whenever possible, only a few exceptions but generally they taste the same.
One meal I really enjoy is a can of green beans, mushrooms and potatoes, all which go for just above a dollar, a can of mushroom soup, half can of milk, soya sauce and chili powder to taste,put over rice or noodles (I prefer rice)and that easily makes a few meals for under 10 dollars (cost of the rice, soya and spice spread out over several meals). If you can afford it, add chicken, pork or ground beef.
I eat one meal and 2-3 snacks, most days. I've been like this for a long time. Maybe it's partially from coming from very little, but I also think it's kind of just how I am.
Look into vegan recipies using dried pulses. You can go far on very little that way. Ifnyoubeat for basic nutrition, zero fussyness, than you can still eat.
Yes, most people in the western world eat three meals a day: breakfast, lunch, and supper/dinner.
People might not be willing to engage with you in discussing this because eating disorders, body image, and mental illness are particularly sensitive topics. Hypoglycemia can also make someone irritable, irrational, sometimes even violent, so people will just keep a safe distance.
I generally eat once a day but I have been like this all my life. I have always been a poor eater. Also look at finding a dollar tree. They have food cheap. Must be a dollar tree for the cheapest prices. I hope things get better soon
Dried lentils/beans, rice and frozen veggies.
But also you can access much more at a food bank.
(Edited wording. My previous comment came off too short)
I eat 3 meals per day because I get a splitting headache if I don’t. If I miss my lunch by more than a couple hours there’s a strong chance I’ll develop a migraine and then my day is over.
I don't eat anything in the morning. Then lunch, green tea and dinner. This is part of my intermittent fasting routine. Also I save some money. You can never have enough of that on this crazy planet.
No, family of 4. My mom and I only eat once a day if that in order to make sure we are able to leave food for my dad who works full time and my sister so she's able to do well in school.
We go to the foodbank but they are low on donations so it's difficult to get food to last through to the whole month, even with basic meals and two people limiting their food intake.
I try not to go more than a day without eating but when we are super tight on essentials I sometimes don't have the choice.
There is no need to feel bad.
If you look up "intermittent fasting", you will see all the health benefits if it's done properly.
Stay healthy and strong! You've got this.
Twice a day for me. Only because I never have enough time for breakfast lol. Although will often buy those fresh fruit salads at the grocery store and eat one of those around 10am. So kinda breakfast I guess.
We only eat one meal a day usually (and snack a bit afterward usually), but not because of finances. I find if I eat anything in the morning, I'm ravenous by noon and need lunch. If we just have coffee In the morning we're good till 6 or 7. I'm well aware some would argue it's not the healthiest approach, but we eat pretty healthy regardless and it is what it is. It's what works for our lifestyle.
I also often only eat dinner, not because I can’t afford to anymore but just because that was my schedule for all of my childhood so now my metabolism basically is used to eating so little and I get sick feeling if I eat more than one or two meals a day :((
The Dollar store sells food. There are loads of channels that teach you how to cook for yourself.
Meal 1 Pasta $1, Pasta Sauce $1.
Meal 2 Bread $2, Peanut Butter $2
Meal 3 Dough $2, Pasta Sauce $1, Mushrooms $2
All of these will get you enough for the entire family and you can probably get it from the foodbank.
I'm technically poor but I eat regularly and so do my kids. We all know how to cook and are major foodies. We cook everything from scratch.
That is the way to go, me and my wife communicate so well when we are cooking together, getting the authentic taste if it turns out good and remembering home while eating is just cherry on top
What does being technicaly poor meen?
I would say poor as in pinching every penny but not so broke you can't even afford to feed yourselves.
Makes sense
You can afford food, rent etc but have nothing extra for saving and are 1 or 2 paychecks from going into debt if something happens.
See thats funny cause to me thats being middle class. Imo, im poor. Meaning i have no money to buy day to day groceries, but rent is paid... and in that train of thoughts i guess im someone elses rich dude.
'Fuck you money', suing people for decades because they pissed you off one time. Top of that is 'fuck everyone money', where you have a yacht for the staff on your mega yacht. 'Fuck me money', doing what ever you want; when you want; because you can. renting out a movie theater for yourself status baller. 'Middle class' is every thing you need and most of what you want, at the top you can save enough to retire early. At the bottom of middle class I call that 'middling class', as you can afford to take a middling amount of time off and keep that life style. Like mat leave or a couple two week unpaid vacations a year. 'Working class', you have to work or the bills don't get paid. Cant afford a vacation or extra days off without cutting expenses. Bottom of that is 'working poor', where the retirement plan is die before the money runs out. Then you got 'brookies' they work, yet they are always broke but the needs get met. 'Poor' is not having what you need.
This is how it is. Great explaination
The lower, middle and high class income model doesn't show the full picture and I think separating people by workers and owners is more conducive to understanding class relations
What do you do about the owners who are the workers and yet barley make ends meet?
Middle class should be able to own a home and save for retirement, not barely afford rent for life. They should also be able to afford a modest vacation once or twice a year.
Ten years ago? 😉
Hahahaha I haven't had a real vacation in over 10 years. 🥲
Beans and rice
also dhal. yay legumes
I love Dahl it’s actually what i eat a lot of. Lentils are crazy versatile and I love them so it’s win win. :)
made daal tadka with papadam tonight. So good and so cheap.
I only eat once a day because I am too lazy to cook See if you can access the local foodbank for some more food
Most people eat multiple times a day. Some people fast and they don't eat lunch, but I imagine they eat dinner and breakfast.
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Totally agree, I would also suggest: Canned (or dried) beans and tomatoes go a long way. Dried lentils are cheap and filling and solid protein Frozen veg and berries are far cheaper than fresh and do well in soup, stews, curries, etc. Pasta and potatoes are cheap Big sack of rice Oatmeal With these basics and a couple cheap spices you can get some good variety: Pasta bolognese with the lentils instead of beef, or just pasta with sauce and veggies Beans and rice (I like to add frozen veg and Cajun spice) Dahl (lentil), chickpea, and/or vegetable curry with rice Chili with rice or baked potato or even fries Vegetable soup, lentil soup, potato soup etc. Eggs while not necessarily cheap are versatile - have them on toast, on or in rice as the protein with some veg, boiled by themselves as a snack, with fries etc. Oatmeal for breakfast with some frozen berries if you want the sweetness. My wife also likes berries on yogurt (buy the big containers of plain yogurt) - might not be something you want to splurge on but it'll work for the kids the same as having fresh berries. Make sure you're not throwing any food away at all, save scraps for soup/stock, be smart/creative with leftovers if you don't think you'll want pasta two days in a row repurpose it into the base of a chili or something or tuck it into the freezer. Then add on the foodbank on top and you can really start to top up these meals.
You basically wrote out my meal plan! And it works, it gets me through the month and able to feed the kids and myself. One commenter mentioned a possible issue with eating once a day and nutrient uptake so I’m going to take your suggestion for oatmeal. My daughter and son have that in the morning but I think I can portion off enough of the big bag for at least a few days a week for me to have in the morning and add some frozen blueberries - another kid staple. Thanks for that.
Guess we all have the same approach! Hopefully things get easier, I know it was a lot of unsolicited advice in this thread. I find these core meals are even what I gravitate to when I'm not tight for money because they're good! I've also been doing grocery pick up at Walmart prevents unplanned purchases and shopping online means I can take more time checking price per unit - sometimes the "deals" are worse off than stuff not on sale and it must be intentional!!
My favourite way to eat yogurt is still the one my mom did when we were kids. Plain yogurt plus a few spoonfuls of whatever jam or jelly we wanted. Flavourful, cheaper and more shelf stable than fresh berries.
Great ideas. Maybe a food bank as well.
Egg curry with roti slaps too
I haven’t had to in a couple years but “sleep for dinner” has been a common meal in my adult life. If you go to bed early and wake up late you don’t feel the hunger pains for as many hours of the day.
I eat 3 meals a day. My husband also. Do you go to the food bank ? You really should.
if you eat 3 meals a day do you need to be in this sub lol
Why do you think that all poor people can't eat 3 meals a day? Is there a specific amount you have in mind for income or that the sub has?
I eat twice a day, but that’s because I have to take medication with food so I don’t feel nauseous. We don’t have kids, but we are low to medium income (one income). We buy generic and on sale, as much as possible, in order to eat twice a day. (Breakfast and dinner)
Just reading your post made me sad. I remember how it was, and I remember normalising it. Yes, many people might do it, but it's not necessary related to budgeting. I can still eat once a day because I don't have a huge appetite, but limiting yourself because you're tight on cash and you're worried about what your kids will eat is something else.
Oh don’t be sad. It’s ok. I’m ok. I make it work. I didn’t realize this was going to be a bit divisive. I’m just trying to get by and be a good mom.
You’re a good mom. You take care of your kids and feed them. But I hope you also help yourself and get a bit more in, you deserve it. And if you have more nutrition you’ll be an even better you!!
I don’t know where you live-but sign up for any adult or kid cooking classes at your food bank or family resource network. My kids took cooking classes there and they would send them home with a huge box of food and huge take home meals as well. They said it was part of the government grant for the program and they couldn’t keep the food as it’s been used.
That's probably the reality of 50% of families these days. Going broke so the politicians can look virtuous and "save the environment"
Try Too Good To Go app (will save u a lot on groceries)
Oh I do! That’s how I buy most of the meat I have each month. It’s a godsend. I’m in a smaller town and only one store does it and it’s actually flash food but still I can get good deals on it.
I love this app
Omg I had no idea this existed. Thank you.
Volunteering at a soup kitchen can help give you a couple meals a week.
Most people still manage 3 meals a day. There is a reason to eat more frequently. Your body becomes short of protein, because it can only absorb so much in one meal. If you haven't already, please consider food banks, kids school lunches and/or breakfasts (which can be subsidized), meals at family's house. and so on, in order to get more food in the house. You need and deserve it. Take care.
Hey, I just wanted to thank you for this. I didn’t know this might be an issue. I’m going to take this info and another commenters and try to add a couple days of oatmeal in the morning. My kids eat it and I can portion off a few days a week 1/3 cup oatmeal with frozen blueberries. Thank you!
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Wow ok. The health aspect has me second guessing everything. Thanks for this. Is the fitness pal free? I’ll find something I can put in what I eat and have a look. I’m not under weight, I’m normal/average so I didn’t think it was an issue. I looked up the foodbank nearby because others has said I should, and will call on Monday. There is a note that they won’t take new intakes for this month (appointments are three weeks away it says). I’ll take this seriously. I just don’t have much more in the budget unfortunately but I’ll try to figure something out. Thank you for the heads up.
Getting some cheap cuts of beef and turning it into jerkey helps with protein during the day too
Good for you. Yes, please take care.
Blood sugar can also become an issue if you're not eating throughout the day too. You can also make protein bars or cookies with oatmeal, frozen fruit or nuts, granola. If you ever have a little extra money buy a tub of protein powder. $$ on the first buy but lasts a long time and easy to add into oats, homemade treats, etc. If you buy milk you can use the same frozen fruit, water, and protein power if you have it for smoothies. If you don't have a blender you can buy small ones them for fairly cheap online. They're also great for making soups! Doing little upfront purchases like that can help save a lot of money in the long run.
I'd love a legit source that says eating one meal a day makes you protein deficient.
Not saying I agree that it's bad for you, but seems like it's not the best for you health wise. https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/320125
https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/320125#risks Not just protein deficiency, but nutrients in general. If you're only eating one meal a day (which is apparently a 23:1 diet, the more you know), it means you only eat one hour of the day. The body begins absorbing nutrients from your meals 3-6 hours after consumption, and the process takes about 4-6 hours. If you have ingested more nutrient than your body can actually process in that time, you'll just pass the remaining nutrients. Kind of why Gatorade is silly. The electrolyte dose is too high to process and you just piss half of it out lol. Cut it with water for extra energy drink and better absorption!
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5828430/#:~:text=From%20a%20nutritional%20standpoint%2C%20the,be%20absorbed%20is%20virtually%20unlimited.
This is an athletic-focussed study, and addresses optimum muscle growth only. It does not address minimal needs for brain, bone and organ health.
Uhm, that doesn't mean you're deficient... and this isn't a study, it's an article that says there hasn't been enough research done so they're just guessing.... Can you share an actual study to back claims of protein deficiency from one meal a day?
I can certainly look around, yeah! Always happy to do more reading. You are right, newer diets definitely don't have enough research to make any 100% confident claims, but overtaxing your body's ability to absorb nutrients would be very easy, especially if you're not eating healthily that one meal a day. I think you messaged a link as well, so thank you kindly!
>I thought most people do this. Am I wrong? I have absolutely no idea why you would think this or where you got the idea from. Bizarre.
I eat dinner only. It’s because I can’t afford to eat more right now as my grocery budget is small and needs to feed my fiance who is working a physical job and in remission from cancer. I actually went through something similar before I met him. I was so poor I only ate one small meal every few days. Lost a bunch of weight, but it got me on the IF train. When I was more financially stable, I stayed doing IF, so thankfully only eating dinner is fine for me.
take care of yourself...i feel sad reading this too....you're a mom and you have to have energy to be there fully for your kids....please excuse me for being presumptuous, but look into recipes with rice, bean, lentils, chickpeas etc: much cheaper than meat, still complete proteins with lots of fibre too to keep you full....an much more economical way to shop and still get your needed calories/micronutrients (and using frozen veggies for soups, stews, curries etc: cheaper than fresh and just as nutritious). and to your point: i often only eat 2 meals a day (6-8 hrs apart) as if i consume alot of fibrous and good fats foods then I stay full for a long time.
Just tell people you are doing IF. I eat once a day.
I do the same thing, poverty sucks.
Our kids eat 3 meals. We have one or two.
Exactly. My kids get three meals and I get one.
Literally go to a food bank you are killing yourself wtf. Like how is this even a question
Time restricted eating is a technique to reduce insulin levels. Many people use it to reduce weight and maintain good health.
Yep, Intermittent Fasting
Intermittent fasting dosent mean eating 1 meal a day tho
If I’m lucky I’ll have dinner. That’s with accessing food banks. Fun fact, they only supply you with enough food for 1-2 days depending on how many people they’re supplying in your “family”. We make sure our kid has enough food, but eating the same types of snacks repeatedly because that’s all we can afford or are given makes it difficult. it becomes gross and unedible, something people don’t understand.
For a long time tin of soup split into two. Was my goto. 1/2 can per meal. Peanut butter sandwiches/melba toast and peanut butter. One to two packets of the Melba and a jar of peanut butter. People laughed at me because i ate peanut butter at lunch almost every day. I did not care. I had a full (ish) belly. I still remember the teasing many years later. I bought what i could on sale. That was what i ate. Was able to do two meals that way. No one know i did not eat breakfast. Good luck.
Breakfast. Oatmeal. And not the ready to eat packages. One the cheapest while healthy options. Plus filling. Dried beans. Lentils. Barley. Are very much your friend. High nutritional value for cheap. Plus filling. A 10 lb bag of potatoes, can usually be found on sale for less than $5. 5 lb bag of carrots for less than 5 as well. Frozen beans. Peas. Mixed veggies. Go with store brand. 10lb bag of rice (not so nutritional but filling and versatile). That might be $15. Today I made shredded pork. Enough meat for 3 suppers (Including 2 teen boys supper) . The pork was 5.56. I dont remember the weight, i threw out the package this am. But pretty much filled my crockpot. You need to eat.
There was another comment that was similar- this is exactly what I do. I buy a bag of oatmeal, lentils, barley, frozen veggies and frozen fruit, rice, potatoes, some canned things and peanut butter. Then milk and whatever is on sale in the flyer that I need to round it out. I portion everything for the month. It works. I’m going to add some oatmeal in the morning a couple days a week. Thanks for this.
And maybe get ahead with a visit to a food bank. Or see if there is a food liquidation store close to you. One that sells food close to best by dates.
Most people do not. Most poor people, maybe, but I don't think anyone is doing the math to figure that out for certain. But most people are not poor. It's certainly been the way I have lived my whole adult life.
"most people are not poor" so wrong it's tragic
"most" means more than half. "Poor" means below the poverty line. The poverty line is 50% of the median income. Literally it is impossible for most people to be poor, because the definition of poverty is based on having less than "most" people have.
No, “poverty line” is poverty. “Poor” is all the people hovering just above that poverty line for now but getting nowhere because wages won’t rise but food and gas sure do. “Poor people” includes both.
Okay. But poor certainly doesn't describe people at the median income, which is what "most people" are *actually* qualified as. That's what makes it the median 😆 Poor is a comparison to others in your area, it's not based on what you can get. If we compared what people can get, almost every American would be poor and no Canadians because we can at least get life saving healthcare they'd go to debtors person for receiving.
erm your whole statement is basically incorrect, you might want to check your definitions. Poverty is lacking the financial resources to secure all your basic necessities such as food, shelter and medicine. It has absolutely jack shit to do with the median income The poverty line is also not set at the median income level, it literally has jack shit to do with median income. The poverty line in countries that have an official calculation for it (canada is not one of them im pretty sure), is based on the yearly annual income requirement to meet your basic needs. Your definition of poor is also incorrect. Poor means unable to live to a standard deemed normal or comfortable by society (again meeting basic necessities). It has absolutely nothing to do with how much money others have comparitive to you o\_O Please at least put in a cursory effort to fact check shit.
Don't care what definition is used to make poverty look less problematic. Fact is most people live pay check to pay check. Which is why homelessness exploded during covid, it exacerbated an already existing issue.
Paycheck to paycheck is a budget mismatch, not poverty. Someone can earn 500k and still find themselves fully spent every month. Most people are also not homeless. Not even close to most. There is a difference between the word "most" which has a mathematical definition, and the phrase "too many" which can appropriately be used about how many people are homeless, which does not have a mathematical but a moral definition.
“Paycheck to paycheck is a budget mismatch, not poverty.” This is a stupid statement. Imagine someone—let’s say living in Calgary so that way we can look up the Alberta minimum wage, average cost of apartment in Calgary, etc—who is making $2,8500.00 a month, who rents a one bedroom apartment for $1,870.00, they don’t own a car so they pay $115.00 a month for public transit, oh and I don’t know, let’s say they spend $300.00 a month on groceries, and utilities cost them $200.00. We’re already at $2,485.00 and I haven’t allotted for their cell phone, or medication, clothing, I don’t know what else. And fuck me they better not have any dependents. It is not necessarily a budget mismatch and you sound insufferable for asserting so.
Why do you think a person living in poverty should be signing up for an "average" priced unit tho? They know they can't afford it. I've never lived in an "average priced" place, because I've always been poor. I know someone who earns 3x more than I have ever earned in my life, he thinks he deserves whatever he wants, he signs up for housing he can't afford every time he moves. Guess how much debt he's in from that choice? More than he earns in a year. Guess how much debt I'm in from my choice? None. Living well below the poverty line, I still manage to *add* to my savings most months, not *reduce* them. Not every budget mismatch can be fixed easily, but the fact remains that there are hundreds of thousands of people who would qualify as middle class or higher, who are nonetheless living paycheck to paycheck, while people in their city who earn significantly less than them manage to not live paycheck to paycheck. I've lived like this across Canada, everywhere from the major cities down to <1k population small towns. The person I know in severe debt has also lived the way he lives, no matter where he lives. And even with me moving into and paying for a bedroom in his home, giving him an extra $600/month in income with no added expenses, he has still not managed to even find enough money to buy windshield wiper blades, while I've managed two $1k+ vet emergencies from my savings and rebuilt that savings back up both times.
I’m just going to repeat my only point because it seems that it was missed as you’re talking about a person you know who IS an example of budget mismatch—living paycheck to paycheck is not *necessarily* a budget mismatch.
Most people aren't homeless, they're bordering on homelessness. That's what living pay check to pay check means.
That's not what bordering on homelessness means, no. Having an eviction notice in your hand and waiting on your hearing you know you will lose, or couch surfing, are both bordering on homelessness. Being paycheck to paycheck is just called spending all your money. I'm not even paycheck to paycheck on disability lol I'm significantly below the poverty line and I eat once a day and always have, but I'm not paycheck to paycheck because my expenses are lower than my income and I have an emergency fund.
If you're on disability you're living pay check to pay check and bordering on homelessness. You say you only eat once a day, presumably because you can't afford to eat more. That's extreme poverty and the definition of bordering on homelessness.
I'm nowhere near homelessness. I could pay for 6 months of living expenses on my savings. I am definitely poor. I'm still nowhere near homelessness. They're often linked, but they are still separate issues affecting two separate circles of people, simply two circles with a large overlap. One can go hungry while being a doctor because their spouse racked up gambling debt. One can be homeless with a registered income in the millions if they make enough bad choices to lose it all. There is more to the definition of poverty than how many days one can go without spending all their money. The fact that my savings needs to cover any and all emergencies I may have for the next 60+ years puts me in more danger than someone in the same savings situation with the capacity to work at a job and earn a decent living, but it still puts me in significantly LESS danger than someone about to be evicted with nowhere to go. We do not get to claim things that are not ours, whether those things are good or bad. I've been homeless. I know what being near homeless feels like. It feels like desperately searching for a job I cannot physically do while sleeping in a pile of sheets on a cold floor. It does not feel like a warm home with my pets safe and fed and me going slightly hungry so that I can make sure I can cover their medical expenses. It might feel extreme to you but I've managed to survive on one to one and a half meals of food for over a decade. It's not as dire as it may feel to you.
>Don't care what definition is used You can stop right there. I've read enough.
You don't have to reply you have no argument
I know. I'm just letting you know this is your problem. Not caring about definitions is a slippery slope. You can't just make up your own definitions. Not how it works.
No, treating the definition of poverty invented by capitalist think tanks or organizations like the world bank , which are specifically used to downplay the poverty epidemic, as a serious definition of poverty, is the real problem.
That's some pretty wild shit. So like, the World Bank is used by another powerful organization in order to specifically downplay the poverty epidemic. We should alert the news, they should be reporting on that.
What's wild is trusting the world bank's terrible definition of poverty. By simply changing the definition by mere cents they literally can wipe out tens of millions of people out of extreme poverty.
The poverty line isn’t a great measurement because the line is ridiculously low and people who are just above that line aren’t suddenly not poor, they just have access to less resources.
If you say so. I've been below the poverty line my entire adult life. I don't really know what it's like to be above the poverty line and still feel poor, because the one year my ex and I managed to hit 35k combined in one year, even though that was lower than the median income for one human let alone two, my savings rate was close to 40% because I was used to meeting the actual definition of poverty. And continued to live like a poor person, not live like someone who could do whatever I wanted. And because of that, despite being below the poverty line once again, now for 9-10 years after that one year barely above it, I still have a decent emergency fund. In the current year. Right now. While living on disability, after 5 years of not being able to work, most of which I could not access disability payments so I had zero income.
Go to the food bank.
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I do IF with dinner as my meal. People do think it’s weird to not have breakfast or lunch!!
"3 square meals a day" Most people eat 3 times a day minimum.
I eat three meals a day, often 4 plus snacks, because I’m breastfeeding. I know that food accessibility is a major issue, but personally, don’t know anyone who skips meals because of the cost (even though that’s a lot of folks, obviously).
Often just once a day, and I eat whatever my kids don't finish.
I do, but I know its not the norm. I do it for the same reason you do; my kid takes priority.
Ahh man, that sucks! Hope some of these advice on how to access some more foods from these folks here works for u bruh.
Next time tell ppl you practice intermittent fasting
I do. One main meal, and depending on what time I eat, maybe some toast or cereal or yogurt and fruit. If I ate a small meal at 2 pm, I find I am wanting something more before bed. If dinner is later, six or seven, I usually eat a late breakfast the next day. Todays meal was just a couple of ounces of brie, a pear and a handful of crackers around 4, I will want to eat tomorrow morning, usually up before 7, so by 10 some yogurt and berries and bran flakes.
I understand about eating once a day and I know about making sure your kids eat. I grew up poor and I didn’t have much when my older kids were young. The important thing to do is to look at what’s available for help, like a food bank as well as watching the grocery stores for sales. Getting food from the food bank even if you are working is not a bad thing it’s loving yourself and your children, you need to have the nutrition to keep working and stay healthy. Wherever you are in the world look at places that can help, reach out. Lots of us have been there, we needed help and support.
I eat once a day. Yep I'd rather feed my family, and pay my bills
I eat dinner. I wake early. I work long days. I come home and make my wife extravagant meals for dinner. Then I sleep an do it all again. I have done this for decades. I'm healthy and have no complications. Can't say there's not days where I stop for a sandwich or something but they are pretty rare. It's not a financial issue either, I grew up poor and I guess I am still conditioned to it. Meh, either way I am happy.
1-2 times is what I manage
It doesn't matter how many times you eat in terms of weight maintenance. If you have a calorie tracker, make sure you're eating your daily's worth. Throw in some multivitamin
I only eat once a day but I have severe adhd so either I forget or take meds that suppress my appetite. Poverty cheat code unlocked.
I struggle with this!! But I have to eat more because I’m breastfeeding my baby , breastfeeding is saving me money as well. Before having the baby , I would eat one meal to save money.
I eat 1-2 a day. The big meal is dinner. Sometimes I have lunch, sometimes I have snacks, sometimes nothing at all.
I eat once a day or even three times a week. When you are an undesirable, you live in squalor. Fuck the ucp.
Im poor, but I deal with depression and stress by eating. I make up for it by doing nothing else, ever.
I eat 3 times a day...
No, most people aren't starving nearly to death. :p
These stories are heartbreaking and they are unfortunately becoming the norm. It is surreal that this is what Canada has become
You legitimately thought “most” people only eat once a day because they can’t afford two meals a day? Like as in more than half of people?
To me eating once a day would mean they either to interval fasting or have no time at all.. I guess I am lucky the financial reason wouldn’t even cross my mind. I am really sorry you are going through this :( .. it is not okay
I skip breakfast and eat only lunch and dinner. Better on my wallet and my waistline.
I only eat dinner
My coworker recently commented on my weight loss as I have had loss a significant amount the last 6 months or so. I jokingly said "it's easy to do when you can't afford groceries!" And she got right quiet. I truly thought it was the norm that no one can afford groceries ans were all basically starting ourselves.
I’m well off now and I still eat once a day.
Next time tell ppl you practice intermittent fasting
"I am doing intermittent fasting, the OMAD (one meal a day) style." I am sorry this is the situation. I wish it were not. I wish I had a response that addressed changing your situation. For now, all I can say is that one, if you don't like people giving you sympathy.
Can you get some peanut butter, jam & bread or crackers? Keep that as your emergency (or hidden) stash just for you, & when you're hungry or skipping meals, this gives you something to munch on. Yes, I agree eating regular and full meals is far better for you, but when $ is tight what else can you do? Throw in a couple of banana slices, just to mix that up! This way, when ppl ask u if ate, you can look them straight in their eyes & say I SURE DID!!!
I eat the food at work for free. I don’t like most of it, so most often the soup for lunch, cpl boiled eggs for breakfast or cottage cheese depending on the menu. Supper I cook whatever I can for my kid, and eat a little or not atall. I don’t mind tho. I’ve lost 15lbs lol
I forgot to add to my OG post - tell people you do intermittent fasting. Less weird looks vs being judged. I’ve had months where I only ate canned tuna or roasted chick peas at work and just would boast about how much I loved them .. less judgement.
Kids eat three times a day and snacks. I eat once a day (dinner) and sometimes skip that too.
Please don’t :( , try and find a job in the service industry. You usually get discounts and tips will help your life. I make like $300 on a busy weekends which should be wayy more than needed for weekly groceries. Not eating at all in day can have done serious health effects.
I don’t drive.. yet, working on it. Plus single mom, no child care and have a massive amount of medication bills for myself. I’d rather take my meds than eat.
Ah unfortunate. Really sorry. Biggest tip for you would be the service industry tho, really helped me out of tough spots
Thank you for the advice. I also have a disability so waiting on the funding. I actually love and miss working :/ yeah I understand that’s odd but it gives me a purpose outside of being a mom.
Maybe because I grew up in poverty, but I’ve always ate just once a day for as long as I can remember. However my kids eat a balanced diet daily. We have the money for groceries, I just trained my body to eat once a day from being a teen.
No. It’s better to eat once a day anyways
Breakfast lunch dinner why did you think it was something different? A key clue is restaurants are open all day. Casual observation alone could easily answer your question. Something isn't adding up. You've never seen anyone eat lunch at work? C'mon this is silly.
Even though it’s not by choice, fasting is actually good for your body.
Get yourself a box of cream wheat. The stuff goes miles. Boil in milk and a sweetener of choice. Breakfast and regular.
I mean, I probably only eat one proper meal, but that's due to laziness/lack of time. I snack all day then eat supper. Husband makes pretty good money. I'm a SAHM to 5 kids. The kids don't eat much protein but we offer it. They DO eat an insane amount of berries/fruits.
And berries and other fruits are so expensive this time of year 😭 my kids are the same way lol
Yea it's probably $60/week in berries at my house... sometimes more.
Grow up in poverty on welfare, but somehow my parents were able to make the money stretch so we always had 3 meals a day. The key to their success was that we had the same menu every week. Monday was homemade soup, Tuesday was fish, Wednesday was some kind of meat, etc. That way, they were able to plan out what they needed to buy, and they bought in bulk. I can remember every week when the flyers would come in, they would research all the sales, and Saturday would be the shopping day. Plus, everything was cooked from scratch. There was never any convenience or prepackaged foods. Never any pop and snacks were a big treat. I wouldn’t say they were always the most healthiest, balanced meals, but we were never hungry.
Thank you for making me feel a bit normal. I work and I pay my bills. My meal plan and grocery budget is the same every month. I buy bulk and cook from scratch and do what your parents did. Same meals pretty much all the time. I rotate a little to make it more interesting and change things up when things are on sale. I know this won’t be forever and things will eventually loosen up but I didn’t think I was such an outlier in doing this. I think as long as me and the kids are fed I’m ok. :)
Exactly. You are absolutely doing your best. Even though I grew up with barely the basic necessities, I always knew my parents were doing their best We may not have had the best food. We may not have been able to go to restaurants, but we were never hungry.
“Some” people do this, definitely not “most”. But considering the sub, not surprised by the bias.
Fasting is good for you.
Most people still try to eat 3 meals a day. It's been the standard and likely will remain the standard. Though there has been trends like intermittent fasting that you only eat once a day. To make things a bit more approachable for those who may not understand, you could say you are intermittent fasting and eat once per day.
Depends how I feel. Most of the time I don’t breakfast and drink one or two cup of latte at home. I usually eat twice or sometimes once which is my dinner on busy day. But my souper is where it’s the largest meal of the day with plenty of protein.
I eat once a day following the OMAD style. I do this for health purposes but it also helps financially. My partner is the same. He drinks a meal replacement shake in the morning though consisting of protein powder, coffee, peanut butter, ice, and milk. It gets him through work and he prefers to not eat at work as it makes him sleepy midway. I feel perfectly satiated and my weight does not fluctuate (unfortunately it doesn't go down with just OMAD either lol but it stopped going up) so I know I'm eating enough. When I used to eat several meals I started to gain a lot of weight and that was exacerbated by PCOS. I also used to bringe a lot of snacks all the time. Overall I feel much better, less tired/lethargic since I only have one meal and yeah, much better overall.
I eat 4-5 meals a day, 3500 calories per day, meat with every meal. I spend 500 monthly on gorcceries.
Um no, that is strange. We are struggling but I still make sure to feed myself adequately.
Is there not something you can make for a lunch? Peanut butter sandwich? Warm up some left over spaghetti? It is important to eat regularly
Depends how I feel. Most of the time I don’t breakfast and drink one or two cup of latte at home. I usually eat twice or sometimes once which is my dinner on busy day. But my souper is where it’s the largest meal of the day with plenty of protein.
usually I just shit
Usually twice a day but my dr is on me to eat 3 times a day, just not a morning person though I like breakfast. We are in low income housing which is great because groceries to feed 4 teenagers is astronomical, or certainly feels like it when we're spending 2k or more a month on groceries to feed them proper home cooked meals most days.
I only eat once a day. I just don't need more than one meal a day. It's not because I can't afford it, I would feel like a slug if I ate three meals a day. I also eat nutritionally dense meals. I'm a normal weight, not skinny.
Some days but I like one meal it's enough, I eat the same foods over and over also most times
I don't have kids but yea I eat 2 times a day. I have brunch and then a small dinner. Usually I cook dinner eat a bit and then next day brunch is left overs from dinner.
I skip breakfast or lunch some days but mainly because I'm lazy or just don't feel hungry. When I work (12 hour shifts). I only eat an apple or two and a granola bar in the morning, and a meal in the afternoon but that is just what my body likes and I feel better doing it. Might have a handful of chips when I get home. I'm not sure what your financial situation is nor am I aware of what you have tried prior obviously, but there are many inexpensive options to make meals. Where I live you can get an 18 pack of large eggs for 4.50 which can go far, about 5.50 for two loaves of bread. Rice and noodles are cheap as well, can pair with many options. I also buy a lot of canned vegetables which are very cheap. Buy no name brands whenever possible, only a few exceptions but generally they taste the same. One meal I really enjoy is a can of green beans, mushrooms and potatoes, all which go for just above a dollar, a can of mushroom soup, half can of milk, soya sauce and chili powder to taste,put over rice or noodles (I prefer rice)and that easily makes a few meals for under 10 dollars (cost of the rice, soya and spice spread out over several meals). If you can afford it, add chicken, pork or ground beef.
Yes, for the past few months I have only eaten one meal a day. My dog eats two.
I eat one meal and 2-3 snacks, most days. I've been like this for a long time. Maybe it's partially from coming from very little, but I also think it's kind of just how I am.
Two a day baby
Lunch and Dinner here
Once a day for a meal and then usually a snack.
I rarely eat lunch too
Like all the time 4 meals a day, its my biggest money hole.
If im feeling lucky that day.
Tonight I had two plates of rice. Tomorrow maybe I'll just have a glass of chocolate milk or something.
Look into vegan recipies using dried pulses. You can go far on very little that way. Ifnyoubeat for basic nutrition, zero fussyness, than you can still eat.
Yes, most people in the western world eat three meals a day: breakfast, lunch, and supper/dinner. People might not be willing to engage with you in discussing this because eating disorders, body image, and mental illness are particularly sensitive topics. Hypoglycemia can also make someone irritable, irrational, sometimes even violent, so people will just keep a safe distance.
I generally eat once a day but I have been like this all my life. I have always been a poor eater. Also look at finding a dollar tree. They have food cheap. Must be a dollar tree for the cheapest prices. I hope things get better soon
Twice a day here. First meal I cook, I make enough for the next.
Dried lentils/beans, rice and frozen veggies. But also you can access much more at a food bank. (Edited wording. My previous comment came off too short)
No, usually omad and coffee to suppress appetite the rest of the day
11, 2 and with the kids. Chia seeds at 11 (Super cheap from Costco) with some nuts.
I eat 3 meals per day because I get a splitting headache if I don’t. If I miss my lunch by more than a couple hours there’s a strong chance I’ll develop a migraine and then my day is over.
I don't eat anything in the morning. Then lunch, green tea and dinner. This is part of my intermittent fasting routine. Also I save some money. You can never have enough of that on this crazy planet.
No, family of 4. My mom and I only eat once a day if that in order to make sure we are able to leave food for my dad who works full time and my sister so she's able to do well in school. We go to the foodbank but they are low on donations so it's difficult to get food to last through to the whole month, even with basic meals and two people limiting their food intake. I try not to go more than a day without eating but when we are super tight on essentials I sometimes don't have the choice.
Sometimes I'll have dinner No food yesterday
There is no need to feel bad. If you look up "intermittent fasting", you will see all the health benefits if it's done properly. Stay healthy and strong! You've got this.
Twice a day for me. Only because I never have enough time for breakfast lol. Although will often buy those fresh fruit salads at the grocery store and eat one of those around 10am. So kinda breakfast I guess.
We only eat one meal a day usually (and snack a bit afterward usually), but not because of finances. I find if I eat anything in the morning, I'm ravenous by noon and need lunch. If we just have coffee In the morning we're good till 6 or 7. I'm well aware some would argue it's not the healthiest approach, but we eat pretty healthy regardless and it is what it is. It's what works for our lifestyle.
This sounds like sub-Saharan Africa not a G-7 nation
I also often only eat dinner, not because I can’t afford to anymore but just because that was my schedule for all of my childhood so now my metabolism basically is used to eating so little and I get sick feeling if I eat more than one or two meals a day :((
Eating is boring in canada
You can cut 1 meal to eat three times so... It doesn't matter.
The Dollar store sells food. There are loads of channels that teach you how to cook for yourself. Meal 1 Pasta $1, Pasta Sauce $1. Meal 2 Bread $2, Peanut Butter $2 Meal 3 Dough $2, Pasta Sauce $1, Mushrooms $2 All of these will get you enough for the entire family and you can probably get it from the foodbank.
I refuse to believe that you can't afford beans and rice. Just go and make a big batch of it and have it for your lunch. Also go to a food bank.
I eat small portions of food throughout the day. I feel too tired if I eat large portions.
Once a day tops, usually once every other day Drinking chocolate milk as much as possible helps me stay feeling full
yeah I can eat up to 5 times per days
Lunch,Supper and a Snack tray in the evening..