Judith Wills
It just doesn’t make sense, as many people claim, that dieting is expensive. On several counts it is less expensive than how we were eating before we began to diet.
1. You’re eating less, not more so why does it cost more? If you lose weight by eating your usual food but simply cut portion sizes by a third, which is more or less what I am doing, then you don’t even need to do the maths to see you’re saving money.
2. You’re cutting out most between-meal snacks such as chocolate, crisps, biscuits, cakes, and fattening desserts such as ice cream and pies. Again, you’re saving loads. Even if you replace them with healthier lower-calorie items you will still save. For example, a 45g bar of chocolate costs about 60p. An apple costs about 20-25p.
3. And if you cut back on alcohol, if you happened to drink regularly BD (before diet), you will save absolutely loads.
Yes some low-calorie foods are expensive – caviar, lobster, salad veg out of season, fruits out of season (and asparagus if you don’t grow it yourself!) to name a few – but we don’t need to buy any of these items in order to lose weight.
Yes some higher-calorie foods are cheapish – eg bread, pasta, potatoes... er, don’t know what else as I think 'foods', if you can call them that, such as mass market sponge cakes, biscuits and savoury snack foods are really expensive considering what junk they are. And don’t get me started on fizzy drinks and squashes. A worse lot of old rubbish you won’t find masquerading under the name of nutrition, anywhere.
The thing is a great deal of low- or moderate-calorie foods are not too dear and it’s your choice which way you go.
I reckon I’m saving at least £30 a week altogether on my food and drink (just me, not me and Tony), and perhaps more.
Ate last night: Very inexpensive supper of leftover scraps off a roast chicken, sauted with some ground spices, mixed with raisins soaked in stock, almonds, chopped dried apricots, brown rice and chopped spring onions (see right).
The Garden to Kitchen Expert 
Recipe taken from The Garden To Kitchen Expert by Judith Wills and Dr DG Hessayon, priced £9.99. Buy this book at a discount from Saga Bookshop.