Eating healthy, delicious meals is a certain way to make you feel good inside and out. As you age, maintaining a healthy diet is fundamental to good health. But for some people, cooking nutritious meals isn’t as simple as it sounds. Here’s our top tips for healthy eating on a budget.

Staying Healthy When You’re Busy

Many ageing Australians are still very busy in their lives with work, family, and social activities. Australia has an ageing workforce and some people choose not to, or are unable to retire at 65. With this in mind, people can experience reduced energy levels as they age, and consequently, don’t feel like spending hours cooking when they get home in the evening. But they still want a fresh and nutritious meal.

Home meal kit delivery services provide a service that can certainly make cooking easier for ageing Australians who want healthy, fresh food at home. By having these kits delivered, they get to cook a variety of recipes and don’t need to spend time grocery shopping or thinking about what to cook. It’s so convenient to choose what you’d like to cook online and have these meal kits delivered to your door. They’re delivered weekly, with the fresh ingredients and recipes included.

Benefits of Meal Kit Delivery

There are certainly other options for older people who are still able to get out and about in their daily lives. For example, they could consider enjoying a meal at the RSL, or they could access a senior’s special meal at the local club. Having lunch out at a restaurant or club every now and then is enjoyable. But, those meals generally don’t show you the nutritional information of the food that you’re consuming. Meal kit delivery services will typically show you the nutritional information of the meal that you’re cooking, which keeps you informed with your dietary intake.

The great benefit of meal kit delivery is the convenience. You can choose your meals online and you’re not required to run to the grocery store for your ingredients. Plus, you know that what you’re getting is balanced and wholesome. HelloFresh includes the nutritional information of the meals that are delivered, and ingredients are Aussie sourced, high quality and fresh. The recipes are easy-to-follow with pictures to help, and they don’t take much time to cook at all. For seniors who are living alone, you can order as small as a 2 person serving. This is great, because you can then cook every second night if you choose to, or freeze the other portion for another time. Plus, shipping is free (to most areas), so you only pay for the meal kits.

Budgeting

Although healthy eating can seem expensive, there are ways to save money and still eat well. Planning is the key when you’re on a budget. Only buying what you need, as well as choosing healthy, easy-to-cook meals will reduce your time in the kitchen, make cooking more enjoyable and reduce food waste.

Meal kit delivery services can also help with budgeting. If you’re a pensioner or an older person on a tight budget, wasting food can be very upsetting. Meal kit delivery services portion your ingredients, so everything you’ve paid for ends up on your plate.

HelloFresh, which was the best performer in a recent CHOICEⓇ test has substantial introductory offers. If you sign up to one of their plans you can save as much as 40% on your first box!

Help With Meal Preparation and Shopping

Older Australians can find it hard to get to the grocery store for many reasons. It could be that you no longer drive a car, or that a change in mobility makes it difficult to walk around the store. If this is your experience, firstly consider asking a friend or family member for help. If nobody is available to help you, or you don’t want to ask, it could be time to consider looking at other options for assistance.

Some of the options that you could consider include getting your groceries delivered. Or, you could subscribe to a service like HelloFresh who deliver to your door, at a day and time that you choose. Plus, you can pause, skip or cancel at anytime if you need.

If you’re struggling with food preparation and food shopping, you may not be getting all the nutrients that you need. Seek help as soon as possible by speaking with your G.P. And if you feel that you need extra assistance with grocery shopping or meal preparation, contact My Aged Care on 1800 200 422 to arrange an assessment to access aged care support services.

If you want to know more about HelloFresh subscriptions, visit their website at HelloFresh.com.au.

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