The cost of nutrition

I was wondering veterans, if you find that you are spending more or less for food, beverages and vitamins than you did before WLS?

I am spending quite a bit more for groceries because I am now buying veggies and healthier meats than the prepared meals and carb-laiden stuff I used to buy.

I'm not a vet, but I wanted to que in and say that I am actually spending less money now on healthy groceries and vitamins then I was before I had my VSG. Going out to eat all the time and basically being a human garbage disposal isn't cheap.  Now because I can't eat a lot and am the only one I have to buy groceries for (all the single ladies, all the single ladies...) I'm making sure that whatever I buy is healthy, of higher quality and not going to waste by letting it spoil (before i would buy lettuce and other veggies and they would seriously just sit at the bottom of my fridge mutating). I'm also learning to meal prep so that I have ready to go meals for work and traveling.  

Paying more now for healthier meats and vegetables sounds like a better trade off to me in then the alternative. 

I posted a thread a couple of months back on how much I was saving.  I used to eat out daily for lunch, minimum $10-$15 per day.  Breakfast was another $5 per day.  Plus eating out with my wife.  When we ate out, it was usually $30-40, now it is $10-$20 and we eat out a lot less.

Vitamins are $53/90 day supply and calcium chews are $31 for a 30 day supply.  Calcium citrate tabs would be cheaper but the chews are my 3x a day treat.  So that is about $1.75 per day for supplements.  

I used to eat out constantly, so in comparison to that I save a bundle. We too notice the higher cost on fresh nonprocessed foods, but since my husband also worked on losing weight overall we do not spend more. Protein shakes replace meals for me typically, so compared to buying a $3 fast food meal it is still a great deal. I bought vitamins before surgery so no change there, but do spend a decent amount on calcium chews.  Overall, it is a wash for me. 

Due to cost of living in my area, it really is about the same.  Our schedules are such that eating out is a frequent occurrence, so when we do, we spend less because we often split plates.  Where we spend less eating out, we spend more at the grocery store since we are buying better quality food and little to no processed food--there is little in my house that has a nutrition label on it since it comes directly from an animal or a plant.

I find that I'm spending more only because I'm experimenting with different foods till I find the one I like the most. Newbie here, 3 months post op. I've been trying out different protein shakes, protein bars,soups, proteins etc whereas in the past I've stuck with the ole junk foods & sugar treats.

However I now have food that last a lot longer in my fridge, I now have to get out of the habit of buying bulk items since my new tummy can't hold as much & neither will my fridge(still shop at Costco, go figure). I only spend a bit more on vitamins since I take more than the multivitamin pill that I used to take along with my iron, but money wise it hasn't affected me by that much, not when I get so much more in return! Hello healthy body! 

I spend about the same. I just spend it on different things. Less eating out and junk food. More protein powders and vitamins and supplements.

I spend a lot less.  That is because before I ate out / take out constantly!  I seriously would spend ~$50 / day between breakfast, lunch, dinner and treats.  It was ridiculous.  My job aided me b/c Monday - Thursday I was on an expense account, but just kept the habits through the weekend.

Now I eat out only for social events -- maybe once a week.  So even though I spend a few bucks a day between vitamins & protein shakes, I am well under what I used to be.

I will be 2 months post op August 30.  I think I'm spending less per week on food, because I don't grab fast food for lunch EVER now, but I have found that I am throwing out a lot more food than before. It's going bad before I can use it..especially produce and lunch meat.

Thanks for the information everyone. I am just trying to guage my budget. I suppose since I am pre-op I am of course eating more, so I am spending more. I have also been slipping and eating fast food, so that gets expensive. I think once I have the surgery I can buy less because I will be eating less.