The Anti- Tesco Value Challenge

I got a bad bad habit baby

Baby it’s you

Baby it’s you

-Bad Habit, Jenny Burton. House track from 1985, originally.

My bad habit- Tesco Value goods, or more namely, being a tight bastard. I moved out in November, and since I’ve been buying my own food- on a serious budget- I’ve been cutting corners. I’ve been eating cheap and, as a result, taking in a shitload of sugar, salt and refined carbs. This is the real reason I’ve put on 3 kilos. It’s not gym muscle. It’s fat from cheap food.

My budget’s still modest, albeit a little easier to handle after sorting out Inland Revenue affairs. So here’s the next plan: A full shop at Tesco, with hardly any Value products. No cans and no packaged food, unless it’s not part of the Tesco Value range.

Pick up a can of beans next time you’re in Tesco. Look at the salt levels of any can and compare it to the Value equivalent. The cheaper product will always have more salt. So- no Value microwave meals and no Value canned food. Here’s some Value food have allowed myself:

Chicken portions. I thought these thinking they are cheap because of the conditions the chickens live in. It’s snide, but I’m poor. I blame the government. The product itself I assumed to be the same, til I read this. 

Shit. Next time I may have to splash out on the Healthy Living version.

Eggs. Surely you can’t add water to an egg, right? Value all the way, until the government makes me stop. They're from caged hens and not free range, but I don't have the luxury of a big income. Neither do millions of others.

Fruit. Value bananas will go soft quicker than other bananas. But that’s just another reason to eat more of them. They’re also good for combating insomnia, which seems to have died off since I’ve been regularly munching them. Value Kiwis will allow you to smash in a load of  dietary fibre, potassium and vitamin C

So. It’s mainstream, mid-priced products all the way for me, with the odd exception. If you’re doing this challenge too, don’t forget the meat counter. Here you can get a full meal’s worth of liver for 50p. For low-cost healthy eating, liver and kidney are well worth a look.  High protein, low salt. I have the advantage of living around the corner from Tesco, so I can dive in and get liver most nights. If quick, regular trips aren't practical, you may need to freeze in portions if you’re going to eat a lot.

I’ll carry on buying and eating this way for the foreseeable future. I’ll see how I fare at the gym over the next month, and report back.