Let's talk about eating healthy on a dime...

Is this even possible in Vegas? I am sure it is! Thoughts?

 

Let a big expensive suite with a mini fridge and microwave, eat store-bought fresh fruit and quinoa.

 

Suites with kitchenettes can be had at times for $70-90. Not expensive at all. Quad is currently $70 on most weekdays for the rest of the year...on casino rate.

 

I do not go to Las Vegas to eat healthy. I try to eat healthy at home, but Vegas is a different story.
I have no desire to go to Vegas and eat cheap or healthy. Vegas is about indulgence.

 

That's cool. I eat what I want in Vegas usually and save better eating for later. However, I know there are folks here who benefit from maintaining their healthy regimen during their vacation, and I would love if they would offer tips especially on the frugal end.

 

If you are going to pay extra for a kitchen in Vegas, you have to include that in the meal expense.
So it gets complicated.

Over 25 nights in Vegas, my hotels cost me on average about $15 a night: Orleans, D, Four Queens, Sam's Town.

My food, even with a couple expensive buffets, averages between $8 and $15 a day (excluding tips and excluding the meals I buy for friends/family)
So paying $70 a night for a kitchen so I can cook quinoa and do dishes does not seem like a satisfying frugal plan.
And I do go to Vegas so for almost a month I don't have to do dishes.

Of course, I could not do what I do if I never gambled.
So that complicates the formula again.

Maintaining a healthy diet is not too hard in buffets unless one needs organic. But I do have to pick the right buffets. I had to give up Main Street Station for the Golden Nugget buffet, for example.

 

What is that? A loofah?


I would imagine that some of the low-cost buffets would probably be a good option for eating (somewhat) cheaply and (mostly) healthy. They all seem to have salad bars, fruit, veggies etc. I’m sure you could find some lean protein at most of them as well.

I managed to eat reasonably healthily at buffets during one trip when I was on a health kick.

 

Funny, I had a colonoscopy about a year ago and I had eaten a huge bowl of quinoa in the day prior to the procedure. After the procedure, the nurse and the doctor had pictures of my intestines with questions about what the clear, light colored food particles were. They looked like seeds clumped together.

Neither had a clue what quinoa was... but it was obvious from the pictures that's exactly what it was. I had a good laugh about that one.

 

I think healthy eating is way easier now than ever before... even in Las Vegas. Make no mistake, I never do it, but I have no one to blame but myself. Having breakfast just last week at the Hard Rock, there was steel cut oatmeal, fruit and yogurt platters and other very healthy choices... but damn the waffle with a side of bacon was callin' my name, just like it always does.

 

The last time I was in Vegas, we ate whatever we wanted. We weren't complete pigs but we didn't deprive ourselves and ate at both nice restaurants and hot dogs at Casino Royale. Don't forget the tons of booze. Factor in all the walking and all I gained was a pound.

 

You can eat oatmeal, fruit and yogurt at home. Being on vacation means enjoying yourself! I don't order from a menu what I can make at home.

 

I had to chuckle at the oatmeal comments.

One of our favorite breakfasts for years has been the oatmeal at the Orleans Courtyard Cafe. Last trip I found out it has to be off my list. It spiked my blood sugar.


Since I am in Vegas for so long at a time, I generally keep to about the same eating habits that I do at home. So far I’ve managed to keep the diabetes under control and move toward eating foods that fight or at least don’t encourage cancer which I figure is what will take me out in old age.


Sometimes I just need to give myself permission to eat the way I know I should eat and not fall into bad habits. The meals that are the most decadent often are not the most satisfying and some of those that are the healthiest can be really a better food adventure.


Also, in the past I have been driven mostly by frugality, but what is free is not necessarily what is healthy for me.
I especially mourn the loss of long free days of Myers Rum all on their dime. Getting Perrier helps a bit, but being healthy in alcohol choices means red wine for me, and little of that. Finding decent red wine when gambling is not easy.

I have done better at finding foods.


Last trip I found a restaurant in Riviera that had some very tasty and healthy choices.

http://www.rivierahotel.com/las-vegas-dining/banana-leaf-cafe.aspx


I also located these resources, but I have not really used them fully.


http://vegasclick.com/vegas/vegetarian.html


http://eatingveganinvegas.tumblr.com/post/41366805655/taking-a-bao-at-fat-choy


Sometimes frugality and healthy do go together. Buffet eating is the simplest because I can test foods, have small portions, and at most of them there is plenty of fruit and salad.
I hate most going out at home and trying to fight my way through restaurant menus where no matter how hard I try, in the end the meal was not good for me. At the buffet I can see what I get and I can ask about added sugar. Some now label food that way.


I love Indian food and last trip to Vegas I went to an Indian restaurant on the strip and had a veggie meal. It spiked my sugar. Surprised me. Yet a cheaply priced Indian buffet will generally have plenty of dishes that are fine for me and I can eat them without rice or bread. Often I can ask about added sugar. I did the same thing here while gambling in Ocala. What was healthy for me was just one small portion of what was included. I won't order Indian off the menu anymore.


My goal is to give myself permission to eat interesting healthy food and not worry about my food budget. I manage to do it at home in the grocery store, but not always in Vegas where frugality is one of the games I play.

Still, a bag of nuts and a piece of fruit with coffee are often fine for a Vegas breakfast. I really need less stimulation from food because the poker does that just as well. And because I walk or take buses I get plenty of exercise in my traveling in Vegas, much more than I do at home sitting at the computer too many hours. And that helps make me healthy as well.

So far I've controlled a raging diabetes with just food choices and not meds. Lately my numbers have not been so good and perhaps I'll need some pill to help after my next A1C.

 

walgreens has myoplex meal replacements for 19$ for a 4 pack. Or you bring you own as normally this is a 12$ item.

Grand lux cafe has a great half chicken dish for under 15$, includes veggies and something else which I forget but I always ask if they can sub that for a baked.
Toby keiths has the same thing but BBQ flavor.

Great tasting, healthy and cheap.

Wish I knew of other places with cheap healthy eats.......

 

I eat at least 5 fruit and veg servings per day and I eat little to no gluten (wheat). My IBS has settled right down since cutting the gluten. But I don't think the fruit and veg has done me any good health wise but I do it because my mother told me to

I think buffets are your best bet for staying on an eating plan, mostly staying on an eating plan , portion control, having a little treat and staying on budget. Especially if you have a coupon.

Last month I saw a lot more fruit at the gift shops, coffee stands and drug stores on the strip and downtown. So, you don't need a rental car to hit a grocery store. Is it the cheapest fruit available? No, but it's convenient.

 

What is the circus circus buffet like for folks eating the way you do?

 

Awwwww Dewey....you noticed....

The Circus Circus buffet was actually pretty good. Pleasant surprise. The food was too high for most of the smaller kids to reach...very smart. There was enough of both kid food and grown up food. I'm not as strict about the gluten in Vegas but I still avoid the obvious breads and pastas. If I'm going to go off the wagon it's for a baked treat of some kind. I got all the veggies and fruit I could want. They had self serve non alcoholic drinks which I liked because I'm also cutting back on carbonated drinks. The service was good. Everything was clean. All the stations were well staffed by friendly, helpful people. The room looked good. Washrooms right there, no need to go out to the casino to pee or wash your hands or both. We didn't die. I don't know what more a person could ask for.

 

When I have a breakfast buffet I usually only have 1 other meal. I have never gained weight in LV, Infact my pants are usually a little looser when I leave. I think the walking, high protein and the lack of late night snacking is the trick. Because I do over indulge at the buffets especially the Bellagio and Caesars, but I usually do the late lunch trick so I have plenty of time to work it off. I usually use the fitness room and pool when they are available also. I have started to bring some snacks, nuts and fruit lately in case I don't want to ruin by ADT using my players card for a breakfast buffet on the last day. Also i have not been satisfied with the freshness of some of the snack I bought downtown at the J. stores, the nuts were a little off. I am border line high cholesterol, but no diabetes so far.

 

Since my trips always include a trip to GVR I love the Red Rock Spa breakfast options at the Grand Cafe for breakfast, and none of them break the bank, nor leave me feeling awful afterward.

I also got a horrid case of food poisoning from the dinner buffet there on my last trip, but that's not a diet plan I overly recommend

 

That's soooo true... it's all about choices. I just have a helluva time in a buffet... the healthy salad and fruit areas are so well stocked, but I rush right past to get to the fried-chicken, mac & cheese, etc... dang my lack of willpower!!!!!