Help me understand... how is healthy eating MORE expensive?
 

I have a good friend who just happens to be morbidly obese... her biggest excuse for not taking the jump and losing this weight with me is that it costs too much money to eat healthy. I'm not pressuring her because I know it won't help but I can't wrap my head around this!! I've heard other people say it too... Why do people have this misconception?

Case of soda.... $6 - Water... free
Meal at McDonalds for 4... $20 - meal for 4 grilled at home... less than $10
Box of cookies... $3 - Package of berries... $2
Bag of chips... $3 - Veggies... dirt cheap
Bucket of fried chicken... I have no idea lol - Bag of frozen chicken breasts $6
Hamburger Helper... $3 - Bag of brown rice $2

etc etc... not to mention the decreased volume of food you eat when you're losing weight and the lack of 'extra' non nutritive snack foods.

*sigh*... I guess I just don't understand. I want everyone to 'get' it and be healthy! In a perfect world I guess :).

I have a friend who uses the same excuse. :dunno:
I mean, in ways it is cheaper to eat unhealthy. A box of KD costs like $1, and 2 boxes can feed an entire family :p

I haven't gone out and done price comparisons but I know my freshman year in college my roommates spent as much money on food for the 3 of them as I spent on just myself. (They were the eat whatever you want and never gain weight types). They bought whatever was cheap: fried chicken and french fries in bulk. Lots of canned products, cheap junk snack foods. I bough lean cuts of steak, fresh chicken, fresh fruit and veggies, and a good number of lean cuisines (the price of those adds up fast). But you can go cheap and healthy if you are determined.
I saw in another thread a post saying that you can have two of the three: cheap, healthy, or easy. If it's cheap and easy it isn't healthy, if it's easy and healthy is isn't cheap, etc. So far has seemed pretty true to me

I agree. There are so many healthy foods that are inexpensive. Oatmeal, quinoa, couscous, lentils, beans, etc can be found bulk, for very little per pound, at places like Whole Foods, and they're organic to boot.

Yes, whole grain bread costs more than cheapo highly processed store brand white "bread", but that doesn't hold true for most things.

It's an excuse. Period.

That is the biggest excuse for my sisters who are all in the obese range and they constantly scold me for "losing too fast", "eating too little" and/or "losing too much" :?:. Very frustrating indeed :blah:

i definitely spend more money on my nutritious meals than I did before I cared. Ramen noodles - 20 cents a package. Mac and cheese can be as cheap as 60 or 70 cents a box. Plus, cooking recipes requires an initial buying up of things like spices and other staples that can make a homemade meal add up to more than the fast food dollar menu, until you have a nice stock of things in your pantry. And healthy eating often centers on fresh, quickly perishable food, leading to expensive waste if you aren't organized or don't plan intentionally to use up all the food.

I am now committed to healthy meals and weight loss but in order to afford it, I have to put a lot of time into finding the best deals and figuring out which stores are cheaper for which things.

Have a little more compassion on us who are trying to get skinny while getting by!

It seems to be due to lack of education, or thinking that "healthy" means all organic, fancy boxed things rather than just whole foods.

Trader Joe's has fantastically healthy stuff that is so cheap. Whole wheat couscous, fish, veggies, cheese, cereals, etc.

I think if someone wants to lose weight or eat better they will find a way. And if they don't, or they are scared, then they will find an excuse.

I didn't mean to be uncompassionate!

We're a miitary family so I know all about struggling to get by ;)... I just feel like I spend less money when I take the time to plan out our meals and use fresh healthy ingredients... I'm trying to understand where my friend is coming from is all :).

Whether or not eating healthy NOW is cheaper, down the road it definitely is. What you "save" by eating at McDonalds will eventually come out of your pocket anyway, when you have to treat health problems that have arisen from not taking care of your body.

I rarely find that the people making this excuse are living without cable, iPods, new cell phones, etc.

I'm the one with the cheap, healthy, or easy theory. And I believe that people who are using this as a reason for not losing weight are really saying "I am not willing to put in the effort to prepare healthy, inexpensive foods, and instead buy cheap, convenient, unhealthy foods, because right now I value my time more than I value my health". It's really that simple.

I agree with y'all that the money can be an excuse that gets in the way of changes, and that healthy eating can be affordable. I just think you should take it more seriously, not dismiss it as "just an excuse"...it's scary to commit to a new way of life, and when you're used one way of feeding yourself while keeping the electric service on, it's even scarier to abandon that for what feels like spending even more money. :?:

And FYI, JulieJ08, I don't have cable, I only have an iPod because someone gave me their old one, I only get a new cellphone when the company gives it for free and my cell service is currently shut off until I can pay down the bill, because I spent my money on healthy food at Trader Joes. :^:

I spend a lot less money on food than I used to, but the money is definitely distributed differently. Before, I was all about the fast food and pizza and junk like that. But I wasn't eating just for one person, I was eating enough for several people! Now my grocery store trips are more frequent, so the money spent there is up, but with no money spent on fast food, that's a huge chunk of cash back in my pocket. I have noticed that I rarely need to go to the ATM anymore and that it's because I'm not dropping money here and there on quick food fixes. Before I used to run through my cash like crazy. So all in all, eating for ONE person rather than binging and eating for many has made a big difference in the money I spend on food. I personally spend a whole lot less.

I think to some people the time taken to prepare meals counts towards the cost for them too- it's easier to pick up some McDonald's than take the time to buy the groceries, clean, prepare, and cook the food, then wash up afterwards.

Also if you go to high end chains food can be very expensive- I try to go get my veggies and stuff at places like Henry's and Trader Joes cuz it's much cheaper than Ralphs or Vons.

Yes, I never said otherwise. I didn't say no one.

We spend a TON more money now eating healthier than we used to eating bad stuff...but we live in a small town, where grocery shopping for the items they don't order in larger amounts (the healthy items) is WAY expensive. I can't get a pound of chicken breasts for less than $7...fresh produce is also expensive, as is the frozen. A single meal of grilled chicken breasts with veggies could easily cost us $20 a night.

But when we HAD a Sonic (it closed) my husband and I could eat there for less than $10 or $12, total...

Well said and I agree.

As a single mom for 8 years struggling with weight issues, I can testify to eating healthier is more expensive. If you think of eating healthier as eating diet foods.

Diet foods ARE expensive. Produce is ridiculous if not on sale.

A bag of cheeze puffs: 99 cents
A bag of apples: $3.99
A 2 gallon bucket of icecream $5.29
A 6 pack of low fat yogurt $4.99
regular meat $1.99 lb
lean meat $2.49-$2.99 lb
white bread: 99 cents
whole wheat bread: $2.49

veggie are NOT dirt cheap unless you have a garden. We have a garden and have been eating squash, cucumber, tomatoes, green beans from my garden. Which has cut down my grocery bill tremendously. A 4 pack of tomatoes is $3.99 where I am.

I grew up with 5 siblings and we went without food alot. Our staples were 2 things someone else mentioned. Mac & cheese and Ramen noodles, don't forget the hot dogs needed to cut up into the Mac & cheese. These ARE dirt cheap compared to stir fry kits and other healthier choices.

The thing is people want to feel like they are eating something. They don't want to feel deprived. So they buy into the I must have diet foods to diet scam. I hate diet foods. Your friend sounds a little uneducated in nutrition. That is all. I am sure if you showed her how to count calories and that she did not have to eat diet foods to lose weight, she would really benefit from it and maybe change her mind. Also, since I started eating for me and not 2 of me...I cut down on my expenses alot--like someone else mentioned.

fast food is only part of the story for people who think eating healthy is expensive. It is what they can stock in their fridges and cabinets that holds them back.

Holy crud, $7 a lb for chicken breasts?! I don't buy them if they're more than $1.99 a lb here, usually a lot less! That's nuts.

I guess I'm quick to forget what it's like living in a high cost of living area... I just moved from the DC area to central valley California and don't remember ever paying such high prices for staples like meat/produce/dairy... I feel bad for those of you who have to pay that! :( I just bought a 6 pack of ligh n fit yogurt for $1.99.

I have taken her shopping with me and she's been at my house while I make dinner etc... and she still feels the way she does. She sees that I don't eat "diet food". I dunno... I guess it's just a matter of being ready to stop making excuses.

My favorite dirt cheap meal is 2 eggs with canned refried beans and frozen, microwaved spinach. Less than $2 a serving around here. Dried beans would be even cheaper. A big tub of store brand quick cook oats is pretty cheap too. I buy store brand frozen veggies and fruits.

Well, Val, i think your friendship will be the BIGGEST influence on her and cooking healthy for her too because you will show her how good it tastes.

And you are right, part of it is her making excuses!

Well, for me, a weeks worth of groceries comes to around 35-40 bucks. I think that is pretty cheap :D

$1.99 for a 6 pack?! I can't get them here for less than 80 cents EACH!

I do agree, though, that there ARE things that we could've cut out of our budgets, places we wasted money before, to eat better sooner than we did....

I agree about it being an excuse.. although according to these posts there are definitely some areas with high healthy food costs! :fr:

I think that people not only want the convenience of cheap, unhealthy stuff.. but also that if they went to healthy foods on a tight budget, they might have to give up something else (cable tv, less talking on the cell phone, etc). People, in general, are not fans of giving up anything they like. Personally, if I had to give up satellite tv or a fast internet connection.. that would be completely unacceptable. :lol:

Amen to the cheap, easy or healthy! My family does eat healthy foods, and I'm extremely budget conscious, so I try for the cheap as well.

Somebody mentioned planning though - and I think that's the factor that makes it possible to do all three. By planning meals to fit around my schedule and ensuring that I only have to shop once a week, it's not that difficult to cook every day, and I spend a lot less than some people that eat the cheap "junk". I frequently put meals on the table for under $7 or $8 for the three of us, and have leftovers for lunches!

After a year of preaching about meal planning, one of the girls I work with finally tried it, and she was so excited. She told me she went and did the shopping for her family for the week for $60, they stuck to the menu, it was simple, and they ate healthier foods! Finally, someone got it . . .

When anyone tells me they can't eat healthy on a budget, or that losing weight can't be done inexpensively, I recommend one website and several books.

Hillbillyhouswife.com

The Tightwad Gazette and Miserly Moms books, and Good Cheap Food.

There are tons more, so I suggest they look for the books on amazon.com and pay attention to the "Customers who looked at this also bought" and "you may also like" lists that are also on the book page on amazon.


I agree that it's not always "just an excuse." A lot of people (whether they want to diet or not) do not understand how much money they can save at the grocery store without having to live on only rice and beans, or spend every second of spare time IN the grocery store or at the stove.

Many people don't know how to cook (and have no interest in learning), how to comparison shop, or how to find the best deals. They go into the grocery store, grab what they think they want and what looks good. They don't watch the sales before choosing what they're going to buy or which stores they're going to shop.

Whether or not you're wanting to lose weight or eat healthy, that kind of shopping is much more expensive than strategic shopping.

I like mandalinn's theory of cheap, healthy, and fast/easy - you can find two of the three, but virtually never all three (and on those rare occasions that you can find all three, stock up if you can).

I've been on super-tight, "how can you live on that" budgets ($25 for the month for hubby and I). On that kind of budget, it can be extremely difficult to eat low-cal/healthy, but I'm doubting that's the budget that most people are complaining about.

Even on super-tight budgets it can be done, but not by randomly picking a grocery store and shopping there, you've got to use the grocery store flyers to check out sales before you go, find discount food stores Aldi's, Walmart, health food stores (cheaper for some things like tvp and some bulk foods, and also sprouting mixes to make your own salad sprouts), oriental grocery stores (you have to comparison shop here also), budget bakeries ('day old' bread stores, be careful here and only buy the whole grain breads and cereals), and overstock stores (like Big Lots, there are also often privately owned stores like this).

You've got to be willing to become a bargain-hunter. It doesn't have to take tons of time and organization, but it does take most people out of their comfort zone. When I tell people that I start my shopping by studying all of the grocery store flyers that come in the mail, and that in the more expensive grocery stores I only go in for the loss-leader items and don't buy anything else, they think I'm crazy to spend so much time on shopping (a loss-leader is an item that the store is selling at a loss with the hopes of getting you in the door to spend a lot of money on their regularly priced items).

Careful planning is what makes the difference for me. I'm shopping and cooking only for myself, and one-portion cooking doesn't come easily after growing up in a family of nine, so I have to be very organized, almost obsessive about planning meals to use the ingredients I have, planning how to buy the bare minimum to get the most out of what's at home until I can afford another grocery trip, planning out how to use up all the meat and vegetables before they spoil, packing up portions of each night's dinner for a couple days of lunches. Being disciplined about the last has helped greatly with the need or temptation to run out and buy lunch, which does lead to savings. However, there are days when the money and the groceries have both run out and i have to scrounge based on whatever junk is in the pantry. Those are the times when I long for the simple fat days of ramen and roses :p

I'm going to agree with both sides. My grocery bill has increased significantly the healthier it gets. I've lived in the South now 7 years and still go into sticker shock of how expensive produce is here compared to Midwest. And fish/chicken as primary protein instead of beef/pork doubled what I spent in that category.

However, I feel the investment in my health is more important than money in my wallet at this stage of life. But back when I was paycheck-to-paycheck? Nope, then the ramen noodles won. However it wasn't my frugal diet back then that put on my weight.

I always thought that healthy eating was cheaper than eating unhealthily.

Since I changed my diet however I find that I spend more. The reason is that my diet was very carb-heavy which I had to change. I now have veggies with fish instead of veggie pasta and eggs instead of rolls etc. Carbs are incredibly cheap, but I was eating them way too much and sacrificed protein for them.

Anyway, when I consider what crazy money I used to spend on diets which did not work and watching myself shrinking now makes it all worthwhile! Plus I won`t need to spend money later in order to deal with my own ill health...

Stella

I have to say eating healthy for me and my family of 4 is much more expensive. We didn't eat out a lot.....about 2 times a month. I already planned meals and froze ahead about 2 weeks at a time instead of one a month cooking. Doing this I could feed us on about $125/month when I watched sales ads.

I cannot do that now. I am learning to keep expense down but Turkey burger and Bison are a lot more expensive than Ground Beef. I mix Turkey with Beef so that I can get some of the health benefit. My casseroles and soups filled with noodles really don't fit in my new diet. My homemade bread loaves and bread items are not the low cal kind. To make them low cal requires some ingredients that are more expensive and that I normally do not stock.

It really is a learning curve and the lady that posted about hillbillyhousewife was correct. You need to teach yourselves ways to save and still eat the best for your health.

i dont really pay attention to prices since money thankfully has never been much of an issue, BUT it maysoon be true that eating healthy will be significantly cheaper than the alternative if the CDC gets their way...they are discussing implementing a "fat tax" on all unhealthy foods and drinks to not only combat the obesity problem that is costing the country billions, but to help pay for the trillion dollar health care reform policy!

so while this may be their excuse for now, it might not remain even remotely plausible in the near future. hooray for clean eating!

I have the perfect example. Over the weekend the kiddos wanted hot dogs for supper. Okay, no problem. Now this is how the meal would have went a few years back: Hot dogs(whatever is cheapest)-.88
Bag of buns(again,cheapest)-1.08
Box of macaroni- .60
Yet, this is how it went this past weekend:
Hot Dogs(98% fat free)-$2.50
Bag of Buns(light and Fit)-$1.98
Corn on the cobb for four-$1.00
Sliced tomatoes-outta the garden
So, there is a little something to that "excuse". However, it is a choice. A little less money now for a lot more health later!!!

There are a few things I have had sticker shock on. I am a big ole cheapskate, buy generic 95% of the time, shop at Aldi's for much of my food.

Since I have started paying attention to my nutrition, I find myself at Kroger's or Publix more often. Usually, it is the bread products that I have to make a special trip for. I did have sticker shock on the "Flat-outs", sandwich thins and the healthier english muffins. Before, I just bought my bread products at Aldi's but I can buy healthier breads at the name brand store.

I will say, my Aldi's has a growing selection of Fit-n-active stuff which I have been very pleased with.

The Fiber one type bars are too expensive, IMO. But Aldi's has a version of those too.

So the bread products and the fiber one bars are my main gripes. But, my Dorito spending has gone down dramatically! I have a bag going stale and that has NEVER happened!

I LOVE ALDI! I would be lost in Fatland without my dear friend Aldi. haha. Their Fit&Active stuff truly is great, plus you can get amazing deals on produce if you're flexible.

I guess I'm too simplistic with my planning...

Dinner at our house is nearly always - cheapest lean protein, cheapest seasonal veggie and a salad, + cheap whole grain or potatoes. Throw it all on the grill and we've got a good hot meal. I go to the grocery store about 3 times a week so stuff rarely goes bad.

I'm going to the store tonight and I'm going to pay better attention but I don't think a dinner ever costs more than 10 dollars for me, hubby, and 2 kids.

After my husband and I had a few back-and-forth arguments over whether to buy the cheap bread, or the healthy bread...I started just making all our bread for the kids' sandwiches and other uses, which is both cheaper and healthier than any of the store options. However, in order for this to be "easy" for me to do (four loaves a week is a lot of work!), I have to use a breadmaker, which cost me a fair bit of money a few years ago.

I generally agree that it is actually more expensive to eat healthier. And, in order to keep the cost of eating healthier down, it takes a much greater investment of time. Grocery shopping at more than one store, finding the good deals, buying what's in season, home-baking, home-cooking almost all meals, packing my own lunch for work every day, staying on top of kitchen messes and dishes, then add to that the whole training-kids-to-eat-healthy-and-not-whine-about-wanting-fast-food-instead thing...this is all quite time-consuming.

So I don't blame anyone for being daunted by the process. I learned to shop and cook and eat healthy as a child myself, and it is still daunting to do all this, as an adult.

You have ALDI in the US? :-) Love it too but love Lidl even more, as, beside their own brand stuff, they also sell branded things at discount prices.

There's an Aldis here but for some reason my boyfriend won't go there :?:

This is sort of my point about healthy/cheap/easy. You can make bread products from whole wheat flour in portion-controlled pieces, including "flat-out" type buns, at home, for pennies. But that means you have to learn how to make bread, plan when you'll need them, and spend some time in the kitchen. If you're willing to pay for the convenience of NOT having to do that, that's wonderful, but it doesn't mean that healthy foods are more expensive, it means that healthy, convenient foods are more expensive.

I do a lot of things to keep my grocery bill low, while still eating high volumes of delicious, nutritious foods. In additional to a smallish garden, I go to the Farmer's Market (and not the convenient one in my small town, either, the big city one where parking is a nightmare and you have a 2 hour window, 1 way a week) with the lowest prices for produce in my area (very rarely do you find anything other than specialty items like mushrooms and etc more than $1 a pound). That limits me to produce that's in season (the out of season stuff not only costs more, it doesn't taste as good...so why buy it when there's an in-season alternative?) Not convenient, but cheap and healthy. I buy my meats about a month at a time from a specialty butcher where the meats are not only butchered on-site, but are also WAY cheaper than grocery store and usually pre-marinated, meaning I save money on seasoning as well. Of course, I buy once a month and freeze because while it's cheap, it's an hour and a half away. Definitely not convenient! I sacrifice the convenience of one-stop shopping to get the best quality for my food dollar, and I don't regret it. If I shopped at standard grocery stores, I'd probably spend double.

What I do buy at stores, I sacrifice convenience by looking at ads to determine which of my local markets has the best price for the things I buy most and finding coupons if I can. It's work, but it saves me money, each and every week.

And it goes without saying that (other than the conveniently marinated meats) these foods involve a lot more prep time. My garlic is minced by hand, it doesn't come from a jar, so it's a ton cheaper, but takes time and gives you garlic-smelling fingers. I buy the brown rice that has to cook for an hour, not the instant or microwaveable kinds. Even pilafs I pretty much make myself, using cheap grains and bulk spices. All those veggies need washing, slicing, dicing, drying, and proper storage, and on top of that, proper menu planning to make sure you use them up before they go bad. all of those things take time, but that's a sacrifice I am willing to make to get healthy food at prices I can afford.