And Everone Wonders Why There Are So Many Overweight People Out There Right.it's Crazy How The Scientist And Doctors Can't Figure Out Why Obesity Is Such A Problem And I Think Between The Two Of Us We Have Just Figured It Out For Them Lol
Yes and no for me. The bill has indeed upped through more veggies, fruits and fish, but as I don't buy frozen potatoes, pizza etc anymore (including cookies to "fill me up" at 4 pm when the processed foods are already behind me), it has sort of compensated. Right now the difference is maybe about 5$ more every week, so it's not too bad. But we're also only 2 people at home, and I eat alone for lunch (no children to take into account), so it may also be the reason why it's easier, I don't need big quantities of food.
I agree though that the cost is *definitely* a huge problem. I piled most of my weight when I was between 9 and 18, and I'm pretty sure now that it was in high part due to the fact that my parents didn't have much money, thus we would always have cheap junk food at home, and got fed on that.
I found the trick is to kind of wander around the store and see what's on sale, then plan your shopping around that. It's also good to make huge batches of stuff, freeze half of it, use the other half over the week. That way after a while you build up a reserve of yummy, healthy homemade goodness in your freezer.
I think it truly depends on what you are buying. If you buy a lot of frozen dinners like Lean Cuisine, or diet products like low carb bars or Skinny Cow low fat ice cream-then yes it can be very expensive. The only time I buy expensive things like that is with a really good sale or a really good coupon.
The way I see it-is I can spend $3.00 on a small container of fresh blueberries or rasberries...but I used to spend that same $3 on a bag of Cool Ranch Doritos. (And in my case both are completely eaten within 1 day.) So for me I can eat just as healthy with same cost as I did when I was eating badly.
For me some things are actually cheaper-the $6.00 24 pack of Coke or Pepsi is now a store brand 24 pack of bottled water for only around $4.00.
Some things are actually pretty cheap all of the time-bananas are usually .50 a pound or under...you can get a bag of apples here in Indiana for about $2.50-$4.00, my store sells kiwi fruit 3/$1.00. If you buy brown rice in the bags (where you actually have to cook it for a while) rather than brown Minute Rice, or "heat and eat" type brown rice packs it is really cheap too. Oatmeal is cheap.
I think it is important to check the store ads before you shop-I buy whatever fruit is on special that week. They had a sale last week for a flat of strawberries for $4.99! (equal to 4 pints that are usually $2-$2.50 each) When they are in season-fruit like watermelon, nectarines, and peaches are uber-cheap as well. Just check the ads.
When boneless, skinless chicken breast is on sale really cheap I stock up and get a couple packs for the freezer. I also do the same with frozen vegetables.
Clipping coupons is another strategy that I have-my store doubles them. It really adds up-I save $5-$20 a week in coupons.
I completely agree with Aphil. I think it depends on what you are buying. I know that when I come home with 3 bags of produce, it costs me much less than when I buy 3 bags of processed foods. I also buy the fruit and vegetables that are on sale when I can and plan meals around them. I live in the Pacific Northwest, so there are lots of Asian food stores and when I go to Portland, if I'm out of brown rice, I hit the Korean Market, where I can buy a 20 lb bag of short grain brown rice for $12.00! I love this. When a good whole grain bread is on sale, I grab extra to freeze and use later. Oh, and baking bread is REALLY cheap...and good exercise if you don't a bread maker to knead it! haha. I don't buy sodas (never have liked soda, actually, so I guess I'm lucky that way), because I like water and have fairly good water on tap. The only other beverages I keep on hand are tea (which is also VERY cheap in Asian markets), coffee and milk. I occasionally buy Langer's 100%juice Cranberry juice when it's on sale, but usually I just juice a bunch of carrots and apples when I have a real urge for juice and a surplus of those items.
Beans or lentils and rice is really cheap, and quite nutritious and yummy and we eat some version of that in my house quite often.
Also, I don't eat out so much when I'm eating healthy. Just an occasional meal out--maybe once or twice a month. Eating out is really expensive.
I dunno. It doesn't seem that much more expensive to me, but it is rare that I buy anything pre-processed. I cook from scratch and look for sales. I don't think you don't have to break the bank to eat well. I just try to be more creative and have some fun with my food!
Last edited by Serafyn; 04-11-2005 at 07:45 PM.
Reason: typos and forgot to add something
I HAVE TO AGREE WITH aphil TOO BUT ONLY TO A POINT BECAUSE MY HUSBAND AND I ARE EATING SO COMPLETELY DIFFERENTLY WE HAVE TO KEEP THE JUNK AND THE HEALTHY. THANK GODDNESS I'M NOT TOO BAD AT GIVING IN TO TEMPTATION.THEN WE ALSO HAVE OUR SON WHO LIKES TO EAT BOTH WHAT MOMMY EATS AND WHAT DADDY EATS. SO IT TENDS TO COST US QUITE A BIT MORE NOW THEN IT DID.I BUY WHOLE FOODS FOR MYSELF AND FOR MY HUSBAND AND I DON'T BUY MYSELF ANY SWEETS OR ANY KINDS OF TREATS LIKE FROZEN YOGURT OR ANYTHING LIKE THAT RICE CAKES SEEM TO SATISFY MY NEED FOR CHIPS BUT ALL IN ALL THE COST HAS BEEN NOTICABLE IN THIS HOUSE ANYWAY.ALSO THERE IS NO HOPE FOR FIXING IT SINCE MY HUSBAND AND I SHOP TOGETHER I CAN'T CHANGE WHAT HE EATS BY SLIPPING SOMETHING IN ON HIM AND HE IS NOT WILLING TO CHANGE WHAT HE EATS ON HIS OWN.
Well actually, I have two children as well-and my husband isn't a healthy eater. We often eat completely different diets.
I do apply the same things when shopping for HIS food that I do to my own, though. If he wants a bag of chips and Lays are on sale-then I tell him to grab a bag of Lays and not the Doritos this week. I shop the sales and use coupons for his crappy food too.
He drinks soda-and some weeks I may buy him a 24 pack of cans, the next a couple of 2-liter bottles-depending on what is on special.
There are a lot of companies as well that you can email if you use their products a lot-and they will send you coupons if you request them. I have done this before many times with good results.
I lived off junk food and pasta before. I could spend $15 and have enough pasta and macaroni and cheese to last me for like 2 weeks, and another $15 on junk and drinks. Now I buy fruit, vegetables, wheat products, rice, meat substitutes(i'm a vegetarian), soup at hand, and stuff like that, so it's definitely more expensive for me now.
I don't find that the expense has changed for me at all. I always bought pretty much the same things I do now, subtract some of the junk, and add some frozen diet foods.
But I am willing to pay for the convenience!
One thing I did notice is that I never eat out for lunch anymore. I would pay between $5 and $8 for lunches while I was at work, but now I eat only frozen diet meals which only cost around $3.50 - so I guess I would say I stayed the same, or I save a little.
The cost depends where you live too . . . I used to live in Southern California, and produce there was cheap! But here in Rhode Island, all the produce has to be shipped in from warmer climates during the winter, so it gets really expensive. I mean, back at my parents house we could have all the tangerines we could eat for free since we had two trees in our backyard . . . but here tangerines are all shipped in from California or Florida! Bell peppers are also way more expensive around here.
My bf and I found that we managed to keep costs down a little bit by buying a lot more frozen and canned vegetables instead of fresh ones, even though I much prefer fresh. I do eat Lean Cuisine daily though, so that really adds up when they're not on sale. If there's a sale I will buy twice as much! I don't know how we do it, but we manage to spend about $80 on groceries each week . . . just to feed the two of us! Okay, so he eats three times as much as me, but it's still a lot! He used to eat basically nothing but rice, milk, pasta, oatmeal, and broccoli, so he used to get by on really little. Since I insist on eating more varied foods, we end up buying more expensive stuff, and for some products (like cereal) I do have particular brands that I prefer.
I think, like most other things with dieting, finding affordable, healthy food becomes easier over time.
It is tricky, especially at first. However, once you have time to try a lot of different items and discover what types of healthy stuff you can buy in a cheap or generic form, you'll have a much easier time of it. If you've been eating mostly Mac'N'Cheese, Pizza, Doritos, etc. for a long time, then you're probably not very "price savvy" when it comes to fresh produce. I know I still have trouble making the best choices for my dollar when I'm standing at the vegetables.
The good news is that it gets easier. You'll find staple foods that you like and are affordable. For me these are things like frozen broccoli, canned greenbeans, bananas, apples, oatmeal, generic fig newtons, prunes, yogurt, eggs... I like these things and eat many of them on a daily basis. When you get closer to goal there's also the likelihood that you'll actually be consuming less food than you did before. For instance, a package of Little Debbies might cost me $1.50 and a package of name brand granola bars costs about twice as much. But way back when, when I was buying the Little Debbies, they would only last me a day or two. A box of granola bars lasts me weeks now because I only manage to fit them into my day every so often.
Try not to get discouraged. It really does get easier!
Healthier foods are a better bargain than doctor's bills
I have always rationalized that if you're paying more for healthier food, it may end up being a bargain if you are staying healthy. Healthcare costs are pretty darn expensive!!! Pay for healthier food or pay for doctor bills? I'll go for healthier foods.
Has Anyone Ever Noticed?
