So, more and more, we're hearing research and public advertisements telling us that each year, America is getting increasingly obese due to the nature of the diets of our adults, all the way down to our youngsters. Of course, there's also the factor that people are not exercising as much as they used to as well, that's contributing to the decline in our health and the increase in the pounds and weight-related illnesses, such as heart disease etc. As it concerns diet, however, we're encouraged to get more fruits and veggies into what we eat, and also to eat more organic foods...but have you ever thought of the fact that it's also more expensive to buy things like those, as opposed to say...junk food? So, I'd love to know: what's your resolve when it comes to eating right? How do you eat right when it might pinch your pockets a bit more? Is there a more financially effective way to achieve a healthy diet? Or do we just have to bear the costs because it's a worthy sacrifice?
I can only speak for myself, but my grocery bills are far smaller now that I eat a plant based diet. I know that's not possible for everyone in ever area though. Healthy eating isn't about buying the other boxes or replacing processed with processed or "fat free" or "diet food" etc etc.. of course it's more expensive to eat that way. For me, my health is most important, so it would be top on the list of priorities no matter the cost at this point. If it were as expensive as many people say, I would tweak just enough to get enough calories, but as I said.. it's the cheapest way I've ever eaten.
I do find it tough as well, especially if I try to go vegetarian or at least more vegetarian. One of the main reasons being I end up buying more stuff overall, when I'm avoiding buying meat. In other words, a burger and fries or a grilled steak and a baked potato are relatively few ingredients and inexpensive. But when I try cooking vegetarian, and buying lots of fresh vegetables and herbs to put together into some sort of meal, those all add up pretty quickly. For me to buy all the fresh ingredients to make a pasta primavera, for example, would cost me more than just buying a pack of pork chops or chicken. Also, many vegetables shrink down to almost nothing once you cook them, such as greens like Escarole or Spinach. Plus they aren't substantial enough to be filling. I've been trying to keep my grocery spending down as well, and have been trying to pay more attention to exactly what fresh vegetables and other ingredients I buy, vs. what might be perfectly fine (and possibly cheaper) in the frozen or canned goods section. Stuff like artichokes, spinach bell peppers, and broccoli are much cheaper frozen and can work just fine in most recipes. I also try to avoid impulse buying more exotic ingredients that I don't normally cook with, and which are often rather expensive too - such as tomatillos, star fruit, habanero peppers, etc... With meats it's fairly straightforward - try to take more advantage of the cheaper cuts as much as possible, and keep an eye out for recently marked down meats that are priced to sell and stock up on them when they're available. Just because a cheaper cut may have more fat in it doesn't mean you can't cook it properly to render off most of that fat and be left with a really tender meat. Roasted chicken thighs for example, really benefit from leaving the skin on even if you don't end up eating that part, it keeps the meat super moist.
Being on a diet is difficult. Being on a budget and on a diet make it doubly difficult. For my sister, it's triple trouble since she's on a diet, on a budget and she's also trying to be a vegetarian. She says it really takes great effort so she plans ahead and makes her menu in advance. She buys her vegetables from the local market and cooks her own food. This saves her money rather than buying her food from a specialty restaurant. She says food preparation and cooking is exhausting. Vegetables take time to prepare and as ohiotom76 shared, vegetables shrivel in size when cooked. My sister added that it takes time and effort to prepare the food but just minutes to finish. Lol.
Vegetables are cheap where I'm from, or at least they aren't as expensive as everywhere else, so eating healthy where really isn't that expensive. The hardest part of eating healthy in my area is finding restaurants that sell healthy food since I don't always like cooking every meal and sometimes would rather buy takeout. Unfortunately most takeout items are just unhealthy so it's more a matter of accessibility for me rather than expense.
I agree that junk food is cheaper than healthy foods but that's because freshness is expensive particularly with fruits and vegetables. In a fastfood like Wendy's the salad bar costs more than the hamburger. But when I am on a diet, I have a regimen for 1 week that is a mix of food and not always fruits and vegetables. One good food that I eat when I'm on a diet is the combination of soup and crackers that never fails to take off a few pounds from me.
One thing people need to remember is that you don't need to buy everything organic. Instead pick items that you know you eat regularly or on a consistent basis. For instance, if you eat a lot of tomato's and bananas. Then you should buy those organic since you eat them more frequently. You should also decrease the amount of meat you eat per week as meet alone can drastically reduce your food cost.
Are people cooking their veggies down to mush? I'm stuffed when I eat veggies and meat is far more expensive. I could eat a LOT of healthy food for the price of a steak lol. And agree with viper.. you don't need to buy everything organic.. you'd be surprised to know all about the organics business. Look into your food and where it comes from.. that's the most important thing.
Oh wow, those veggies on your picture look mouth watering, @ExpertAdvice! I agree with JosieP all the way. People always claim that it's expensive to eat healthy, but I disagree. For me personally, eating healthy means stocking up on fresh fruit and veg and upping my intake on those, and this works out very reasonable for me. IDK maybe fruit and veg are expensive in other parts of the world, but here they're substantially cheaper than meat. We eat meat but not every single day because meat is way more expensive where I am.
I too would disagree that healthy eating is more expensive than eating junk food. In fact like JosieP has already mentioned - as healthy eating isn't complicated and is in reality - nothing more than eating a well balanced diet - consisting of totally unadulterated natural nutrient dense foods from all food groups in the right amounts - instead of chemically made overly processed “ foods " - there is no reason why it would be expensive - particularly as half the food in a healthy diet is made up of - wholegrains like rice, pasta, beans, lentils, chickpeas along with fruits, vegetables and other grains - all of which are extremely inexpensive - therefore if you are finding it expensive to eat healthily - then you are - to put it bluntly - clearly doing something very wrong. As TheViper has already pointed out - it also a common misconception to think that you should only eat organic foods - particularly when there is no need to go to the expense of buying purely organic in order to be healthy and even less reason - now that recent scientific research has revealed that - although organically produced foods carry fewer pesticide residues than conventionally grown produce - there was absolutely no difference in nutrient content between the two. Oh and as I have always eaten an extremely healthy diet consisting of only totally natural unadulterated foods - I too have never found healthy eating to be expensive - in fact quite the opposite - as not only are my grocery bills generally way, way less than those who buy processed foods - but I also get a whole lot more food for my money too
The reason why dieting solely to lose weight never works is because once the goal is achieved [you've shed some weight] you might be tempted to slip back. Breaking unhealthy eating habits should be the first thing someone who wants to lose weight and save money whilst doing so, should do. Once that is done you'll obviously stop packing on pounds. As for the myth [rerganic] food is healthier, it isn't entirely true. It's easy to slap an "organic" label on anything. The scam has been on and running for quite some time now. Plant veggies, keep poultry . . . that's the only way to be make sure that your food is organic.
Fresh food doesn't last nearly as long as packaged. That's one reason people resort to prepared foods, because they often don't have the time to run to/from the market frequently. In addition, every time we go to the store, it takes gas, as well as the cost of the food. If the fruits and vegetables aren't used, they go bad fairly quickly, unless they are converted by preserving them somehow. I don't get to the store very often, so it's impractical for me to expect to eat primarily fresh fruit and vegetables. I do keep some frozen on hand, as well as some canned. I think it's good to pack as much fresh food into our diets as possible, but not everyone can shop daily or every other day. It was easier when I lived in the city, because I could stop on the way home from work and pick up a few things several times a week, but that option isn't available to everyone.
That is really hard, specially because healthy and organic foods are always more expensive. Not to mention, healthy foods have less sales, at least that is my impression. The best thing to do is to go to farmers markets and places specifically for organic and healthy foods. As they have more variety, you tend to have better prices.
