But eating right is so expensive...

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  • bcattoes
    bcattoes Posts: 17,299 Member
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    It's only more expensive if you buy into organic produce, whole wheat pasta, 'healthy' TV dinners, and other fad stuff that really has no effect on anything.

    If you just shy away from junk like cookies, chips, etc. and stay away from eating out, then eating healthy is significantly cheaper for you. My entire dinner tonight cost me less than $3.50/serving and comes in at under 650 calories.

    Organic is a fad? Lol. I'll be sure to let my naturopath know that and my father in laws John Hopkins oncologist know that.

    Lol naturopath and organic foods

    But I do wonder how everyone is spending so little money a week, I suppose quality doesn't count for much

    What do you mean by "quality"?

    Things in which there is a significant difference in taste, dry aged beef vs non dry aged, high end balsamics and olive oils, various cheeses etc etc

    Those are mostly personal preferences. Like people who say light beer is low quality beer. It's just a preference. Many people like the taste of light beer.

    But when money is tight, personal preference is almost always to fill the tummy without emtying the wallet, no matter what the palate might want.
  • bcattoes
    bcattoes Posts: 17,299 Member
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    I make a good salary, and still find my food bill a bit ridiculous. But I made the conscious choice to go organic and the sticker shock is one of the results. When I was broke in college, I could have eaten better, but not by any stretch of the imagination like I do now. I used to go in the grocery store and play a game. I'd take in 10 dollars, buy 10 of the 10 for 10 items and see if I couldn't eat off that for at least 2 days. Guess what is 10 for 10? Carbs, processed stuff, junk, and sugary food.

    My local grocery (Kroger) often puts frozen or canned vegetables on the 10 for 10 sale. Carbs are good for us. That's why they are a macronutrient, because it's good to eat a lot of them.
  • kaysmom13
    kaysmom13 Posts: 13 Member
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    It really depends on where you live to me I live in an area where there's a marcs ,aldi's and save a lot if anybody is familiar with those stores. The food at those stores is mainly cheap and they have good produce and a lot of healthy products. I also use coupons when I can and catch sales.I do have to agree with others who said that they would pay more to eat healthy than be overweight. But its based on what you can personally do.
  • JustSammi
    JustSammi Posts: 79
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    Sometimes I think I'm spending more money because I go shopping so often but in reality, I'm preparing all my food from scratch. Breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks. A lot of my colleagues buy food at work so whilst my food shop bill is higher, I don't spend money on fast food or takeaways and I'm sure preparing a sandwich myself is cheaper than their £4 a go pre-packaged ones.
  • Minnie2361
    Minnie2361 Posts: 281 Member
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    I live in a low-to-moderate income area and most of the people who shop in our local grocery store are obese-morbidly obese; in their carts (because I am such a shopping-cart-snob now) are sodas, chips, cookies, frozen pizzas, ramen noodles, canned meats/pastas and very little fresh produce/healthier items. and their carts are usually full to overflowing.

    I do wonder if the above observation can be applied to every income group.

    Kudos to you and your family for making the change , eating well is an education to pass onto your children,

    The problem with junk food is that it leaves you feeling hungry in a very short time and the need to eat more. So eating junk can be expensive.

    In countries where they supply free medical for everyone, that is taxpayer funded, governments are now stepping in and taxing the sugary/fat junk food. like they do with tobacco products. I can see this coming to many countries with free medical. It is time to tax junk food like tobacco, both drain the system with sick people.
  • WhiteRabbit1313
    WhiteRabbit1313 Posts: 1,091 Member
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    Christ! People will lambast anyone over the slightest perception of an infraction, on this site. Maybe, just maybe, she was trying to offer a different perspective.

    Geez!
  • Minnie2361
    Minnie2361 Posts: 281 Member
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    Sometimes I think I'm spending more money because I go shopping so often but in reality, I'm preparing all my food from scratch. Breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks. A lot of my colleagues buy food at work so whilst my food shop bill is higher, I don't spend money on fast food or takeaways and I'm sure preparing a sandwich myself is cheaper than their £4 a go pre-packaged ones.

    I have found my grocery bills have dropped because I am eating way more fresh veggies and fresh fruit. I fill up on these.
    My bread and meat bills have gone down. When I buy a steak I cut it in two , half for one night and half for the next, same with 1/2 lb of fresh salmon which I divide up for two nights. Lean ground beef with tomato sauce goes a long way with whole wheat pasta.

    I no longer buy packaged cereals, they are way to expensive for what I am getting product wise.
    I buy whole oats the 15 minute kind. It is much healthier and saves $$$ and keeps me full for a longer period of time.
  • teamAmelia
    teamAmelia Posts: 1,247 Member
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    OP, I get your point. I know that not everyone has access to healthier foods, so this message obviously wasn't for them. I think that you were just trying to motivate others who do have access to/funds to buy healthier foods. Gosh. People argue over anything on this site.
  • jwdieter
    jwdieter Posts: 2,582 Member
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    OP, I get your point. I know that not everyone has access to healthier foods, so this message obviously wasn't for them. I think that you were just trying to motivate others who do have access to/funds to buy healthier foods. Gosh. People argue over anything on this site.

    The problem here from my perspective is people can reduce their risks for all of the diseases mentioned by the OP by spending less money, no matter what they're eating.
  • bcattoes
    bcattoes Posts: 17,299 Member
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    Christ! People will lambast anyone over the slightest perception of an infraction, on this site. Maybe, just maybe, she was trying to offer a different perspective.

    Geez!

    Posts on the forum should expect responses. Some will disagree.
  • 4daluvof_candice
    4daluvof_candice Posts: 483 Member
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    The .99 cent store chain :bigsmile: has fruits and veggies!
  • lauraleighsm
    lauraleighsm Posts: 167
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    We have forgotten that food is supposed to provide us nutrition as well as energy to keep going. Where is the nutrition in a package of ramen or $5 carry-out pizza? Can you pronounce or recognize any of the ingredients in some of this "food" that is so cheap?
    There are a million websites providing guidance on how to eat healthy and plan meals on the web. People just need to put their priorities in order. I've made all the excuses myself with no time, etc. It is a pain in the *kitten* to plan and prep meals, I agree!!

    I don't know, looks like it has nutrition to me.

    ramen_zpsf7d9d23a.jpg

    From: http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/soups-sauces-and-gravies/7979/2


    This is SO silly. You forgot to include the other ingredients in typical canned soups (MSG, ferrous sulfate, gmo soy protein, and sodium phosphate. Sounds like non food for me and my kiddos. But go ahead and discount tons and tons of research not backed by food corporations. Silly goose. The pop tart thread is somewhere else!
  • mag2906
    mag2906 Posts: 57 Member
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    Just some grist for your mill, next time you think eating well costs too much. I carry this information around with me for when I'm feeling whiny about my grocery bill.

    Estimated lifetime cost of diabetes for an individual diagnosed at age 30, including out-of-pocket medical costs and lost productivity: $305,000. (American Diabetes Association)
    Estimated lifetime cost of a heart attack: $700,000 to $1 milion, depending on the severity. (American Heart Association)
    Average cost of one year of treatment for a woman with colorectal cancer: $51,327. (National Institutes of Health)

    Average increase to my weekly grocery bill so the three of us can eat decent food: $30. If I spent that every week until I turned 100, that would be $103,080. Probably worth it, eh?

    Don't take me wrong but healthy lifestyle does not guarantee that you will not get sick ever.
    It's just that I see people saying that they eat healthy to live long and healthy life. It surely increases your chances but it's not surefire way to last 'till 100th birthday ;)
  • KathrynKennewell108
    KathrynKennewell108 Posts: 72 Member
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    Uh. Hello? Do you actually shop? Go price a punnet of strawberries (per kg unit cost) and then go pick another random food and do the same. Repeat this until you have a list of ten totally unrelated foods. Go to MFP and punch in the data to work out a calorie output per 100g on each of these. Break it down into macro nutrients if that floats your boat. If you come up with even a similar answer for all 10, then I'll post a photo of myself eating my hat.
  • KathrynKennewell108
    KathrynKennewell108 Posts: 72 Member
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    BTW. My post was meant to be in reply to jwdieter's original post.
  • Acg67
    Acg67 Posts: 12,142 Member
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    We have forgotten that food is supposed to provide us nutrition as well as energy to keep going. Where is the nutrition in a package of ramen or $5 carry-out pizza? Can you pronounce or recognize any of the ingredients in some of this "food" that is so cheap?
    There are a million websites providing guidance on how to eat healthy and plan meals on the web. People just need to put their priorities in order. I've made all the excuses myself with no time, etc. It is a pain in the *kitten* to plan and prep meals, I agree!!

    I don't know, looks like it has nutrition to me.

    ramen_zpsf7d9d23a.jpg

    From: http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/soups-sauces-and-gravies/7979/2


    This is SO silly. You forgot to include the other ingredients in typical canned soups (MSG, ferrous sulfate, gmo soy protein, and sodium phosphate. Sounds like non food for me and my kiddos. But go ahead and discount tons and tons of research not backed by food corporations. Silly goose. The pop tart thread is somewhere else!

    MSG? Hope you don't eat things like parmesan cheese or broccoli
  • bcattoes
    bcattoes Posts: 17,299 Member
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    Don't take me wrong but healthy lifestyle does not guarantee that you will not get sick ever.
    It's just that I see people saying that they eat healthy to live long and healthy life. It surely increases your chances but it's not surefire way to last 'till 100th birthday ;)

    Quite true. But diet and exercise are what we have within our control.
  • bcattoes
    bcattoes Posts: 17,299 Member
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    We have forgotten that food is supposed to provide us nutrition as well as energy to keep going. Where is the nutrition in a package of ramen or $5 carry-out pizza? Can you pronounce or recognize any of the ingredients in some of this "food" that is so cheap?
    There are a million websites providing guidance on how to eat healthy and plan meals on the web. People just need to put their priorities in order. I've made all the excuses myself with no time, etc. It is a pain in the *kitten* to plan and prep meals, I agree!!

    I actually think $5 hot and ready pizza is the best deal going in the fast food market. Take a cheese pizza home, add some chopped veggies and cook for 10 min or so. You get a balanced meal and a crispier crust.
  • Minnie2361
    Minnie2361 Posts: 281 Member
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    $5 buys me 4 0z of wild fresh salmon $5 buys me lean ground beef for my tomato meat sauce $5 buys me a chicken breast

    I just do not see the $$$ value in a pizza.
  • Acg67
    Acg67 Posts: 12,142 Member
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    $5 buys me 4 0z of wild fresh salmon $5 buys me lean ground beef for my tomato meat sauce $5 buys me a chicken breast

    I just do not see the $$$ value in a pizza.

    1 whole pizza is more of a meal than any of the things you listed

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