My 600# life
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oopsies! Sorry for the confusion I meant $5 and $3, not $8 and $5 *facepalm* But you're right, I also wasn't considering like no-name vegetable cubes, those are much cheaper. I was thinking of the PC store brand, which is in fact more like $4 not $5. [/quote]
Ha! I have a friend who says that you can smell the money off the folks who shop at Loblaws! (where the PC brand is marketed) But in some communities, thats the only option. I agree that their Blue Menu and No Name brands can save a lot of money and these are the options I go for.
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williams969 wrote: »AndrewMartin3 wrote: »williams969 wrote: »Jburlen2007 wrote: »Food that is bad for you, is cheaper than foods that are good for you.
Not necessarily. There's a whole lot of grocery foods(fresh and frozen produce, bulk grains and legumes) for under $1/lb. When I was poor, even McDonald's dollar menu was an unaffordable luxury when I could make dinner to feed 5 for under $5.
I wanna shop were u shop
Its not that hard....i can think of a bunch of meals off the top of my head that will feed 5 people for under $5.
Pulled pork sandwiches, with frozen green beans. $1.29/lb for pork butt...need 1.5#, bag of hamburger buns from aldi $0.85, bag of frozen veg $1.....under $4, or $5 if you want 2 bags of frozen veggies
spaghetti w marinara or alfredo with broccoli...$1 pasta, $1 marinara or $1.99 alfredo, $1/bag of frozen veg....between $3 & $5 to feed 5
Polish sausage broccoli bake half a pack or aldi parkview polish sausage links ($3.99 / 12 pack)..$1.98, $2 for two bags of frozen broccoli..half bag of shredded cheese $1 ..$5 total
Pork chops and itialian rice $1.49/lb thin cut pork chops (1 1/2lb), 1/4 bag white rice ($1.59/bag), $1 jar marinara, bag frozen peas....$4.65
Lentil tacos or taco salad...half bag lentils $1.29/bag), jar salsa ($1.49), 2 packs corn tortillas from aldi $0.48/ea...head of lettuce $1.29.... half bag of shredded cheese $1...$5.42
Chicken soup....chicken drumsticks $0.59/lb....3lbs, bag babybcarrots $1, half bunch celery $1, 1 onion $0.75, half bag noodles $0.50....$5
Some of these prices i have to shop around for or stockpile, but many i can get nearly every week. I dont use coupons.
Thanks for planning next week's dinner menu for me.
right though :laugh:0 -
AndrewMartin3 wrote: »williams969 wrote: »Jburlen2007 wrote: »Food that is bad for you, is cheaper than foods that are good for you.
Not necessarily. There's a whole lot of grocery foods(fresh and frozen produce, bulk grains and legumes) for under $1/lb. When I was poor, even McDonald's dollar menu was an unaffordable luxury when I could make dinner to feed 5 for under $5.
I wanna shop were u shop
Its not that hard....i can think of a bunch of meals off the top of my head that will feed 5 people for under $5.
Pulled pork sandwiches, with frozen green beans. $1.29/lb for pork butt...need 1.5#, bag of hamburger buns from aldi $0.85, bag of frozen veg $1.....under $4, or $5 if you want 2 bags of frozen veggies
spaghetti w marinara or alfredo with broccoli...$1 pasta, $1 marinara or $1.99 alfredo, $1/bag of frozen veg....between $3 & $5 to feed 5
Polish sausage broccoli bake half a pack or aldi parkview polish sausage links ($3.99 / 12 pack)..$1.98, $2 for two bags of frozen broccoli..half bag of shredded cheese $1 ..$5 total
Pork chops and itialian rice $1.49/lb thin cut pork chops (1 1/2lb), 1/4 bag white rice ($1.59/bag), $1 jar marinara, bag frozen peas....$4.65
Lentil tacos or taco salad...half bag lentils $1.29/bag), jar salsa ($1.49), 2 packs corn tortillas from aldi $0.48/ea...head of lettuce $1.29.... half bag of shredded cheese $1...$5.42
Chicken soup....chicken drumsticks $0.59/lb....3lbs, bag babybcarrots $1, half bunch celery $1, 1 onion $0.75, half bag noodles $0.50....$5
Some of these prices i have to shop around for or stockpile, but many i can get nearly every week. I dont use coupons.
This is beside the point, but I have to say I've never seen prices like that. The canadian dollar just went down, so everything's spiked recently, but a bag of frozen veggies is always usually around $8 - maybe $5 on a really big sale. Everything else is at least 2 or 3x the price of what you've listed here. That looks fantastic! A lot of those 1's would be 4's here. I also don't think we have a "dollar menu" at the mcdonalds, though I haven't been to one in a long time so I could be wrong.
maybe I wont go to canada then if Trump becomes president. That sounds outrageous.0 -
where in Canada do you live that a bag of vegetables is 8$ ??? I'm in the GTA and you can get a good size bag on sale regularly for 2.49...smaller bags for less...[/quote]
Wondering the same thing.
I live in NB, Loblaw stores seem to have decent pricing. If you by PC brand or NN cost isnt too bad. Walmart is good for produce SOMETIMES (quality isnt always great), but it seems to be quite a bit cheaper than most groceries stores.
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If you watch the show, a lot of them actually do make food from scratch. They just make it in really unhealthy ways and then eat waaaaay too much of it. For some of those individuals, they have family units who likely do the shopping and the preparing. I imagine they also do not go for the sometimes-expensive, lean cuts of meat, and buy in bulk often.
That being said, yeah - disability and foodstamps will probably cover a decent amount of their egregious diets, especially for the types who don't get the majority of their calories from homecooked meals (e.g. cake batters, ice creams, cookies, etc...). Also, many of these people are home-bound, so I imagine some of them have probably figured out how and where to find good deals and coupons. I know a few minutes of surfing online has availed me some awesome pizza and fast food deals in the past.0 -
Yall people would probably like Fit To Fat To Fit.
I certainly love it. Every episode is 1 personal trainer and 1 overweight person. They have their initial meeting and the trainer tells them that theyre putting everything off for FOUR months, so that the personal trainer can gain upwards of 50+ lbs, so that when they start working together the trainer gets the feel of what its like for the client. As a lot of overweight out of shape people often give them the excuse of "you dont know what its like to be fat" "youve never been fat, you cant understand what I'm going through" etc. Its really an amazing show. the very first episode had me in so many tears (both happy and sad, mostly happy).0 -
iecreamheadaches wrote: »Yall people would probably like Fit To Fat To Fit.
I certainly love it. Every episode is 1 personal trainer and 1 overweight person. They have their initial meeting and the trainer tells them that theyre putting everything off for FOUR months, so that the personal trainer can gain upwards of 50+ lbs, so that when they start working together the trainer gets the feel of what its like for the client. As a lot of overweight out of shape people often give them the excuse of "you dont know what its like to be fat" "youve never been fat, you cant understand what I'm going through" etc. Its really an amazing show. the very first episode had me in so many tears (both happy and sad, mostly happy).
I have a love/hate relationship with the premise of that show - mostly because the trainers aren't truly immersing themselves in the experience (and frankly, shouldn't). Even though they gain the weight, they never really experience the emotions of self-doubt and anxiety the overweight person goes through, or the loss of control and panic many bingers experience on a daily basis. They're wearing a "suit", essentially - and when the show's over, they get to return to their norm and take it right off again.
Also, they get to retain all of that fabulous lean body mass they've built up under the fat.
I do appreciate the attempt at empathy though.0 -
iecreamheadaches wrote: »AndrewMartin3 wrote: »williams969 wrote: »Jburlen2007 wrote: »Food that is bad for you, is cheaper than foods that are good for you.
Not necessarily. There's a whole lot of grocery foods(fresh and frozen produce, bulk grains and legumes) for under $1/lb. When I was poor, even McDonald's dollar menu was an unaffordable luxury when I could make dinner to feed 5 for under $5.
I wanna shop were u shop
Its not that hard....i can think of a bunch of meals off the top of my head that will feed 5 people for under $5.
Pulled pork sandwiches, with frozen green beans. $1.29/lb for pork butt...need 1.5#, bag of hamburger buns from aldi $0.85, bag of frozen veg $1.....under $4, or $5 if you want 2 bags of frozen veggies
spaghetti w marinara or alfredo with broccoli...$1 pasta, $1 marinara or $1.99 alfredo, $1/bag of frozen veg....between $3 & $5 to feed 5
Polish sausage broccoli bake half a pack or aldi parkview polish sausage links ($3.99 / 12 pack)..$1.98, $2 for two bags of frozen broccoli..half bag of shredded cheese $1 ..$5 total
Pork chops and itialian rice $1.49/lb thin cut pork chops (1 1/2lb), 1/4 bag white rice ($1.59/bag), $1 jar marinara, bag frozen peas....$4.65
Lentil tacos or taco salad...half bag lentils $1.29/bag), jar salsa ($1.49), 2 packs corn tortillas from aldi $0.48/ea...head of lettuce $1.29.... half bag of shredded cheese $1...$5.42
Chicken soup....chicken drumsticks $0.59/lb....3lbs, bag babybcarrots $1, half bunch celery $1, 1 onion $0.75, half bag noodles $0.50....$5
Some of these prices i have to shop around for or stockpile, but many i can get nearly every week. I dont use coupons.
This is beside the point, but I have to say I've never seen prices like that. The canadian dollar just went down, so everything's spiked recently, but a bag of frozen veggies is always usually around $8 - maybe $5 on a really big sale. Everything else is at least 2 or 3x the price of what you've listed here. That looks fantastic! A lot of those 1's would be 4's here. I also don't think we have a "dollar menu" at the mcdonalds, though I haven't been to one in a long time so I could be wrong.
maybe I wont go to canada then if Trump becomes president. That sounds outrageous.
Vote! Volunteer for your candidate and encourage more people to vote!0 -
Jburlen2007 wrote: »Food that is bad for you, is cheaper than foods that are good for you.
/r/eatcheapandhealthy would like a word with you...0 -
I always wonder if these people get nutritional counseling prior to their surgery. I assume they do but they don't mention it on the show. I also think therapy should be mandatory prior to the surgery. As someone else said, most of these people are in this horrible condition because they have suffered abuse of some sort and used food as their coping mechanism.0
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And our grocery prices have come way down since Aldi's came to town, particularly fresh vegetables (and yogurt, wow, that's cheap at Aldi's!).
Just popping in to say: same thing here outside of DC. Aldi has driven down competitor's prices. I am a huge Aldi fan and it's become so that I almost can't stand to shop at the big grocery stores - but, alas, for some things I must.
Carry on.
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If you look at the situations most of the people are in, they live in areas of the country that are not that expensive, for the most part. That being said, if your rent/mortgage is less than $1000 a month and you are on assistance, which most of them probably are then paying for food is their next big expense. Supermarkets have great coupons if they use them, shopping at Wal-Mart for food is cheap too (and we all know that Wal-Mart is everywhere). Fast food can be expensive but if food is your priority it is easy to make it happen. We don't know, from the show either if they are are in huge credit card debt because of it.
I agree with this. In some cases some of the people I saw were living with relatives, so their disability likely went 100% to feeding themselves while someone else was covering rent. Even a decent apartment is probably closer to $500-$750 where a lot of these folks live.
It's possible disability is more than you think it is. Short term disability is generally based on what you made before. I had a friend with a heart condition that was eligible for long term disability that would have been $800 a month. This was like 15 years ago so I don't know what it would be now. But if any of these folks are qualifying for long term disability it might be more than you think.
Yes fast food is expensive, but I think these folks are prioritizing food rather than other things they might spend money on.0 -
I haven't watched that show in a long time, but it always seemed like they had family members who were enabling them to be that heavy by providing the funds/food for them. A lot of the people had very little mobility, so they had someone else doing almost everything for them.0
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I always wonder if these people get nutritional counseling prior to their surgery. I assume they do but they don't mention it on the show. I also think therapy should be mandatory prior to the surgery. As someone else said, most of these people are in this horrible condition because they have suffered abuse of some sort and used food as their coping mechanism.
They get nutritional counseling in the form of reading materials, information and calorie counting resources, and meal plans, which many of them have mentioned. I've seen a couple of them carry out binders and notebooks. The materials must do some good because the doctor always requires them to lose a bit of weight prior to surgery to prove they're committed. Most of them actually succeed in the doctor's mandate (I would estimate 80%).
If they don't do well after the surgery, or go stubbornly back to old habits, they will also occasionally send them out a professional. The Penny episode has an example of this.
ETA: They also do often go to mental health counseling, though it's often after the fact. The later episodes show more of this than the earlier episodes.0 -
I watched some of this show for my first time last night after reading this post. I honestly had to change it cause it grossed me out. Not intending to be mean, but it's sad and hard to watch people push themselves into that position. I couldn't watch it without squirming around on the couch! It's just sad to see people get to that point where they don't even seem like they're living anymore.0
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I want the disability they are on. I get $650 a month.0
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pinggolfer96 wrote: »I watched some of this show for my first time last night after reading this post. I honestly had to change it cause it grossed me out. Not intending to be mean, but it's sad and hard to watch people push themselves into that position. I couldn't watch it without squirming around on the couch! It's just sad to see people get to that point where they don't even seem like they're living anymore.
They're often pretty grossed out with themselves as well, and many of them don't feel like they're really living anymore.
For me, I'm not a fan for the person shown in the beginning of each episode, though. I like it for who these people become toward the end. Most of them come to a realization about their treatment of food and where it came from, and will do just about anything to fix the damage it's done to their bodies. I can really relate to that, though I never got to such an extreme. I've used a lot of the same excuses you'll hear coming from their mouths - the only difference being that I was writing off a 300 calories surplus, whereas they're writing off a 3,000 calorie surplus.
In the end, I feel quite inspired by their successes, and I learn a lot from the ones who fail, too.0 -
You guys are missing the point with the whole "bad food is cheaper" argument.
Dollar for dollar, yes, rice, chicken breast, and lettuce are all cheaper than cheez-its donuts and cake. We are all aware.
But dollars alone do not determine the real life "price" of eating better. There's all those other little costs, like affording gas to get to a grocery store to buy food instead of the local 7/11. Being able to do so more than once every 3 weeks: good food goes bad, crap food can sit in the cabinet for YEARS. Owning pots and pans, having a working oven (I once lived in a dump that took 6 weeks to fix mine, and there's no arguing with the landlord when you're poor. They will look for nonsense things to punish you with for complaining.), having ANY knowledge at all of how to cook food. I was never taught to do anything that did not involve warming up canned veggies and making mac and cheese, and at my most broke, I couldn't afford to buy food that required prep I wasn't good at. I could afford it, dollar for dollar, but I couldn't afford, in reality, the waste if I messed up and cooked something inedible or too awful to bother with. At the time, we were all still using flip phones and I couldn't afford to turn the internet back on until the tax refund came in. I suppose I could've gone to the library, on the bus, to look up recipes, but wouldn't ya know it: being poor makes you too depressed and downtrodden to do that stuff. When you're miserable and frightened of being evicted (among all the other lovely little daily terrors experienced by those who cannot afford to fight back) all the time, you don't tend to be real motivated to spend 45 minutes cooking every night. Especially after you've spent 12 hours being treated like the scum of the earth by the customers you serve who CAN afford the food you'd rather have. Poverty is paralytic.
Food choice comes down to more than dollars. And these numbers are to say nothing of those people working two part time jobs and mcdonald's and walmart, who take the bus, on which they waste 2 hours a day (like I did), and for whom crap food is typically included as an employment (and I'm using this term loosely) "benefit" like when you work in fast food.
I'm not saying this to rag on people with money or something. I just think it's important people understand that there are reasons, beyond the purely mathematical, why people say "good food is more expensive". You're not wrong for saying "crappy food costs more dollar for dollar", but I think that just really over simplifies something that isn't actually all that simple.0 -
CoffeeNCardio wrote: »I'm not saying this to rag on people with money or something. I just think it's important people understand that there are reasons, beyond the purely mathematical, why people say "good food is more expensive". You're not wrong for saying "crappy food costs more dollar for dollar", but I think that just really over simplifies something that isn't actually all that simple.
You've made some good points. I've shied away from fresh produce due to the fear that it will go bad before I've eaten it. Not because I can't afford it, but because I don't like throwing money in the trash. I'm sure the feeling is exponential in those who are living on a fixed income.
I also think you made a good point about cooking. Cooking is tiresome. Opening a box or a fast food bag is so much easier. For those who are already morbidly obese, I'm sure standing in front of a stove for 30 minutes is far less preferable than just picking up a phone and ordering pizza.
That being said, some of that still comes down to choice of eating simply too much of it. The obese poor are not obese because a McDonald's hamburger is all they can afford. They're obese because they've also ordered the large fry, milkshake, and double-quarter pounder with cheese to go along with it.
ETA for clarity: I'm not referring to those who are simply overweight in my last paragraph. To keep it on topic, I'm referring to those who are exceptionally obese.0 -
ManiacalLaugh wrote: »CoffeeNCardio wrote: »I'm not saying this to rag on people with money or something. I just think it's important people understand that there are reasons, beyond the purely mathematical, why people say "good food is more expensive". You're not wrong for saying "crappy food costs more dollar for dollar", but I think that just really over simplifies something that isn't actually all that simple.
You've made some good points. I've shied away from fresh produce due to the fear that it will go bad before I've eaten it. Not because I can't afford it, but because I don't like throwing money in the trash. I'm sure the feeling is exponential in those who are living on a fixed income.
I also think you made a good point about cooking. Cooking is tiresome. Opening a box or a fast food bag is so much easier. For those who are already morbidly obese, I'm sure standing in front of a stove for 30 minutes is far less preferable than just picking up a phone and ordering pizza.
That being said, some of that still comes down to choice of eating simply too much of it. The obese poor are not obese because a McDonald's hamburger is all they can afford. They're obese because they've also ordered the large fry, milkshake, and double-quarter pounder with cheese to go along with it.
Yes. CICO is king no matter what you eat, or can afford to eat. I just cannot abide these arguments that inevitably cast blame on the poor for something that is, by any reasonable understanding of what it means to be 'human', not their fault.0
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