It is NOT Cheaper To Eat Unhealthy than it is to eat Healthy!!! (vegetables, smoothie)

[LaoTzuMindFu]

A common complaint you hear from people is that "Oh, its too expensive to eat healthy...." which is nothing but bull-oney-ish!!! People who say this are FLAT OUT LAZY A$$ES!!! Its a LOT easier for lazy folks to go through the drive through at Taco Bell and order their $5.00 meal that contains a cheesy burrito melt, a taco, a burrito supreme and a coke than to spend that same $5.00 (or in most cases LESS) on buying food from Ralphs to prepare.

A Quarter Pounder meal deal at McDonalds costs about $9.00 with tax. I know because I saw it on the menu at a local McDs. The Taco Bell deal IS $5.00 and change plus tax. If you average that out over the course of a 5 day work week, then you spend $28.00 - $45.00 for lunch. I can take $20.00 and buy lunch for an entire week easily.

Whole Wheat bread
small cans of tuna
banana bunch
small cans of kidney beans
small cans of corn
Romaine lettuce
Bag of frozen chicken breasts (could last more than two weeks)

Monday - chicken breast on whole wheat sammich w/banana
Tuesday - tuna mixed with kidney beans and corn w/2 slices whole wheat
Wed - chicken again
Thus - tuna again
Friday - chicken

That bag of chicken breasts can also be added to dinner menu.

Bottom line is that those who say its more expensive I believe are JUST LAZY. Im not saying go out to Whole Foods and get ONLY organic foods, because really unless you are a pro/semi pro athlete or one of those "Topanga Canyon, of the earth, yoga types", you can get by with non-organic vegetables and fruits.

Those of you who are thinking "Oh, I'll get bored with that real fast" need to change your thinking/mindset of eating for pleasure to eating for fuel or eating to LIVE!!

[LaoTzuMindFu]

Oh, and another thing - PLEASE GET OFF OF THE SMOOTHIE CRAZE!!!

People who go on and on about how they love their smoothies are almost as annoying as smokers. Instead of actually eating a piece (i.e., ONE serving) of fruit along with a well balanced meal or as a desert, they throw in 5-7 SERVINGS of fruit into a blender and drink it and mistakenly think "Oh I am getting healthy!". NO YOU ARE NOT!!! You are continuing on a Get-Fat-Quick diet because of all the sugars in your no so healthy smoothie.

[Opsimathia]

I do love my smoothies...hahhaa

I don't put that many servings in though. Jeesh! 1-2 + yogurt + ice + tea

Good god...7?

Green smoothies are a great option to cut sugars.
spinach + raspberry + ice + water or tea + sweetener if desired (couple ounces apple juice, or stevia to taste)

Just for money reasons when we cut corners the take out is the first to go. Its always so much cheaper to make your own.
Then people complain about time...

Chicken breast on the george forman
Microwave a bag of steamer veggies
baked potato zapped on the side

Its just as fast as drive through and a healthier choice too.

[mochamajesty]

Boxed/packaged foods are cheaper than fresh produce, at least it is here. And yes, it is stupid to spend $8 on one "value" meal (ha) when you could make several meals at home.

And eating for fuel and not pleasure is easier said than done, especially when people are just starting out. I know when I first lost weight, I had to retrain myself to look at food a different way. Many people use food for things other than fuel, and it takes time to stop doing that. But, if it is not done, the weight will come back. I had to find other (healthy) pleasures in my life.

Instead of actually eating a piece (i.e., ONE serving) of fruit along with a well balanced meal or as a desert, they throw in 5-7 SERVINGS of fruit into a blender and drink it and mistakenly think "Oh I am getting healthy!". NO YOU ARE NOT!!! You are continuing on a Get-Fat-Quick diet because of all the sugars in your no so healthy smoothie.

I'm right with you there.

[UNC4Me]

I'm glad you are content eating the same 7 foods day in and day out, but most people want more variety. (And yes, I did see where you thought they just need to get over it). Where you are wrong is assuming that your diet is healthy. Your list of foods is so lacking in fresh vegetables and fruit that you are missing many essential vitamins and minerals. But, if your main focus is cheap and healthier than fast food then you've achieved that goal.

[mochamajesty]

Originally Posted by Opsimathia

Green smoothies are a great option to cut sugars.
spinach + raspberry + ice + water or tea + sweetener if desired (couple ounces apple juice, or stevia to taste)
Just for money reasons when we cut corners the take out is the first to go. Its always so much cheaper to make your own.
Then people complain about time...

Chicken breast on the george forman
Microwave a bag of steamer veggies
baked potato zapped on the side

Its just as fast as drive through and a healthier choice too.

I can't rep you anymore, but this is spot on. You can spend twenty minutes sitting in a drive thru, but you can't spend 20 minutes making dinner.

[Ohiogirl81]

Tuna and kidney beans? Ew.

High-quality food does cost more than fatty ground beef and spaghetti, period. If you have an adequate food budget, improving your intake of fresh produce and lean meats is not a big deal. But if you're living on a tight budget, or don't have access to a full-service grocery store or to adequate refrigeration or cooking appliances (which often is the barrier when discussing the food habits of low-income people), it's not always that easy or possible.

Now, if your shifting from a three-meal-a-day fast food diet to preparing foods at home, that's another story altogether and of course eating at home is always less expensive.

[AnonChick]

Eating unhealthy is definitely cheaper than eating *organic.* Organic is what most people compare it to - incorrectly assuming that organic = healthy. Organic just means it was fertilized with chicken poop or cow poop instead of chemical fertilizers, the soil was fed with dessicated fish bone, rotting vegetation, (or other wholesome equivalents), and the pesticides were also not chemically manufactured.

Eating unhealthy would be much cheaper for me. I can eat a nice salad with grilled chicken breast cut into strips on it, for a few bucks, and be hungry again in 2 hours. Or, I could have 2 original crispy tacos from Taco Hell for $1.78 + tax, and my belly would be poisoned enough not to whine about hunger til suppertime.

I could drink tap water for free, but it tastes like bleach and doesn't smell much better. Instead, I pay almost 35 cents a litre for bottled spring water.

So - making a blanket statement, and assuming it's always true, is - well it's really what I'd expect from Lau, I guess. It's not always true though. Sometimes, eating unhealthy -is- less expensive per meal. It really depends on what fills you up, and how soon you'll be hungry again.

[LaoTzuMindFu]

Originally Posted by UNC4Me

I'm glad you are content eating the same 7 foods day in and day out, but most people want more variety. (And yes, I did see where you thought they just need to get over it). Where you are wrong is assuming that your diet is healthy. Your list of foods is so lacking in fresh vegetables and fruit that you are missing many essential vitamins and minerals.

I just listed an example of what could be done for LUNCH instead of fast food meals. My complete diet is actually very healthy and not lacking in anything. Would you rather eat a Double Quarter Pounder meal with a coke for lunch than what I posted?

And, yep, Im okay with eating the same things over and over because I KNOW its good for me. I dont go overboard on the tuna because of mercury issues, but chicken and beef I can eat every day.

[Opsimathia]

Well ok...put it this way...

Your 9$ value meal is too much food.

Kids meal is cheaper :

Some 'kids' meals' pack whole day's serving of calories - USATODAY.com

Just some samples of kids meals. But a healthy meal should be around 400 calories more or less
Some of those kids meals are too high calorie.

Sooo...again..not cheaper to eat more...