The notion of eating healthy is too often regarded as overly time-consuming and expensive. What I’d like to do is debunk that myth:
Issue No. 1: Cost
Unhealthy Food
Forgetting the increased health care costs associated with this type of diet let’s consider cost alone:
$22 for a family of four – assuming dinner is their biggest meal and, as a result, they spend half of that on lunch and dinner.
$22+$11+$11=$44 per day for 4 people = $3.67 per meal ($308 weekly)
Healthy Food
Assuming a family of four shops for the week, that would be roughly $250 on groceries made up mostly of fresh fruit and vegetables, some brown rice/grains, fish and free-range chicken, eggs, etc. Here’s how it works out:
$250 total groceries per week/7 days=$35.71 per day for four people.
$35.71 daily/4 people=$8.93 per person per day
$8.93 per person per day/3 meals in a day=$2.98 per meal per person.
As you can see, the cost is still below that of the “Convenient Diet”. Now factor in the added burden of missed work, fatigue, digestive disturbances, etc., and it becomes much clearer that you can’t afford not to eat a healthy diet.
Okay, so now we know that cost really isn’t the issue:
Let’s now take a look at the issue of time. I understand that during the week it seems that it is pretty difficult for a family to cook. But, if you really want to eat healthy you can figure it out. Here are some creative ways to “fit it in” to a busy schedule:
- Cook big batches of food on weekends so that it is ready made for you when you get home every night, or for you to pack for lunch and/or dinner.
- Eat healthy snacks during the day. It takes NO time to make a piece of fruit.