There's a myth going around that eating healthy is really expensive. That myth is propagated by restaurants and fast food places that actually do charge more for healthy options.
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The reason that they charge more isn't because those ingredients cost more. The reason that they charge more is because they don't tend to sell as many of the healthy ingredients, so therefore they tend to stock up on things like chicken nuggets or chicken tenders that can be easily fried in their big vat of grease that is full of trans fats.
Ordering a plate of chicken nuggets and French fries is a very easy thing to do. If you go to a restaurant and you get that you will probably get your food in about ten minutes because they just need to drop it right in, and they don't actually have to do much work at all.
Additionally, those ingredients are cheap because they get them by the bucket load. So if you go to a restaurant and you order a grilled chicken sandwich with vegetables on it, and something like a side of broccoli, you might actually end up paying more even though it wouldn't naturally be a more expensive item. That's because those types of environments aren't set up for people to eat healthy.
Even if you do go to a restaurant that is specifically set up for people to eat healthy it is still likely to be expensive simply because they know they could charge a lot for healthier options. People are used to paying more for them.
So if you go to a restaurant then yes, eating healthier is definitely a more expensive option.
However, if you're eating at home there's no reason why eating healthy should be expensive.
If you go to the grocery store you can find a chicken breast for a couple of bucks. A whole head of lettuce is probably about a dollar. Even if you eat a ton of lettuce that head of lettuce is going to last you 3 or 4 meals. You can get several tomatoes for about a buck. You can also get like 5 bananas for about a buck. You can get a couple of onions for about a buck.
Add all that together and you're probably spending maybe $2 a day on vegetables. Add the chicken breast to it and you've got something like $5 for a healthy meal.
You can also pick up a big bag of white potatoes for a couple of bucks and your getting about 5 lb worth the potatoes. Potatoes have a really bad rap, but white potatoes are actually very healthy for you. The reason why people think that they aren't healthy is because they tend to fry them in trans fats which gets rid of all the nutrients.
However, if you bake that potato with the skin on and just add something like black pepper to it you are going to wind up with a healthy side item that is very inexpensive.
A White Potato is a prime example of an item that a restaurant charges you an arm and a leg for. I think we sell baked potatoes for something like $4.50 at my restaurant. It might have even gone up. I bought an entire bag today for $2 and I think there is something like ten potatoes in it.
I have to say the quality of the potatoes is very similar. One potato doesn't seem particularly different than the other, so it's not like we are getting a lower quality potato in that bag.
So let's say you start your day with some oatmeal, and then you come home and have a grilled chicken sandwich on whole grain bread with lettuce and tomato with a side of broccoli, and then for dinner you have an avocado with a small piece of meat that you baked with a white potato.
You're not looking at two expensive meals. You looking at less than $10 for both of those meals and you might even be looking at right around $5 for both of them depending on where you shop.
You don't have to spend an arm and a leg in order to eat healthy.
You might have to spend a lot of money though in order to eat healthy and also eat fast food. Fast food is not meant to be healthy by nature. Even when you go to a place like Subway that tries to convince people that it's healthy, you will find that you're not actually eating healthy.
Sure you can get vegetables, but you're also dealing with processed meat. Additionally, all of their breads as far as I'm aware, even the ones that claim to be wheat, are made with enriched flour. At least that's what I've been told. I don't think they have any whole grain bread that's actually very good for you.
Now don't get me wrong, I really enjoy eating at subway because I think that their sandwiches are pretty tasty, but I wouldn't fool myself into thinking that I'm putting something healthy into my body.
Additionally, a 12 inch sandwiche is maybe $6.00 whereas you can actually get a whole package of chicken with maybe four breasts in it for $6.00.... which will last you for a couple of days.
Add in a lot of other vegetables and you've got a really good deal. The problem is time of course. It's not inexpensive to eat healthy if you don't have the time. If you want to eat healthy, and you don't wanna spend much money, then you pretty much got to make your own meals.
Now it's still possible to eat healthy that way, but you'll have to eat a lot of things like beans, corn, and tuna fish. If time is a huge issue it simply means that you have to find a way around it . You have to find a way to get your healthy ingredients without having to rely on doing something like grilling a chicken breast.
That doesn't mean that you won't be able to find a way though, because there are lots of quick and easy recipes out there that only take 10 to 15 minutes that involve healthier items that are inexpensive .
So if you're thinking that part of the reason you aren't eating healthy is because you can't afford it then I urge you to go walk around the supermarket and take a look at some of the items out there. You might find a pizza for $5.99 and think that that's a good deal because you can get 2 meals out of it.
That might even be a good deal, but it's not going to be as good of a deal as some whole grain bread with some higher quality cheese and tomatoes..... maybe mushrooms. True you won't get meat that way, but I seriously don't the meat on the pizza is going to be anything to write home about anyway.
So eating healthy doesn't have to cost you much. The only thing about eating healthy is learning how to determine what's healthy, what isn't healthy, what's inexpensive, what is expensive, and where and how could get the food into your body.
It's gotta be healthy, and it's got to be relatively quick because time is money too.
Eating healthy is cheaper than you think.