To think it is so much more expensive to eat healthily?

[SharkiraSharkira]

So I've been trying to eat healthily and generally portion control/calorie count for about 3 weeks. Lost about 9lb so far so it does seem to be working a bit.

However, I have noticed that my food bill has increased SO much since I've been doing it! I'm not buying anything super expensive, just increased my fruit and veg intake a lot and eating less stuff that is cheap but filling such as bread and pasta.

Aibu to find it quite disheartening that it is so much more expensive to eat healthy? I'm just about to start a new job and am going to be very broke until I get paid (in March) so I'm going to have to live very frugally and I really don't want to put back all the weight I've lost back on, ideally I want to lose more! I already batch cook, buy frozen veg (cheaper), shop at Aldi for cheap fruit & veg etc but it is still so expensive

www.tinnedtomatoes.com/2013/10/spinach-and-coconut-dal.html?m=1

You don't have to slow cook a dal. This is delicious, can be made with frozen or store cupboard ingredients and takes less than twenty minutes from start to finish. Frozen or dried coriander works fine.

I love dhal purple, but what can I have it with that doesn't make it too calorific?

Roasted cauliflower is delicious with Indian dishes. It's better than it sounds, it goes really nutty and tasty. I chop it into florets and coat it in a little oil (coconut is yummy but olive oil is fine too), toss in some spices (cumin and corriander are good), a little salt and pepper, and roast at about 180C for about 40 mins(ish).

I could feed the family for £25 a week if I didn't mind us all being overweight & unhealthy..I spend so much on fresh fruit & veg each week it is ridiculous

AndShesGone

Coriander costs a lot less than that in Aldi, or even Sainsburys for a smallish bunch.

Or you can get massive bunches in Asian grocers or some larger supermarkets and chop and freeze any leftover (would even fit in a fridge icebox). it's fine like that for dhal and other curries and is the recommended method in Vicky Bhogal's Cooking with Mummyji Indian cookbooks.

I make a courgette dhal to serve with a sort of biryani so rice, chicken, onions etc. Meets Slimming World rules if you don't use loads of fat so should fit into the 'not calorific' category.

Food is at an historically low price though. In the past people spent a much greater proportion of their income on food.

I think the key is to try and mix it up. We've had fresh fish this week, which was expensive, but we've also has huevos rancheros, which is basically a spicy veg stew with eggs in and very cheap.

If you can cook and have the funds to maintain a range of spices etc, then eating health doesn't have to be expensive. Sadly many people struggle with both of those things.

It isn't really more expensive to eat healthy. It just depends on what you define as healthy. The problem is people confuse calories with health. Rice/pasta/potatoes/bread/nuts aren't unhealthy. If your trying to shift some weight you might cut back on them due to their higher calories, but they in themselves aren't unhealthy.

If you are substituting them with additional fruit and veg above your recommended intake as a lot of modern weight loss diets suggest then yes it will raise the cost of your bill as rice, pasta, potatoes, bread are all very cheap for the amount of energy they provide.

If you are on a weight loss diet before returning to a normal diet, I imagine the improvements in your general health for the rest of your life will far outweigh the short term cost.

formerly if you are trying to get a sugar fix without the bad sugar have you tried liquorice tea? It's sweet and has a relaxing effect.

I found I started putting sugar back in my teas so back to buying it and it's curbed the habit enough.

Op it is more expensive especially if your family set up aren't on the same page for meals.

Only thing I can suggest is meal plan like a boss., I had some amazingly tasty healthy dinners of late where the initial outlay might be costly but a few weeks of left over preserved foods can be re used again and again.

Curses the lack of aubergine and courgette's.

It's difficult, I agree. Between where I live and where I work I have easy access to Asda, Tesco, Lidl, Aldi, Home Bargains (good for cheap veg, tins, spices, vinegars, roasted red pepper jars etc), Co-op, Sainsbury and whole foods shops/greengrocers. I also finish work at 3pm and have days off during the week so have time to shop and/or get home to cook.
I'm also motivated. DS and I are veggie - edging towards Vegan. DH is a committed meat eater but I avoid cooking 2 separate meals if possible. 'Adding on' meat for DH eg chicken with a veg stir-fry or pepperoni on a pizza when we have a veggie one. I also batch cook quite a bit - soups, curries, chilli etc.
If I didn't have this time and access to shops and an interest in cooking and recipes it would be a painful chore.

I work full time and am a single parent. I really admire those who have time to bake and stew and grow but I don't. I don't live somewhere that has green grocers. I buy mostly everything in Aldi but eating healthily 7 days a week is boring and difficult. I'm not the only one saying this so annoyed when people try to make out differently. I don't want to eat soup or make soup every day. I don't even have access to a microwave at work lunch so should I eat cold soup?

I eat varieties of cold pasta most days I'm also sick of pesto or feta

Basically we need to eat like our grandparents : seasonal veg, non processed foods.

If you had steak pie, cabbage, potato and carrots for dinner it'd be cheaper and healthier than a Chinese and a salted caramel brownie for example.

Agree.

Especially fresh fruit and vegetables.

Anyone that disagrees with me is wrong

NB : easier said than done, I know.

And it's definitely harder to eat well when junk is cheap.

A Toblerone in Canada is twice the price of one in the UK. A decent takeaway is more than twice the price of one in the UK. So it's a no brainer, we don't eat takeaway or Toblerones.

Sugar is too cheap in Britain.

Four Mars bars for a quid? Or make a pan of lentil soup with homemade chicken stock? Same price, way easier to eat the Mars bars.

I'm doing low carb, high fat diet. If you do this, you do tend to eat less as the fats keep you going longer. For example a omelette with cheese for brunch often keeps me going till dinner (with a low carb snack such as nuts)

It seems to be saving me money as well. Eggs for example are not too expensive, or cheese. Fats and proteins keep you fuller for longer so you need to buy less.

The point being you have to cook an egg. 4 mars bars are cheaper and immediate. The amount of fast food for £1 that you can buy in large volumes in shops staggers me

Leaving aside the people who live in bedsits with little or nothing in the way of cooking facilities, because this issue is much wider than that, it really is something when people are making excuses about not being arsed to make an omelette or fry an egg.

It really is so very easy and quick that for most people* there really is no excuse at all other than laziness and preference for junk that makes people choose a pack of mars bars over egg on toast. So don't make the excuse that it's too expensive. Because it's not.

*Obviously excluding disabilities and those that have no fuel. There are far more people than these that are eating junk and overweight.

Eat British seasonal fruit and veg. Of course raspberries and peaches are going to cost lots in the U.K. in February!

Stock up on apples, and brocoli, carrots and parsnips. And potatoes are also a great alternative to rice and lentils!

Oh come on. That is not what is being said. In the busy lifestyles of today, it's very hard to make time for cooking - that's the point. So people are eating on the go constantly with limited access to cooking facilities, they can't just whip into Tesco, make an egg in their car for massive traffic jam commute.

I went to Tesco express this morning before work, because I was up till midnight doing other things, got held up with kids in the morning and had no lunch prepared. I walked round and round and really the only thing I can eat that isn't processed foods (WITHOUT access to cooking facilities) are packets of ham, lettuce, salad bits etc (some prepacked) the lot cost me £4.50 including a bag of satsumas - I could have bought 1l Coke, 1 massive bag of kettle chips and 4 twirls for less money

bum mars bars aren't a substitute for a meal though. Yes you have to cook an egg, it takes 5 minutes. Do you expect everything to be instant? Of course it takes a little bit of effort to feed yourself, why wouldn't it?

bum sorry, thats up to you if you want to waste money like that. Other people take the time and effort to make sandwiches or cook a bit of pasta for salad or something.
As skint as I am I could never take your attitude to food.

You could have boiled eggs at home and taken them with you if you want an on the go unprocessed low carb snack. Boiled eggs are fine in the fridge for a couple of days so you can do them in batches. You could have taken a bottle of tap water. No-one needs coke by the gallon.

We'd all like to be able to wave a magic wand and have a lovely pile of tasty healthy food appear in front of us for pennies, no thinking or planning required, but it's not really a realistic expectation is it?

This site is weirdly obsessed with fruit consumption and many people seem to forget that five a day actually should be mostly vegetables, but some people seem to think that if you're not spending tens of pounds a week on organic blueberries, you must have a shit diet.

I agree! I love a good British strawberry in the summer and a nice crisp Granny Smith apple, but honestly I would much prefer a bowl of nice fresh vegetables to a bowl of fruit salad.

Blueberries are overrated IMO. They're tasteless and overpriced for what they are.

I don't think it is... I go to a local greengrocers for fruit and veg, you can negotiate prices there! But I also buy frozen vegetables and fruit, as well as frozen meat!

4 mars bars are cheaper and immediate.

Yes, you have to wait a whole ten minutes for a hard boiled egg. Put them on while you're doing other things.

12 eggs in Tesco are £1.75. A boiled egg is cheaper than a mars bar and will keep you fuller for longer.

Unless you insist on free range, whole chickens and eggs are pretty cheap nowadays. If you roast a large chicken and are prepared to make something of the leftovers, it can do for several meals and works out far cheaper than the likes of chicken breasts.

You can make a cheap, tasty and filling coleslaw type salad with a chunk of red or white cabbage, a stick or two of celery, a small apple, a carrot, and an onion. Chop them all up small and use just enough low fat mayonnaise to bind together.
Unlike summer salad ingredients that go soft/slimy, all these ingredients will keep for ages in the fridge, so no waste.

All sorts of veggie soups are quick and very cheap to make, if you stick to seasonal veg and a bit of a filler such as red lentils or pearl barley.

Unless you can't or won't do any preparation, or are the sort of person who really doesn't like veg, I think it's a myth - albeit a popular one - that healthy eating has to be expensive.

Of course it CAN be, if it consists of salmon steaks, chicken breasts, blueberries and all sorts of other fruit and veg that are not in season locally.