The real cost of being healthy
By jesslawless on July 18, 2013, in Blog
The white pita and honey make the whole healthy part bearable
Recently I got very very serious about eating better, and it is actually even more horrible than I had once suspected. I’m going to a Mexican restaurant tonight and I’m frantically Googling the menu, trying to figure out what I’m going to eat once I’m there. I hate those party poopers who order a salad with dressing on the side whenever we go out, but now I’m becoming one of them. Here’s some info you already had I’m going to reinforce: the world is chock full of bad choices and you have to search for the good ones. Also, the good ones aren’t always tasty. Have you had the whole wheat pitas at Pita Jungle? BLEH!
Time: Eating healthy is not a battle, it’s a war that never ends
I feel like I spend a lot of time, every day, figuring out what the hizzy to eat. I also spend a lot of time cooking, which some people find enjoyable but that I find an annoying but necessary way to get food that’s good for me and also not horrifically expensive. There has got to be a better way. I’m thinking housekeeper/live-in chef.
Money: It FEELS more expensive to eat healthy
Don’t even get me started on how much fruits and veggies cost. I’m fortunate enough to be able to pay the freight on that, but when a single banana costs $1 and a bag of chips is $.79, well, the obesity crisis in this country isn’t much of a mystery. Also, why are salads so damned expensive? $8, seriously? It’s lettuce. Mark’s Daily Apple blog has an interesting post on the cost of eating healthy; the comments section seemed inconclusive about whether eating well costs more or less or about the same as eating badly. Of course the primal diet commenters are buying a ton of meat, which isn’t necessarily all that great for you and is definitely more expensive than being meat-free. I feel like I spend a lot of on fruits and veggies, but since I’ve cut way back on alcohol I’ve seen some slight improvement in my bills.
Social costs: Eating your lunch all by yourself for reals
Your friends want to go to a high-calorie deliciousfest restaurant, and you want to be able to button your pants in the morning. Conflict. I have one friend who will legit stay home if we don’t eat somewhere she can get a salad. I’m not sure I’ll ever have that kind of willpower but I admire her commitment—and the fact that she never has to worry about buttoning her pants.
The bottom line is my bottom
Actually it’s my waist, but that isn’t a play on words soo… I’m gonna keep on truckin’ with this healthy eating thing despite the fact I’m incredibly annoyed by it. Being healthy is one of the reasons, but really the buttoning the pants thing is the main one. I legitimately suspect the dryer is shrinking my clothes but I can’t change the dryer’s behavior. Only my own.