It's Too Expensive to Eat Healthy

Excuses, excuses...

People like to tell me that it's just plain cheaper to eat fast food, especially when you stick to the dollar menu.

They also like to tell me that there's little to no difference in price between better food at a restaurant and making it at home.

For some things, this is true. Restaurants can't mark up everything beyond the customer's reach so they take huge profits on some things, losses on others.

Chicken and beef have tremendous markups. Seafood and prime cuts often hit the menu at close to cost for the purpose of keeping customers loyal. They'll make their money back on it with dessert and drinks anyway. That stuff is marked up to the point of usury.

Let's also remember that you need to add a minimum of 15% to the price of every meal on the menu at a sit-down restaurant because, unless you're an a-hole. you're going to have to leave a tip, too. If that meal is $9.99, it's actually $11.48. If you're like me and you tip 20%, it's $11.97. Round it to $12.00. Don't be cheap. :-)

Still, if you're not planning to eat filet mignon and pacific lobster tails every night, there is a huge divide between what you'll spend on good-quality food you prepare yourself and what you'll pay someone to prepare it and load it with flavor-enhancers that just add sugar and carbs to your diet.

You know, I used to use this excuse all the time. Why spend $6 a pound on steak when you can get a McDouble for $1.00?

Well, there's a simple answer to that question and the sheer logic of it is likely to blow your mind.

So place one hand on each side of your head and press firmly before you read the next line.

You get an entire pound of steak from an identifiable and observable protein source for $6.00.

You get about 2.5 ounces of ground cow parts that represent 100 or more animals which then have to be chemically prepared for human consumption with the McDouble. You also get a product that is 1/3 carbohydrate and 43% fat.  Buon Appetit.

But let's not even think about the dollar menu. Those same two patties in a Big Mac increase in price considerably (about 400%). The average cost of a "value" meal at McDonald's is now about $7.50.

Now consider this...

Even if I were to pay $6 a pound for sirloin (which I don't), I could feed my family (of three) sirloin steak and steamed vegetables for about $10.00.

Buy each person a value meal and you've just spent $22.50. For poison.

Since I buy my meat wholesale I get sirloin for around $3 a pound. I can feed my family steak and the entire tab comes to $5 and change. That's less than 23% of the cost of value meals for three.

And that's STEAK, people. Not hamburger and not a cheap cut. Sirloin steak. $5 for 3 people.

Try getting away with that at your favorite steakhouse.

Speaking of which, you'll also be doing yourself several favors by preparing your own meals. Forgiving the fact that you know what went into them and how the raw food was handled, it's way cheaper.

This morning I had 1 egg + 2 egg whites scrambled, kielbasa and four shoots of asparagus. I used a little ketchup on my eggs as I have been doing since birth. I used a little butter and salt on the asparagus.

I ordered this same meal at a diner a few weeks ago (minus the veggies, mind you - they don't do steamed veggies for breakfast) and it cost me $10.00.

Cooking it myself, I got a more balanced plate and it cost me about $1.65.

I can get chickens on sale at a wholesaler for 69¢ per lb, sometimes less.

A half chicken dinner with a veggie is under $3.00. The same meal at Boston Market is $8.50 and you get less meat. They use 3 lb fryers.

I don't even spend $3 a plate, though and I get nearly twice as much meat. I can feed my family on one 4-5 lb fryer and have enough leftover for chicken salad tomorrow. At an average cost of about $4 a bird, with the veggie that comes to about $1.50 a plate.

And I know what went into the seasoning so I know I'm not eating something I shouldn't.

Strange that breakfast would cost more... anyway....

The point is that I really don't care how busy your lifestyle is. If you had time to read this, you had time to chop some veggies or throw a chicken in the oven. It's not about time or expense. It's about convenience.

Eating right just isn't very convenient.

That's the real issue.

Get over it and get well. When you reach your goal, chances are you will have saved enough money not buying "value" meals to go on a nice vacation and eat something naughty that you can't get at home (provided you've reached your weight loss goal, of course).