Cheap Diets For Lean Bodies and Fat Wallets
Lately, not a day goes by without a TV News interviewing people about how the increased gas prices are affecting the purchasing power. It was really heart breaking to hear a mother saying that she has to make a choice between bringing milk to her children and paying for gas so that she can go to work to get milk for her children. And healthy food products don't have the best reputation for being affordable. Thinking about these, I did a little bit of a research and a small experiment. And what I found out is shocking. First, yes! cheap diet is possible and second you can help economy by dieting! Let's start with my experiment.
Grocery Shopping vs. Fast Food
A regular combo with burger fries and soda costs a generous $8. For 4 days, 2 meals a day will cost you $64. No tips included :). Here is my grocery shopping receipt from today,
Italian Blend Cheese 6oz : $ 5.99
Cobalt White Cheddar 75% Light : $ 6.83
French Feta 2.51lb @ $0.99/lb : $ 3.92
Regular Tomato 1.78 lb @ $0.99/lb: $ 2.48
White Potatoes 1.64 lb@ $1.49/lb: $ 1.76
Squash Green Zucchini: $ 2.44
Italian Pepper: $ 0.69
White Peaches: $ 1.56
Garlic : $ 0.42
Yellow Onions: $ 0.48
Eggplant: $ 0.97
Scallion Green: $ 0.50
Peppers Yellow Bell: $ 1.38
Total: $29.42
I had bread and meat at home so to be fair, I will throw in another generous $10 for 1.5 lb red meat and wheat bread. From my experience this will be enough to prepare 8 meals. So it will cost me about $40 and some cooking time while, eating out fast food would cost me $24 dollars and a few inches on my belly. Just to dramatize this, the gain is more than %30!
Be a good citizen, Eat Healthy
In her article "What if no one were fat". Shirley Skeel tells about the effect of bad eating habits and obesity on economy,. The numbers are outrageous. Basically it affects so many industries including textile and airlines.
"Plus-sized clothing costs 10% to 15% more, so shoppers would save $10 billion on shirts, pants and dresses..."
".. jet-fuel savings alone could double North American airlines' forecast 2008 profits to $3.8 billion..."
It is also claimed that with weight not being a problem, the productivity would increase with less sick days taken, the decrease in diet related expenditures would be noticeable. It is also noted that the health care expenses for obesity related problems adds up to $140 billion, almost %6 of all the health expenses.