Anything that's not related to photography, except religion and politics*. Discuss Britney Spears, your Kiss records, swing dancing, salsa recipes. The Off-Topic forum is moderated by
walterick and adina. *Religious and political threads will be deleted
I've hated Mikey Ds advertising for years. Its so phony its disgusting with the happy clown in the morning telling the kids what a happy place it is and then trying to push positive family values for taking the kids there during the evening of supposedly grown up shows.
A recent study in Seattle found that the best indicator for obesity density was property values. Lower property values equalled more obesity. Some say its because it costs more to eat healthy food but I don't buy that. I think its because there aren't very many chain grocerys more likely to have fresh produce in poor neighborhoods.
I find McDonalds and Burger King convenient if I'm in a hurry.
Some say its because it costs more to eat healthy food but I don't buy that.
Neither do I. I mainly give myself a weekly allowance of $40, which buys me food, gas (I drive mostly locally, so not much gas is needed), and maybe a couple of Starbuck's Cafe Mochas if I'm lucky.
That allowance permits me to buy enough healthy food to last me throughout the week. If I was to eat fast food only once a day (let's say one McDonald's value meal a day) by the end of the week I will have spent nearly $30. That's 3/4 of my weekly allownance!
I think much of the obesity problem in our country is simply a matter of laziness on the part of parents. Many of them prefer the drive-thru over their own kitchen, and their kids reap the consequences. Every now then fast food is great, but c'mon, get off your duff and cook yourself a little dinner or two!
By the way, I'm a pretty cook if I do say so myself. ;)
Ray O'Canon Digital Rebel XTi Digital Rebel Canonet GIII QL17 Agfa Parat-1
The liberal, socialist politician's nightmare: "What a comfort to the farmer to be allowed to supply his own wants before he should be liable to pay anything, and then only pay on his surplus." - Jefferson to Madison on Taxes,1784
By the way, I'm a pretty cook if I do say so myself. ;)
If that cow in your avatar is any indication of how pretty you are, I'm really beginning to wonder.
Mike www.specialtyphotoandprinting.com
Canon 30D X 2, Canon 100-400L, Thrift Fifty, Canon 18-55 IS 3rd generation lens plus 430 EX II flash and Better Beamer. :thumbsup:
Ray O'Canon Digital Rebel XTi Digital Rebel Canonet GIII QL17 Agfa Parat-1
The liberal, socialist politician's nightmare: "What a comfort to the farmer to be allowed to supply his own wants before he should be liable to pay anything, and then only pay on his surplus." - Jefferson to Madison on Taxes,1784
Like anything else, I'm not sure it's that easy. Lower income areas usually have people working a lot of hours at maybe two or three part time jobs, so time available to shop and cook is less. That can make pre-made, frozen and fast foods an easier choice. When I lived in Milwaukee I barely had money to cover my share of the rent and ate a lot of ramen noodles. Not a healthy choice, but I couldn't really afford (nor had the time to shop for) things like fish, salad, fruit on a regular basis. Plus, I was young and invincible. But then it probably turns into a habit.
There are ways around it. A lot of people freak out about cooking a whole turkey. It's not hard, pretty nutritious and not very expensive if you watch the sales. Do it on a day off while you're home, freeze what you won't eat in a couple of days and your cost per meal is pretty low. Planning ahead is the main point to get across...
Whole Foods has a flyer they put out every week or so. Meals for 4 under $15. We've tried a couple and really enjoy them. Our favorite is pasta with chicken sausage. Bag of noodles, $3, Jar of sauce, $4, two sausages from the meat dept, $4, that's at Whole Foods. Same thing at Pick-n-Save, probably around $8.
The other thing that's been great for us, is the crock pot. Because it's not a dry heat, you can use less expensive cuts of meat. Although we mostly use ours for taco soup.
Steve, you hit the nail on the head. Plan ahead. I've started a weekly menu and stick it on the fridge. I was tired of no one giving any input into what we'd be eating, so now it's all written out, l go 4 days out. I can also do prep work when I'm feeling ambitious, that way I just need to throw things together the day of. Any cutting or grating is done, which is usually the time consuming part.
For myself personally, i find that maintaining a low fat diet is not a problem of income, but one of variety. You find yourself eating the same things over and over, and pretty soon it gets monotonous. In talking with others, this seems to be a larger reason for the binge/purge scenario than most other reasons.
Two things help me in my quest for a low fat lifestyle (as opposed to a temporary "diet")
1) Gather rescources. I have several cook books/ recipe books that cater to the low fat/salt/cholesterol foods. I find it really helps to add variety and spice into a healthy lifestyle.
2) I give myself one day per week to indulge any cravings, in moderation, of course. If you have a craving for pizza and beer, three tofu sandwiches isn't going to help. Have a slice of pizza, and a glass of beer. You'll be doing yourself a favor in the long run.
A healthy diet involces making lifestyle choices. Nott all of those choices have to be good ones. You just need to have more good choices than bad ones.
Some say its because it costs more to eat healthy food but I don't buy that. .
A recent study talked about on NPR about a month ago showed that fresh healthy foods were indeed more expensive. This was due to the wacky way that government food subsidies are given out. For example, stuff such as corn syrup is heavily subsidized making the costs low. Fresh vegatables, fruits, etc. are not subsidized so the prices are substantailly higher. The government pays farmers not to grow food to keep prices artificially high. It takes a lot less money to make and ship Oreos than apples. This doesn't even consider the government-sponsored price fixing for dairy: milk, butter, cheese, etc.
I'm not poor but I don't make a lot of money. I just can't afford to buy healthy all the time. Its a fact of life for many in the USA. Those who make good money have no clue how the "other half" lives or the real choices they have!
Men never do evil so cheerfully and completely as when they do so from religious conviction. Blaise Pascal
It's quite interesting though, up here at college it's quite easy for me to eat right despite the fast paced lifestyle. When I started consciously trying to eat healthy while I was here, I also decided to eat vegetarian several days a week to reduce my Ecological Footprint. When I compared how much I spent on food, I was amazed to see that on the days where i'd have meat products (even if it was just a bit of chicken pasta or a sandwich) I'd end up spending 50%-150% more per day versus the vegetarian days- and i'd usually eat more food on the days without meat.
Of course, comparatively speaking, everything up here is cheap. You cannot get the meals you can get up here for under $9 in Miami for less than $15.
Somewhere north of US 10 and east of Wausau, WI, USA
Posts
1,282
Re: I love fast food articles...
Medley - a couple of people I work with tried a very strict diet where they could only eat carbs two days a week. They lost weight, but I wonder how healthy those diets actually were.
Eating healthy can be very difficult - especially when you are cooking for one. At least one meal a week is Hamburger Helper just because it is quick and easy. Combined with the frozen veggies that you can take from freezer to microwave, it gives me two or three meals. Its not the healthiest thing in the world.
Yeah, I know what you mean by the type of diets that are out there. When I started mine, it was strictly a calorie-counting thing. I find that if you watch your caloric intake, the other aspects (fat vs protein vs carbs) tends to balance itself out. When you have to sacrifice lunch to have a Snickers, you tend to eat less Snickers. I actually kind of enjoy it now when I run into someone who hasn't seen me for awhile and they say something like,"You look great! What diet are you on?". It's a LOT of fun to see the look on their faces when I say "The one where you lose weight by eating less." Turns out the old-school methods still work too.
And I know what you mean about cooking for yourself as well. My downfall used to be the frozen Reser's burritos. We have an outlet store down the road, and it was just too convenient. But in reality, salads are almost as easy. They just get boring to me. Even if you add skinless chicken breasts and/or nonfat cottage cheese into the mix, there are only so many different ways to fix it.
There's a million different ways to fix salad, along with a million different types of greens to make them with. My favorite being a spinich salad with a saffon glazed pear, and a small piece of garlic bread. Umm tastey.
My baby brother is the head chef at a golf club. We're spoiled.
Okay, so I turn 30 this year, and am working on getting healthier. When I'm talking to people and this comes up, they ask what plan I'm doing. Ummmm the one where I get up off my butt and exercise, and eat healthier as well?
LinkBack URL
About LinkBacks
Reply With Quote
Originally Posted by Frog
