No More Excuses for Choosing Fast Food over Real Food

By , SparkPeople Blogger
Last summer, blogger Beth Donovan and I worked on a project that's one of my passions: proving that healthy eating is easy and affordable at any budget. Together, we created this illustrated blog post: $20 Food Showdown: Fast Food vs. Healthy Food. You agreed. It has been liked 5,000 times on Facebook and viewed more than 100,000 times.

As a follow-up to our popular blog 25 Cheap and Healthy Foods, we hit the supermarket with calculators and notebooks in hand. We found that you could fill your carts with real, healthy foods that would last you for more than one meal--for less than it would cost you to buy fast food for dinner.

Sure, you'll have to take the time to cook those real foods, but you're getting healthy food--without excess salt, sugar and fat.

Mark Bittman's recent op-ed piece in the New York Times bolstered our argument.  His comparison shopping graphic even includes nutritional comparisons of the healthy foods versus fast foods.  

When you look at whole (healthy) and fast (junk) foods side by side, it becomes clear that money is not the primary issue for most of us, even if we are on a tight budget. We're not comparing apples to apples or even apples to oranges. We're comparing apples to orange-flavored "fruit" snacks or Apple Jacks to oranges. The reasons why we aren't choosing the "right" foods are different for each of us, but recurring themes emerge: We're hooked on them, they taste good, they're more convenient, they're easier than learning to cook.

The good news is that you have SparkPeople, and we can debunk each and every one of those excuses:

We're hooked on the salt, sugar and fat in fast food.
Eating isn't only about satisfying our physical hunger; for many of us it fills an emotional void as well. If emotional eating is something you struggle with, consider joining a SparkTeam to help you find alternatives to eating.
Fast food tastes good.
Healthy food tastes good, too. Once you start recalibrating your palate by eating fresh, wholesome foods and meals cooked at home, you'll learn to appreciate the inherent goodness of all kinds of foods. You'll expand your tastebuds beyond fatty, sugary, and salty: nutty brown rice, bitter greens, creamy white beans, rich roasted chicken, tangy vinaigrette--even a simple meal of salad with rice and chicken can seem like a party in your mouth. You can even recreate your favorite restaurant recipes at home--for less money and fat.
Fast food is so convenient! I don't have time to cook!
Home-cooked meals don't have to be fancy. A peanut butter and jelly sandwich on whole-wheat bread with carrot sticks and a cup of milk is healthy and ready in five minutes. Grilled cheese and veggie sandwiches, reduced-sodium canned soups, simple grilled chicken, a salad with whatever's in your fridge--these are all healthy meals that can be on the table in no time. Even though there are plenty of supermarket convenience foods that are also full of salt, sugar, and fat, taking some help from the grocery store is fine. Just look for products that have as few ingredients as possible, and add on extra servings of fruit and vegetables to add nutrition without a lot of calories.
I eat fast food because I don't know how to cook.
As you've read, healthy cooking doesn't have to be complicated or fancy. Start small, with a healthy recipe on SparkRecipes.com. And pick up a copy of "The SparkPeople Cookbook: Love Your Food, Lose the Weight" (available Oct. 4). It's packed full of healthy recipes with almost 100 color photos, step-by-step instructions, and chapters on stocking a healthy kitchen and healthy cooking techniques. We also have a healthy pantry checklist, meal plans, and shopping lists to make healthy cooking easy, fun, and delicious.

Healthy eating and cooking at home doesn't seem so daunting anymore, does it?

Now you tell us: What is your biggest challenge when it comes to cooking at home? What foods do you turn to when you're short on time but want a healthy meal?

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