It can be EXPENSIVE to eat healthy! Today, at the grocery store, I spent $206.66 for about a week's worth of food (after $37.88 of savings with my membership card). Here's what I bought:
- 2 boxes of granola bar
- 5 canisters of Crystal Light (2 Crystal Light, 2 generic, 1 sugar-free Kool-Aid)
- 1 box of taco shells
- 4 Healthy Choice "Fresh Mixers"
- 6 packets of marinade
- 3 packets of taco seasoning
- Oatmeal
- 2 jars of pasta sauce
- Linguine
- Ground turkey breast
- Chicken breasts (~7.25lbs)
- 2 family-sized bag salads
- 5 apples
- 4 Asian pears
- 4 cucumbers
- 6 green bell peppers
- Hot-house tomatoes
- Shredded carrots
- 4 bags of frozen green beans
- 4 Lean Cuisine frozen meals
- 1 Health Choice frozen meal
- 2 Purdue Shortcuts chicken breasts
- 2 large cartons of egg whites
- 2 bags of light shredded cheese
Here's the breakdown of what I tend to eat in a day, along with the estimated prices:
- 2 egg whites - $0.60
- 80g oatmeal - $0.20
- 6oz chicken - $1.00
- Apple - $0.80
- Light string cheese - $0.90
- 1oz almonds - $0.50
- Salad - $9.75 (Frozen Green Beans - $7.00)
- 4 tablespoons salad dressing - $0.50
- 1 tablespoon peanut butter - $0.10
- 1 packet Crystal Light - $0.80
So my daily bill for clean eating is about $15.
Eating clean for a week is about $105.
Eating clean for the year is about $5,460.
Given that the average US income is $46,000, eating clean can easily consume over 10%! I'm definitely fortunate to have enough flexible income that I can choose to spend it on healthier, less-processed food choices. It also helps explain why so many people opt for less healthy, less expensive items at the grocery store.
The most expensive things there? The fresh fruits and vegetables, followed by the meats. No surprise there! And that this is just for MY food and doesn't include my husband's foods. Now this doesn't include the break-down of marinades, seasonings, vitamins, and other supplements, so it's probably a bit higher. Also, a number of things were on sale, so that brought the estimate down a bit. I also based some of these estimates on the generic versions of things, while things like Asian pears can be quite a bit more expensive than my regular apples ($1.29 each vs $0.80).
I do some of my shopping at the bulk warehouse, but I definitely can't get everything there. The one where I have my membership doesn't carry straight oatmeal. The chicken is overly packaged for convenient freezing (2 breasts/package), so I don't buy it there because it's too much of a hassle and waste in preparing. I think just about everything else is available there, but sometimes it's more of an inconvenience to get over there - not to mention the likelihood that I'll leave with a bunch of other things too!
Food Log:
- Meal 1
- 2 egg whites
- 40g oatmeal
- Meal 2
- Grapple
- 1oz almonds
- Light cheese
- Meal 3
- 3oz chicken
- Green beans
- Meal 4
- 3oz chicken
- Green beans
- 40g oatmeal
- Tablespoon peanut butter
Exercise:
- Time: 60 minutes on the elliptical
- Level: Level 1 for 1 minute, Level 2 for 58 minutes, Level 1 for 1 minutes
- Distance: 5.1 miles
- Calories: 750
Today's Weigh-In: 149.1 / 149.0
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