5 Reasons Why We Don't Eat Healthy Food

I personally face more of a challenging eating my vegetables prepared in a healthy way than with eating them at all. I love vegetables, but sometimes I want to eat the salad with the ton of dressing or the broccoli drenched in olive oil.

I suppose I can understand that to some extent, but there are so many "convenience" vegetables (bags of frozen cauliflour and broccoli, ready to steam in the microwave) that the "convenience" excuse is weakening. Plus, how much effort does it take to rinse off an apple and bite in? (Unless you count the daunting task of throwing away the pit.) Or munching on a bag of baby carrots, even if you need to dip it in ranch dressing? (It's not the healthiest route, but you're still getting the fiber and vitamin C, just the same.)

#4 is the biggie for me. I'm a student who works easily 60+ hours per week. Some days, it's hard enough to get up for my early classes, let alone pack a nutritious lunch and a dinner, knowing that I'm not going to be getting home until 11 PM. Same thing with working out. If you know you're already going to get only 4 hours of sleep, it's hard to tack on an hour at the gym and bring it down to 3. I always lose weight over the summer when I'm working a regular 9-5.

I suspect that the real reason is #5...taste concerns. These foods aren't loaded with HFCS, trans fats, etc.

The thing of it is, once you adjust how you eat, you start to prefer the healthier choices. At least that's how it worked for me.

Brian

TIME: It definately gets harder with time constraints! When I was at school 10 hours a week and working 56-60 hours a week (commute & homework on top of that), fast food got WAY more tempting. I insisted work move me to a more reasonable 40 hours a week.

TASTE: Taste isn't a problem for me-- I love fruits/vegetables because I was raised on them! My parents had me eating fruits/vegetables when I was a child and it never occured to me not to until I had already developed a taste for them. My boyfriend will claim to hate all kinds of vegetables-- it's a cooking challenge for me to prepare them in a healthy way (not smothered in butter or cheese) that he will still eat!

CONFUSION: I haven't had much a problem here because the subject interests me so much. It's my major. :) I also have always assumed that things don't have to be perfect to make obviously healthy choices-- like more vegetables, less junk food!

COST: My grocery bill is higher than my friends who eat junk. I justify, and justify... less health bills later! I could make it cheaper... but that's time I don't have with the other concessions I'm making with my time.

AVAILABILITY: No denying this here... fast food is not healthy food-- and all that is open in my third shift job's lunch break. The grocery store is mainly processed foods outside the perimeter. I try to overcome this by carrying food on me--- packing lunches/snacks-- keeping a spare can of soup and can of artichokes in my locker at work, etc.

I have to agree with Brian. Given the choices of steamed broccoli versus macaroni and cheese, or baby carrots versus potato chips, or an apple versus a candy bar, I'm willing to bet that the majority of folks, even though they KNOW the former is better for them, will choose the latter simply because it tastes better.

I really don't think it is that much more convenient to eat junk food than healthy food. Packing a sandwich and an apple takes less time than going out at lunch to wait in a fast food line. Even fast food restaurants have salads and grilled meals with healthful side dishes. If you have time to get a hamburger, you have time to pick up a rotisserie chicken and a bag of grapes or carrots. Apples, oranges, bananas, grapes, individual yogursts, raisins, bagged carrots, broccoli, salads, they're all ready to go. Frozen vegetables take the same amount of time as a Hungry Man Dinner. I think this is all about taste, NOT convenience.

I agree with Brian, Jan, Alexandra... it must be a taste thing for most folks - otherwise it would become convenient.

The coffee cart next to where I work now keeps in stock raw vegetables, cups of grapes and berries, fresh fruit, small sticks of good cheese, and hard-boiled eggs. It's great that the owner has made healthy food pretty darn convenient and has chosen items that keep for several days so her wastage is low. She sells out of the struedel coffee cake, chocolate chocolate chip cookies, and those huge sandwiches bulging with mounds of meat and mayo every day.

I believe cost is the main reason for this. My family has been recently trying to buy healthy food other than junk food but the cost is significantly diffrent. With the Michigan job industry so horrible most families can't spend that extra money even if the outcome is better and worth more than the cost of the food.

I agree with "Lose Weight With Me" guy :)
Veggies aren't so much inconvenient as a different taste and style to get used to. You can't really just supplement or "add" veggies to an unhealthy diet and get results, which I think a lot of people instinctively do. You have to really "make the switch" completely. It is a commitment. However, for me personally, I found that after a few weeks I began craving the veggies and being far more satisfied by them than junk. It just takes a little time to reset your body's tastes. Fortunately we are creatures of habit - we just have to redirect the habit. :) Just my two cents.

How could eating fast food be cheaper? Even if you got four happy meals, which is a very small dinner, that would cost at least $13.00. There are so many meals you could cook for yourself at a fraction of that price, and which are incredibly easy and quick. Examples: whole wheat pasta primavera (lazy version: pasta, frozen vegetables, a little bit of olive oil and parm cheese). Baked chicken parts, rice, broccoli; salad with side dishes of chickpeas, tuna, raisins, cut up vegetables and a loaf of bread--there are a million examples. You could probably make these three dishes together for less than the cost of what would be one normal meal for four at Mickie Ds.

COST is definately an issue. I am a person who likes to stock up. 2 trips a month to the grocery store used to be ideal for me. Of course, nothing was fresh. Canned items, or processed items were always purchased because 1. buying these items in bulk will save me money and 2. they have a longer shelf/freezer life.

With my current healthy eating plan, I have to shop every week, and throw out bags of salad, or turning bananas, which I couldnt eat in enough time. Yes, I see in the long run that eating healthy is a price I should have to pay only at the grocery line, and not with a shorten life span down the road.

But the thing is...does FRESH have to cost SOOOOO MUCH??

I think the main reason why people don't eat vegetables is that there is no compelling or evolutionary reason to do so. The only reason now is for long term health purposes, which we know only because of our improved understanding of science.

Historically our life expectancy has been pretty short and was impacted more by ones ability and motivation to seek out higher energy foods (fat and sugar). Vegetables have a low energy yield and favoring them would not offer a survival advantage over a meat lover given that it is very hard to store fat as human plant eater.

I'd add this as number 6.

TIME TIME TIME. Preparation is a bitch. Who wants to chop veggies? Fricking sucks! If i had someone else preparing everything for me... well I'd eat healthier. But I don't. I am too freaking lazy to pick out what I want at a salad bar! Plus its difficult to make the right combos of veggies and seasonings etc- i rather have someone else do it... like at a restaurant. I'd eat a lot healthier if I ate out at a fancy restaurant event day.

Sorry for the poor grammar- it goes when I am in a bad mood- Can take the girl out of jersey but not Jersey out of the girl.

For me TASTE is the main reason I'm not big on veggies. I eat them because I know they are good for me and because I have to - and no other reason. It's not because I am used to fat, sweet etc. - in fact I don't have a sweet tooth at all - but I am used to a more flavorful diet being from the Caribbean and I don't care what anyone does to veggies when they are cooked - there are only a handful of cooked vegetable dishes that suit my tastes.

Still, I go ahead and eat them anyway - because we need to - and like my mother used to say when she used to give us codliver oil as a kid, "not everything that's good for you is going to taste good."