Too Busy or Too Lazy
Research group NPD have released their annual report - Eating Patterns in the USA. This is the 20th edition and highlights some interesting changes in eating habits over the last 20 years.
The number of meals eaten in a restaurant annually has decreased from 93 meals per person in 1985, to 80 meals per person today. However, the number of meals purchased at a restaurant and eaten in the car has increased from 19 meals per person in 1985, to 32 meals per person today. Ninety-two percent of take-out lunches come from fast food restaurants today, and 92 percent of individuals consume some form of “ready-to-eat” foods in the home on a daily basis. As a result of time-pressed lifestyles, the major factors that drive our eating habits seem to be time and money. If a meal is not cheap, it better be quick, and vice versa.
One of the changes over the last twenty years is the concept of "eating on the run". Not only are more people ordering food from the drive-thru, but they're eating in the car too.
How exactly this may tie in with growing waistlines is pure speculation. The report also states that the top 5 foods eaten have not really changed over the last decade (via Sun Times).
Sandwiches top the list of most frequently eaten foods in 2004, followed by vegetables, fruit, potatoes and ready-to-eat cereal. Those were the same top five foods in 1996, according to the report.
When it comes to eating on the run - most food tends to be high in fat, salt, and/or sugar - a typical fast food combo. This means that learning to "eat right" or even "eat better" - means learning to change expectations and beliefs. Trying to jam a mealtime into 5 minutes is not realistic if you want to eat more whole foods.
Such is the challenge of weight management in a fast-paced world full of quick and easy options.
Written By J. Foster
At the place I used to work, there wasn't a cafeteria so your only options were to bring your food or go out and buy some. I always brought my food and yeah, it takes an extra 5 minutes to pack some healthy food for lunch, but it saved me all kinds of time and calories later. Most of my coworkers confessed that they were usually too lazy to pack a lunch, so they'd go out. Seriously, though, it doesn't really take that much time to pack a lunch/pack a snack/etc. Do you REALLY need to go to the drive thru all the time? Really makes you think ;)
ReplyYeah, I'd also say that quick and easy lunchs from whole foods are not that impossible if you pack it before hand. Learning recipes specifically for veggies, rather than just blandly steaming or frying then adding butter and salt, allows them to become tasty leftovers, combine with some packed ham or leftover steak and wrap up a slice of bread and you've got a balanced easy meal. Leftovers are also a much cheaper option than even fast-food, not to mention more yummy and varied. (But I guess this is only provided you cooked something interesting and suitable as a leftover in the first place.)
ReplyI don’t think people are lazy as much as overworked and stressed out and tired. I found myself in a vicious cycle a few years ago: eating poorly and on the run left me too tired at the end of the day to plan anything let along the next day’s lunch. Now I find it essential to eat properly and just make the sacrifice to plan my meals and follow my plan. Otherwise I find myself at the mercy of the food that is readily available which is usually high in sugar and fat.
www.antiagingatlanta.com
ReplyNot all workplaces have a fridge and a microwave to make it easy to take your own food. You can only eat so many smoked turkey sandwiches, wilted salads (from sitting outside in the heat), and tuna straight from the can before you give up.
ReplyI'm gonna go on a car trip this week (2 days driving) and then spend 3 days at my sister-in-law's, where there are no vegetables and everything is fried. Even though there is a microwave and a fridge there, it means 5 days of surviving on protein shakes, canned tuna, and oats. After that I won't be able to even think of tuna without getting sick for several months.
Yep. I don't pack my lunch because we have a great and healthy blend of foods provided at our lunch, but if I don't anticipate that I will want to eat certain things I'll just bring a lunch. I never keep change either. I am weak when it comes to that vending machine!
ReplyJan, I work out of a truck most of the time driving to farms and I've found that an insulated lunch bag with an ice pack makes it easy to keep food fresh. And as far as not having a microwave, I just bring food that doesn't have to be reheated.
ReplyI totally agree. I have the luxury of working from home, so I can prepare more healthy foods. I've already lost 20lbs by cutting calories and exercise 2X a week. I've got a dieting blog too, it's http://wellbo.blogspot.com.
ReplyI think that style of life : MC'Donalnds and all fast food restaurant , and life on high speed Is the dengerous for all populations in the World not only for americans.
ReplyAnother overlooked concept is that, as more people eat fast food, the next generation doesn't learn to cook. My mom hardly ever cooked and, although I want to eat healthfully, I don't know how to make anything that tastes as good as what I can buy. I'm learning, but it's a slow process that would have been alleviated if I had grown up in a cooking household. Food for thought, if you have kids.
ReplyThanks for the suggestion Spectra. I actually work from home, but my husband is bored with the one buffet around, and can't stand another turkey sandwich. I'll buy a small bag that fits in his briefcase.
ReplyWe tend to cram so many things into our schedule that there is just no time to sit down and eat... let alone cook. When a person is too busy, they don't want to waste their precious time shopping for a recipe ingredients, then cooking a dinner from scratch - therefore the advent of the whole "eating on the run" industry.
Melanie
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