Nutrinomics 101

The Cost of Healthy Living

When asked what holds them back from making the changes necessary to lose weight and improve their health, I typically hear the following answers........

"I can't afford it"

"It's cheaper to eat fast food than healthy food"

" I can't afford to pay out of pocket to see a nutritionist"

" I don't have the money to join a gym"


These are the things said to me by the Starbucks toting woman whose weekly trips to Target fill the back of her Suburban. So I began to do some research, and here's what I found.

Sarah is a friend who is trying to lose weight. She is a very busy working woman. On a typical day, she makes the following stops.......and here's what she spends........

7 am - Starbucks for a Venti Caramel Machiatto .......................4$

(just coffee, trying to watch her weight)

10 am - Diet Soda and Baked Lays at the Mapco.......................3$

(a little hungry, on the way to a client meeting)

1pm - McDonalds Extra Value Meal at the drive thru...................5$
(starving, can't eat it fast enough-Quarter Pounder
w/ cheese, fries, and diet drink- because she's watching her weight)

4pm - Vending Machine snack - snackwell cookies................ 0.75$
(trying to make healthy choices)

7pm - Lean Cuisine Select meal............................................... 3$
( only 320 calories!!!)

9 pm - 1/2 pint Chunky Monkey .............................................2$
( just can't hold out any more)

Total food cost........................................ $17.75 per day

Now lets look at what she is consuming.........

Starbucks Venti Caramel Machiatto...................... 300 calories

1 Package Baked Lays........................................ 130 calories

McDonald's meal................................................ 890 calories

Snackwells cookies ............................................ 210 calories

Lean Cuisine Meal............................................... 320 calories

Chunky Monkey ................................................. 600 calories

That's a total of 2450 calories- far too many for a 35 year old, 5'2", 140 pound inactive woman. At this rate, Sarah will gain close to 85 pounds per year, and be morbidly obese before her 40th birthday.

Sarah is also getting 113 grams of added sugar- that is more than 22 tsp of added sugar in her day. This alone has a huge impact on her weight and health-but more on that another day.

Now, lets look at an alternative..............

7 am - Home brewed coffee (cream & sugar).......$1 and 180 cal
hard boiled egg, and a banana

10 am - Carton of yogurt & an apple...................$1 and 230 cal

1 pm - Grilled Chicken Sandwhich on whole .......... $4 and 500 cal
wheat bun (lettuce, tomato, mustard),
with small veggie salad

4 pm - handful of almonds and 1/4 cup dried.......$1.25 and 160 cal
blueberrries

7 pm - Grilled Salmon, spinach salad, .............. . $4 and 500 cal
and brown rice

9 pm - 1 orange and piece of string cheese........... $.75 and 140 cal

The new totals are..........$12.00 per day and 1710 calories per day

By making these changes in her day, Sarah can save herself $5.75 and 700 calories per day!

Calories:

A 700 calorie deficit alone translates to a 5 pound weight loss per month, bringing her to her healthy ideal weight in just a few months.

Money:

By purchasing and preparing her own food, Sarah can save over $170 per month.

With this savings, Sarah can afford to.......

Join the YMCA ...................... ............... $60 / month

Participate in YMCA group personal .......$90 for 2X/week
training sessions,

----- or -----

2- 30 minute massages at the YMCA .........$90

These are immediate savings; savings that are obvious and hard to deny. But what about the other savings? With her new diet, Sarah is getting an abundance of fruit and vegetables, antioxidants, good fats, and fiber-all of the nutrients she needs to avoid the downhill track she was headed on towards obesity and disease (see Nutritiacare 101).

The excuse that healthy choices are more expensive just doesn't make sense. I know that change is difficult. In future posts we will introduce the baby steps needed to make a total transformation in your health with little effort or pain.

*costs listed are estimates based on market prices for items in the Nashville, TN and surrounding areas
**calories listed are based on estimates taken from food product labels, manufacturers websites, and restaurant literature