Current Events > Why do some people refuse to eat healthy at all?

(+) Yeah! (+)

action52 posted...

If you found a way to deal with your depression, you might feel more motivated to eat healthy.

I'm reminded of a certain piece of stellar financial advice.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/c/c2de05ae.png

This discussion went further than I imagined it would.

...You've been here since 2007. I could almost admire that level of naivety if it were genuine.

Fitness, pitbulls, gun control, etc are evergreen fly-attracting discourse topics on CE.

Ivany2008 posted...

It hasn't been debunked, it just depends on where you live. If you live near where the food is being harvested, your going to pay next to nothing for it. But if you live in a province like mine which is forced to ship everything across a ferry, we pay a lot of fresh food. I can make a pizza for around 15 bucks. Or I can buy a frozen pizza for 4. It's not going to taste as good, but its a hell of a lot cheaper. I'm also going to have a lot of leftover ingredients, meaning food waste.

It's been debunked. You used homemade pizza as the healthy choice for comparison of price points, which is not anyone's idea of a budget meal and farm-to-table, fresh food is great but not mandatory to eat reasonably healthy. Beans, sweet potatoes, and brown rice are cheaper than frozen junk food, even moreso when considering nutrient density.

By the way, I understand anyone finding the examples of beans and rice in this topic unappealing, but those are just some of the strongest examples to illustrate the point. The next step would be putting a little effort in improving your cooking situation (again, get an air fryer) to make food you actually want to eat and examining deals local to you (is there a Costco so you can get a $5 whole rotisserie chicken?) to expand your options. And then give yourself leeway to eat a cheat meal every now and then or eat out for social settings where you let yourself eat what you want.

Costco's food court is also a huge exception because prices there are legendarily low and a giant pizza costs $10.

Pow_Pow_Punishment posted...

By the way, I understand anyone finding the examples of beans and rice in this topic unappealing

*Sigh* It's a disgrace that we've let beans and rice have such a negative connotation.

Best tasting staple foods out there.

Because many "unhealthy foods" are cheap and taste good and people get addicted to it. Healthy foods can be cheap, but it's also a time commitment and when you want to do your other hobbies on your free time.

Personally, I learn to enjoy cooking at home and learning new recipes with my daughter that actively wants to learn how to cook alongside me. It's knowing what you're putting into your own food and feeling good eating guilt free. It does require some planning, but so does most things in life.

emblem-man posted...

*Sigh* It's a disgrace that we've let beans and rice have such a negative connotation.

Best tasting staple foods out there.

Hah, I like 'em plenty but I can see why someone might be dissuaded if that's the example that keeps getting repeated and they get the impression that you have to eat like a rabbit forever. I don't necessarily find beans and rice alone exciting, so I think it's important to say start there to establish our point and then expand the options.

pedro45 posted...

Nailed it. The next comment cements that.

Fruits and vegetables should be your friend after the gym. They take literal 0 seconds to cook.
Also, scrambled eggs can be done, from a cold pan to a plate, in less than 10 minutes.
You can fry up raw chicken nuggets in less than 10 minutes. Then if you keep frying a little longer, you can reheat the leftovers in mere minutes another day.

When it comes to meals that take longer, it's rarely active cooking. When making a roast, i preheat the oven and season the meat which takes like a minute. I sit down and game for like 15 minutes while the oven preheats.
Once i pop that roast in the oven, you have an hour of free time to game more, watch TV, etc.

Some people say i should write a cook book because of how easy i make it. I'm a stoner who wants to eat while also having fun.
It's bomb playing games and getting sucked in as your home slowly smells of delicious meat. Then i slice it up and get into sucked into a movie

If you started a stoner cooking channel on the shorts platforms it would probably do well.

Prestoff posted...

Because many "unhealthy foods" are cheap and taste good and people get addicted to it. Healthy foods can be cheap, but it's also a time commitment and when you want to do your other hobbies on your free time.

It really isn't. Again, an air fryer is basically a microwave (not in terms of how it works but regarding time and prep).

Pow_Pow_Punishment posted...

It's been debunked. You used homemade pizza as the healthy choice for comparison of price points, which is not anyone's idea of a budget meal and farm-to-table, fresh food is great but not mandatory to eat reasonably healthy. Beans, sweet potatoes, and brown rice are cheaper than frozen junk food, even moreso when considering nutrient density.

You keep saying its been debunked, but you completely ignored my point. What I said was that making a homemade pizza with the exact same ingredients as a DiGourno pizza is going to be triple if not quadruple the cost. When your on welfare, trying to feed a family of 4 with 2 working parents who don't have time to cook, a box of pizza pockets can be a life saver. Frozen prepared meals filled with preservatives are dirt cheap and take minutes to cook. Cooking a proper meal will always be better, but time isn't always an option, especially when you have two parents working double shifts just to pay the bills.

Pow_Pow_Punishment posted...

It really isn't. Again, an air fryer is basically a microwave (not in terms of how it works but regarding time and prep).

An air fryer is quicker, but it doesn't make the food taste any better. Having an air fried steak vs. ones that are properly cooked like pan seared or grilled is a huge difference in taste. I don't care what you have to say, but for the majority of people the consensus is that eating healthier is a bigger time commitment than just eating unhealthy. I just don't personally see it as a time commitment because I enjoy actually cooking.

As I explained to my wife. 25 yo dollars for fast food ( 1 meal), 40+ for a sit down meal (dinner, lunch the next day).

but for 20 I can make us dinner thats better tasting, and gives at min dinner and lunch, sometimes two days worth.

cost isnt a factor, people not having time and having learned to never cook outside a microwave is a problem.

also on cost, 7 dollars for a case of soda vs 3 for a gallon of tea says a lot. Unhealthy is more more expensive cause most of those items you dont need

Philip027 posted...

I'm reminded of a certain piece of stellar financial advice.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/c/c2de05ae.png

To be fair, not eating healthy can fuel your depression, leading to a cycle of bad diet and eating bad to cope.

texanfan27 posted...

As I explained to my wife. 25 yo dollars for fast food ( 1 meal), 40+ for a sit down meal (dinner, lunch the next day).

but for 20 I can make us dinner thats better tasting, and gives at min dinner and lunch, sometimes two days worth.

cost isnt a factor, people not having time and having learned to never cook outside a microwave is a problem.

also on cost, 7 dollars for a case of soda vs 3 for a gallon of tea says a lot. Unhealthy is more more expensive cause most of those items you dont need

If you're not afraid of getting cheap stuff, you can get like 30 large tea bags that make a gallon for about $4-5.

That's pretty much all I drink.

I don't mind eating the same leftovers for the week so I cook a big meal and steam a bag of veggies every week on my day off

I will say this. Don't bother getting coldbrew at Starbucks. Go to your local Dollar store, buy two 3 gallon jugs with lids, cheesecloth and a bag of coffee. 2-3 cups of coffee grinds, fill the jug to the max with water and let steep in the fridge overnight. Cheesecloth on the jug, lid on and transfer the contents to the second jug. Enough coldbrew to last you a week.

Ivany2008 posted...

You keep saying its been debunked, but you completely ignored my point. What I said was that making a homemade pizza with the exact same ingredients as a DiGourno pizza is going to be triple if not quadruple the cost. When your on welfare, trying to feed a family of 4 with 2 working parents who don't have time to cook, a box of pizza pockets can be a life saver. Frozen prepared meals filled with preservatives are dirt cheap and take minutes to cook. Cooking a proper meal will always be better, but time isn't always an option, especially when you have two parents working double shifts just to pay the bills.

That's why we're not suggesting exact like-for-like substitutes and are instead suggesting much cheaper health foods. When someone says eating healthy is cheaper, it certainly does not mean the exact same ingredients but fresher are cheaper. So yes, the cost factor has been debunked.

When it comes to time, which is a separate claim altogether, frozen food has a big advantage, but air fryers are huge wins that people acting like cooking healthy is a big timesink probably don't have much experience with.

Prestoff posted...

I don't care what you have to say,

I was going to quote your whole post until I stopped here. Then why are you engaging in a discussion?

By the way, I pan fry AND air fry my steaks. Air fried steaks are fucking bomb and totally comparable. Air frying even gives them a crispy surface around the edges akin to the Mailard searing that a pan provides. If you can bother to care about people you're addressing, are you sure you're setting them to a high enough heat in your fryer?

Prestoff posted...

An air fryer is quicker, but it doesn't make the food taste any better.

Say that to leftover pizza.

Same reason people still smoke while knowing how unhealthy that is. They don't care. It's really that simple. A poor diet isn't guaranteed to kill you the same way smoking cigarettes aren't, thus people take that gamble.

Weird that people think it's mostly about not being able to cook. I can go online and look up how to cook healthier meals. I just don't care to.

So, what are we having for dinner y'all

emblem-man posted...

So, what are we having for dinner y'all

I had fish and chips. Still a bit hungry, so I might have a bowl of cereal with milk before bed.

emblem-man posted...

So, what are we having for dinner y'all

half of a cheese/vegetable sandwich
2 chicken tenderloin pieces
1 cup of frozen and canned cooked vegetables
1 cup grapes
2 hard boiled eggs

This may be an anecdote but from my personal experience many people, particularly lower income ones dont want to deal with perishable foods like fresh fruits and vegetables. So anything you cannot store long term is off the table. Frozen is an option but more expansive.

On top of that many familys do not have the money and or space for a deep freezer as well to store large quantities of food. Which means more trips to the grocery store.

Nevermind how much quantities of food they need to buy. Even if they can cook.

Prismsblade posted...

This may be an anecdote but from my personal experience many people, particularly lower income ones dont want to deal with perishable foods like fresh fruits and vegetables. So anything you cannot store long term is off the table. Frozen is an option but more expansive.

On top of that many familys do not have the money and or space for a deep freezer as well to store large quantities of food. Which means more trips to the grocery store.

Nevermind how much quantities of food they need to buy. Even if they can cook.

frozen, at least for vegetables, is cheaper than fresh in my experience. Plus, it lasts ages. I tell everyone that it is the key to eating cheap and healthy veggies. Plus, it maintains the nutrients even better than fresh.

There are a multitude of factors by lower income families, on average, struggle to eat healthy. But this isnt one of them.

Some people have been raised by people with similarly shit diets, so they kind of just grow up with the pickiness of a 5yo.

Zora_Prince posted...

frozen, at least for vegetables, is cheaper than fresh in my experience. Plus, it lasts ages. I tell everyone that it is the key to eating cheap and healthy veggies. Plus, it maintains the nutrients even better than fresh.

There are a multitude of factors by lower income families, on average, struggle to eat healthy. But this isnt one of them.

A lot cheaper. I can get 10 lbs of frozen onions for like 10 bucks Canadian, taxes included.

If you want to be lazy about it you can replace a meal every now and then with a meal replacement shake. It's not as healthy as cooking properly, but it's much better than eating garbage. And it's really cheap too, especially if you get it in powder form.

Why do some people smoke?
Why do some people drink alcohol?
Why do some people not get 8 hours of sleep?

action52 posted...

If you found a way to deal with your depression, you might feel more motivated to eat healthy.

In my town they got rid of mental health services for the most part and I cant afford it anyway
double whammy

Ivany2008 posted...

A lot cheaper. I can get 10 lbs of frozen onions for like 10 bucks Canadian, taxes included.

I personally love the vegetable staples like green beans, peas, mixed vegetables, etc. Two minutes in the microwave and put some salt and pepper on them and it's a quick easy way to get your nutrients. You could eat the whole damn bag and still be at under 300 calories. And they fill you up quickly.

Also love the mixed frozen peppers and onions. It's saved me so much time in meal prep not having to cut my own veggies and I use them in everything (pasta, burrito bowls, etc.).

There are barriers to eating healthy, but frozen vegetables are an excellent remedy to them.

I ain't eating kidney beans if I can help it

Zora_Prince posted...

I personally love the vegetable staples like green beans, peas, mixed vegetables, etc. Two minutes in the microwave and put some salt and pepper on them and it's a quick easy way to get your nutrients. You could eat the whole damn bag and still be at under 300 calories. And they fill you up quickly.

Also love the mixed frozen peppers and onions. It's saved me so much time in meal prep not having to cut my own veggies and I use them in everything (pasta, burrito bowls, etc.).

There are barriers to eating healthy, but frozen vegetables are an excellent remedy to them.

I wish the weather wasn't so unstable near my place. We've had a lot of forest fires lately, which has caused everything to go haywire. If we didn't I'd be growing Habaneros and Tomatoes to make salsa. I can go through habanero salsa likes its going out of business. Really low calories, burns my mouth off and I can eat a lot of it without worrying about weight gain.

Zora_Prince posted...

I personally love the vegetable staples like green beans, peas, mixed vegetables, etc. Two minutes in the microwave and put some salt and pepper on them and it's a quick easy way to get your nutrients. You could eat the whole damn bag and still be at under 300 calories.

green beans is the one that can be eaten in a good amount to not gain much calories. had the contents of a whole can yesterday with dinner.

[LFAQs-redacted-quote]


I've discovered the joys of meal prep in the past year. Twice a week, I make a huge batch of meals (a Burrito Bowl with black beans and vegetables) that I can eat at work every day as well as have a few extra for after work if I am too tired to prepare something. It's saved me a lot of time and stress.

While I do enjoy vegetables, and try to have them with most meals, I love ultra greasy and salty foods. Im not concerned with if I live long, or even if I live well. We all are going to die, so Id rather indulge in my few vices, and whenever or however I go is fine with me. I have no delusions though that what Im doing is healthy, I would just rather do what I like, and if their are consequences from that, so be it.

Strider102 posted...

If you're not afraid of getting cheap stuff, you can get like 30 large tea bags that make a gallon for about $4-5.

That's pretty much all I drink.

I was doing that for a while, but a gallon of tea from HEB lasts me a while. My wife is picky on her tea

Some might echo this line of thought:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cIO9yzmWYC8

People say were all gonna for anyways like it happens instantly. Not that youll feel the consequences of these poor health decisions for potentially decades.

Unfortunately, I've seen the quality-of-life older people live and how they go when they haven't taken care of themselves. Saying we're all going to die someday anyways is discounting a lot of time affected by your lifestyle choices leading up to that.

People who can't even tie their own shoelaces anymore or do some stuff because of gout for lifestyle reasons then saying that shit is super annoying.

at times I just place together any old thing and just munch

<,<

suchiuomizu posted...

I cant eat anything outside of a very small list, pretty much all unhealthy. Anything else will make me gag/vomit if you try to force it into my mouth. Been the case my entire life.

rexcrk posted...

Its possible they may just not like or cant eat healthier. Im a picky eater myself and, trust me, it really fucking sucks. I wish I could just shovel whatever into my mouth and be ok but I just cant.

These. I'm a picky eater myself, though I think part of it is because I'm autistic. But I know I CAN NOT STAND the smell of cut tomatoes, be it sliced or diced. It makes me gag. I also can't stand lettuce, celery, cabbage, carrots, apples, oranges (though I don't mind a little pulp-free orange juice once in a while, oddly enough), grapes...basically any kind of fruit, root, or vegetable outside of corn and mashed potatoes. I smell it, I may start gagging or retching, and if it winds up in my mouth, I either need to spit it out ASAP, or wash it down with a drink with a strong taste to it. Otherwise, I may vomit.

I don't know why, exactly, my body reacts so poorly to healthy foods. It always has since I was a child.

There are a lot of foods I've made myself eat despite making me literally gag. Two notable examples are raw eggs and cottage cheese. I don't do raw eggs anymore because cooked eggs are superior for protein absorption and they never did stop making me gag. Cottage cheese eventually stopped making me do that and became a boring food that I don't enjoy eating but don't find nasty anymore, either, and I can eat it with no issue now. Keep exploring options and trying new foods in general.

Pow_Pow_Punishment posted...

There are a lot of foods I've made myself eat despite making me literally gag. Two notable examples are raw eggs and cottage cheese. I don't do raw eggs anymore because cooked eggs are superior for protein absorption and they never did stop making me gag. Cottage cheese eventually stopped making me do that and became a boring food that I don't enjoy eating but don't find nasty anymore, either, and I can eat it with no issue now. Keep exploring options and trying new foods in general.

but why?

thronedfire2 posted...

but why?

Weightlifter reasons. With raw eggs, I had just seen Rocky and was an impressionable teenager.

I have empathy for people in this topic who just didn't grow up liking the taste of healthy food. I was a picky eater as a kid and it sucks, but I'd encourage anyone to try and challenge their tastebuds a little.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=Y6MQUaXFfLY

Lion_of_Gemini posted...

People say were all gonna for anyways like it happens instantly. Not that youll feel the consequences of these poor health decisions for potentially decades.

Death can happen as soon or as late as either you or time and health chooses. I can only speak for myself, but my poor choices in diet are unlikely to be the direct thing that takes me out.

AFreeby posted...

Death can happen as soon or as late as either you or time and health chooses. I can only speak for myself, but my poor choices in diet are unlikely to be the direct thing that takes me out.

I think that's kind of their point. Poor choices aren't necessarily going to make you die sooner (or at least not appreciably so), but they can have an impact on your quality of life while you are still alive.