Let’s just go to McDonald’s (Maybe our cells won’t know the difference?)
“I know for a lot of people it’s all about the money. I was following some folks around SafeWay the other day as they picked up bacon, eggs, muffins, butter and then started adding it up. They tossed everything in the orange juice cooler and said, ‘Let’s just go to McDonalds!'” (Tim Steele)
What’s wrong with McDonald’s? Same thing that’s wrong with all processed foods. Corn oil, hydrogenated soybean oil, high fructose corn syrup, autolyzed yeast extract, and dimethylpolysiloxane to start. These are not the things that our cells use to function. For every calcium they pull out to use, they’re having to figure out how to eliminate the dimethylpolysiloxane. For every magnesium you ingest, they have to put out the fire (almost literally) from the corn oil and hydrogenated soybean oil being incorporated into your cells. Years of this mistreatment, and the body finally succumbs to chronic diseases: diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, depression, arthritis, and autoimmune disorders. The body just is not getting enough of what it needs and the trash from what it doesn’t need is accumulating, causing disease. Your doctor can’t change it. Your husband can’t change it. Only you can change it.
And if you have young children who can’t go to the grocery yet themselves, you can largely control the outcome of their health story. Buying them good, whole, real foods. Educating them. Setting examples for them. Staying the course, just for them.
Today is the last post on ways to try to make eating whole, real food a reasonable price. Part I is here. Part II is here. And today is Part III. Thanks for reading.
The Final Tips on How to Make Eating Right Affordable
If your family doesn’t eat leftovers well, then freeze them that night and label them to pull out later! Then, next time you thaw and reheat them, serve them up attractively on plates so they don’t know they’re eating leftovers.
If you see veggies and fruits going spare in nature, ask! We live in town, but people here still have apple trees and gardens. It’s so sad to see tomatoes and apples rot in the October frost. So if it’s getting to the end of the season, go ask if you can pick the apples, pears, and tomatoes going to waste! Free is cheap.
Shop from a list to prevent any impulsive buys suggested by your own brain or kids. My kids always ask for juice. Is it on the list? Is that what we came here for? Uh. No. No juice. It’s not really good for you anyhow. Impulsive buys are usually expensive buys. Make your list and stick to it to save money.
Shop around. This is where time plays a role and makes budgeting a challenge. But to trim costs, you really must shop around.
Fish. No. Not buy seafood. That can be expensive. But go fishing! Go hunting! Not your thing? Bum food off of people who do! Wild-caught food that you catch on your own saves money.
Eat only whole, real foods for health. What? I’m supposed to be telling you how to SAVE money! How to make eating this way sustainable–not just repeat my by-line…BUT this one probably saves us the most money. By eating this way, we dropped an average of probably 2.5 prescriptions per family member (We had terrible allergic rhinitis, all of us.). Co-pays were running us about 10-20 dollars per prescription. Let’s shoot low. We were spending at least $125 per month on prescriptions. At least. I didn’t tally in over-the-counter stuff, antibiotics, and doctor’s visits. Eating whole, real foods saves money by shedding prescriptions and doctor’s appointments.
Avert diabetes and high cholesterol. For most of us, statistics clearly show we will be obese. We will have diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, and/or high cholesterol—these diseases travel in packs. (That’s a bare minimum of three prescriptions.) These are foods of chronic poor food choices in most all cases. Choose real, whole foods which, yes, take effort to prepare. I am NOT hearing it loud enough for my tastes yet. You do not have to have these diseases. It will take what today’s society considers drastic food changes, but they are not drastic when measured against what we’ve been eating for thousands and thousands of years. Eating whole, real foods prepared with your own hands can reverse and prevent these chronic diseases. You tally up the cost. (Tip: Look around you. It’s exorbitant.)
Your Success
That’s all I have time for today. I want you to succeed. Your success opens up opportunities for other people. When you feel good, you can give to the world in the way only you can. I sincerely believe that. I hope you have a great weekend. I hope you have a great life. McDonald’s and grain flours may be a bit cheaper and a lot less effort in the short run, but it’s ruining the function of your tissues and cells.
If you have any questions about how to get started on this journey which will require much more effort than money, ask away. Your health depends on it.
And experienced passers-by and friends, leave your tips for others to learn from! Thanks for prior tips and comments. You’re the best!
~~Terri