I've always been the type of person to choose junk food over anything healthy or anything that's actually good for my body. Why? Because obviously, junk food just tastes so much better. All that sugar and sodium just add a better flavor than healthy food.
However, I finally reached that point in my life where I want to do some sort of exercise and I want to eat healthy. Not because I think that I need to lose weight or because there's something "wrong" with my body...I just made a decision to try to be healthier and be better for myself.
And I quickly found out how expensive it is to live a healthy lifestyle.
I currently work at a fast food restaurant and the prices are ridiculous. A salad is almost $9, but most of the chicken or sandwich meals are less than $7.
Now, that may not seem like a big difference, but as a college student trying not to spend lots of money, I can't spend $9+ on one meal. And yes, I shouldn't be eating out if I'm trying to save money, but prices are no different at grocery stores.
The junk food is so much cheaper. I can buy ice cream or cookies for cheap...cheaper than some of the fruit. It's just a few dollars for me to buy things to make spaghetti or other pastas, but buying everything to make a nice salad starts to get expensive again.
Yes, I can sit down and budget all of my money and spend all this time figuring out how to afford what I need, but it's just so much more convenient to save money by buying the cheaper, non-healthy foods.
Sheetal Tadiparty
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