Obstacles of Healthy Eating

Getting healthy often means a healthier diet. More fruits, veggies, whole grains, and rich meats. That’s all fine and dandy but ever notice how hard it is to do? It's hard enough to make the change and stick to it, but being able to access the foods themselves can be one hell of a challenge, too.

I have found that foods labeled "healthy" are often twice as expensive and you get less bang for your buck, so to speak. Then there’s the challenge of learning not only what to eat but how to eat it.

Identifying healthy options

Okay, so you’ve decided to change the way you eat. Good for you. After all nutrition is a key factor to being healthy, right? But now what? What do you even eat? What foods will be good for your chosen lifestyle change? Will you even like them?

Learning what is considered healthy is hard and has led me down some rabbit holes. The internet might be a good place to start, but for every one piece of good information on there, I often find many sources of misleading information as well.

When it comes to grocery shopping, I’ve kind of learned that the healthier options tend to be found on the outer rim of the grocery store. For the most part, this is where I find whole foods. But then comes the the challenge of figuring out what you will even like. Will asparagus be a friend or a foe? After getting my shopping list together, I cross my fingers that my taste buds accept the change.

Managing your grocery budget

Now you’ve got to think your budget. Fruits, veggies, and whole foods are often more expensive than a box of mac and cheese. This can mean purchasing less food to have in the house or looking at increasing the budget.

I know both things are hard to make work and often causes people to not be as strict with a healthy eating routine. As a mom of 5 I have to make my money stretch. I can get 5 boxes of generic macaroni and cheese and spend approximately 3 bucks and make it into a couple meals or I can spend 5 bucks on asparagus for 1 meal.

The choice is always a hard one to make. Unless you manage to garden for you fruits and veg (and some people do for this reason) you’re looking at spending more for fewer meals. While it is "easy" to access food given that we are blessed with grocery stores, it can actually be really hard to have access to the foods we need because of the cost.

Finding recipes and cooking

At this point you’ve made a decision and by golly you’re going to stick with it. Good for you! You’ve got this! Now it’s time to figure out a whole new way of cooking that we may not be used to. This step is as equally as hard as the ones above because now what? I might like asparagus but do I like it steamed, boiled, roasted, or sautéed? How do I even do any of those? Back to the internet we go!

There’s recipes and videos galore that will show you how to do it and make it look easy. But don’t feel discouraged when it doesn’t come out like it shows in the pictures or if you end up not liking it. Now you know if you like asparagus. But cooking (and the inevitable clean up) can be very challenging, making it another obstacle in the way of eating healthier.

Navigating hard choices

I don’t write any of this to discourage or dissuade you from making healthier choices. Make those decisions and be proud of them. I’m just writing this because I see you. I see you struggling with these obstacles and I see you trying to decide what’s best for you and your family. We are facing hard choices. I often must buy the cheaper, carb and calorie heavy foods to make a dollar stretch - we don’t have to feel shame for doing this.

We do what we got to do sometimes. Ain’t no shame in our saving game. Maybe make one change out that is a healthy food. Buy the bag of apples instead of the box of donuts. I find that even one small choice like that can start making big impacts, even on the entire family. I love you big! Eat and be happy my lovelies.