by Michelle Wilkinson

Created on: April 16, 2009

It can be very easy for people to convince themselves that following a healthy diet is more expensive than simply choosing to eat whatever food they want, as it provides them with an excuse to eat all those foods which are bad for them. When they are walking through the supermarket their eyes tend to be automatically drawn to the special offers located at the end of each aisle. What is on offer? Could it be that there is a special deal on fruit and vegetables? That is unlikely, as what people want to see when they go into a store is their favourite cakes, biscuits and sweets on offer, which is exactly what they get. They are led to believe that they have got a good deal, and the thought of sticking to a healthy diet plan in order to save money is put at the back of their mind.

However, the special offers that are used by supermarkets to entice shoppers in are perhaps not as good a deal as they first appear. For a start, sugar can be addictive, and so individuals may try the latest chocolate bar to be created when it is on offer, decide that they like it, and have to keep going back for more, even when it is no longer on special offer. Supermarkets want to ensure that their customers keep coming back, and therefore they have to appeal to them in whatever ways they can. Special offers can also end up proving to be more expensive than they first appear, particularly when the offer depends on buying more than one item. Individuals find themselves buying a larger quantity of the item they wanted in order to save a few pence. However, the more chocolate bars or cakes there are in the cupboard, the more likely some people are to eat more than they would have done if they had just bought one item.

Eating healthily and saving money therefore involves formulating a plan, so that individuals don't get carried away when they get in the store and buy all the junk food which appears to be such a bargain. If they consider the meals that they intend to eat during the week they will be better prepared when they go shopping, picking out items which will make substantial meals, rather than picking up items which are quick and convenient to make, but which are relatively expensive and are not particularly healthy.

Starchy foods and fruit and vegetables ought to constitute the majority of a person's diet, followed by meat, fish and beans, as well as milk and dairy products, whilst foods high in sugar or fat should only form a small portion of a person's diet. It therefore makes sense for individuals to look for deals on products which contain complex carbohydrates, which may mean buying large bags of wholemeal pasta or brown rice in order to get the best deals. It might work out cheaper to buy bags of frozen fruit and vegetables, rather than looking for fresh items, as they can sometimes work out cheaper. The main thing, though, is for people not to be fooled by fancy packaging and branding, as in most cases the generic product they decide to buy will not be all that different from a better known brand.

It isn't impossible to save money and follow a healthy diet, but people can find that there are too many distractions when they go shopping so that even with all the best intentions in the world, they end up succumbing to the lure of unhealthy foods. These foods might make them feel good when they eat them, particularly if they feel they have saved money, but if their diet is predominantly unhealthy they are only storing up problems for the future and then they will suffer the real costs.

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