Healthy Eating

By Rod

June 9, 2006 09:25 AM | Link to this

We fix dinners at home during the week, but on weekends we’re not as good. Friday evenings are about half and half. Saturday is all eating out. Sunday’s lunch is out and dinner is usually a delivery (chinese or pizza).

We don’t spend a lot though. It’s just my wife and me and we rarely break the $30 mark for dinner (including tax & tip). Usually we break that mark about once a month.

By Cooker

June 9, 2006 10:32 AM | Link to this

I used to eat fast food at least once a day, most days more often. A year ago I quit eating out and drinking sodas and started cooking only fresh food at home (love it!) and started drinking more water and juices. Since then I’ve lost over 70 pounds and feel wonderful. YES, eating out is the culprit and YES sodas (sugary or not) are also to blame. Now dinners out are only for special occasions and you just can’t imagine the money we’ve saved! It works…try it.

By singlemom

June 9, 2006 10:36 AM | Link to this

I love to cook at home and try new recipes, I am a Food Network junkie. I don’t eat out much for dinner, but lunch pretty much every day, Monday through Friday. Although we hit the fast food restaurants, I typically order a salad, or chicken, and always drink water. I haven’t had a soda in close to 2 years.

By Swangirl

June 9, 2006 10:42 AM | Link to this

When I was single and worked full time, I ate lunch out at least three times a week. Some of it was an escape from a job I grew to hate. But I almost always ate half and took the rest home for dinner. Still, not the most economical or nutritious way to go. Also, it seemed like such a pain to cook for one person.

Now that I’m married and work from home part time, we eat out one night a week as our “date night” and I still usually bring half of it home. If I didn’t, I’d be as big as a house.

Learning to cook has been a challenge but fortunately, I’m getting better at it. My husband is always very supportive of my “experiments” in the kitchen, even when they bomb.

By LHK

June 9, 2006 11:19 AM | Link to this

I’m super thrifty, and a health nut, and my husband and I both love to cook, so all of that adds up to both of us cooking at home most nights of the week. I can’t bring myself to eat at restaurants just for the sake of convenience — with so many restaurant meals topping out at 800 calories or more, it’s worth it to me to spend the time to cook a meal at home. When we go out, it’s for something special — a type of food we really want, a restaurant we’ve heard good things about, or a special occasion. Of course, sometimes family and friends invite us out, and so I guess we average out to restaurant dinners once a week or once every two weeks.

I take myself out to lunch once a week — no more, no less. If I don’t, then I wind up sitting at my desk and working through lunch for five days in a row. Not fun. My favorite lunch places are Panera, Eatzi’s, and Jason’s Deli. I usually get a salad or a wrap.

I’m the only one at my office who doesn’t guzzle soda all day. How people can find Coke, etc. refreshing and thirst-quenching is beyond me.

By COB

June 9, 2006 11:20 AM | Link to this

i try not to eat out except on friday night. i love to top of the work with by eating out that night. during the week i cook and bring my lunch to work from home. i’ve saved alot of money this way. you can easily spend $25+ a week for lunch.

By Cooker

June 9, 2006 11:35 AM | Link to this

LHK - Lucky You!!! I’d love to share cooking time with the hubby but since he works in the restaurant industry, the last thing he wants to do is come home and deal with food some more.

Eatzies rocks! I went there for a company luncheon last year and it was wonderful.

I totally agree with you on the soda thing. Evidently a lot of folks find them refreshing but I definitely don’t. Whenever I would drink one (last one was Feb. 05) my body was even more thirsty than before. I’d guzzle a bottle of water afterwards. The “hmm” factor finally hit and I decided just to go for the water and leave the soda alone. ; )

By E. Lewis

June 9, 2006 11:58 AM | Link to this

I eat out a lot less often now that I am paying about $3/gallon for gasoline. My eating out money is now going into my gas tank.

By c

June 9, 2006 12:26 PM | Link to this

I’m a sigle parent and I make sure my family eat a home cook meal everyday except for some Saturdays. I used to do the meal by the number for years since I started back working but now that I have seen the damage it has done to my family we are now dishing the restaurant and eating off our own dishes not talking about keeping the extra unwanted germs at bay….

By frank

June 9, 2006 12:35 PM | Link to this

We eat out at fast food places like McDonalds and Costco about 1-2 times a week. The kids like it, and it is quick and cheap. We stay away from expensive places and the yuk at Burger King.

By asudst1992

June 9, 2006 12:52 PM | Link to this

My family and I eat out at least five times a week. We fill the pantry and refrigerator with groceries and snacks. The snacks are gone within hours. My husband cooks a-whole-heck-of-alot more than I do. I just don’t have the energy or desire. So, we eat out. It’s so convenient and we actually waste less food by eating out. The meals aren’t always fried or unhealthy. We might eat pizza, burgers, seafood, salads, sub sandwiches. And, no one is over-weight or in ill-health.

By healthyeating

June 9, 2006 03:42 PM | Link to this

I eat out less and less than I used to. I used to enjoy it a lot more. But it’s gotten way too expensive, and even though I always bring home leftovers, it’s getting harder and harder to decide where to go. I’ve been there/done that with all of them and the novelty is gone. I’d rather save my money or spend it on something I’ve got to show for it.

By MOT

June 9, 2006 03:59 PM | Link to this

For us eating out- really eating out at a sit down order and wait restaurant-is a few times a year, just my husband and I. Maybe twice a year at a place like pizza buffet with the kids.

Having been a parent for 31 years raising 10 kids (#6 gets married next month), I am simply amazed at how many families—-whole families with babies, toddlers eat out every week. My husband and I “eat” out on a date once a week—usually. And that is 99 cent burgers with water and maybe a salad. To really eat out, like I said in the beginning, we might do that 2-4 times a YEAR!!! Anytime we go out to a sit down restaurant, it is loaded, not with dating couples, like it used to be, but with whole families. Even with small families, I do not know where people get their money or justify “eating” a significant portion of their income.

As my kids were growing, pre-healthy anti fast food era, we may have treated the kids to a McD’s or pizza out a few times a year. Not even if we traveled, I made pnut butter sandwiches in the car and at the hotel.

I have witnessed an interesting phenomena: even though they were raised on hot breakfast before school, sit down family dinner every night and bagged lunch for school, every single one, as they started earning their own money, tried to quit eating dinner at home and would treat themselves to fast food. Even when I insist they eat at home with us, they will but will still go get the fast food sometimes too. That tells me that these places are addicting. No they don’t go there to hang out either, they go through the drive through and bring it home.

Also, as they moved out, the older ones would come back over to visit and treat the younger kids to McD’s and then all the older ones griped about how I was spoiling the younger ones with all the trips to McD’s when a different set of older ones would see wrappers in the garbage, or the younger ones would talk about going to McD’s. I would laugh and say, hey, it isn’t me taking them, it is all you guys!!

Now with the expose` of how much fat there really is in all that and how bad hydrogenated fats are, we rarely use the fast food. And when we do, it is a simple burger and water.