Recession Helping or Hurting Your Waistline?

It seems like opinions differ on the question of how the embattled economy has affected various people’s waistlines – meaning their weight.  For me personally, the dead economy has been a boon for both my waist and my boyfriend’s (we cohabitate by the way, so our weights seems to fluctuate together since we tend to eat the same meals).

The reason you ask?  Well, we have reacted to the recession ans subsequent drying up of my sales which is my side job, by not going out to eat – hardly ever.  When times were good and money was coming in like crazy, we would “treat” ourselves to carry out food and also to going and sitting down at sit down restaurants all the time.  Not only was it easier, but it of course was very tasty.  It also happens to be one of the worst ways to eat since fast food and restaurant foods are notoriously high in fat, sodium, sugar and calories so they get you coming back for more.

Yes, restaurant food is not short on taste, but it is short in the diet handbook, that’s for sure!  However, not everyone is singing the praises of a bummer economy as being a great dieting tool.  Some say they’ve been forced to forgo their regular shopping trips to nicer, healthier stores that offer organic and nutritious foods like Whole Foods, Wild Oats and even upscale family owned grocers.  They say that they’ve had to resort to cheaper, more processed, salty and fatty offerings just to get by.

Foods like PB&J, macaroni and cheese, chefboyardee products, canned goods and other highly processed and fattening foods may not be good for you and actually make your hunger switch turn on even more, but they sure are CHEAP.  That’s why these types of foods are the most common foods that you find in food pantries – they stay well and they’re easy to come by.

However, they are not so friendly to your body in the end.  Mostly carbohydrates that are not filling nor do they stabilize the blood sugar for very long like their higher quality counterparts, also are incredibly cheap to manufacture.  However, there are some nutritious foods that can be purchased reasonably, you just have to know where to shop locally to get them at the best prices.