Top 5 Excuses People Give For Not Eating Healthy

People love excuses! Every single time when we don’t do what we supposed to, we find an excuse rather than working on solving the problem. This definitely applies for not eating healthy too. So I’m going to list down 5 most common reasons people tend to give for not eating healthy and my vision on how I would fix it.

Excuses For Not Eating Healthy

1. I Have NO Time To Cook

If this is a reason for not eating healthy and you tend to eat on all meals often takeaways, take a look at your schedule and take the effort to see how you can change that. Perhaps you can start by prepping one or two meals from home, rather than eating out on all your meals.

If you work and only get back late in the evening, well perhaps you can start the day by having breakfast at home, then lunch can be eating out with your colleges, and then have dinner at home. When you’re eating out be more aware, take the initiative to make healthy choices and eat smaller portions because nowadays portion sizes tend to be bigger than what we should be eating.

Remember, you do not have to finish everything on your plate. Listen to your body and eat until you’re just satisfied. Your body is not a waste dump! If you can’t finish your food, pack it and bring it back with you. You can even have the leftovers for dinner.

On the other hand, prepping your own meals should not be time consuming or complicated. There are lots of breakfast, lunch and dinner recipes which take less than 20 minutes to make.

Because you have a busy schedule I would highly encourage you to prep your meals in bulk over the weekends so that you can have them for the next 2-3 days. This is one of the best steps you can do for yourself because when you’re back from work feeling tired, hungry and lazy, you already have a healthy meal ready to be eaten in the fridge.

So it’s just about taking a little bit of time, once or twice a week to plan your meals and you will have a healthy meal throughout the whole week.

2. I Eat Healthy, But I Crave For Junks And Then Overindulge

If this is your excuse for not eating healthy, I find that you are eating healthy most of the time, but then at the same time you’re depriving yourself from what you truly enjoy.

For me, eating a balanced diet isn’t about eating 100% healthy all the time. Having a cheat meal or a sweat desert makes a part of the balanced diet. I like to follow the 80/20 concept: 80% of the time you eat clean and healthy, and the remaining 20% you’re allowed to indulge in moderation. You can follow this concept either on a daily or weekly basis.

So for most of your meals you should still stick to a nutritious, balanced diet. And then allow yourself to indulge perhaps a small muffin, a small piece of chocolate, or a scoop of ice cream. Although I am giving you free in the 20% to “not allowing things”, it is very important to practice moderation.

Treating yourself to your cravings do not mean eating all you can! You should still practice self control and focus on your ultimate fitness goal. I recommend the 80/20 concept because when you know you can be a little loose with your diet and treat yourself to those forbidden foods, you tend to be more motivated and stay on track with your goal.

3. I Can’t Afford To Eat Healthy

This is not a reason for not eating healthy because to be perfectly honest, eating healthy isn’t expensive. Whole food, which means unprocessed food, is cheaper than processed food. Think about it, is it cheaper to buy frozen chicken breast or chicken nuggets?

Hence when people say eating healthy is expensive, I always disagree because nowadays there is so much hype over eating organic food. Some of us do have the impression that if we do not eat organic food, we’re not eating healthy. Be realistic and look at your budget. If you can’t afford organic foods, forget about it and just go basic.

I do understand that some of you might disagree with me on this, but not everybody can afford organic food. If you can afford it, by all means buy organic food because they are much more natural, better for your body and better for the environment as well.

Go for seasonal vegetables and fruits which are cheaper in your country, choose cheaper meats such as chicken or fish rather than red meat. In fact, buy and eat more vegetables because they are way cheaper than meats and this will help you to save lots of money, it will help you to lose weight and trim your waistline.

4. I Work Late Night Shifts And Can’t Stick To A Meal Plan

When it comes to eating healthy, it doesn’t mean that you have to consume 5 meals at a set time in a day. Instead, work with your time. If your time only permits you to have 3 larger meals at odd hours, that is absolutely fine. And it shouldn’t really be the reason for not eating healthy and for your weight gain.

Time is not the most important factor here, but rather it is the total amount of food you eat in a day. So if you portion your food and eat within what your body needs, you will lose weight. However, if you eat more than what your body needs, that’s when you’re gonna put on extra weight.

5. I Don’t Know How To Cook

I did not know how to cook 5 years ago and up to now I am still learning every day. But the fun part about not knowing is that we’re constantly exploring, experimenting and keep learning and try new things and skills.

Nowadays there are so many simple and healthy recipes online that you shouldn’t even mention this excuse for not eating healthy. You can even start by following the recipes from fitneass.com.

I believe that eating healthy equals eating simple. Hence, I’ve always kept my ingredients and meals really simple and minimum. As you build your confidence, then of course experiment with more complicated dishes. There is absolutely no right or wrong to cooking.

Which of these excuses to not eating healthy sound familiar to you? If you struggle with a different problem which I haven’t mention here, keep experimenting with different methods until you find what works best for you. You can even mix and match my suggestions or adapt it to get rid of those ridiculous excuses for not eating healthy.