Is couponing making you fat?

[CherryPicker]

Oooh, I would agree with you vagabond2. Cereals were created by Doctors and introduced in hospitals just after the depression/WW2 era for filling, and to help underfed children gain weight back (circa after the war). However, it wasn't until circa the 1950's that the sugary cereals/marketing to children as we now know it came into effect.

[AlInAz]

There are some things that I will NOT buy for my family and will not bring into my home b/c they are such poor food choices. I am trying to teach my DD moderation and making good choices most of the time. We need to think about what we eat over the course of the day (or several days.) When we choose a treat, make it a reasonable serving. That said, if there are things I can get for FREE, why wouldn't I pick them up? I volunteer at our local Sunshine Rescue Mission, so it is easy to drop a bag of items off. I agree with others: just because I wouldn't eat something doesn't mean it wouldn't be welcomed at the Food Pantry.

Allison

[granviewgran]

Actually I am hoping couponing can help me lose weight. Low cal foods are the most expensive things out there.

coupons have helped me buy lots of Progresso Light Soups, frozen Veggies, egg beaters, V8 juice, canned veggies, sugarless gum, diet soda, fat free salad dressing, chicken breasts, tuna etc. For many items you can choose light or low cal versions when you buy them.

I do buy some fattening items like waffles, cereals, snack foods but they are mostly for my son. He eats pretty healthy and is a good weight because he is very active.

I don't buy a lot of cake mixes, cookie doughs or candy etc. I do buy a few...but they are set aside for holidays etc when we are a little more slack about what we eat. Other fattening things like breakfast sausage and biscuits are usually only eaten once a week for sunday breakfast.

When I save money on my groceries then I have a little more to spend on fruits and veggies.

I could see though where the temptation to eat more goodies would be there. I try not to stockpile very much junk food and what I do have is in the basement and my son is only allowed to bring up a reasonable amount of snacks each week. My husband is the one I have to keep an eye on. If he could he would eat his way through all the crackers and snacks I am saving for Thanksgiving and Christmas.

[jojoshort]

I agree with the other posters who pointed out that strategic shopping is a way of life. Big meat sale here in our little town, and I stocked up plenty of boneless chicken breasts and extra lean ground beef, apples and bananas. I am a smarter consumer now than I ever was.

But caution is warranted in that you need to read labels and make choices. Some splurging is fine; eating only overly processed, highly salted/trans fat food is a bad choice.

But I do love the occasional frozen pizza (when I get them at a good price that is!)

[momofone]

no but it's making my wallet fat!

[bnkkey]

I agree with the others.This is just another tool that helps save money.Most of my q's I use is to stock up on h&b,and otc med.and paper products,etc.That way I can buy more heathy things.We use a farmers market and use my garden.But I have also bought alot of frozen veggies b/c there were some good q's on them.My family does eat heathy and that was a choice we made and I think things in moderation is fine.

[lucyrevenge]

No problems here. Try to always have healthier choices for the family.

Moderation...like anything else.

[PattyCake]

I did take that a little personal. I find it interesting that as a "Newbie" you would want to jump in with both feet to tell us you find some of the coupon purchases unhealthy. You have no way of knowing what any of us do with the unhealthy products in our cart or even if we consume them. I hope you don't take this post personally but please try not to be condescending. Moderators, please know that I post this with the utmost respect for this site but had to have my say (with love of course).

[couponcool]

I'm glad to know that there are healthy coupons out there. I've yet to find many produce/seafood/meat coupons, but I did find some steamed vegetable ones this week. I have about 20 bags in my freezer that I got for around $.50 each.

Patty, I may be a newbie but I know an unhealthy food when I see it, and most of the coupons I've sifted through have been for junk food. As people have menioned in this thread, the temptation to stock up on these things is there especially when many of these items are free. I'm considering charitable donations if I can find some of these things for free now. I'm very happy to get the opinions because why unhealthy foods are cheapest was always a question that weighed on my mind. I ask if it's making "you" fat, but of course I didn't mean you personally. As you say, I don't know you. I'm not judging anyone in particular. I'm just saw a correlation and I wanted to know if it was valid to blame weight gain on cheap food.

[nerdycoupongirl]

Originally Posted by couponcool

I'm just saw a correlation and I wanted to know if it was valid to blame weight gain on cheap food.

Cheap food is sometimes cheap because it's not healthy. You only have to look at the food labels to see that. And, too much of almost anything (except fruits and veggies I guess) can make people fat, I have known vegetarians who were fat because they ate 'healthy' foods but they were high in calories. I weigh 30 pounds more than I should and I blame nothing and no one but myself for overeating.

I can fix it, if I want to. I'm not ever going to stop completely eating candy, cookies, etc. But I have and will continue to change how much I eat and make an effort to eat some healthy food every day. Today I made the free Pillsbury cookies. I ate two and stopped. That sums up how I eat now. Like others said: moderation. If you give something up forever, you might only feel resentment. Eat it, but just a little. Best of both worlds, 'cheap' food or no.