Once again this year, consumers say they are weighing their options for making healthier choices. And 81 percent say they wish they had made healthier choices before - but 70 percent have no plans to make their holiday meals healthier this year even though 37 percent realize they can eat healthier with simple meal substitutions.

Welcome to the world of Internet surveys.

The survey of 1,022 adults was conducted by ORC International on behalf of Ready Pac Foods. This online omnibus was live on November 3-6, 2016.


Key findings from the holiday survey include:
Watching the scale: Weight was the number one reason for eating healthier this holiday season (38 percent) with residents of the west coast leading all other regions (44 percent).

Millennials – more than anyone - want to eat healthier: 30 percent of millennials plan to make healthier choices this holiday season compared to 19 percent of baby boomers.

Men want meat, women want sides: For men, heavy meats was the one holiday food item they "can't live without" at 42 percent. For women, it was indulgent sides at 34 percent.

Ready Pac Foods wants to sell their meal kits, of course. So they suggest swapping out macaroni and cheese for their organic salad kit. What about a regular salad? Maybe they don't sell that. Kosher restaurants are going to tell people to buy kosher and organic food groups are cashing in on a different food craze. Or a Limited Edition Pumpkin Spice Bistro Bowl® Salad. Basically, it sounds like the worse Thanksgiving dinner ever.

It isn't Thanksgiving dinner or the holidays that are making over 50 percent of Americans overweight, it's the other 11 months of the year. Eat what you want during Thanksgiving and Christmas, but lay off the stromboli the rest of the year and you won't have to overpay for fancy salad and be miserable.

Top image credit: Medical University of Vienna.