Get Fit or Go Broke--Part II

Yesterday, we looked at the financial strain that obesity causes for those that struggle with their weight.  If you missed that post, you can find it here.  Today, we look at how you can fight the battle of the bulge on a tight budget, both in terms of diet and exercise.  So without further ado....

Eating healthy on a budget isn't as easy as it should be, but it is far from impossible.  The biggest obstacle to overcome affects those that shop with coupons and BOGO type deals at the local grocery store.  Big agriculture and big food producers are always offering coupons and deals on their food products, and most of the time these products are of the highly processed variety.  As foods become processed, their nutritional value decreases.  Therefore, when you consume overly processed foods, you get far less nutritional value for your money.  With that in mind, spending a little more money shopping the outsides of the store (where you typically find your fresh meat, dairy, and produce) actually provides you with more vitamins, minerals, and nutrients per dollar than shopping the inside of the store and chasing the deals.  If you're willing to spend a few pennies more to shop the organic parts of the store, the health benefits are even greater.

There is no arguing that shopping for the most healthy foods in a grocery store will cost you more than shopping the aisles for hamburger helper and microwavable meals, but that isn't the only way to eat healthy.  More and more cities and towns across the country are having weekly (or even daily) farmer's markets, where farmers from the area can sell their products directly to you, the consumer.  This works out great for all parties involved, as farmers can often charge a few cents more than they would get for their produce from the food manufacturers, and the consumer can get farm fresh produce way cheaper than you can find it at any grocery store.  Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farms are also rapidly popping up around the country.  In a CSA farm, many people buy shares of the farm's produce prior to the growing season, and then share in the harvest weekly or bi-weekly.  A great advantage of a CSA is that you are constantly receiving fresh produce, and often times you may get some crops that you would never have bought on your own.  My wife and I joined a CSA for the first time this year, and we have learned that some veggies, like beets, aren't as bad as we once thought.  Never would have even tried beets if we didn't have a few of them in our bag one week from the farm, but since we had already paid for them, we weren't going to let them go to waste.

Another way to save on your grocery bill while improving on the quality of the food you eat is to find a farmer in your area that raises meat animals to be butchered and sold to individuals.  Oftentimes, especially if you are dealing with a beef farmer, you can buy portions of a cow so that you don't have to find a way to store hundreds of pounds of meat at one time.  Again, my wife and I have a couple of farmers in the area that we use, one for eggs and chickens, the other for beef and pork.  The great thing about both of these farmers is that they raise their animals on the pasture, meaning they have access to fresh grass daily and aren't confined to a feed lot with hundreds of other animals in a confined space.  They also eat foods that are natural to them, instead of all grain diets of many factory meat farms, and  therefore the meat is much lower in fat and has a much higher nutritional value.

Click here to find CSAs, farmers markets, individual farmers, and other sources of local fresh meat and produce in your area.  And remember, even if the price isn't significantly cheaper than what you find in the store, the quality is usually so much higher. You'll eat less food while getting a higher nutritional value, which is good for both the waistline and the wallet.

Just as with nutrition, exercise doesn't have to break the bank either.  Every one of us has access to one of the most versatile pieces of fitness equipment ever created, the human body.  Even the most highly trained and fit people in the world can get a great workout using nothing but their own body weight to train with.  Whether its running and doing plyometric exercises for those in excellent shape, or walking and doing push-ups, the body provides all you need to change they way it looks and feels.  Of course, if you are willing to spend a little bit of money to add variety and additional options to your fitness program, that may help you reach your goals faster or keep you from getting bored.  But the amount you spend on exercise is completely up to you, and spending all the money in the world doesn't help you achieve your goals any faster than spending no money but having an iron will to make the necessary changes to your lifestyle. 

Ultimately, everyone has the power and the resources to improve their health by changing their diet and increasing the amount of physical activity they get.  For more information on getting fit without going broke, email me at dkfitsolutions@gmail.com and we can figure out the way that works best for your needs and your budget.

Get Fit or Go Broke--Part I

When it comes to fitness and becoming more physically active, everybody has an excuse as to why they can't commit to being active.  (You know what they say about excuses, right?)  The leading excuse that I hear is, "I don't have time to exercise".  That topic will be tackled in an upcoming post, but believe me, you have time.  Another common excuse concerns the wallet.  Apparently, the cost of eating healthier and getting some exercise on a daily basis is a major obstacle for some.  However, when you think about the associated costs of not taking care of yourself, the question you need to ask yourself is, "How can I afford to not be improving my health?"

As costs of medicine and insurance continue to rise at an incredibly alarming rate, those who are sick spend more and more to get healthy.  For people who are classified as obese (34% of American adults, source), the estimated annual costs are alarming.  According to researchers from George Washington University, all things considered, the annual cost of being obese is $4,879 for women and $2,646 for men!  If you do the math, being obese for 10, 20, or 30+ years can cripple you financially.  Being obese also greatly increases your odds of suffering from many kinds of illnesses; from cancer, to diabetes, to heart disease, and everything in between.

In American medicine, we have a terrible habit of waiting for a problem to occur before spending lots of money to try and solve it.

There is, however, an alternative to this "reactive medicine" that is starting to gain traction in the United States.  "Preventative maintenance" is relatively new to the scene in terms of one's health, but it is hardly a new concept altogether.  Think about all the things in your life that you maintain to prolong the lifespan of a particular item.  You change the oil in your car to help the engine last for 200,000 miles or longer.  Your computer updates its software every so often to protect against viruses and other technological issues so you won't need to replace it as often.  Some people even put sheets over their fancy furniture so that the upholstery lasts a few years longer before it fades or gets dirty.

Why are we only now starting to realize that taking care of our health is one of the most important things that we can do?  Why do we all know the saying that "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure" and yet seem to make the conscious decision not to do something about our health? 

Folks, at it's core, becoming healthier is an investment in yourself that pays off exponentially.  When you invest a little bit of time, energy, and money into making yourself healthy, the long-term financial savings are well worth it.  And if you think the cost of this initial investment is more than you can handle right now, check here to find out how inexpensive getting healthy actually is.

And honestly, can you put a price on being healthy enough to chase your grandkids around the playground?  Or seeing your grandson get married?  Or rocking your great-granddaughter to sleep?  I didn't think so.