What Is Healthy Living
And Does It Actually Mean Spending a Lot?
A lot of people aren’t too keen on the idea of ‘everyday healthy living’. Not because of the health benefits – but because of the perceived expense! Of course, everyday healthy living doesn’t mean you have to spend a lot of money. Protect your finances as well as your health by reading this guide!
• Be Wary of ‘Best Health Foods’
When people consider the definition of a healthy lifestyle, they often associate that lifestyle with very specific types of food. They think of expensive cereals that don’t have much taste to them but with advertising that swears that you’ll get super thin within a few weeks of eating it for pretty much every meal. They think of health bars, of smoothies, of bread that has been enriched with added nutrients and seeds.
Getting heavily into these best health foods is pretty heavy on the wallet. But it’s important that you don’t equate a healthy lifestyle with this type of purchasing habit. You don’t need these sorts of products to eat healthily – it’s much simpler than all that. Buying your own fresh, nutrient-rich ingredients really is the key. Speaking of which…
• Price per Nutrient > Price per Calorie
It really is worth remembering that, while fruit and vegetables are more expensive than many cheaper foods that give you more calories (though how expensive fruit and vegetables are is often exaggerated), they’re actually very good value if you consider them on a nutritional level. These items give you truckloads more iron, vitamin C, vitamin A, and a bunch of other nutrients than the cheaper foods.
People tend to think, even unconsciously, about food pricing in terms of price per calorie. They don’t work it out, of course, but high-calorie foods tend to be more satisfying in the short-term, which makes them seem like a better deal. But it’s really the nutrients you want. Consider this, too: when you eat healthily and keep in shape, you’re much less likely to incur high medical expenses as a result of unhealthy living!
• Research Products before Purchase!
This ties into the above points a little: whatever you’re thinking about purchasing when you’re trying to be health-conscious, you should do your research first. Not everything that has HEALTHY splashed across its packaging is going to be that good for you.
But there are also other items to consider. Exercise equipment, workout guides and regimes, classes, that sort of thing. Whether your goal is to lose weight or increase your muscle or stamina, you shouldn’t go ahead and purchase whatever claims to do those things for you. Go online and search for websites where customers leaving their thoughts on health products.
• Gyms Are a Rip-Off
Stop! I’m not condemning all gyms, I mean some gyms are rip-offs. Gyms can also be really beneficial, especially if people need access to a lot of fitness and exercise equipment. But ask yourself: do you need access to all that equipment? Do you really need to exercise indoors?
Gym memberships are often so expensive because they offer a bunch of perks that don’t really factor in that much to your health plan. If you want to save your money, keep things simple and exercise outdoors. In fact, you can even get a couple of free weights cheap and exercise along to YouTube channels.
“Getting healthy will always result in weight loss as a side effect, but a side effect of dieting and weight loss is often poorer health.”
~ Christopher Earle ~
Take god care of yourself!