Health Hackers

How to Recession Proof Your Health & Your Wealth

Posted on October 30th, 2008 in Healthy Lifestyle

It’s hard to miss all of the doom and gloom about the economy and the financial crisis these days. Just turn on the TV and you’d think it was the end of the world the way some people are talking about it. But there is a massive upside to a down-turned economy that people don’t seem to talk about. And that is that tightening your belt financially can help you get on track with your health goals.

Restaurants – I don’t know about you, but my biggest weakness is fine food. I allow myself to go out to a great restaurant at least once per week and I don’t hold back on what I order. Well, discretionary spending like that is one of the first things that declines in a depressed economy. This is a great chance for me (and hopefully you) to reign in both your spending and your desire for rich food with poor nutritional value.

Fresh Food – Now that many people are not going to restaurants, they are going to be doing more time at the supermarket. This is a perfect opportunity to plan your meals with fresh fruit and vegetables. Of course, the great thing here is that fresh and unprocessed food is also among the cheapest. Steamed vegetables, rice and lean meat makes an extremely nutritious meal and is cheap. And that’s good for your health and wallet.

Quit The Gym – Again, the gym is discretionary spending and many people will have to let their memberships lapse. This is not necessarily a bad thing. As we have written about before, you don’t need that many pieces of equipment to have a functional home workout center. And the cold hard truth is that running on the street beats the hell out of running on a treadmill. If you want to do some workouts, then consider using your own body weight on the local park’s kids equipment. It’s almost always empty in the morning and during the day and there are plenty of exercises you can do such as chin-ups on a Monkey-Bar and inverse sit-ups on a Slippery Slide. With a little planning, you can get a great workout.

Alcohol – Yep, I have a bit of a weakness for beer, especially on the weekends. And beer makes you fat. It’s really that simple. It can also get pretty costly. But here’s a tip if you really like a drink. A glass of red wine a day can actually be good for you according to a lot of people. Now, wine can be expensive, but if you’re on a budget, here’s another tip. If you want to get some cheap wine that doesn’t taste like vinegar, then consider Merlot. Wine experts say that cheap Merlots can be quite nice as it is one of the only wine varieties that doesn’t need to go through expensive processing (I am certainly not pretending to understand why it works that way, but I can tell you that I have found a couple of cheap Merlots that were quite nice).

Anyway, the point here is that it is possible to reign in your spending at the same time as keeping an eye on your health and even improving your health habits. Times are tough and they’re only going to get tougher, but that doesn’t mean your fitness has to suffer. See this as an opportunity to improve and cement good health habits.