How Healthy Are You?
Have you had a good physical lately? How were your lab results?
When you are young the lab results are not as important as when you are getting into your middle-age and beyond. Then, you might start to see the effect of bad eating and drinking habits. And I cannot ignore the accumulation effect on your lungs if you are a smoker.
You need to face the facts about your current state of health.
If you are concerned about what you see and know, then investigate what you can do to make things better.
There Is Hope for Better Health
One of the most important books I ever read was Aerobics, by Dr. Kenneth Cooper. It influenced me to be regular about exercise. A test that he suggested for marking your progress in training for strength and endurance was to time yourself walking and/or running six laps on a high school track. Or any 1.5-mile distance.
He noted that the biggest benefit to aerobic exercise is the expansion of your blood vessels so that your heart does not have to work so hard. Eventually, it will beat fewer times due to the more efficient blood flow. That is why most runners have a resting heart rate of 60 beats or less per minute. How much is your heart rate per minute?
Oh My, My BMI!
As we age, we tend to get less active since we earn more (theoretically) and buy more fun things to sit and do and we eat out more often, where portions are bigger.
And, slowly, we gain more weight and buy bigger clothes because that seems to be normal. Really? Who sold us on that thought?
Hence, we have had a major addition to our health measurements, the BMI, Body Mass Index. Just the sound of that makes me feel fat!
Your Body Mass Index (BMI) is based on your height and weight. As I got heavier, I just told everyone that I was not overweight, just six inches too short!
You can find your BMI using a table. See nhibi.nih.gov. The BMI categories are as follows:
Underweight = Less than 18.5
Normal weight = 18.5 to 24.9
Overweight = 25 to 29.9
Obesity = 30 or More
You might be surprised on where you are on that list of categories.
What Will You Do About Your Weight?
Are you too heavy like most of us are? “Then diet” is the most often heard response. If you are like me, diets make me hungry!
Here is where you need to get your mind motivated for better health.
I would like you to consider how good health can be a big part of building a better mindset for money.
Our decisions accumulate over our life, good or bad. Without consideration about the good or bad of our decisions, we may find ourselves falling into the same bad habits of our friends and family. What is your observation on their health habits, which guide their decisions? Did they get off the trail to good health?
Why Take the Trail to Good Health?
The road to good health is not well-traveled, meaning most of us stay on a highway well-paved with food advertisements and forms of entertainment requiring less activity.
So why would you consider doing things differently than most everyone else? Like your dad used to say, “Just because all your friends jump off a cliff does not mean you should too!” We learned later in life that he was right.
Simple Facts about a Lower BMI
Some simple facts might help answer why we should lose weight, if your BMI is too high:
- Your joints will feel less stressed from all the extra weight you used to carry. Your height has an ideal weight for a reason and bone structure is a part of that evaluation.
- Your heart will not have to work as hard to push your blood to all those extra cells.
- Your lungs will not have to work as hard to keep the blood full of oxygen.
- Since walking and other forms of exercise will assist in this process, your heart will be more efficient, your strength will improve. Your energy level will improve, and you will sleep better.
- Your energy level will affect your brain activity. More energy more brain activity.
I did not take the time to cite medical studies. I just have related my own experiences, which may differ from yours.
You can do your own research or go to the library and ask a reference librarian for proof to find any fault with my claims. That is, if you have the energy to do so.
What Does Health Have to Do with Money?
Good question. The short answer is a question. Have you seen the list of questions on a life insurance application? That is for the actuaries to calculate how long they expect you to live. That translates into how much they will charge to be willing to let you have the policy.
Your appearance may affect how an interviewer thinks how you will hold up under the demands of the job you applied for, no matter how well you dressed! That could limit your income opportunities.
I have been on diet plans. They do prove one thing. By eating smaller portions more often, we tend to eat less overall. They emphasize buying more fresh food and less processed packaged food, which translates to spending less on groceries.
As you lose weight and exercise more, you will have the energy you need to do some extra work for income that will allow you to pay more on your debts. That concept alone will give you more enthusiasm to look for a better paying job to increase your income potential.
As your life accumulates, with good health decisions which lead to good health habits, you will have fewer health issues as compared to friends and family, unless they changed, as well. Fewer expected doctor visits and less need for prescription medicines equals more savings.
I hope you are putting all those savings in the bank or in some investments!
Do Not Forget Your Mental Health
Maybe this is the place to start, your mental health. I refer to this as getting “Psyched Up!” Football coaches do this a lot to get their team to be willing to keep pushing to wear out their opponents.
Your willingness to take a more difficult path, to sacrifice some of the fun things to be able to do something meaningful for you, will make a HUGE difference in your life.
Exercise your mind. Set aside time to read and time to think. Learn and think on what you learn and how to apply it to make your life go better.
As you exercise physically, your effort will help your mental health, as well. So much depends on good blood flow and exercise helps that.
Motivate Yourself
Any effort to exercise your body or your mind depends a lot on self-motivation.
Goals can help. Make some. Start small. A lot of self-worth can come from being able to check off those goals as you achieve them.
Remember: Small goals are steppingstones to bigger goals.
Form New Habits
You are where you are due to the habits you had up to now. If things have not gone as well as you would have liked, then, you might consider what habits need to be changed.
As for your weight, your BMI could get better if you made the subtle change of habit suggested in this old saying, “Eat to live not live to eat.”
A firmer stance on when to turn off the TV and go to bed will help you get the rest you need to be more alert the next day. You have to give conscious value to that since that could affect your income potential along with your ability to control your spending decisions.
Setting time aside for regular exercise will have residual benefits. Such things as tracking your daily steps and noting the difference in how you feel when step counts are high and low can help your motivation to do more.
Do Not Resist Resistance
When I went to my Army basic training, I had to do things whether I was tired or not. I walked everywhere to a marching cadence. When the eight weeks were over, I was in the best shape of my life. I was able to do one-arm pushups! Try that sometime. It is not easy!
So, why did I tell you that? One simple reason is that I want you to be conscious of your health and how it can be improved.
The better you feel, especially as you age, the more you will be able to do when you can afford to do it.
Do what you need to do to stay healthy. Work on your motivation.
Over time, as your new habits accumulate benefits, you will be able to afford to do the fun things you wanted to do in retirement and be healthy enough to enjoy them!