Financial Freedom Quick Tip #23: Eat well, sleep and exercise
You are probably wondering what on Earth this has to do with financial freedom. Having a healthy lifestyle is not only good for your body and mind, but it can also help you to become financially free.
These are the three main reasons:
- Healthy people have more discipline, they can stay motivated for longer, and they can work harder than unhealthy people.
- Healthy people spend less on medical expenses.
- It is cheaper to have a healthy lifestyle than you may think!
1. Health and Motivation
I don’t really need to say much here. It is obvious. If you’re healthy, you feel better. You have more energy. You feel good about yourself.
It takes quite a lot of discipline and self-control to become financially free, especially during the tough initial stages of financial freedom.
If you are healthy, you’ll find it much easier to stay motivated, and focussed on reaching your goals.
2. Less Medical Expenses
Healthy people don’t get sick as often as unhealthy people do, and in particular, they struggle less with common illnesses, like colds and flu.
One of the things I recommend to many people who want to become financially free, is to adopt a healthy lifestyle, cancel their comprehensive medical-aid or health insurance, and instead take out a good hospital plan, that provides full cover, but only for health issues that require hospitalization.
This strategy will not only save you money on your monthly contributions, it will also help you to be more motivated to take good care of your health.
Knowing that you have to pay for doctors’ visits and medicine out of your own pocket, every time you catch a flu, is a great motivator to take good care of yourself.
NB: This advice does not apply to everyone. For some people, e.g. people with chronic conditions, that genuinely cannot be prevented by leading a healthier lifestyle, it is still better to have comprehensive medical cover.
3. Living Healthy is Cheap
To get started, cut out the junk-food. You can buy a few kilograms of bananas, for the same price as one Happy Meal.
In fact, just forget about restaurants altogether. Even places that have a reputation for serving “healthy” food, like Juicy Lucy, tend to cover their meals with mayonnaise and slabs of cheese. And again, you can buy a lot of healthy food at a supermarket, for the same price as one tuna-mayo-”health”-roll.
As for exercise, you don’t need a gym membership to go for a jog (you also don’t need an iPod). You need a pair of sneakers.
If you want to do toning, or add some muscle-mass, there are many exercises you can do, using just your own body, and perhaps a few inanimate objects (my favorite: bricks).
Of-coarse, you can also get creative and use some animate objects in your exercise routine. Swing your kids around during play-time, and sweep your wife off her feet whenever the opportunity presents itself. 
Some of the healthiest and fittest people I know, have never had a gym membership.
What is Healthy?
Healthy doesn’t necessarily mean super-slim, or built-like-a-gorilla. There are some people who are naturally built this way, but for the majority of us, having a bit of padding is perfectly normal and healthy. Although, there is a difference between overweight and a bit of padding.
Healthy doesn’t use fat-burners or steroids, and it doesn’t need powder-shakes or meal-replacements.
Healthy means you’re eating well – you’re getting all the vitamins, minerals, proteins, starches, carbohydrates, and yes, calories your body needs.
Healthy means you’re getting enough sleep every night.
And healthy means you’re exercising regularly, but not so much that you do your body harm. 20 to 40 minutes, 5 days a week, is good enough.
So slap on your sneakers, and take your budget for a jog (literally this time).
This tip is part of the Financial Freedom Quick Tips series. If you want to receive a notice every time a new quick tip is published, you can subscribe to Liberta.
August 19th, 2008 at 02:30 am
Great post, Francois, that is top on my goal list…to eat better and exercise more…I want to be healthier..it’s so easy to let yourself go…
After watching the older women in the olympics, I truly have no excuse not to at least be “in shape”.
August 19th, 2008 at 06:02 am
Hi Francois
Ek dink hierdie is ‘n inskrywing wat so maklik oorgesien word. Ek dink ook dit is een van die belangrikste wenke, want gesondheid raak nie net finansies nie maar ook elke ander aspek van ‘n mens se lewe.
August 19th, 2008 at 03:55 pm
you make a very good point here.
this is one i’ve had trouble with over the last few months, and it starts to affect all other areas of life. going into our journey, i was exercising regularly-about 3 to 6 days a week. i kept it up for a while, and always felt pretty good. and then somewhere along the line it tapered off…and has more or less stopped. i’m sure working till midnight frequently hasn’t helped! but now i’ve definitely noticed my energy levels are lower, and that has definitely affected my attitude. while i’m still emotional about getting out of debt, i don’t quite have the excitement i did when we started. also, my back has been hurting more, and i find i clench my teeth a lot (especially when sleeping). I’ve been relying on coffee more for energy. And i’ve been waking up late, and skipping breakfast. But that leads to poor planning and getting very hungry, which leads to forking over 7 bucks for lunch/dinner that i could have made at home for pennies.
Since we’re so close, I’ll keep on pushing, but I know I need to make the changes and get back to caring for my body sooner rather than later.
August 19th, 2008 at 04:35 pm
@Nate:
I think we may have similar personalities; I can relate.
I can sometimes focus on something so much that I get almost obsessive. This has been great in helping me reach goals, but often it meant that other things suffered, like my health and relationships.
I suppose this is OK for a short while, but when it starts becoming months I don’t think it is wise.
That’s why I also believe that balance is an important part of the journey to financial freedom.
The trick is to find the balance that will allow you to reach your goals without burning yourself out.
That said, most things that are worthwhile, are not easy to achieve. They cost sacrifice, dedication and hard work.
You’ve really made an incredible effort. And even if you’ve let your health slip, you’ve still managed to take care of your family, which is far more important.
I commend you Nate. Keep it up, and hopefully you’ll be able to get fit again soon!
August 26th, 2008 at 09:01 pm
[...] from Liberta has a post about how staying healthy, eating well, and exercising will save you money as well as make you happier. I agree – this is how my husband and I live our lives. Although [...]