You want to live a long life but if you’re like most Americans, you’re not doing nearly enough to make sure that happens. Our life expectancy has never been longer, and yet it’s never been more difficult to thrive in old age.
Sure, the potential is there, but a long and prosperous life doesn’t happen by accident. Social security isn’t enough, your children will move away, and financial instability will cripple you if you don’t insulate yourself from the inevitable danger.
Yes, aging is scary. But it could be so much better. Money and health are threaded together in your life’s tapestry. While you have no control over your genetic makeup, you have the full reigns over your behaviour.
Don’t fall into the “easy” trap
Modern society has cemented our need for ease and convenience. Processed foods and drive-thrus on every corner send the message that we’re foolish to fritter time in the kitchen, or that it’s OK to put cooking wholesome foods on the back-burner of life. We are busy, after all.
But overly-processed foods are packed with unhealthy chemicals. While they may preserve the foods themselves, they are a slow decay on the human body. Many of these chemicals are indigestible, causing the “nutrition” in these pseudo-foods to be excreted from the body, rather than used. You need carbohydrates, proteins, and lipids to survive, but if you want to thrive, then they must come from natural sources.
Fast food is an unhealthy menace, depriving your body of the true sources of energy it needs for optimum health. When you eat these types of foods, your body struggles to find the necessary nutrition in them for you to stay healthy, and ward off disease. This leaves your body vulnerable.
Physical vulnerability opens the door to disease
Diseases like diabetes, cancer, and heart disease are all linked to diet and nutrition. Even though there’s a genetic factor, diet and exercise are what determine whether or not the gene will be turned “on.”
Diseases will chew through your bank account and swallow your life.
With money already a serious issue for the elderly, healthcare can make staying within budget nearly impossible. And waiting until you’re older to take care of yourself is Russian Roulette to your body, and your bank balance.
Start now
Take care of your body today and it will take care of you and your wallet later. Starting today, learn to love healthy, whole foods and regular exercise. Fill your body with the nutrients needed to fight disease and keep yourself healthy on the cellular level.
This is so much easier said than done when modern life highlights ease and convenience. Learning to love the things that take time and effort can seem daunting, but it’s necessary in order to protect the bottom line of your health and life.
Feeling better, not tasting better
The first step to protecting your wallet and health is to focus on the feeling your body has after you’ve eaten, rather than the taste of the food while it’s in your mouth.
The lab generated food most of us were raised on tastes different from whole and natural foods. Changing your palate takes time, patience, focus and dedication. You’re not eating for the party in your mouth, you’re eating for peace of mind now and a full wallet later.
Even eating right isn’t enough if you’re not moving your body.
Back in ancient times, food was scarce and exercise abundant. Today, we have the opposite problem. We must actively seek exercise, like our ancestors had to actively seek food.
Exercise keeps our hormones in check, while helping to build our bones and keep our immune systems healthy. Combined with a healthy diet, regular exercise reduces your chances of developing wallet-debilitating and life-threatening diseases such as heart disease and diabetes.
The University of California at Berkley reports that you can reduce your chances of developing heart disease by 35 – 55 percent through exercise alone. Those are strong numbers to buffer your wallet with.
Eat right and exercise regularly to make for a happier today and a longer, wealthier tomorrow.
