It is just too darn expensive to be healthy!!
I have heard that many times in my career as a health and wellness professional. There was a time when I would agree with that statement and sympathize with those who would throw that out there. Good food is expensive and the cheap stuff is affordable. I can’t get a gym membership because of the cost. Those are typically the “Big 2” that people come at me with.
A couple of days ago I was in line at the store and a person in front of me was getting a pack of cigarettes. That was all they were getting and the cost was $6.20!! Amazing! I can’t say for sure what was going through that individuals mind but I hope it was something along the lines of “I need to quit this expensive habit and start on something healthier and much more affordable”. This started me thinking about food and drink along with the smokes. What can we get for the same amount of money?
Let’s start with that pack of cigarettes and make it easy for the math with a pack a day habit. On a monthly basis, a smoker will pay approximately $186. How about a coffee drinker who goes to Starbucks daily. Now, I’m sure there are those who just get a cup of coffee at Starbucks but most of the people I know who go there get one of the fancy drinks where the cost will be, on average, $4. This will be about a $120/month habit. For some, that may not be a lot of money, but for so many others that is substantial. Let’s break this down to show what you can get that is health for so much less, or the same amount.
Do you think a gym membership is expensive? Planet Fitness gives you 24/7 access for about $11/month. How about eating for your health? As you know, I love my Juice Plus so will use that number for our purposes. You can have have the trio, which gives you the benefits of about 30 fruits, vegetables and berries, along with a complete drink, for under $5/day. Those 2 healthy changes would add to around $160 month compared to $186 for smoking. With the smoking habit you are still going to add the additional food cost to that. Juice Plus doesn’t replace food but the Complete drink can replace one of your meals a day! Think of the possibilities of changing from bad habits to good! Not only will your pocket book thank you, your body will too!
I make my choices on how I want to spend money, as everyone should get to make their own choice. I would never tell anyone to cut something out for something else. We simply need to be made aware of what the reality of cost of health versus cost of disease. Usually, with these two things, there is the short term cost of it and a long term cost. Poor health, down the road, is going to be much more than the cost of being health now! Choose wisely!!
