by elmads

“So many people spend their HEALTH gaining WEALTH, and then have to spend their WEALTH to regain their HEALTH”.

-A.J Reb Materi

Introduction

This sums up the unhealthy pursuit of monetary wealth. An ironic and indeed tragic case that a person could ever experience.

Individuals achieving sizeable amounts of money, yet don’t have the strength and health to even enjoy the fruits of their labour.

I can’t help to wonder if it has to be always like this. Does pursuing financial wealth always come at the expense of health? Can we not attain both health and financial wealth at the same time?

Choosing to be Healthy Can Make you More Money

It is a no-brainer that if our body can perform at healthy levels for a long period of time, then it will most likely keep up with not just work, but also purposeful work. The mix of financial, physical and mental health at play.

Making money requires energy, and having an ample amount and healthy levels of energy are paramount. We need to cultivate healthy habits so that we could continue to do our purposeful work.

Productivity also increases, and if what we do makes us money, then it is definitely beneficial for us to be healthy and fit.

Hmmm.🤔 Healthy and Fit? what does it actually mean to be healthy and fit? does being healthy automatically mean being fit and vice versa?

Apparently these two are not the same, and most people don’t know what differentiates one from the other, myself included.

Let’s use the description of Dr. Phil Maffetone about its difference. (He is an internationally recognized researcher, educator, clinician, and author in the field of nutrition, exercise and sports medicine, stress management, and biofeedback).

“Health and Fitness are separate but related states.”

Health – A state of complete, physical, biochemical, mental-emotional balance where all bodily systems (nervous, hormonal, immune, digestive, etc.) function in harmony.

Fitness – The quality of physical activity, including exercise and sports.”

We could summarize Dr. Phil Maffetone’s description of this. Basically, being healthy and fit is having a balance diet, exercise, sleep, hydration and mindfulness all in sync with one another.

Therefore, we could say that achieving better physical strength and endurance plus a healthy mind and body is our goal to achieve a healthy and financially wealthy life.

Prioritizing our Health & Fitness can Potentially Reduce our Expenses

Nothing beats eating healthy and exercising regularly to potentially save more money. Let’s break this down further shall we?

Medical Costs – our ability to influence our health in the future will be based on our current lifestyle, eating and exercising habits.

Based from World Health Organizations (WHO), the top 10 leading causes of the deaths are the following:

Most of these diseases are caused by both modifiable and non-modifiable risk factors.

Modifiable Risk Factors are changes a person can make themselves to alter their risk of developing or managing chronic diseases and illnesses. Examples are, Vices (Smoking, Drinking & Illegal usage of drugs), Lifestyle and Diet.

While, Non-modifiable Risk Factors are changes a person cannot make themselves to alter their risk of developing or managing chronic diseases and illnesses. Such as Gender, Ethnicity, Age, Family history and Genetic predisposition.

As like what I’ve said in my blog titled “Things I’ve Learned in Investing that are Very Applicable in Our Daily Lives”.

Focus only on what we can directly influence and change, and not waste our time thinking of what cannot be controlled. So in this case, we focus on the modifiable risk factors. It’s a straightforward thinking, where we, as much as possible remove or limit vices, exercise properly, practice a balanced diet, and not forget about sleep, hydration and mindfulness.

These information are not new, they’ve been widely known for decades already, yet only few individuals follow such simple but helpful health advice.

Can you just imagine the tenths, or hundredths, or thousands in your currency that you could save in the future by simply doing what has been advised? Instead of paying money for health care to just treat whatever diseases or illnesses that are in the first place under MODIFIABLE RISK FACTORS.

Money that we could save and not spend for medical expenses which can be utilized for building experiences with our loved ones, following our passion and purpose projects, starting new ventures and also helping others.

Don’t get me wrong, there are certainly a lot of factors that are out of our hands where diseases and illnesses can still befall us even if we follow such healthy endeavour.

Nonetheless, if we think in probabilities. How likely do you think that you will acquire such debilitating medical conditions if you do proper exercise and have healthy eating habits? how about when you take the sedentary lifestyle path and heavy loads of junk food dietary intake? which one do you think will yield a better outcome?

I will bet on the former and I’ll certainly take that route as the upside is way better than taking the latter. It’s just like finding a good investment, where the reward is so great that the risk becomes insignificant.

Bet big when the odds are in your side. And surely, the odds of not spending a sizeable amount of money on health care are heavily skewed toward being healthy and fit..

Food Expenses – Most unhealthy foods appear inexpensive because the costs of production are lower than those of healthier counterparts. Yet, this type of food does not satisfy us; it usually takes more than two portions before we feel full. Hence, the need to buy more.

Studies show that satiety, the mechanism that stops us from eating more than what we need, has less to do with caloric intake than it does with the intake of certain macronutrients—types of protein, carbohydrates, and fat—and the physical volume of food.

• One of the ways to reduce our food expenses is by switching from pre-packaged food to home-cooked food by purchasing our own ingredients. In doing so, we could substantially save more money and also improve our health in the process.

Unfortunately, cooking food takes more time and effort than purchasing processed and junk food. It is also way easier and tastier than its healthy counterpart.

• Cutting or eliminating our vices One of the most difficult, especially for those who have been doing it for a long time. Yet, it is still an undeniable fact that removing vices from our food expenses will substantially save us money.

In today’s world, choosing to have a healthier dietary intake is hard. You’ll be taking a road that is less travelled, a path that you’ll most likely walk by yourself.

“Eating junk food is so common that when someone starts eating healthy, it’s instantly labelled as DIETING” 😂

-unknown

On this road, challenges are normal, and one of your adversaries is the food industry.

We’re constantly bombarded with advertisements for different junk foods that are tastier and more widely sold. Supermarkets capitalise on this as well, by placing junk food on shelves at eye level, and strategically in isles where supermarket foot traffic is heaviest. Supermarkets sort in a manner based on consumer psychology to achieve higher sales. These simple yet very effective methods don’t completely help us stay away from unhealthy food temptations.

Sugar, Spice, and Everything Nice. And in the food industry, sugar is one of the most heavily traded commodities in the world.

The true battle in lowering our monthly food bill and potentially saving more money in the future is within ourselves. Our willingness to do what is required to start such life-changing habits, our discipline to keep on going, and our consistency to undertake this path all through our lifetimes

You don’t need to spend a lot of money to be healthy and fit, but you’ll eventually spend a lot of money being unhealthy and unfit.

Unknowingly, we tend to spend more on unhealthy food than healthier options.

We don’t need to spend a lot of money to be healthy, let me explain further in an investment point of view.

As an investor, if I can find an investment that does not require too much input nor capital, and has a potential sizeable returns in the future, then that’s deal which is too hard for me to pass.

Let me bring this back to health and fitness. What do you think of spending money on purchasing food with good amounts of macronutrients and micronutrients? exercises that don’t require any gym subscriptions, such as callisthenics (body weight exercises) and/or running? passive and active stretches that can be done at home? reading, listening, and watching about this topic, then applying it to ourselves? Will that not be a good deal over the long run? Will there be no good returns on such health investments?

Health and Fitness, same as with investing, do not necessarily require complexity. This reminds me of a book titled “A Wealth of Common Sense: Why Simplicity Trumps Complexity in Any Investment Plan” by Ben Carlson. Where the general message is: we do not need to find complex answers in every problem, because for most of the time, the best ones are always the simplest solutions. What’s important is to understand the fundamental knowledge and skills of a certain subject to apply and maximize its concepts.

How to Maximize the Odds of a Happy and Successful Life by Edward Thorp

Edward Thorp is an American mathematics professor, author, hedge fund manager, and blackjack researcher. His hedge fund’s name is Princeton Newport Partners.

In a book titled “Richer, Wiser, Happier” by William green. Mr. Thorp was asked how to maximize the odds of a happy and successful life, he answered it by illustrating his characteristic approach by discussing health and fitness. Below is what he said.

“‘Genetically, you’re dealt certain cards.. You can think of that as chance. But you have choices about how to play those cards,’ including the choice to avoid cigarettes, have annual medical check-ups, keep your vaccination up-to-date, and exercise regularly. In his Thirties, Thorp was ‘in terrible shape’ and found himself ‘gasping for breath’ after jogging for a quarter of a mile. So he started running one mile every Saturday, improving gradually until he completed twenty-one marathons. He still sees a personal trainer twice a week and walks three miles a day four times a week.”

Edward Thorp, increases his odds of happiness and success when he knows that good things will happen based on data he analyses. He then take the steps that he thinks would give him good returns on his initial investment (we’re not just talking money here, but time and effort exerted) in the long run.

-Edward Thorp

Mr. Thorp is currently 90-years-old, and he doesn’t look like his age. (see his photograph above).

• How Running Changed my Frame of Mind
• The Investment Mental Models I Follow & Practice – Part 1
• The Investment Mental Models I Follow & Practice – Part 2

To Sum It Up

Let’s eat healthy, exercise safely and regularly, and change our lifestyle for the betterment of our mind and body.

I’ll definitely prefer for the markets to crash rather than my health, because money can always be strategically earned and accumulated, but not my own health. It’s as plain and simple as that.

“You only get one mind and one body. And it’s got to last a lifetime. But if you don’t take care of that mind and that body, they’ll be a wreck 40 years later…it’s what you do right now, today, that determines how your mind and body will operate 10, 20, and 30 years from now.”

– Warren Buffett

Knowledge is my Sword and Patience is my Shield,

elmads

This blog is for informational purposes only and not a Financial Recommendation. Not all information will be accurate. Consult an independent financial professional before making any major financial decisions.