Exclusive gyms, expensive supplements, and a whole closet of gym clothes sounds like a costly venture. However, losing weight, the top New Year Resolution of all time, doesn’t have to eat your budget. There are so many frugal lifestyle changes that you can make which will concurrently help you on your weight loss journey. From small habits to a different outlook on life, incrementally make decisions that will thicken your wallet and flatten those abs.
- Cut Out Junk Food
People complain that good, wholesome food is difficult to find these days, and when you do finally have it, it’s out of your reach financially. However, these same individuals are the ones that spend half their grocery bills on junk like cookies, chips, candy, fruit rollups, pop, and sugary juice boxes. Many of these items are superfluous to our diet, as we don’t need to snack on chips or Oreos in order to stave off hunger. Most of these foods are pulled out in moments of boredom, while watching TV or to satisfy cravings, and are consumed in addition to actual meals like breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Once you cut the junk out, you’ll notice that you have more room in your budget for healthy items like eggs, lean proteins, whole grain baked goods, and fresh fruits and veggies. This change in your shopping patterns will also have a difference on your waist line as they say that your diet is the biggest factor in your weight.
- Everyday Activity
If you think that in order to make a real difference to your body, you need to join an expensive gym, you’re wrong. There are a number of activities and workouts that you can do for free, without ever having to buy any equipment or memberships at all! From running, to body weight exercises at home, even to free yoga classes in the park, find something that you can learn to love and commit to it. If you want to make it more of a game, or see a positive effect on your financials, challenge yourself to find active ways to save money. From walking or cycling to work instead of driving, touring a new city by foot instead of taking a taxi, or finding free parking further away and carrying your groceries from there, see how much you can save per week by taking the active way out.
- Commit to a Holistic Program
Many of us have issues with self-motivation and adhering to these incremental changes that would give us positive results. In order to make these one-time decisions into habits it’s a good idea to find a clinically proven, effective program that helps you lose weight quickly and safely. Though it might seem like an extra expense, these take care of every aspect of your health, including mental. By going to the root of your overeating and bad dietary decisions and addressing them through mindfulness meditation in tandem with a personalized exercise plan, you’ll see maximum results. This kind of program might actually help you manage some of your other bad habits like impulsive spending, “shopping therapy” following a stressful situation, or even overindulging in harmful substances like alcohol.
So, before you make the price tag the excuse for why you can’t lead a healthy lifestyle, think again. Are you really making an effort to find room in your budget for the support that you need for your weight loss journey? Remember that losing weight can also save you money by spending less on food, transportation, and other items that are currently draining your budget.