Work It Out
Staying Healthy During a Recession
Whether you think we're in a recession or going through a rough patch, you understand now more than ever the need to save money. Gas prices were at an all time high and have come down, but are creeping back up. Food prices closely followed gas prices, but did not come down, and health insurance is too expensive to buy if you don't get it from your employer. When times are tough, some luxuries such as gym memberships and healthy food seem unnecessary. There are plenty of ways you can stay in shape and be healthy without spending money you don't have.
Gym memberships are definitely nice. They have great cardio equipment, weight benches and strength training machines. However, you can get a good workout in your very own home or in a park.
Here’s how:
The easy part is replacing your cardio. Doing your cardio outside isn't as easy but you usually can get a better workout in the real world. Most of us live within walking distance of a park or community center. At the very least, these parks should have a tennis or basketball court which is perfect for cardiovascular exercise.
> Run- Try to run, walk or jog. It's a lot harder to run up and down hills than on a treadmill. This is one of the few exercises you can do without any equipment, except for shoes. These three activities are very good at building up your endurance, burning calories and getting you into shape. For more motivation, you can adopt a dog and take it on runs or walks. It'll be more than happy to help you out.
> Swim- If you don’t have a pool; you can do this for free at your community pool. Swimming provides low impact cardiovascular exercise for those who have joint problems.
> Play sports- The great part about using sports for cardio is that you don't have to pay very much for the equipment and if you're having fun, you won't realize how much time you're actually devoting to exercise.
> Bike
> Even mow your lawn.
You can also replace some strength training machines with body weight exercises. Body weight exercises are also an area in which you need very little equipment. Push ups, pull ups, done at the park on a pull up bar or at home with a door frame bar, sit ups, body weight squats, and lunges. You can get creative to mimic the motion you do at the gym. These exercises will help you build muscle without going to an expensive gym. You can do most of these in the comfort of your own home in front of the TV. You can also buy some inexpensive weights to enhance some of these exercises.
The strength training equipment is a bit harder to replace. Some days you might feel like there's no good alternative to a squat rack or bench press. There are, however, a few options you can use to save money if you're willing to make some sacrifices.
Take hard labor for instance. Some activities that you need to do aren't usually seen as exercise but still force you to work hard. Yard work, housework and car work can all count as exercise, if you do them often enough and get your heart beating quickly.
You can also buy some dumbbells to do exercises such as:
> Squats
> Lunges
> Deadlifts
> Overhead presses
> Lateral/side raises
> Bicep curls
> Tricep extensions
> Chest presses, assuming you have a bench-like piece at home.
If you're the type that does very heavy weights, you probably won't save a lot of money if you want to build yourself a home gym, at least not in the short term. If you do high repetitions with lower weights, a few dumbbells will really help. Remember, you only need the weights you use, not every single weight a typical gym carries.
As for cutting your grocery bill while keeping your intake of healthy foods high, that is a harder task to accomplish. You can start by cutting out all brand name items. Look for the generic or store brand items instead. For example, if you shop at Safeway buy the Safeway Select brand instead of Quaker’s. Usually, there's a small taste difference, but the large price difference more than makes up for that.
If you can afford to, fresh produce is the way to go; carrots, squash, romaine lettuce, tomatoes, bananas, whatever it is as long as it’s fresh. You should also look for fruits and vegetables that are in season. You can tell what is in season by the sales that grocery stores have. Because produce in season is high in supply, stores almost always lower prices to get them out the door before they spoil. Anything under $1/pound is usually a good deal.
If you can't afford to buy fresh ones, consider frozen or canned produce. They are extremely cheap and still a relatively healthy snack. Take a can of corn that has four or five servings. It can cost well under a dollar while a fresh ear of corn will cost about one dollar. It’s important to note that canned fruits and vegetables typically have added sugar, salt and preservatives.
If you don't know how to cook, now is the time to start learning. Buy a cookbook or go online; recipes are easy to follow, even if you're a beginner. Processed foods that are frozen and only require some oven time, like ready made lasagna, stir fry, and other prepackaged entrees, are a lot more expensive than buying individual ingredients and cooking from scratch. Plus, those processed foods are high in sodium and other preservatives that aren't healthy.
Whenever anything is on sale that isn't perishable, buy more than you need. You can leave some items in your pantry for long periods of time and most other foods can be frozen until you're ready to eat them (bread, meat, cheese).
These are just a few suggestions to get you started on saving money during tough economic times. Some of these methods can and should be used all the time to save money while staying healthy. Remember that while cutting certain expenses to save money in the short term may seem like a good idea, sacrificing your health to save a few bucks can seriously affect your health down the road. If you keep those unhealthy money saving habits long term.
/By Ken Bendor
Be sure to visit www.shtrainer.com for your free diet plan and workout routine. To see what a complete plan looks like go to our website, www.mixitupmagazine.com, click on Work it out.