Your health is never something you should take for granted; without it, you won’t be able to live a full and happy life. Yet sometimes it can feel as though in order to be healthy, you need a big budget – joining a gym, paying for ‘good’ food, making your meals from scratch… not only do you need money, but you need time too. However, it doesn’t have to be that way; being healthy is something that everyone can do, no matter what their budget is. Here’s how.
Plan Ahead
Planning is crucial for two reasons. Firstly, it means you won’t overspend because you know exactly what you need to buy when you go to the grocery store. Secondly, it means that you know you are going to be eating healthily because you know what you are going to be eating throughout the week. If you’re going out, working late, or have plenty of time because you have a day at home, you can plan your meals to suit.
Don’t forget when making a grocery list for the week ahead to check through your cupboards and kitchen store to see what you already have. You could cut your grocery bill substantially when you see what is there and build your meal plan around things you don’t have to buy.
Batch Cook
There will be times when your budget is bigger than others. When you have a little more money to spend, you should buy extra ingredients and batch cook meals such as lasagna, stew, or pie. This can then be frozen and used for those times when money (or time) is much tighter. This way, you will always have something homecooked and healthy to eat.
Exercise Is Free
As well as eating healthily, you will need to regularly exercise as well in order to be truly fit and healthy. Again, although you might think that this is an expense that you just can’t afford, and although some gym memberships and fitness classes do indeed cost a lot of money, you don’t have to join these things in order to be fit. There are cheap – or even free – alternatives.
Go for a walk during your lunch break, or park your car farther from the entrance to your place of work and then jog from where you are parked. Take the stairs rather than the elevator. Run up and down the stairs at home. Follow exercise videos on YouTube. There are dozens of ways to get fit for free if you are determined enough to seek them out and follow them.
Of course, if you like the idea of the structure of a gym, you can choose a budget-friendly one like Fitness 19, which can offer the best of both worlds.
Speak To Someone
If you’re feeling mentally unwell, it’s vital that you talk to someone. Talking to a friend will be absolutely free, and even if they can’t help you personally, just having someone to listen to your problems and be there for you can sometimes be enough to lift you and help you refocus on what you need to do.
If you need further help because you are diagnosed with depression, anxiety, borderline personality disorder, stress, or any number of other mental health complaints, find an expert to talk to. Having a mental health issue and doing nothing about it can cost you dearly in the long term, causing you to be unable to work, for example. It’s best to deal with these issues as soon as possible.
