Having a healthy lifestyle is something that is often associated with being very expensive. This means that if you do not feel that you have enough money, then you might feel that it is impossible for you to have a healthy lifestyle. In fact it is possible for all of us to be really healthy, without spending lots of money, but we have to know a few tricks in order to do so.
Ditch the gym
The first thing to consider is exercise. You may feel that the only way to stay fit and healthy is to exercise more. This could mean that you feel you need a personal trainer, gym membership or to join some exercise classes. Although all of these would help you to get fitter, if you did them regularly, they will cost a lot of money. It is worth thinking about ways that you can exercise for free. You can work out at home using an online video or just go for a brisk walk. Neither of these will need any special equipment. If you want to jog or run, then you will need to get the right shoes to protect your body form the impact, but these will still be cheaper than paying for classes, sym membership or whatever. Many people join a gym in January and only go a few times but the membership keeps being withdrawn from their bank account. Do not let this happen to you, only pay to join if you know that you will really use it and benefit from it. As soon as you stop going cancel that membership and stop paying the money.
Ignore superfoods
We often see superfoods which claim to do all sorts of amazing things for our bodies. It might be chia seeds, goji berries or matcha tea. These items are always really expensive and actually you can get cheaper products that will give you the same benefits. They are mainly picked because of their anti-oxidant properties but you get from all fruit and vegetables and getting a good variety is better for you than just sticking to one thing as you get a much bigger range of nutrients. So stick to the cheaper foods, but have a good range and you will find that you will still be benefitting your health without having to pay massive prices for it.
Cook from scratch
There are lots of convenience foods available for us these days. Many of us will eat a lot of take away food and this is expensive, alternatively we might eat out or buy a ready meal form the supermarket. These all cost more money than making the meal form scratch at home and they are usually unhealthy. It can be much better to make the meal yourself, from scratch and you can choose what you put in it and make it healthier. Adding in extra vegetables will not cost much more, as vegetables are not that expensive, but they will bulk out the meal with healthy food that will give you lots of nutrients. You can also take out some of the less healthy ingredients such as palm oil or sugar and replace with healthier alternatives or miss out entirely. You can add herbs and spaces to suit your own taste and so make it taste even better.
Ditch the junk between meals
In between meals most of us have a habit of snacking on crisps and chocolate. For some people it is a daily thing that they will eat between meals and have all sorts of junk foods. It is true that they can be enjoyable but they are certainly not healthy and we all know that! Cutting these out can make a huge difference to how healthy you are and it can also save you money. Add up how much these are costing you and think about how much that could save you over a month or week. You may worry that you might be hungry if you leave these out, but ask yourself how filling they really are and whether you really eat them out of habit rather than necessity. If you do want to snack, have some fruit or a few nuts. Nuts are dearer than crisps, but if you just have a few and try to cut out snacing altogether it should still save you money in the long run.
Get plenty of sleep and relaxation
Part of becoming healthier is to make changes to our lifestyle that do not revolve around eating and exercising. Stress and sleep have a big impact on our health and getting more sleep and relaxing more costs nothing. It is worth thinking about your sleep routine and whether you can improve it. If you wake up feeling tired then you are not getting enough sleep so you need to go to bed earlier or wake up later. Some people do feel that sleeping is a waste of time. However, it helps to repair your body and improves health which could mean that more time asleep now could lead to you living longer so you will get more time later. Relaxation can be done in so many different ways that are free. People often differ in what they find relaxing. It could be watching a comedy, going for a walk, meeting a friend, chatting with a family member on the phone, meditating, yoga or something else. Whatever works for you, there are plenty of free ways to get the relaxation that you need.
