Life is short,have fun!!!

Healthy living comes at a cost. Are you ready?

There is a cost to every decision you make in life and there are consequences for every action.

If you have decided to take your life back, to start living healthy and eating responsibly, there is a cost to it.

This decision you are about to make or you have just made will cost you a few things listed below based on my own experience;

1.Time

2. Relationships

3. Money.

1. Time – It waits for no one.

Time as we know is the most valuable resource on the surface of the earth and I kid you not there will be no time for exercises or cooking of healthy meals if you don’t consciously create it.

You will have to create time to go to the gym depending on your daily schedule, work and family commitments.

You will have to create time to shop for healthy foods, definitely you need time to prepare and cook them. The only food you can ever be sure of in life to be cooked without the addition of ingredients like sugar, excessive salt or oil is the one cooked by you or your significant other if they happen to share your vision of healthy living.

If you are in place where is no gym, you need to find a group of like minds you can join or create time to jog round where you live if it is safe to do. You can also explore indoor exercises like planking, sit-ups, crunches, skipping and press-ups.

2. Relationships.

Ooops someone is already shouting what do you mean by this?

Not everyone around buys the idea of you wanting to change your lifestyle in order to prolong your life. I have heard of and watched TV proms showing spouses and family members who become unreasonably envious and jealous of your new lifestyle.

This may stem from the fact that you no longer eat what they eat and drink what they drink or you no longer join them on that frequent trip to the hospital or outings.

You will need to let everyone close to you know your recent decision and somehow carry them along if necessary to make your life easier.

For example clubbing every Friday and Saturday, you will have to cut back on this and your friends may find it hard to believe that you won’t be going out clubbing or dining next weekend.

3. Money (#, $)

Yes, there is no free lunch in life, someone has to pay for it.

Depending on the approach you take to achieve your weight loss target or healthy living goals, the following are what you should plan for;

1. Gym membership fees: (I recommend a no contract membership gym for a start).
2. Personal Trainer fees: (A personal trainer is a qualified person trained to help you achieve your healthy living goals. They can train you on the use of the various equipment at the gym or advise on your diets if that is part of the area of expertise.

iii. Clothing: You will need to buy sport clothes and a good running or jogging shoe. It doesn’t have to be expensive but make sure it is a durable one.

Also as you lose weight, you will need to buy a few clothes that suits your new body size. You will notice this from your underwear e.g. pants/boxers as the case may be because of the loss of pounds around your waistline.

1. Healthy foods are expensive: From vegetables to fruits and seafood like prawns, calamari, crabs you will find out they are more expensive than junk food like burgers and chips. 1 litre of Coca-Cola is cheaper than 600ml of water where I live. You can see the system is not designed for you to live healthy. These companies want you to buy their products so that you end up sick, then you spend money on fixing your health by buying drugs and paying for hospital charges, so it is a vicious cycle.

Please remember your healthy lifestyle choice is a journey and work in progress so there is no need to rush or pursue impractical ways of losing weighty or living healthy.

DON’T STARVE YOUR SELF BUT EAT RESPONSIBLY.

Image credit: http://www.superfoodsam.com/