So I had the most informative and “ah-ha” moment with our nutritionist Julie this week, and so I decided to kinda of talk a little about costs and benefits when it comes to exercising and eating right.  So we all know the benefits of why we want to exercise regularly and make better food choices. Some of those benefits may be:

Losing weight can improve your health in many ways. Just losing 10% of your current weight can make a difference in the way you feel on a daily basis. Here are some other ways losing weight will benefit your health:

1. To be a healthier person overall
2. Having more energy
3. Having lower cholesterol and blood pressure
4. To look better to ourselves and others
5. Having less difficulty breathing and moving around
6. To prevent severe health issues such as heart attacks, diabetes, obesity, etc..

…and there are different benefits for us all, but these are some of mine. But what happens when you think about the costs of working out and eating healthier. We don’t think about it, but it is these costs that allow us to make the “not so great” choices that we make, or allow us to “fall off the wagon” as some would say. I listed a whole lot of costs as to why I had to decided not to exercise or eat right. Some of my costs were:

1. Healthier food is more expensive
2. Finding the time to exercise, and taking that time away from something I actually “like” doing
3. Getting sweaty (I absolutely hate it!!! I hate feeling yuckie!!!)
4. Having to wash clothes more often (sweaty clothes from exercising)
5. Having to plan meals for the week…so much preparation involved!!
6. I didn’t want to give up the foods I love…its much easier for me to eat those foods than to feel deprived!!! LoL….

…and while talking to Julie, I realized that throughout most of my life, I have been putting my health aside, and putting silly wants before it. At the end of the day for me, sure the benefits are worth the hard work, but the costs of what I may be “losing” or “giving up” are even more LESS important. So that what my “DING!! DING!! DING!!” moment…Thanks Julie!!!! Until next blog…

-Mary Rashelle