It takes a lot of hard work and dedication to live a healthy lifestyle, but we know it is worth it, right? We are constantly being told how exercising and eating healthy helps us look and feel good. Still, at times it may feel impossible to choose an apple over a cookie or to go to the gym instead of taking a nap. If you are seeking strength to choose a healthy lifestyle, here are five financial benefits to give you some motivation.
#1 – A Stronger Immune System Means a Thicker Wallet
When you are eating healthier, which typically means eating more fruits and vegetables, you boost your immune system. Fruits and vegetables contain a lot of vitamins that are great for your body and will strengthen your immune system to better fight off any infections or bugs.
Avoiding the flu means fewer doctor’s appointments, less medicine, and fewer sick days you take in the year. All of these things will increase your savings and help you to earn more money. While missing a few days at work may not affect your salary at the time, when promotions come your boss will remember you being at the office working hard.
#2 – Fewer Complications and Fewer Costs
Many conditions or illnesses are worsened when a person isn’t living a healthy life. For example, obesity has been proven to cause several complications for patients including high blood pressure, Type 2 Diabetes, liver disease, heart disease, respiratory problems, gallbladder disease, and some cancers.
All of those complications and health conditions are terrible and scary enough, but they are also very expensive to treat. By eating healthy and exercising regularly, you can avoid these complications and the costs that come with them.
#3 – More Productivity, More Money
When we exercise regularly, we often feel better, stronger, and happier. It’s also been shown that you are more productive when you’re exercising consistently. One of the reasons this is true is because you are getting your blood flowing when exercising. This increased blood flow leads to more alertness and quick thinking. With greater alertness on the job, you will feel more awake and be able to focus more on your work.
One study by the Leeds Metropolitan University, found that when employees would work out before the work day, they reported having better time management, a clearer mind, greater satisfaction in their work, and to have gotten along better with their coworkers.
#4 – A Healthier You Leads to a Happier Retirement
One of the things we are all saving toward is our retirement. Everyone wants to be able to live comfortably once they retire and to enjoy the rest of their life doing the things they love with their friends and family. It’s important to remember as we are saving for that dream retirement, that we also need to be taking care of ourselves and staying healthy in order to enjoy that retirement.
If we don’t live a healthy life, retirement can be filled with aches, pains, and illnesses instead of hitting the greens with your friends. You’ve worked so hard for that retirement; you want to be healthy in order to actually enjoy it.
#5 – Lower Health Risks Equals Lower Insurance Costs
When you are applying for life insurance you have an option where you can choose to take a medical exam or not to take a medical exam. This exam will show how healthy you are and any risks that you may have. Life insurance companies use this information when finding a policy for you.
If you choose not to take a medical exam when you are applying for life insurance or if you have a lot of health risks, your life insurance policy will be more expensive. Whereas, the healthier you are, the lower your life insurance costs will be.
It can be hard to find the motivation to live a healthy life, but when you look at all of the benefits both physical, emotional, and financial, it is clear that living healthy is the best option. There are so many reasons to choose to live a healthy lifestyle. Healthy living won’t just help you to feel good but will also help you out financially. When we are living healthy, we can also live life to its fullest and enjoy the benefits of being financially stable.
Kendra Madsen is a freelance writer who loves healthy living, the outdoors, and obsessing over plants. She enjoys writing articles that take complicated ideas and transforms them into digestible information that helps her readers live their best life. When she isn’t writing, Kendra can be found exploring the mountains with her puppy or curled up at home with a good book.
