If I told you I could give you a pill, that overnight, would give you the body you want and desire, how much would you be willing to pay – $100, $1,000, $5,000 or $10,000? Well there is no such pill. Not yet anyway. But then if you took that pill, but changed nothing about your lifestyle, your nutrition, your exercise regime or your mindset where would you be a year later? Would you be back asking to buy that pill again? If it was that simple a solution would you truly be able to value the results? Instead, why wouldn’t you spend that same money on your health and invest in a training and nutrition program where you would not only get the body that you want but also the health benefits, which in the long term far outweigh the benefits of looking good, although losing weight is usually a great side effect anyway.
So it made me think. How much does it cost to be healthy? Or another way to look at it, how much does it cost not to be healthy? Over the past decade Australian’s health spending has been increasing. In 2011–12, Australian’s spent around $140.2 billion on health, around 1.7 times higher in real terms than in 2001–02. Health expenditure has grown faster than population growth. Expenditure increased from $4,276 per person in 2001–02 to $6,230 in 2011–12. Although not all of these costs come directly from your own pocket, a majority of these costs are covered by the government and health funds, they do indirectly through the contribution of taxes and monthly premiums.
And these costs above are just the medical costs. What about the cost of the time off work, not being active enough to play with your family or being too sick to socialise with your friends? The cost of this would be very difficult to measure.
On top of the cost of health care we are spending $14.1 billion of our hard earn cash on alcohol each and every year according to the Australian Securities & Investments Commission. This means we spend more money on alcohol consumption than we do on public transport, fashion or even the above mentioned medical expenses.
Then there is our love of fast food. Australians are now spending more than $7.16 billion on fast food meals every year. In 2013, we purchased 1.2 billion fast food meals. That equates to 3.3 million fast food meals a day, or an average of 52 meals a year per person. Why are we so willing to spend money on vices and unhealthy choices but we are so reluctant to invest in ourselves by spending money on exercise, health and nutrition.
So often I hear people say “it is so expensive being healthy”. Sure a healthy meal can cost more than fast food but what is the long term result of eating an unhealthy diet, especially when there is no exercise involved: obesity, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, feeling lethargic. The list goes on.
Wouldn’t it be smarter to consider investing in your health each week by investing in yourself, with exercise and good nutritional choices, reducing alcohol consumption and most of all, avoid the need to use the health system in the first place?
Contact me today and we can discuss a fitness and nutrition plan to suit your needs.
Source:
http://www.aihw.gov.au/WorkArea/DownloadAsset.aspx?id=60129547594
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