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| Scott, making his health a priority. With sandbags. |
I was attending a friend's birthday dinner last night, and the discussion wandered to fitness (as it often does when I'm around, I swear I wasn't soapboxing or anything), and from there to nutrition. My friend described his diet which was, to put it simply, appalling and I began to suggest some alterations he should make to improve his health (which is also pretty appalling). His immediate response was, "my food budget is $70 a month. I can't afford to eat healthily."
Challenge accepted. That article will take a little research, but it's coming.
In the meantime, it got me thinking about how we prioritize our lives. My friend's priorities come from his attempt to pay off his debts (including his house) and save for his retirement. Given his background (his parents were scrupulous and conservative with their money), that he makes his finances a priority over his health is not that surprising to me.
It is, however, stupid (sorry, man).
Don't get me wrong; I understand that in our society money has a huge impact on how we can operate in our lives and in our quality of life... I understand that trying to fix mistakes made and trying to save for the future are important issues, and that money management can be hugely complex. I don't mean to oversimplify, and I'm certainly not saying that it isn't an area of life to make a priority or put effort into engaging responsibly.
But, as I've said many times before, you only get one body. It is your only connection to this life, the only thing that connects you to your family, your money, your work, your education, the things you love to do and the things you have to do. The healthier you are, the longer and better you can do all those things. I cannot see a rational argument for not making your health a high priority.
Might we need help? Sure... the whole basis of my work is that I spend my time learning and understanding things I can teach to others so that they can benefit without having to make the same level of investment in time and energy. And, might priorities not shift around? Of course... that's the very nature of life, in uncommon circumstance, and especially in times of crisis our health might have to take a back seat to something else for a short time: the all-nighter you pull to get a presentation done, the beating your nutrition takes when you're on vacation or around the holidays, etc. No worries.
You're a parent? I'm not yet, but I totally get it... you're responsible for another life, and you'll sacrifice anything for your kids. Absolutely, that's proper. However, your health and wellness is part of your responsibility to your kids, and I haven't yet met the parent who truly couldn't make time for their own health without sacrificing something vital from their kids' lives. Again, sometimes, we make sacrifices. I get it.
However, generally speaking, I think it is just insane to place anything above your own wellness in the long term yet, inexplicably, this seems to be a very very common thing in our culture. People "don't have time" to eat right or cook for themselves, they "don't have time" to exercise regularly. Their allow their work to supersede their health, or like my friend, they hold themselves to a strict budget but make no allowances in it for their health (we'll see how healthily we can stretch $70 a month for one person).
That's just nuts, folks. You must, must, must prioritize your own health and wellness as you divvy up all of your time, energy, and finance. After all, the higher your level of health and fitness, the more productive you will tend to be overall, and the longer you'll be here in a condition to enjoy it.
And, of course, you can't take any of it with you.
Stay tuned to see how paleo/primal one adult human can eat on $70 a month.
