HEALTH HACKS ON A BUDGET
On a daily basis you are hit with ads telling you that you NEED this product, this supplement, this training plan to reach your goals. And while some things may help you more than others, there is a common misconception that in order to be healthy, it’s going to cost you, a LOT.
The truth is–you can still do plenty to improve your health without spending too much. Being healthy shouldn’t make you feel financially unstable, so let’s chat through some ways to continue improving your health without it costing you an arm and a leg.
FITNESS, TRAINING, EXERCISE
WALKING: Yes, walking! It’s free, it’s easy, and it is doable anywhere and everywhere. No gym membership required. Even during the bitter cold months, those steps you do inside your home still count (#HouseLaps). Walking is one of the most fundamental parts of a healthy lifestyle! Aiming for 7-8k steps per day has been shown to have marked improvement on cardiovascular health.
BODYWEIGHT EXERCISES: Think back to 2020 when the pandemic first had the world shut down, and it was incredibly difficult to find workout equipment. If you had a home gym setup, people would be JEALOUS. Bodyweight workouts became king again, and many discovered just how MUCH you can do at home, with little to no equipment. Implementing things like tempo training, or training styles like EMOMs and AMRAPs can keep training intensity high, without you needing a gym or equipment at all. Check out Level TEN’s Youtube page and look through our exercise demo playlists. You’ll see many that require no equipment in each category.
CLASS PASS: Class Pass is a way to try lots of different styles of fitness, all within ONE membership. Instead of having to pay for a membership at a traditional gym, a cycling studio, a yoga studio, and so on, you can purchase a pass that allows you access to all of these classes local to your area. It’s a great way to get in a variety, as well as try some new styles of training without the full commitment.
WELL ROUNDED ATHLETE: Yes, I’m going to toot our own horn here and tell you about our monthly training subscription, WRA! This was built by the Level TEN coaches and progresses you through 6 different training styles over the course of a year. There is a gym and at home option available, and you can cancel anytime. The link HERE will teach you more about WRA and is where you can go to get signed up!
AT HOME WORKOUTS: Like bodyweight workouts, you can get a lot done from the comfort of your home. Including bodyweight movements, but also some equipment, can make it doable without a gym membership. I recommend getting a pair of light dumbbells, a pair of heavier dumbbells (to you), and some long resistance bands. A small up front investment for months and years of workouts at home.
NUTRITION
STORE BRAND VERSUS NAME BRAND: As much as we love our name brand products, you can save a LOT of money by shopping store brand or off brand. Things like yogurts and cheese, protein sources like meat, and your canned goods are going to typically be cheaper if you buy the store brand, and they’re usually the exact same product with the exact same nutrition facts (and ingredients). This can help you stay within your budgetary needs and still get the products you need.
ORGANIC VS NON-ORGANIC: If you think you need to buy everything organic to be healthy, you are mistaken! While the EWG (Environmental Working Group) has fruits and veggies that they recommend buying organic, please remember at the end of the day, eating more fruits and vegetables of ANY kind is more important than not eating them because you can’t get them organic. When it comes to eating fruit or not, we should eat the fruit.
SHOP LOCAL: Try checking out your local farmer’s market and buying what’s in season. You can typically find better prices due to cutting out the middle man here, and also know that you are getting fresh food! You can also search online for farms near you that sell things like eggs, meat, fruits, and vegetables.
BULK SHOPPING: Who doesn’t love Costco/Sam’s Club for bulk shopping? Items like your proteins, fruits, and frozen items can be bought in larger quantities for great prices, and allow you to stock up for the next few weeks. Try buying your protein here and splitting up servings with freezing some for the next few weeks!
CHOOSING TO EAT AT HOME: This sounds simple, but can make a huge difference in your budget and help you make much healthier choices with your food! Many restaurants will serve items that are healthier, but still may have higher caloric value due to how they are cooked and their portion sizes compared to what you make at home. Try recreating your favorite “take out” meals at home, and save the tip for something else!
MENTAL HEALTH
TIME OUTDOORS: Spending time outdoors is known to help lower rates of depression, increase rates of recovery from stressors, and so much more for your mental health. It allows you a space to clear your head, breathe in fresh air, and reconnect with the world outside of what we see on social media/screens/the news. Countless studies have shown how green spaces help our mental health, so try and spend some time outside every day.
CALM AND HEADSPACE YOUTUBE CHANNELS: Free resources galore when you spend some time on the Calm and Headspace Youtube channels. While these apps are paid, they have resources available for free on Youtube. From meditations to soundscapes to sleep stories, these can help lower your overall stress and improve your day to day living.
BREATH WORK: Breathing, it’s free! Slowing down your breathing actually works to impact your central nervous system, which lowers your heart rate and puts you in a more restful state. The same way that quick breathing like hyperventilating makes you more alert, slowed breathing makes you more relaxed. A simple way to implement breathwork is to find a quiet space to sit comfortably, and breathe in and out, with your out breaths being longer than your in breaths. 3-4 seconds in followed by 5-8 seconds out is a great place to start.
JOURNALING: Other than purchasing the journal itself, this is another cost free way to improve your stress levels. Journaling or brain dumping at the end of the day can help you to verbalize through the written word what went well that day, what you’re struggling with, and help clear brain space to wind down for sleep. This can also help you process stressors that are difficult!
So while there are some benefits to things like a nice gym membership, an app for mindfulness, supplements, and so on, you do not have to go broke to be healthy. FITNESS AND HEALTH IS FOR EVERYONE, and we want to make sure you know that, too.
UNTIL NEXT TIME - COACH SHELBY