Advice From A Nutritionist: 7 Tips To Stay Healthy On A Budget

Healthy habits are the best ways to optimize health and wellness. Habits such as staying physically active, getting enough sleep, eating healthy foods, and taking care of mental health, will help you feel better, look better, and lower your risk for many chronic health issues.

Living a healthy lifestyle doesn’t have to be expensive or break the bank. We’ll discuss the importance of healthy habits, tips to stay healthy on a budget, and the connection between health and insurance rates.

The Connection Between Life Insurance and Health

Life insurance is essential to protect your family in case anything unexpected happens to you. It can provide financial resources to cover end-of-life or burial expenses.

A healthier lifestyle can also help you save money on life and car insurance. Life insurance rates are the cheapest for the young and healthy. These rates are based on your age, gender, occupation, current health status, and medical history.

Some companies use a life insurance weight chart to determine overweight and obesity. You can still purchase life insurance if you are overweight or obese, but it may cost more. You should also be living a healthy lifestyle and managing health conditions to get the best life insurance rates.

Managing your weight in a healthy range is ideal for keeping your insurance rates low. It also helps lower the risk for many chronic health issues like heart disease, high blood pressure, Type 2 diabetes, and some types of cancer. Compare insurance quotes online or work with an insurance agent to find the best coverage and rates.

Habits to Boost Health

It’s no secret that living a healthy lifestyle boosts overall health and wellness. The best habits to boost health include staying active, eating a healthy diet, getting sufficient sleep, managing stress, and socializing. Improving your mental and spiritual health is also an important factor in managing overall health and wellness.

Heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and cancer are the leading causes of death in Americans. Healthy lifestyle habits are the best things we can do to lower the risk for all these chronic diseases. These habits also boost energy, improve immunity, and keep your bones and muscles strong.

7 Budget-Friendly Tips to Stay Healthy

There are many ways to stay healthy and keep your budget on track. You just need a little planning, creativity, and resourcefulness to live a healthy lifestyle on a budget.

#1 – Use Opportunities for Free Physical Activity

Staying active in the outdoors can be budget-friendly. You can go for a walk, go hiking, or do bodyweight exercises in your home for free.

Many parks have trails or exercise equipment available for any community member to use. Take advantage of the free or inexpensive options provided by Mother Nature.

#2 – Plan Your Meals

Meal planning is a great strategy for eating healthy on a budget. It can help you purchase the foods you need and prevents food waste, which saves money. It also helps you plan out healthy meals in advance so you’re less likely to indulge in fast food or restaurant food, which also costs more.

Before you go to the grocery store, plan your meals for a few days or week. For extra savings, use the grocery store ad to see what foods are on sale that you can incorporate into your meals. Next, see what foods you have available in your kitchen and make your list based on what you need to pick up.

Eating meals cooked at home is helpful for physical and financial health. Meat tends to be an expensive part of the food budget, so cutting back on meat or using cheaper lean protein alternatives is a strategy that can save money.

Protein options that are cheaper than meat include canned tuna, beans, nuts/seeds, eggs, soy foods, and lentils. Planning meals with fresh, frozen, dried, or canned fruits and vegetables are important. Seasonal fruits and vegetables will also be cheaper, have better quality, and taste better than those not in season.

#3 – Practice Work-Life Balance

Work-life balance means that you divide your time between professional and personal responsibilities. Managing your time effectively is a great strategy to improve work-life balance.

Make sure your career isn’t taking too much time away from your personal life, family, and friends. Take time for yourself, your hobbies, and your loved ones because life is meant to be enjoyed.

Even when you do have to be at work, you may be able to take advantage of a great way to still boost your health and lower your stress — and at no cost: walking meetings.

#4 – Have a Social Circle

Your social circle can be friends, family, colleagues, or neighbors. Having good relationships with others can improve health and doesn’t cost anything.

You can also practice other healthy habits with your social circle. You can participate in physical activity, healthy eating practices, or spiritual practices with friends.

#5 – Talk to a Professional

Sometimes you need to reach out to a professional for help with issues that are preventing you from living a healthy lifestyle. You may be able to use your health insurance to cover some of the costs and you are getting valuable information from a trained and knowledgeable professional.

If you have medical issues, you should be keeping up with regular medical appointments as recommended. Therapists and counselors are trained professionals that can help improve mental health. They can provide strategies and a non-judgemental opinion for life’s stressors.

If you need ideas or help with healthy eating, meet with a registered dietician. A registered dietician is a trained professional that can help with meal planning, shopping for healthy foods, reading food labels, or other nutrition information.

#6 – Remember Variety in Your Diet

A healthy diet should be balanced, varied, and moderate. Eating a variety of different fruits, vegetables, grains, lean protein, and low-fat dairy products will help you feel better and look better. A rainbow of colorful fruits and vegetables can help you get the vitamins, minerals, and fiber that lower the risk for chronic diseases.

Food should also be enjoyable to eat. This is where moderation comes into play. You can have dessert or a treat, but keep these things in moderation for the best health benefits.

#7 – Find Cheap Workout Options

Gym memberships don’t have to be expensive. You don’t need a gym membership to stay physically active, but it can help you stay motivated and give you access to expensive equipment. You can find cheap gym memberships if you do your research in your local area.

Some people also find that when they are paying for a membership, they are more likely to use it to work out. Many gyms have fitness classes that can also help you stay motivated.

If a gym membership isn’t for you, you can purchase inexpensive equipment for a home gym. Jump ropes, resistance bands, a mat, and a few pairs of dumbbells are all you need for a full-body workout. There are also many inexpensive streaming services or free video workouts.

The Bottom Line

These tips can help anyone live a healthier lifestyle on a budget. These tips can help anyone feel better, look better, have more energy, and prevent chronic diseases.

Melissa Morris writes and researches for the auto insurance comparison site, LifeInsurancePost.com. She is a university professor of nutrition, a certified exercise physiologist, and a certified sports nutritionist.