I just returned from a shopping trip at Target and another round of the rousing game I call “Find No Carbs.” I could have called it “Find the Carbs,” but that game is too easy. Close your eyes and point, and you will find carbs. 

It is amazing to me how much more expensive the “good” foods are. Organic produce costs more than regular. Grass-fed beef, cage-free eggs, the foods that are better for you nutritionally cost more. Look no further than fast food, which is as cheap as it gets, yet almost completely devoid of healthy nutrition.

The high cost doesn’t stop at the grocery store. Maintaining your health involves preventive visits to the doctor along with various tests. Depending on your insurance, these services may cost you. If you take supplements, those cost money. A massage to reduce stress and improve circulation costs money. A gym membership costs money. Sure you don’t *have* to take supplements and you can work out for free in your home using just your body. But in general, good health costs money. 

What’s the alternative? Bad health will cost you more. You can choose to pay now or pay later. Prevention of disease is far less expensive to you in the long run compared to treatment for a disease. Prescriptions, surgeries, trips to the hospital all add up. Not to mention the toll taken on you mentally and physically and how it affects your loved ones.

There are certain diseases you can’t do anything about, so you deal with them. But there are so many diseases and conditions that are preventable. But that requires diligence, and focus, and most likely money.

Pay now or pay later. Your choice.

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5-12-20

I went to Target on Sunday and other than the dearth of certain foods and an abundance of signs indicating buying limits, not much else has changed.

People do not want to hear the message that they are in control of their health. It’s much easier to say you’ve been “afflicted” with a disease, that it’s genetic or somehow outside of your control. That takes away your responsibility and makes you a victim. 

There are certainly certain diseases people are born with or just “happen to you.” But there are many prevalent diseases that are a direct consequence of lifestyle choices.

Most young people don’t pay much attention to their health. I know I didn’t. You feel invincible. You might get sick now and then, but you never think one of the “big diseases” will get you.

At some point, you wake up and realize that your health is one of your most valuable assets. Without your health, you can’t really do much of anything else. 

It comes down to the basics of getting proper sleep, eating the foods that are optimum for you, getting some regular physical activity, and managing stress. But if it’s so simple, why are so many people struggling with these basics?