Is it time to reprioritize?

Far too often I hear people saying that that eating healthy is too expensive, but what about having a heart attack, diabetes or cancer? All of these diseases are taking a toll on Americans lives and their bank accounts. The biggest problem is that every day we are bombarded with marketing strategies that make us think we want big juicy burgers, fried foods, processed sugar and caffeine. Then when you go the store with the intention to make healthy choices, but everything cheaper and more convenient is over processed, packed with sodium and sugar.

Everything that we eat either fights or fuels disease, EVERYTHING. We have companies that spend billions of dollars on research to find cures and others that spend billions on masking the truth. We need to focus on prevention and this starts with a healthy balanced diet. Anything that has a label is processed, we need to be teaching our kids how to read food labels rather than how to navigate Facebook.

We are in a health crisis, we have sick care not healthcare, our focus should be on trying to prevent and reverse disease not managing it. As communities we need to focus on community gardens, fresh produce in convenience stores, whole unprocessed foods in hospitals, schools and nursing homes. To make this change happen it starts with us as consumers, don’t support Coca Cola, Nabisco, fast food, Sam’s Choice, etc. Focus on fresh fruits, vegetables, whole grains and if you choose meat and eggs choose organic, skip the dairy altogether. Essentially, what you prioritize what is most important to you, so if you are spending $100 on Friday nights and drinking $5.00 Starbucks every day, and saying that healthy food is too expensive, it might be time to reprioritize.

You can start by keeping track of all your expenses for one month and compare it to your income. Once you realize where your money is going, you are able to make changes like get a French press or coffee maker for your home, have friends over for dinner and drinks versus going out every weekend. Making these changes will be better for you and better for your bank account.