by John R. Berry
Many people start out each New Year wanting to lose weight. Perhaps this is your goal for 2021. You want to drop the 19 pounds you’ve gained during all that COVID-19 comfort eating!
While wanting to lose weight is fine, I think it’s a losing proposition. Diets are like budgets: They tend to fail because they use the language of deprivation. No brownies, no beer, nothing white to eat.
If you are interested in losing weight this year, I challenge you to think about it in positive terms.
You don’t want to lose weight. Through eating and exercise tweaks, you want to gain:
- Health
- Strength
- Mobility
- Years
- Compliments!
I exercise often to stay in shape, increase my strength, and achieve personal goals. You don’t have to own a gym membership or work out five days a week to get healthier, though. Depending on your current situation, light exercise like walking or hiking might be an improvement.
Most of our healthy choices, however, revolve around our diets. (You can’t outrun a bad one.) It’s not necessary—neither is it sustainable—to subscribe to expensive meal programs or only drink special diet shakes. Again, depending on where you’re starting from, a few more vegetables and legumes, a little less takeout and dessert, might help you make real progress!
As with the financial behaviors we discuss with our clients and their families, moderation and reasonableness are keys to sustaining results over time. Following common sense—rather than ever-changing diet fads and even USDA recommendations--should get most folks closer to that healthier look they want.
Think of all the positive outcomes that may result from choices that are just a little bit healthier.
May you have a happy and healthy 2021!
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Healthy lives, Healthy finances
John R. Berry is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNERTM and owner of Corner Post Financial Planning.
The opinions voiced in this material are for general information only and are not intended to provide specific advice or recommendations for any individual.