Physical Health and Financial Independence

Physical Health and Financial Independence

This morning I was listening to one of my favorite podcasts (ChooseFI) featuring a doctor talking about wellness and our modern medical system. He delved deeply into nutrition and and some of his more alternative medical beliefs. It was a great interview, but it sort of triggered me. Physical health and financial independence are often spoken about in the same sentence. Financial freedom advocates want to optimize their health just as they optimize their finances.

We can’t help ourselves. The result is a futile attempt at measuring things that shouldn’t be measured. Paying for things that shouldn’t be paid for. And a whole lot of jibber jabber.

Diet

A healthy diet and weight loss have nothing to do with each other. First of all, it has been shown that for optimum longevity and health, one should be a little overweight by current standards. I know. Don’t blame me. It is what the data says.

Second, all these fad diets are crazy and often push us to eliminate important parts of our diet. High carb or low carb. High fat or low fat. If the purpose is to have physical health and financial independence, then the answers are simple.

Eat about 25% percent less than the average American. Cut out as much sugar and processed ingredients as possible. Eat lots of fruits and vegetables. Pay attention to what foods your body tolerates well and what you don’t. If a food gives you a belly ache or excessive gas, avoid it.

Try to eat a variety of foods.

That’s it. Nothing more. You might not lose weight. You might not become skinny. But you will be healthy.

Blood Tests

There are very few blood tests that have been proven to be helpful to prevent disease or measure someone’s health while they are feeling good. Sure there are some national recommendations from such bodies as The United States Preventative Health Task Force, but otherwise almost everything else is unproven. So don’t waste time and money.

To have physical health and financial independence avoid these unproven nutrient level tests that people are talking about. There is a reason that most doctors don’t offer them. They do no good, and provide no helpful information.

They are mostly conjecture.

So What Can You Do?

The answers are quite simple. Exercise thirty minutes to an hour a day. Wear your seatbelt in the car. Don’t smoke. Moderate alcohol consumption. Avoided loaded guns ( I would suggest unloaded guns too in case you are wrong). Monitor your diet (as suggested above). Wear condoms (or have your partner wear them) if you are having sex with at risk individuals.

And some unproven but common sense suggestions. Cut down on stress. CUT DOWN ON STRESS. Love and be loved. Do nice things for people and feel humility and gratitude. Embrace joy. Become financially independent!

And some things you can’t control. Choose good parents (genetics) and don’t get hit by lightning (luck).

Final Thoughts

Physical health and financial independence should go together. Each of them is rather straightforward. They may not be easy, but they are simple.

Anyone who tries to sell you any other bag of goods has an agenda.

And it is not necessarily your well being.