"I Can't Afford it"

The recession is taking its toll on all of our retirement accounts and to a large extent our sense of security. Collectively, trillions of dollars have vanished and the stark reality is that we will all have to continue working for more years than we anticipated. Moreover, as the baby boomers remain in the workforce, this will create less jobs for their childrens' generation. A bleak picture, but reality. Probably all of us are evaluating where we spend our hard earned money and ensuring that we are putting this money to the best usage.

Yesterday I had a very nice woman, around 60 years old, who walked into the office requesting a consultation about the weight loss program. She had multiple medical problems, including a number of risk factors for heart disease. She seemed quite intrigued about the program, but when the subject of price came up, she very quickly determined that she could not afford the program. Of course, we respect everyone's financial situations and I gave her some resources that may help her even though she was not going to do our program.

I started thinking a bit about the relative worth of things. For instance, if you were home, and some one offered to sell you a glass of water for a dollar, you would think that is crazy. However, if you were marooned on a desert, about ready to die from dehydration, you would basically give all of your money for water that would save your life. If someone guaranteed that you would live healthier for 5-10 more years than what would be otherwise your natural course in life, what would you will be willing to pay for that? The answer, for most people, would be lots and lots of money.

I guess the above discussion gets back to the concept that when you make a decision to invest in your health...either for screening such as a physical, colonscopy, etc. or spend money on something like weight loss that is almost guaranteed to make you healthier (and happier), this is one of the best investments you can make. In the case of the cost of our 12-week program, if the woman had placed this on a credit card, it would cost her less than 50 dollars a month (if financed over 3 years) to lose over 40 pounds, and that weight loss would stand a great chance of allowing her to live 3 years or more longer in a better state of health.

Part of human nature is to look at things "short term". Looking at the big picture is sometimes difficult, but from a health standpoint, your focus on losing weight is truly one of the best investments you can make. You see what has happened to our money in the stock market and real estate. Whether it be a screening heart test, paying for a personal trainer, or coming to see us, there is no better investment now than investing in yourself.