Marathon Update 3

June 8, 2012 by / 7 Comments

Sunday was my marathon (H ran a half marathon), and even though neither of us have really been running at all since we moved into our new house, we were still excited and ready to go.  Even though I knew I wasnt as prepared as I would have liked to be, I still went for it and had a good time.

H and I had to get on the bus at around 6am for a 7:30 race start.  It was nice and cool at the beginning, and I grabbed some sunscreen, some energy gels for my race and used the rest room.  After that I stood around and stretched for a few minutes then the gun went off.  When running, I didnt want to take it out too slow and die at the end completely, so I hung back and quickly found myself in dead last place.  I didnt really have a watch, so I just kept plugging away and eventually passed a handful of people around mile 4.  Talking to one lady as I went by, she said almost an hour had gone by and I about fell over!  Oh crap, I thought, it’s time to stop jerking around and pick up the pace – I wanted to be done by dinner at least.  15 minute miles were nowhere near my pre-race hopeful pace.

I picked it up at that point and was able to get to the half way point by around 10 o’clock, for a 2:37 half marathon.  Not bad considering the start, and I still felt good, but it was getting super hot outside, and I just wanted to jump into the river and float into town instead of running.  I kept going well until about mile 21, when the course veered off around a corner and up what seemed like a monumental hill – of course, it wasnt, but at this point any slight upslope would have been huge.  I made it to the top of the hill, but walked quite a bit of the course after that point.  I had wanted to finish without walking at all, but wasnt able to manage.

I finished with a (really slow) time of 6:05, but that’s fine with me.  I was able to complete one of my 2012 goals, and now can move on to one of the others on my list.  I did learn quite a bit from this run though.

One of the first things that I learned is that if you really want to do something, you have to actually set aside time to do it instead of sitting around with your friends flapping your lips.  Anyone can talk about a goal to run a marathon, but not everyone can translate that into running for 10+ hours a week for a few months to make it happen.  If you want to accomplish your goal, you need to put in the time – there’s no way around it.

One other thing is that some goals suck even when you’re doing them.  I’m not going to sit around and say this race was all green grass, open prarie, mountains and sunshine (Oh, wait – yes it was).  The view aside, the race was hard and long and at times not very much fun – but at the end it was pretty awesome.

Readers: how have you been doing on your goals this year?  Were you able to cross anything off yet?  

Filed Under: Health  / Tagged:

Ugly sweaters make for pretty smiles

December 26, 2011 by / 11 Comments

It isn’t a new idea – the ugly sweater function.

Most of the time these ugly sweaters come out for a party that involves booze. We recently used the ugly sweater to bring working relationships together. We are divided into pods at my work and as much as we are encouraged to get outside our pod and socialize we don’t. It is very important to become a tight nit team within the pod so most energy is spent on the pod in which we work. My pod decided to throw out a healthy challenge to the other pods a few weeks ago to encourage more interaction. We gave every one two weeks to prepare for an ugly sweater competition. The sweaters would be judged individually and as a pod. The winners would receive only respect and gloating rights. This seemed more inspirational than any candy, drink, or a vacation we could have given away.

It started with a shout out – the date for the competition was assigned and the pleasant smack talking began. Mr. D was called out for his already ugly sweaters ( he dresses really well so it was funny). People started to try and confuse other teams by describing sweaters that weren’t really in existnce.  This started to happen as people passes one another in the hallway. E-mails started to spring up that had a lot of “HAHAHs” and “Just wait and see!” At lunch, we laughed so hard in our pod trying to think of things we could do to enhance our sweaters.

When the day finally came, I was devastated by the competition. One man dressed up in shorts, wild socks, a holiday sweater, hat, and had a stuffed tree he carried around all day. Some had added Christmas lights to their swetaers and some just wrapped their arms in tinsel.

It was the first time this year that people seemed to really let go and get into something fun. I heard cheering for outfits as people passed and everyone would send me to someone else’s desk to see a “cool” sweater. That day felt great. We needed to bond and have fun and it worked. It made our pod stronger because the day of the competition we were plotting next year’s sweater plan. We didn’t win! We paled in comparison to the other pods. It was all in good fun though.We had spent more time talking to other people that it was all worth it.

The best part of the day was when we all took a  group pictures. People were hugging others in closer so we could all fit. It was good to know that we all wanted to be there and we all cared enough to participate in something so silly.

A little healthy competition and good fun was all we needed to get the ball rolling on new friendships. It took away the stress of the empty space where you might not know what to talk about.

 

Filed Under: Mental Health  / Tagged:

No Insurance for Physical Therapy – How to Get Affordable Treatment

November 1, 2011 by / 1 Comment

Physical therapy has benefits that go well beyond aches and sprains. Treatment can help patients live healthier lives when they have greater access to a physical therapist. Maybe it’s simply the warm touch of a kind person, but physical therapy does help people feel better, even if it doesn’t always cure the treated condition. A recent study shows that insurance companies who allow patients to see a physical therapist without a doctor’s referral have fewer illnesses and end up costing insurers less money in the long run. Some call this direct access physical therapy. Not only does it save insurance company’s money, it saves uninsured individuals the cost of an initial doctor’s visit.

Direct Access Care

With direct access, patients no longer need to see the primary care physician for a referral before seeking the help of a physical therapist. This helps in many ways. First, patients are quicker to schedule appointments when they are in pain, treatment muscular conditions more quickly before they turn into major problems. However, direct access care is not available everywhere. In many states, the law requires that a physician, nurse practitioner or dentist prescribe any physical therapy treatment regiments. Given that physical therapy can do much good and little harm, many states are changing those regulations, with certain limitations.

For instance, some laws require a therapist to be licensed for at least three years before a patient can come for treatment without a doctor’s order. Others require a doctor’s visit if the patient seeks physical therapy for an extended time or for a specified number of visits. Once that threshold is reached, the patient cannot gain further direct access care without visiting a doctor first.

How to Save on Physical Therapy Treatment

Although a physical therapist salary is high, and therefore the cost of treatment can be high for the average person, there are ways to get physical therapy treatment at a reduced cost. To understand why you can get cheaper services, it’s important to understand how health insurance works.

Physical therapy bills are high, around $150 for an initial visit and evaluation. Subsequent visits run around $75 depending on the specific treatment and your condition. However, the insurance company doesn’t pay anywhere near that. They have an agreement with just about every physical therapy office to pay a reduced rate. Therapists accept the lower rate because it guarantees a swift payment from the insurance company, instead of chasing patients for the bill. You can get the benefit of a lower rate in exchange for guaranteed payment by paying cash at the time of your visit. While not all therapy offices work this way, the health insurance crisis has spurred huge growth in cash-paid office visits.

You won’t know if your physical therapist gives discounts in exchange for cash unless you ask. Some offices will mention the option to you when you book your first appointment and tell them you have no health insurance. If you have a pending appointment, call now to find out if you can pay cash to save money. You’ll be able to afford the care you need and live a healthier life in the long run.

TherapistSchools.com provides information about physical therapy and therapy careers for students seeking the best schools for their individual career paths. Visit the site for more information on physical therapy and other therapy careers.

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Work Travel and Food

July 22, 2011 by / 14 Comments

Earlier this week, I talked about how work travel was affecting my finances.  As I mentioned in the article, It seems like there was quite a bit of habit changing when I went on work trips.  I had to eat out most times, and when I came back, I felt like I should be able to do that as well – I got accustomed to doing it, and when Im on work travel, someone else is paying.  It gives me a chance to explore different places around the state and different food to eat.  I’ve found that no matter how small the town, there’s typically a hidden gem in there that has really good food – and if someone else is paying, I’m happy to go check it out.

The problem comes in when I get home from my travel, and then go out to eat with H.  I know that I should be doing it because I should be focusing on my debt, but it’s not easy.  I offer plenty of excuses to myself – I was gone early in the week and didnt have time to go to the store, I dont have a menu planned and will plan one tomorrow, I already blew my eating habits this week, so why try and salvage the titanic, along with plenty of other things.  I do enjoy going out to eat with H, but not because we are out to eat – I enjoy it because we get to spend time together.

This increase in work travel and a change in mindset has caused me to bust my food budget for 3 months running.  After looking at the numbers (I was over more than $100 for June) I’ve decided that I really need to get this area under control, and quick.  (Though honestly, it seems like when I feel out of control of my finances, the first place that I look is to food, and that is not often the cause – though this time it plays a very large role).  So to get my food budget back on track, I’ve decided that I need to do a few things better than I have been in the past.

  • Better menu planning – H is a vegetarian, so her and I usually dont eat the same thing.  This gives me relatively free reign over my dinner, though I’ve been terrible at exercising it lately.  See, I dont mind eating the same thing for a handful of meals in a row.  In reality, I could probably get by with what I’ve got on hand and just a few fresh things from the store when I make my weekly trip.  To do this though, I need to figure out what it is I’d like to eat during the week
  • Eating the pantry – I’ve seen challenges of people doing this online, and while I’m not going to go full bore and eat only what I’ve got on hand, I’d really like to integrate this more into my menu planning.  I’ve got quite a bit of grains and other things that wont go bad, and I’d like to eat those more often, so I’ll be working on that in July as well.
  • Do the same thing for the freezer – I’ve got plenty of food in the freezer as well.  So much so that I’ve got to be wary of what I buy at the store to make sure that I’ve got room in the freezer to hold it all.  I need to figure out what is in there, and start planning around that.
  • Integrate the CSA into my planning – Even though we havent started getting deliveries (It starts in 2 weeks) I know there’s going to be a lot of fruit, and I dont want it to go bad at all.  While you can never really know what’s going to be in your CSA box, our farm sends out an email at the beginning of the week telling you most likely what will be in your box.

There’s quite a few other things that I can do, but as I sit here and write this, I realize that I don’t have a menu planned for this week, nor do I really know what is in the freezer or the pantry with the exception of a few things.  That being said, I can still probably make it through the week if I get in a quick trip to the store tomorrow – pending I know what I’m going to eat – Which I’ll get on right now.

What do you all do to keep your food budget in line?  Do you think traveling on someone else’s dime changes your mindset when you return?

Filed Under: Finance, Health  / Tagged: , , ,

Sprint Triathlons!

July 12, 2011 by / 8 Comments

Jeff’s note: Beatrice thought she would share her thoughts on the triathlon that she did last year, and in two weeks she’ll talk about having a goal can keep your exercise on track.

I am training for my second sprint triathlon. The first tri was a moving experience. I entered a race that only had female competitors and I was there with a friend. The night before the race I was plagued with visions of making mistakes. Was I wearing the correct outfit? What if I couldn’t transition smoothly? What if my bike (it is a bike I have had since 5th grade) was mocked by the thousands of women competing? My mom went with me and she had no knowledge of the event or any real way to calm my fears. We just laughed and joked about my possible mistakes. The coolest thing about the race was that no matter what I would have done there were at least 30 other women who tried the same thing.

I will be doing the same triathlon this summer as well and am excited to improve on my time. I have already started to think of ways that I can improve. I thought that I would let you know in greater detail what I did for my first triathlon and how I plan to enhance my second experience.

Training: Last year I walked a lot. I walked until I could run but would always allow myself to stop running and walk if I was tired. I ran intervals but never really covered any great distances. I swam consistantly and  put in a lot of yards. I have been swimming since I was 5 so it was a safe way to train. I think I biked 12 miles once and then just biked 10 blocks or so to get to places.

This year I have training buddies. I have a friend, a boyfriend, and a dog to train with this year. I have already completed muliple 12+ mile bikes. I still go on walks with my friends but then I run afterwards. I have gotten to the point where I can run 5 miles easily and that is a big deal (I’ll have more about running in a future article). I have cut back on my swimming compared to last year. I think that the swimming portion of the race was and will be my easiest so I am going to add in more swimming as I go. Now that I know what my strengths and weeknesses are I can work with focus.

Clothing: At the  last minute I couldn’t find the swim suit (2 piece/sport) that I was planning on wearing so I had to improv. I wore underwear and a sports bra under a swim suit. It felt very odd to sport this combo in public but it worked great.I swam and then just pulled off the swim suit, threw on some shorts and a tank top, and got on my bike.

This year I am going to go with the 2 piece swim suit. I found it!  It will be the same concept – everything dries fast and I don’t want to waste time changing. I will throw on some shorts, a tank top, shoes/socks, and a hat over the swim suit and keep moving.

Bike: I busted out my white Diamond Back that I got from my amazing parents in 5th grade. I wasn’t the only one not using a road bike. The bike is small so no matter how fast I peddled I couldn’t keep up with the other ladies. I just put my head down and peddled hard. I rocked at the hills because I stood up  - I call it my “Lance Armstrong” – and just ignored the pain in my legs.

This year I am either going to get a recently acquired (we found it at the dump) road bike tuned up or buy one that has been used. My friend also recommended that I rent a bike for the race. Her son rented road bikes until he found out what he liked and would want to buy.  My boyrfriend asked me, “Is this something you like to do? Then maybe you need to buy a good one.” You can get pretty good deals at bikeoutlet.com.

Racing: I am a swimmer so the swimming felt great. The race started with a 750 yard swim in a lake. I would highly recommend that you either elbow your way to the front to start or you get ready to get kicked in the stomach and uterus. I got kicked maybe 8 times before I could break free from the pack. Going from a standing position to a horizontal position really can be dangerous. It was lake swim so I just swam 10 strokes with my head down and then would look up to make sure I was on track. The people in kayaks would direct you back to the path if you strayed. I swam quickly knowing that I wouldn’t really use my arms the rest of the race so I could give it my all. People were running into one another because the lake was dirty but it was OK. I would just say “sorry!’ and usually we would laugh and move on.

I plan on getting in the front this year so I don’t get kicked. I will stick with my 10 strokes with my head down and then pop up and look where I am.  I plan on just enjoying the swim but swimming fast.

BIKE: The biking part was just long. It was 12 miles. There were not very many turns and people shouted encouraging words to me as I biked. The strategy here was to keep the speed at a steady pace.

I plan to bike like I did last year – stay consistent but push for more passing of people than being passed. I have worked on being more efficient using gear changes. I know this will help me.

Run: This particular course started your run by having you run past a huge group of people up a hill. My legs were so numb that it was like running without legs. The running was my worst leg of the race. I wasn’t sure I could do it so I spent a lot of  time grappling with that question and less time running. I did stop at the water stations and get a drink so I didn’t run the entire 5K.

I recently ran in a 5K in my home town and I saw a childhood friend’s dad. He said, ” I was looking at your times from when you ran the race in junior high…You won state championships in swimming, but…” I interrupted him and said, “But I suck at running.” He laughed and agreed. I have been running a lot more than usual to prepare for the race. I plan to run the entire 5k. I have been runnning enough now that I don’t have to worry about if I can run and can focus on moving forward.

Goal: Last year my goal was to finish. I did it! It was a great goal for a first timer. There is so much to think about that it made it simple and I could enjoy it. This year I will try and beat my time from last year and I want to run the  entire 5k. I know I can do it.

Filed Under: Health, Mental Health  / Tagged: ,

Importance of Insurance

July 1, 2011 by / 8 Comments

Over the weekend, I was reading the Wall Street Journal and they had an article about the Spartan Races, and a man who has won 6 of these so called “death races” that they’ve held this year.  In the article, they mention an $100,000 prize if you win 12 of the 14 events that they plan to hold this year.

When they talk to the event organizer, he said he was told to insure the race prize, but elected not to.

“We were told we should get insurance,” he says. “We laughed and said no one could do this.”

One of the prime Dave Ramsey strategies is to be adequately insured to handle lifes problems that you cant handle yourself – things like car accidents, health emergencies and the like.  Being adequately insured will help stave off life’s catastrophies with little to no financial harm done to you.  Something like, oh, I don’t know, offering a 100,000 prize to a contest winner.

Unfortunately for the organizers of the event, a Utah father of 5 has competed in all six that they’ve had this year – and won them all.  While I can’t personally say I know his family finances, I’m assuming he’s of modest means – for the first event, he slept in his car and packed his own food, and for one event in Austin, TX, he sold a television to afford the plane tickets.

That has obviously sent the poorly insured race organizer into somewhat of a tizzy – he has instructed one of his top aides to find someone to beat Mr Call – for a price of $20,000 – quite a hefty sum to pay, no doubt.  The worst part is that everyone he has talked to has turned him down.  The “insurance” that he’s gotten for himself is rather expensive, probably quite a bit more than what a normal insurance premium would have ran him – I’m guessing he would have paid about 5k to insure this prize, but he let his ego get in the way.

Like the saying “im invincible as long as im alive” applies here – though you should always hope for the best and practice for it, you need to be prepared for the worst, in this case and the rest of life.

Update:  Unfortunately Mr Call was unable to finish the most recent death race in Vermont.   You can read more about the race here.  At the end, he thanks his family and his wife, for allowing him to follow his passions and enter the race  and how he had a good time, even though most likely wont win the prize money.

“I’d love to continue, as long as the finances work out. It’s not about getting what you want — it’s about being happy with what you have.”

It’s a great attitude to have.

Filed Under: Finance  / Tagged: , ,

Winner, Winner, Chicken Dinner

May 31, 2011 by / 5 Comments

Eva is a 3 year old lab mix that made her way into me and my boyfriend’s life after we moved to a new city and decided that we needed a dog. We didn’t just want one, we needed one. We chose Eva from the local animal shelter when she was the only dog to sit when my boyfriend said, “sit.” She came home ready to play catch, was potty trained, and didn’t mind being picked up and held. In fact, as I type type this she is curled up by my feet at the end of the bed. It was once decided that she would never be on the bed but that didn’t last. We made a stop at Target to get some dog food and two bowls. She ate normal (dry) dog food for one year and a few months.

Enough with the Bagged Crap

We recently switched her to  a “raw” meat diet. I put the raw in quotations because we still have to barely cook the chicken on the outside in oil for her to eat it.  When we first gave this diet a shot, we tried to feed her straight raw meat and she would have none of it, so we decided to give her slightly cooked meat instead, and it’s working out much better.  Cooking the chicken takes about 15 minutes, but 15 minutes by the stove used to be 15 minutes too many.  Even though it was initially difficult (as most changes are) we decided to put Eva on a more natural diet. We decided on this  because we found out that grains are not that great for dogs, and most of the dry food contained excessive amounts of grain.

Her diet currently consists of a can of salmon or macarel in the morning and chicken (almost raw) and some vegetables at night. We pan sear the chicken because she isn’t ready to eat it completely raw. She eats bones and all. I have recently started to throw some chopped up celery in with the meat because she likes it a lot. I happily sear the meat and clean the pans because I know that she is getting something that is so much better than the dog food that she used to eat.

My boyfriend and I researched this raw food method both by watching it in action and reading a lot. We have a friend that just throws a raw chicken in his backyard and his two dogs eat it.  The first time I saw it at his house I was curious as to how it all worked, so I was full of questions: Do the dogs like it? How much do you feed them? How long have you been doing this? Why did you start feeding them raw? What about the poop? How much does it cost?!

How it works

Here are the benefits if you haven’t done  much research or don’t have a friend who flings raw chicken in his backyard. Dogs can handle the bones as long as you don’t cook the meat too long. Be very  careful about how much you cook the chicken if there are bones involved.  The bones become brittle and break into very sharp pieces when cooked, but Eva can handle them raw just fine.  We have found that when we can get the chicken for around ~$1 per pound, it’s cheaper (or about the same cost) as dry dog food (we have yet to pay more than $1 per pound for the chicken).

We buy the whole chicken (pre cut up) when it is priced how we like it, freeze it, and thaw it as we need it. This chicken only costs $5 a week (She eats about 1 chicken per week). The canned fish is cheaper than fresh fish. It is about 1.75 a can . It has made her coat so shinny and beautiful. The veggies are wicked cheap. Celery is 99 cents, and she eats about 1 package per week.

The Best Benefit

The coolest part is that we don’t have to pick up poop unless our parents are coming to visit. It just turns to dust and falls apart. No longer are there giant turd chunks decorating our lawn. Eva is happy. She gets to hang out in the kitchen and we all detox from our day out in the real world. She happily gnaws at her dinner as we eat ours.  I used to think it was a waste of time but it has proven to be the best use of time.  We hang out together in the kitchen and talk about our days and I get more time with Eva because she is eating what is good for her body.

Readers: Do you have a dog?  Have you ever thought of feeding the dog raw food, or have you ever even heard of it?

Filed Under: Environment, Finance, Health  / Tagged: ,

Mindlessly Eating

July 9, 2010 by / 6 Comments

I had a feeling this day would come, and it finally has.  I’ve read a lot (and heard a lot of people) talk about gaining weight when they get a job.  The job is stressful, they work long hours and dont cook for themselves, they don’t have time to work out because they are too busy working, and on and on.  Before I had an office job, I thought to myself  ”well, how hard could it be?”  The answer is: much harder than  you realize.

I’ll give you my situation.  It seemed like I had much more to do 2 weeks ago than normal (although this probably wasn’t the case,  I was probably just misusing my time).  So, for a couple of days that week, I ended up having to buy my lunch at a grocery store near my office instead of having one to eat that I packed at home like I normally do.  While I would try to grab some extra foods while I was headed out the door (2 of the days I brought an apple so I wouldnt have to buy one) I still  had to buy some food.  Most days I just picked up one of their pre-made chicken salad or tuna sandwiches and a bag of chips.  The problem was that they dont have single serving bags of chips, just ones that you’d buy for a family and expect to last a few days.

Well, I mindlessly ate a whole bag of potato chips (2 days in a row) that week.  The first time, it was rather innocent.  I was just eating straight from the bag, and I reached in there and to my dismay, there were not that many chips left.  I decided to bite the bullet and eat the last 5 chips, knowing that it meant that I had eaten the whole bag.  The worst part about this was that I did it again the next day.  I told myself that it needed to stop, and I haven’t done it since.

What that episode did do, however, was get me into thinking about things that you could do to cut out the mindless eating at work and replace it with  healthy snacks you can have at your desk.  By that I mean it’s a fruit or a vegetable, or is not loaded with bad-for-you oils, saturated fats and sugar.  Without further ado, here are some tips to avoid mindless eating and some healthy snacks that wont turn green while sitting on your bookshelf.

1) Get it out of arms reach.  This I think is the most important one for me.  When the chips were at arms length, I would move them into my mouth with one hand and use my mouse with the other hand.  It was easy to eat the whole  bag this way.  If you move the stuff out of arms way, you’ll be less tempted to grab it and start snacking.  Bonus points if you put it under a stack of something, making it more trouble than it’s worth to get to

2) Drink More Water. A while back I wrote about another great tip for heath, and that was to get a water bottle. Not too far after that, Austin at Foreigners Finances had a guest post at Get Rich Slowly about how he used a water bottle to save money.

3) Think about what you’re doing.  This has been a popular topic recently (in personal finance), but I’d have to say that your eating is one thing you shouldn’t “automate”.  As you start to eat it becomes difficult to stop.  Before you eat that 37th potato chip, (or the first) ask yourself if you really want to/should be eating it.  If you’re trying to lose weight, the answer is no.  Don’t kill yourself over this though.  Always allow for a bit of slack when you can handle it.

Easy and Healthy snacks to keep at your desk

After some consideration (and taste testing, of course) I found out the snacks that I most like to keep at my desk.  Here they are:

1) Rice Cakes:  These are good because they are easy to keep and filling enough for a snack.  Looking to spruce it up?  Look no further than my next item:

2) Peanut Butter:  This is always a good snack because it’s high in protein and does not go bad.  Tastes great on the rice cakes, too. (yogurt and cheese are also good, but need to be kept in the fridge)

3) Nuts of some kind:  My favorite are the roasted almonds.  It seems like a handful of these will stave off hunger for an hour or so until lunch. If you want to spruce these up….

4) Mix with Raisins:  These go with almonds quite nicely.  They taste great, and get a little bit salty from the being in the same container as the almonds.

5) Fruit is great too, but can’t be kept at your desk for long periods of time like the others can.

Other great advice I’ve gotten is stick to things you were fed at snack time as a kid.  I got a lot of celery with peanut butter and raisins on it, apples with honey, or even trail mix is good.  What you’re looking for is something that’s high in protien and has complex carbohydrate chains.  The long carbohydrate chains break down differently and contain more energy than the short ones.

Creative Commons License photo credit: CarbonNYC

Filed Under: Health  / Tagged: , , ,

Thoughts on Health

June 11, 2010 by / Leave a Comment

About a year ago, I made the decision that my finances were going to become priority number 1.  I have lots of goals for the year 2010 and obviously I’d like to complete them all (or partially complete them all) or I wouldn’t have put them up.  When I moved my finances to number 1, I deliberately moved working out down a notch.  Lately I’ve been wondering if moving working out down the list (to finances, because I couldn’t justify the extra cost of a gym membership) was the right idea.  I figured that I could just watch my food intake (which I have) and I would be ok.

I’ve been wondering if this was the right idea or not because I had a chance to begin working at an event I volunteer for that happens every year.  This is my first year doing it, but the event is almost 115 years old, and up until recently, it was an all volunteer run event (it now has 1 staff member, a CEO).  There have been people who have volunteered here for longer than I’ve been alive (!) and just enjoy helping out.   Last year for the event, there was over 2500 volunteers!

Back to the topic, however, some of the people are rather old, and one I noticed was getting around quite well.  I’ll call him George.  I have no idea how old he is, but based on some of the things George says, he’s at least in his 60s.  He still moves around like someone half his age, and I’m assuming its because he’s stayed healthy (by chance or on purpose) his whole life.  Given a few other things about him, I doubt he ever had a gym membership or went on a diet.  I think he just maintained his heath by staying active every day and not over eating constantly.  This got me thinking about my health and habits, and  how I’ve traded (for the present time) financial health for health of my body.

I’m not so sure this was the right decision although it seemed like a fairly reasonable trade off at the time.  I told myself that I could just do typical outside type workout stuff  like running (which I hate), biking, hiking or something else.  I should have known myself better though, because I’ve never done one of those things specifically to exercise.  I never run, I bike to get places, and I hike because I want to get to where the hike goes and be outside and away from people, not just for exercise.

On the one hand, the amount of time I have been forsaking the gym for my finances (10 months) is not that long compared to how long actuarial tables say I’ll be alive.  But the more I thought about it, I realized it mattered much more than that.  Yes, it is just a small part of my life, but its coming at a critical time.  When I decided to get my finances in order, I began working full time after fishing school.  This “part” of my life could potentially go on for the next 4o years (or more).  The reason it’s a big deal is because I’m setting up a routine or habit for myself for this next section of my life.  Soon it could be possible that I won’t even remember frequently going to the gym.  It’s like someone hit the reset button on my life, and I elected to drop one of my favorite things that shows solid long-term benefits.

Give then potential it has for me over the long term, did I make the right decision?  Or should I dilute my financial goals slightly to get to go back to the gym?  I think I’ll end up getting a membership soon, as I noted earlier, doing it outside just doesn’t work for me.

To the readers:

What is the bigger issue here?  The fact that I’ve dropped the habit as I enter a different stage of my life, potentially leaving the habit to become completely forgotten, or the fact that I put my financial health over the health of my body?  Leave me an answer in the comments!

yakezie links:

The Secret Way to Improve Critical Thinking at Eventual Millionaire

How to Save on Travel at The Saved Quarter

Filed Under: Health  / Tagged: , , , ,

When To Go It Alone

June 7, 2010 by / 7 Comments

Recently, I got to take a short vacation with family & friends to Beaver Creek, Colorado.  It is a small resort town centered around skiing in the winter, and hiking, river rafting and mountain biking in the summer.  As it is one of my favorite things to do, I went on a 6 or so mile hike to a lake.  As the hike wore on, the group that began as 5 started to dwindle in numbers.  During a stop after approximately 2 hours of hiking and climbing around 1700 vertical feet, there was a disagreement on what to do.  Knowing we were really, really close to where we were supposed to end up, I wanted to press on, but the other two in the group did not, citing the thigh deep (in places) snow.

So… What Did We do?

At the risk of getting lectured for hiking alone while not properly prepared, I’ll say that I went on and the other two turned around, after much debate about not wanting to leave others alone in the forest, etc.  (I put my reward at the end) Once this happened, I got to thinking about goals, how bad you want to achieve them, and what you will do to achieve them.

Is there a time in personal finance or health when you just need to go it alone?

This is a tough question to answer, but I’ll try to shed some light on the subject.  I really, really wanted to finish this hike and get to the final destination (a lake), so I decided to press on.  This also applies in personal finance and in personal health.  When do you press on in personal finance by staying at home and cooking a meal when going out for a quick bite to eat with some friends does not cost that much (in the grand scheme of things) and it’s far easier than cooking when you’re tired.  The answer to that question comes from you — How bad do you want to become debt free?  Do you want to become debt free more than you want to eat at the pub down the street?  If someone asked you the question, you’d say  something like “Well, of course I do, I’d much rather pay off my credit cards than eat one dinner out”

But, is that how things are actually working on the ground?  Are you forgoing the dinner out to pay down debt, or are you just going to go along with your friends because you’re a bit tired, and going out is the path of least resistance.  You say it’s because you have not seen so and so in a while and it was good to catch up, but if that was the case, you could invite them to your place for dinner.  In this situation, Do you go it alone? Do you want to accomplish your goals enough to say “I think I will just eat at home tonight, but thanks.”  As Dave Ramsey says: no one cares more about your money than you do.

This does not just apply to personal finance.  It also applies to your personal health.  There’s a lot of talk about getting an exercise buddy if you want to keep up your fledgling habit.  A workout buddy will keep you accountable, as there will be someone who is counting on you being there to work out with.  I’m not here here to knock workout buddies, because I’ve had them before and they work well.  It helped me  establish a habit (that has since fallen by the wayside) of working out consistently 4 times a week.

However, what happens if you have a workout partner that is basically a flake?  How many times do you field a call from them 30 minutes before you are to meet up, before you’ve left home or work from them saying they cant make it?  What do you do?  Do you just skip because you’ve had a busy week or you’re really tired?  If so, How many times do you skip the workout because your partner cant make it before the rubber hits the road?  Do you keep staying home until it comes to the point where your workout buddy does not even bother to call anymore? Or do you go it alone?

It all comes down to how bad you want to lose weight, get in better shape or whatever you resolved to do when you set out to find a workout buddy.  If you wanted it bad enough, you would go it alone until you made it a habit, saying “man, i’ll feel like crap if I skip out today” instead of the chore it was precieved as before you started (“I should really work out today”).

To paraphrase Dave Ramsey No one cares about your health more than you (& your loved ones). Keep that in mind when you’re considering skipping a step for a goal that you really, really want to accomplish.

And for those curious, here is what I saw when I got to the end of the Trail.

When Should You Go it Alone?

Filed Under: Finance, Health  / Tagged: , , , ,
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