Health

 

My health will always be on the top of the list and if it’s not the top of your list, then something is wrong. If you aren’t healthy then it’s a little hard to enjoy life.  Sometimes we are very caught up with the external circumstances that surrounds us that get we almost forget to give gratitude for just being healthy and being in the wealthiest country in the world.  As much as I admire Steve Jobs, it’s just such a tragedy to have someone as great and genius as him, to die at such a very young age.  I strongly believed that  Health is something that has to be earned and not taken for granted.  Although plenty of diseases and illness are due to genetics, ( such as unfortunate people who are genetically predisposed to certain diseases and illnesses).  Our own longevity depends largely based on our diet, lifestyle and exercise.

In order to be healthy takes effort and action.  But being healthy is also a paradox since if we start eating healthy, eventually we feel good and great.  And this physical health in turn feeds into our emotional and spiritual existence by making us have a more happier outlook on life.  This would result in us trying to be even more healthier since our bodies and appetite do not crave any more sugar or other unhealthy products.  During my college years I would have days in which I became severely hypoglycemic and was considered pre-diabetic.  It took the loss of my grandmother and a couple of uncles to diabetes that I realized that this disease really is a deadly illness.  I promised to myself that I am going to devote my energy towards staying healthy through proper diet and exercise instead of giving up and blaming my predisposition to the disease.  It’s time to kick diabetes in the butt.

Food

 

A young cousin of mine asked me if i can take him to the park to feed the ducks and I said yes, and when he asked me what to feed those ducks. I thought about  the $2.99 a loaf of  slice bread sitting in my refrigerator.  I eat fairly healthy and i am huge advocate of bringing your own lunch/ sandwich to work (saves you literally hundred every month)..  Slice bread can get very expensive nowadays when you add inflation to the price and the tax.  My solution is to buy directly from any Friehofer’s Bread Bakery that is closest to my place.  And  instead of paying the 3.99 for a loaf of bread in your grocery store,  I am actually able to pay an awesome price of $1 a loaf or 3 loafs for $3.  The 30 mins. drive to the factory is definitely worth the trip.  After adding up years worth of loafs, I realized the large amount that I have saved, by buying the factory price.

Best since slice bread

 

Now since you now know that I eat plenty of slice bread.  I also tend to choose healthier choices and foods that can last longer in the refrigerator, so I can buy them in bulk.   When buying deli foods,  I would usually purchase chicken rather than ham or turkey since it takes a bit longer to spoil.  And this is really very important since deli meat can become quite costly. Now lets talk about the most important substance that makes up the majority of our bodies. Water makes up a big part of our body as a matter of fact it makes up about 80+ percent of our body.  I am an avid drinker (not the alcoholic type).  I love my water man, I have been soda -free for years and I love every minute of it.

A good way to notice your hydration level is by checking out your piss.  If it’s a little  darker in color (yuck), it means, that your fluid/blood volume is highly concentrated. Normal urine can range in color from pale yellow (almost colorless) to deep amber. Dark amber urine is usually very concentrated and means that you should be drinking more water. Keep in mind that foods, medications and even vitamins can change the color of urine temporarily but eliminating the cause brings the color back to normal. Most changes in urine color are harmless and the color will go back to normal within a day or two. Your body needs more water to detoxify the  waste within your body.

Since I have a strict food budget, buying bottled water can become a hindrance (if it becomes a habit). So instead, I bought an aluminum water bottle from ebay for about $9. And let me tell why I choose to have an aluminum water bottle. First off of course it can never break, unless the Mighty Thor accidentally smashed it with his hammer.  Having an aluminum water bottle enables me to be able to use it in the hot summer without having any chemicals such as Bisphenol A (known as BPA) that can harm harm the body and cause birth defects. In regards with protein, eggs is the cheapest best protein in the world. Just make sure to take out the egg yolk. But this goodness also come with a big downside and its the fact that eggs have about 200 mg of cholesterol in each one.  But here’s the good news about 90 percent of that cholesterol is within the yolk.  So without the yolk, there is only 12 percent cholesterol in your egg.

Couponing

 

Coupons is not only a poor man’s best friend but it is everyone’s best friend.  At this time in our economy, who doesn’t want to save a few pennies in their pockets.  The funny thing is that after we add up all these pennies that we have saved it can tally up to hundreds of dollars worth of savings straight into your pocket.  An individual can save up to 200 dollars a month with couponing while a typical family can save up to he upwards of 400-500 dollars a month.  When you think about it, after a year you literally have save thousands and thousands of dollars in a year if you add up everything that you have saved.