Good for You AND Your Wallet: Beat the Holiday Bulge!

Predictably, I have gained roughly 5 pounds since mid-November. That's on top of the 10 pounds I already needed/wanted to lose before the Holiday Season hit. Rather than try to lose weight during the Holidays (a futile battle, obviously), I decided to "enjoy" my pudge through New Year's and then really get down to the business of dropping some poundage in January.

This isn't a New Year's Resolution. I plan to lose 12 pounds between Jan 2 and Feb 14 by simply returning to my healthy eating, regularly exercising ways. It shouldn't take me 12 months to do that. I gain weight very easily, but I tend to be able to shed it easily too (if I can just manage to string together a couple of weeks of healthy eating and a few exercise sessions--which is unbelievably harder than it sounds, of course).

I think the beginning of the year is one of the easiest times to stick to a healthy lifestyle (not that any time is particularly easy)--there are no big eating holidays in sight, few big parties or weddings until Spring, no regular summer barbeques to worry about, and it's not even good TV watching season.

I have already created an Excel spreadsheet of my weight loss goals and exercise sschedule through Valentine's Day. I picked that day because a) if I don't have a short term goal I'll just procrastinate and lose motivation; b) I leave for a ski vacation on that day and c) it's Valentine's Day, in which case I'll either be celebrating with my honey and wanting to look good or basking in my single status with a new svelte figure.

So what does this have to do with personal finance? A lot, actually.

• First of all, I plan to be working out approximately 5 times a week (I am committing to yoga class 3 times a week, and I'll be taking long jogs on two other occassions). All those hours exercising--and commuting to and from exercising, showering after exercising, and sleeping more due to exercising--are hours I won't be browsing bookstores, hanging out at the mall, or going to the movies on my otherwise unoccupied afternoons/evenings. In other words, I won't be out spending money!


• Secondly, my eating out budget will plummet. I tend to be very all-or-none when it comes to, well everything. I will probably still go out to eat but I won't go as often (I'll be busy at the gym!), and I will not be splurging on expensive and fattening cocktails, desserts, and heavy entrees. It's amazing how much less you spend when you're ordering healthy salads and water.


• I'll ultimately have more energy, which will enable me to be more productive at work, more effectively manage my new rental property, and write more/better blog posts for your enjoyment. This will (hopefully) increase my income in 2008.


• Once I've shed some pounds, I'll feel better about myself. The boost of confidence and self-worth will make me less likely to spend money on things like alcohol, shopping, comfort food, and other expensive and indulgent "fill-the-empty-void" type purchases.

So no more excuses a la "healthy eating is more expensive." Maintaining a healhty weight is good for you AND for your wallet. Period.