Financial Cost of Obesity

iplayoutside19

One of the biggest reasons I wanted address my unhealthy weight was I started noticing a degridation in my quality of life. I couldn't so things I wanted to do because I wasn't in good enough shape to do them. I honestly felt fine, but started noticing more and more missed opportunities.

I've always wanted to write a blog post on the financial costs of being Obese. But Forbes Magazine doing what they do best, picked up another blog post on the subject. I'll just post it here.

http://blogs.forbes.com/moneybuilder/2011/07/27/the-financial-cost-of-obesity/

Personally, We spend more money on Y Memberships and race entry fees now than in our previous lifestyle. We caught this before any major problems crept up. But I have no doubt, that had I ignored my weight that it wold take a heavy financial toll later in life. And as there are fewer and fewer people becoming doctors, and as America gets fatter there will be more and more demand on our medical recourses......well you don't have to be an economist to do the math, regardless of what you think about Obama Care.

If you're looking for more motivation here it is.

Like the article asks. What are some of your personal stories in regards to unhealthy weight and finances.

catwrangler

Larger sizes cost more. HBP meds are $25 a month. I refuse to take cholesterol meds since it does go down the better I eat, but that would be another expense resulting from obesity.

I figure the cost of gym membership is cheaper than the total of all the Burger King meals I used to eat in a year's time.:laugh:

beccau_20

That's an interesting article. The financial cost of my unhealthy lifestyle choices is something that definitely plays into my life. I pay for Personal Training and it's is expensive. I don't like to tell people what I pay because it's a lot and I wonder what people will think of me. The fact is, I've tried like so many other people to lose weight and what I pay for is the ONLY thing that works for me. I pay for accountability. But I see it as in investiment, albeit a hard one to manage. I have to give up a lot of other things in my life in order to pay for my sessions, which is essentially, paying to eliminate my unhealthy lifestyle.

I wonder about the correlation in the article pertaining to wages. I've heard before that women, especially, are hired for their looks not necessarily for their experience and knowledge. Perhaps obsese women just can't get the jobs that so-called "beautiful" women can? Not my opinion, just a thought.

supertracylynn

About 3 years ago, while getting my oil changed, I read an article that listed ways to get better gas mileage. One way was to clear out your car, that you'd get something like a mile more per gallon (or some other ridiculously low number). I went home and joked with my husband about us both losing 50# just for an extra mile.
That was my little "ha ha" from the article

I Have noticed that as a more healthy weight, life is a little cheaper than it was when I was overweight/obese. The major differences between then and now, aside from the weight? Let me "draw" up a list...

THEN:
Hampton, Virginia.
Low cost of living.
Family of 4
Living out on town, not in military housing
"pocketing" about $400/mo in BAH (we lived in a super tiny 2bd/1bth, 700sq house, in the ghetto)

NOW:
San Diego, CA
High cost of living
Family of 5
Living in military housing
Pocketing Nothing from the government's housing allotment

Funny how that works, eh?

iplayoutside19

Larger sizes cost more. HBP meds are $25 a month. I refuse to take cholesterol meds since it does go down the better I eat, but that would be another expense resulting from obesity.

I figure the cost of gym membership is cheaper than the total of all the Burger King meals I used to eat in a year's time.:laugh:

One of the things that really opened my eyes was when I got small enough to buy clothes at normal stores. Big & Tall stores are limited in their selection, and always a little more pricey. Being able to buy something at Old Navy was a huge eye opener and NSV. I felt really good the first time I was able to do that. I had always resigned myself that Dept Stores were off limits.