This is a guest post from Laticia “Action” Jackson .

Poor health not only affects your quality of life, it affects your pockets! Poor health is expensive to diagnose, manage and treat.

According to The Harvard School of Public Health, Americans spent an estimated 90 billion dollars in 2005 to treat obesity related issues.

Conditions such a hypertension, diabetes, joint deterioration and heart disease are causing healthcare systems around the world to feel the financial burden. According to the American Diabetes Association (ADA), the medical expenses of  a person living with diabetes are about 2.3 times higher than those for the average person without diabetes. People with diabetes accrue about $7,900 in diabetes-related healthcare costs annually and about $5,800 because of other health problems.

Just imagine what you could do with an extra 7,000.00 per year!

Although the journey to better health can feel overwhelming, with the right tools and commitment you stand to yield one of the best returns of your life: health!

Here are 8 underrated fitness tips to help you achieve your fitness and weight loss goals resulting in more money in your pocket.  

Identify the Barriers: Make a list of challenges and barriers that are keeping you from setting and reaching your fitness/health goals. As with personal finance, be honest about your current behavior and make realistic goals to change these behaviors. It takes hundreds of repetitions, before it finally becomes a habit.  Don’t be discouraged if you don’t succeed initially. Any behavior done consistently over a period of time can become a habit.

Link Up: Connect with other people who are dedicated to becoming healthier and fit. Forming a strong support system is essential to your success and will provide you with support from others who may experience the same emotional and physical challenges. You can search the internet to find fitness groups and challenges in your local area.

Go Digital: Find a fitness or wellness app, such as My Fitness Pal, that tracks your workouts and nutrition. This will help keep you accountable and focused! Set daily goals on your app to keep yourself motivated!

Celebrate You:  Celebrate yourself when you make small changes towards getting healthy. Don’t downplay your success!

Just Move: Movement is the best exercise for health. Therefore exercise at least 30 minutes five days per week. This can include walking, biking, swimming or using resistance training bands for a total body workout. If you can’t afford a gym membership, rent fitness or Zumba videos from your local library. Exercise yields great benefits such as weight loss, decreased blood pressure and decreased stress!

Shut It Down: It’s great to be a goal setter and career focused however, a lack of sleep can affect your health in the long run. Therefore create a daily cut off schedule and shut down work and activities that stimulate your mind late into the night. Your body needs at least 7 hours of quality sleep in order to function optimally.

Say No To Fast Food: Eating out regularly is expensive and packs on pounds! In order to lose weight and save money, make an agreement with yourself and your family to only eat out once per week. Instead of eating out, plan healthy meals together and spend time eating together. If you’re single cook smaller meals to save time and money!

Commit Your Mind: A person who is committed to being healthy must commit his or her mind to the required process of becoming healthy. Once you have set your mind on becoming healthy, stay committed to the process.

Investing in your health is just like investing in your money. It takes commitment, a plan of action and patience in order to see returns on your investment! These 8 tips will help you to remain focused on reaching your goals and to help you achieve both short and long-term benefits. And remember,  your health is your wealth!

Written By: Laticia “Action” Jackson

M.P.H., Author, Olympian, Fitness Expert, Personal Development Coach, Veteran

Email: laticiaactionjackson@gmail.com

To learn more about Author Laticia “ Action” Jackson log on to her website at www.laticiaactionjackson.com