Stay Healthy During a Budget Crisis

Home foreclosures, cost of living rising, companies downsizing, and the worry! The average individual experiences stress from worries in relation to friends, family members, and/or themselves. This stress reduces the effectiveness of the immune system, which leaves the body vulnerable to disease. With soaring health care costs, an uncertain future, and new communicable diseases appearing every day, an individual requires a strong immune system to survive the current environment.

Health food, organically grown food and other natural alternatives are often more expensive than their commercial counterparts. Gyms and other physical wellness centers offering contract memberships seem like a luxury nowadays. With an already strained personal budget, it can seem difficult to imagine affording properly structured exercise and healthy, nutritious food. It can be done!

Start the Morning Out Right
Take control of the morning. Start the day with a clear, direct and simple morning routine. Include a designated time for a relaxation exercise. This relaxation exercise can be meditation, reading, yoga or prayer. The time should be spent in a manner that focuses and relaxes the body and mind together in preparation for the day. Physical exercise can follow. Stairmasters and treadmills are replaced by front steps and the block sidewalk. Rows of television sets are replaced by the sunrise overcoming the horizon. Once the adrenaline begins to awaken the senses, the body is ready to begin the day.

Take It With You
Bring this relaxation to work. Whatever works at home will work in the office. When feeling overwhelmed and stress, take a moment to return to the chosen relaxation exercises. The practice of breathing, focusing and regrouping will balance the mind and body again, allowing it to continue with appropriate blood pressure and heart rate, maintaining greater health.

Get Cooking
Cook food at home. Organically grown produce may not be possible on the current personal budget but fresh produce should still be purchased over canned food. Learn to prepare and cook food in healthy ways by reading cookbooks from the local library and recipes on-line. Experiment with flavors to discover interesting food combinations. Preparing new and interesting food will involve the mind more in the eating process, which reduces the amount of food that enters the body. Since it takes the body approximately twenty minutes to acknowledge when enough food has been digested to satisfy hunger, savoring taste and taking time to eat will increase health with appropriate portions and save money with less food needing to be purchased. Handling the food one eats reduces the chance for communicable diseases to spread and having control over the ingredients reduces side-effect conditions like heartburn. Not having to purchase medication for heartburn and other digestive conditions will save money, too.

Always H2O
Water is the key beverage to living healthy on a budget. It is good to drink first thing in the morning. Add a splash of lemon or lime juice to liven the taste buds. Water will sustain the body throughout the day. Water will allow the body to rest well at night. Invest in a simple reuseable personal water container to reduce waste and unnecessary spending on bottled water.

Keep It Clean
Keep living and working environments clean. The use of hand-sanitizer reduces the spread of diseases and the regular use of cleaning agents to wipe down surfaces and cleanse fabrics kill germs and freshen the air. While discouraging the spread of communicable diseases, the cleanliness of the spaces will psychologically reduce stress by creating order and balance.

Sleep
Stress can lead to conditions like insomnia, which deprive an individual of necessary sleep. Sleep deprivation reduces the body's functionality and drains energy levels. Consumption of caffienated and sugary foods and beverages can also attribute to sleep deprivation. Drink water before bed. The average adult requires a minimum of seven full hours of REM sleep. REM is the state of sleep when the brain becomes active and dreams can occur. Be prepared to sacrifice the late late shows to have a good night's sleep and a productive good start to the next morning.

In times of financial trouble, whether global, national or personal, simple and reasonable practices become attractive and maintaining health in the way of reducing stress becomes a significant factor in the lifestyle changes one must make for oneself. By following these simple lifestyle changes, the heart, the mind, the body and the pocket book can be spared the aches of a lean budget.