what do you think is more important?

[FireDancer]

Good, healthy food is way more expensive than other food. Why do you think so many poor people are over weight. Sorry but it is true. Fresh fruit and veggies are way more expensive and lean meat, fish, chicken. Hotdogs, fatty hamburger, that type of thing is cheap.

I don't think this is true. Eating healthy can be more expensive but it doesn't have to be. It requires doing a little research and cooking dinners at home but if you want to eat healthy you can find ways to do it on a budget. I spend no more on food than anyone I know with the exception of the people who grow and or shot their own food. Good produce, skinless chicken breast, and dried beans/grains aren't that much more than pre-packaged and processed foods. Sure, you might be getting free range chicken or grass fed beef but you don't have to go to that extent until the debt is paid down if you so choose.

OP, they aren't mutually exclusive. Yes, there are things that can cost money that will speed up weight loss like gym memberships, fitness classes, and nutritionists but those aren't necessary. A pair of decent shoes is all that is needed to start walking or running and there are inexpensive DVDs, books, and magazines you can buy to do some toning work at home. There is all kinds of free information on the Internet and since you post here I take it you have web access.

This time of year there are lots of good deals on things like gym memberships, beginner yoga classes, spinning classes, and stuff like that. If you think getting those things on a discount will allow you to make larger improvements without keeping you in debt give them a try.

Lastly, there is all kinds of free healthy lifestyle information right here on these boards. Head over to the WISH forum and introduce yourself.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

What do you think should take top priority? Weight loss or debt reduction? Do you think its possible to do both?

Or should you work more than full time to diminish your debt, or work regular full time hours to have the time to dedicate to weight loss?

Thoughts?

You can do both at the same time and without incurring special costs for classes and gym programs.

Many ways to go about this.

You just have to want to do it, make it a priority and stick with it. Good Luck!

 

[tvguy]

Eating less, saves money.
When I work overtime, I never have time to eat.
So I end up with less weight and more income, and sadly, a higher income tax bill.

 

[manning]

Eating less should mean less money spent on food.

 

[ChisJo]

I was expecting the response to do both. I guess I should've explained a little better. I eat really healthy - I make all my food from scratch, we hardly eat out, and we don't eat snacks or processed garbage.

However, for someone like me to lose weight, I need to work out. I work 12 hour night shifts (if anyone knows about night shifts, they are probably the worst thing for your health...), and by the time I leave for work and get home in the morning, I have been away for over 14 hours. I work 4-5 nights/week. I am trying to pay down a debt that is a higher interest rate, and for me to achieve a goal, I have to work 5 nights/week. In my profession, that is exhausting. Luckily, we don't have children that I also have to care for. However, I do have a disabled father that I help my mother with about 2 times a week. I have a gym membership, but by the time I am able to go, I am usually so exhausted that the thought of going exhausts me.

I used to be a long distance runner and was 40 pounds lighter than I am right now. I know that for me to get back into runners form, I wll need to run at least 3 days a week, but its really hard when you are away from home or a close gym over 70 hours a week. Its just that there aren't enough hours in a day to do it.

So, the question remains: do you work less to be healthier, or work more to pay off debt?

 

[bicker]

Actually, you've reduced your question down to, "Should I spend money on a gym membership, when I need to reduce my debt?" I would say, "No." Skip the gym membership and put aside your feeling that you can only lose weight if you pay to have a place to exercise. Lose weight anyway, despite not having a gym membership, but finding other, free ways of conditioning.

 

[indimom]

I was expecting the response to do both. I guess I should've explained a little better. I eat really healthy - I make all my food from scratch, we hardly eat out, and we don't eat snacks or processed garbage.

However, for someone like me to lose weight, I need to work out. I work 12 hour night shifts (if anyone knows about night shifts, they are probably the worst thing for your health...), and by the time I leave for work and get home in the morning, I have been away for over 14 hours. I work 4-5 nights/week. I am trying to pay down a debt that is a higher interest rate, and for me to achieve a goal, I have to work 5 nights/week. In my profession, that is exhausting. Luckily, we don't have children that I also have to care for. However, I do have a disabled father that I help my mother with about 2 times a week. I have a gym membership, but by the time I am able to go, I am usually so exhausted that the thought of going exhausts me.

I used to be a long distance runner and was 40 pounds lighter than I am right now. I know that for me to get back into runners form, I wll need to run at least 3 days a week, but its really hard when you are away from home or a close gym over 70 hours a week. Its just that there aren't enough hours in a day to do it.

So, the question remains: do you work less to be healthier, or work more to pay off debt?

I think I get what you are saying, so I'm just going to answer this question and leave out my commentary.

For me, it depends on a couple of things.

If I'm young, in relatively good health, just a little overweight, and could pay off the debt completely in say a year or 18 months, I would gladly sacrifice my body to get that monkey off my back. I don't think a few months are going to make a big difference in my overall lifelong health.

If I'm older, in poor health (borderline diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol etc.) I would put the focus on working out and improving my health so that I do not incur MORE debt by getting sick or needing costly meds. I'd pay down the debt as I was able. Slow but steady will do the job, it's just annoying.


Okay, I lied, one teeny tiny off-topic suggestion or speculation. Have you looked at how much real sleep you are getting??

I'll be honest, it "sounds" like you should have enough time to work out at least five days a week. It feels like I'm missing something from your story. Are there more things you are involved in? Are there other activities that are eating up the hours in the day? Many, many people work hard 12-14 hours a day and still work out. Most are not that exhausted. (I'll admit I'm assuming you are healthy and under 40 here. If you're over 60 or have health issues, disregard that comment.)

Are you sure there isn't something else at work here, like poor sleep? I know that third shift is not always the best option and some people really react poorly to it. If you think your sleep is suffering, I would put some emphasis on getting that straightened out and your energy level may improve. Hope this helps.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

I was expecting the response to do both. I guess I should've explained a little better. I eat really healthy - I make all my food from scratch, we hardly eat out, and we don't eat snacks or processed garbage.

However, for someone like me to lose weight, I need to work out. I work 12 hour night shifts (if anyone knows about night shifts, they are probably the worst thing for your health...), and by the time I leave for work and get home in the morning, I have been away for over 14 hours. I work 4-5 nights/week. I am trying to pay down a debt that is a higher interest rate, and for me to achieve a goal, I have to work 5 nights/week. In my profession, that is exhausting. Luckily, we don't have children that I also have to care for. However, I do have a disabled father that I help my mother with about 2 times a week. I have a gym membership, but by the time I am able to go, I am usually so exhausted that the thought of going exhausts me.

I used to be a long distance runner and was 40 pounds lighter than I am right now. I know that for me to get back into runners form, I wll need to run at least 3 days a week, but its really hard when you are away from home or a close gym over 70 hours a week. Its just that there aren't enough hours in a day to do it.

So, the question remains: do you work less to be healthier, or work more to pay off debt?

So how are you eating then?

In that 14 hours are you able to eat meals, drink water and eat small snacks? You say you don't eat snacks. BIG mistake there. YOU NEED to eat small frequent snacks.

You sound like you are on a starvation diet right now. How many calories are you consuming at home, at work? Are you counting calories?

 

[Agri]

Even with being away from home, you can still exercise. I do most of my exercising in my living room in front of the tv - the wii, cable tv programs, and dvds from the library. I would check into exercises you can do in a small area and then go do those at work when you have breaks or other time to yourself. You don't have to be at home or at a gym to work out. One of my favorite things to do actually is to run in place. Remember, your goal is to lose weight and you don't necessarily have to run to do that. Keep at it, and you'll be 40 pounds lighter and when your debt is paid off, you'll have the time to exercise the way you prefer to - running.

And do eat snacks! If your tummy starts rumblin', snack on something healthy. You might do even better if you eat lots of little snacks/meals - especially being on night shift - than just eating regular meals.

 

[Hannathy]

So, the question remains: do you work less to be healthier, or work more to pay off debt?

And my answer remains you do both. You don't need to go to a gym to loose weight or to be healthy.

Whether you work 12 hours over night or 12 hours during the day you still have the same amount of free time. I worked steady nights when we were saving for a house and actually liked it! But you do need to pick when you will be doing your sleeping and respect it. Get a solid chunk of sleep like you would if you were working daylight hours and going to bed at night. don't do 2 hours here and 3 hours there. My best results were going home and eating then going to bed and making sure I got at least 5 hours straight and more if I could just like i would have at night.

 

[jlewisinsyr]

Have you tried to adjust your schedule? I know going to the gym after work for me can be really hard, my schedule is crazy between work, boards, school, family, etc. There always seems to be something that messes it up. So I go to the gym in the morning before work (for you it would be the afternoon before work). I wake up at 5:00 AM, go to the gym and then come home, shower, dress and go to work by 8:00 AM.

I do live close to the gym I use (this is intentional on my part, my old gym was about 10 minutes further away) and yes, I admit it took a few days to get into the habit, but it's so worth it. It's kind of like the saying "pay yourself first". I pay myself with the gym before I do anything else for the day, and it has paid off, in the picture in my avatar, I was about 220, I'm around 170 right now.

 

[bellebud]

What is your exact daily schedule? Do you work from 6pm to 6am? When do you sleep - before or after work?

What are your typical meals every day like?

 

[smkiya]

Even if you just eat less of what you are already eating, you will lose weight! Change your calorie consumption. Eating less will save money because you will buy less food. You don't have to change your diet too much for now. If you eat less than your body expends you will lose weight. When you start seeing results you will be motivated to make dietary changes, but take it one step at a time. Going full force right away usually results in failure.

 

[ReneeA]

I know exactly what you mean. I work 7p - 7:30a as a RN, and I've gained weight without changing my eating habits. Actually, I probably eat less (but not starvation) than I did when I had a normal work schedule. The cells in your body repair themselves and it's a natural boost to your metabolism when you sleep 8 hours a NIGHT. It's not a natural sleep when you sleep during the day and force yourself to stay awake every night...and your body doesn't repair itself like it would if you worked days. You also are sleep deprived on your days off and your body needs the extra sleep at that time, so in addition to trying to catch up on everything you've let slide during your nights at work, you are exhausted and NEED the extra hours at night of sleep.

So, I understand. If it were me, I'd take an extra year to pay off the debt and get myself healthier. It's worth it...simply because not only does your sleep and weight get out of control, so does the rest of your health. You know that there is a much higher rate of cancers and heart disease in night shift workers. Not because they live an unhealthy lifestyle, but because your cells aren't repairing themselves like in "normal" people.

 

[FireDancer]

The PP's advice about getting a single block of sleep (6 to 8 hours) instead of a collection of naps is the first thing I would suggest. You will want to get thick blinds or curtains so you have complete darkness in your room. Sunlight is a signal to wake up (complete simplification I know) so you want to recreate night time darkness in your room while you sleep. When you work off hours (I did 3:30pm to 12:30am at one time) you want to still live in "blocks" like normal 9-5ers do. I mean I wake up, go to work, hit the gym, do whatever I'm doing in the evenings, and then go to bed. If I were you I'd get off work and then do my working out (whatever that ends up being) and sleep before work as opposed to after it. You can do the opposite, it is just like someone who works out in the morning before work just shifted how ever many hours you have to.

As for eating, can you have small meals at work? I have stuff like bananas, cliff bars, nuts, and dried fruit in my desk and always have some yogurt in the fridge at work. I try to grab at least something every 2 hours or so. Eating 5 or 6 small meals throughout the day is a better way to keep the metabolism churning than eating 3 big meals a day.

The distance is unfortunate but if you find a gym between your house and work you can hit it on the way to or from work. If that is out of the budget you can bring you running stuff with you and run on your lunch break (I almost always run at night, sometimes not starting until midnight) or before or after work. We have showers at work so if you don't this might be a problem if you work with other people.

I would also consider journaling everything you eat. Many people drastically underestimate their actual caloric intake along with the ratio of protein:carbs:fat they eat. This forces you to read the labels of what you eat (most importantly portion size) and if it is prepared food forces you to go online (or open a calorie guide) and actually calculate about how many calories you eat. A good example of people underestimating their calories is with bowls of cereal. Even if you get some realatively healthy low-fat granola or one of the cereals from Kashi or Nature's Path and use skim milk most people will fill a cereal bowl. This can actually be 3 servings of the cereal and 2 of milk and cause what you think is a 300 calorie snack to be half of you caloric intake for the day.

 

[minkydog]

I know exactly what you mean. I work 7p - 7:30a as a RN, and I've gained weight without changing my eating habits. Actually, I probably eat less (but not starvation) than I did when I had a normal work schedule. The cells in your body repair themselves and it's a natural boost to your metabolism when you sleep 8 hours a NIGHT. It's not a natural sleep when you sleep during the day and force yourself to stay awake every night...and your body doesn't repair itself like it would if you worked days. You also are sleep deprived on your days off and your body needs the extra sleep at that time, so in addition to trying to catch up on everything you've let slide during your nights at work, you are exhausted and NEED the extra hours at night of sleep.

So, I understand. If it were me, I'd take an extra year to pay off the debt and get myself healthier. It's worth it...simply because not only does your sleep and weight get out of control, so does the rest of your health. You know that there is a much higher rate of cancers and heart disease in night shift workers. Not because they live an unhealthy lifestyle, but because your cells aren't repairing themselves like in "normal" people.

This is spot on advice. I worked night shift for about 25 years and i don't think I had a single night of uninterrupted sleep during that time. Shift work not only wreaked havoc with my body, it affected my psyche. I began to develop health issues, which ultimately have left me with diabetes, overuse injuries, depression,weight gain and a sleep disorder. The best thing I ever did was get off night shift!

 

[taitai]

Why can't you do both? I understand the night shift issue but still you should be able to swing it. Hit the gym on the way to work. Run on the treadmill, shower and change there. Grab a smoothie on your way out the door to drink on the drive to work.

 

[ReneeA]

If she's gone 14 hours a day and sleeps 7 hours a day...that's 21 hours right there. That doesn't include showering and preparing for work, making a meal, packing a meal to take to work (we don't have a cafeteria or anything else open at night) and getting any of "life's work" done. When you work 12 hours a night, you still need to find time to do the grocery shopping, scrub toilets, clean the kitchen and do laundry.

I guess she's probably got a few more minutes a day than I do (I have 2 small children at home), but not enough to get to the gym on a regular basis. Not only that, but the "exhaustion" part? Yes, you can sleep for a block of time during the day - say 6-7 hours, but it's not the type of REM sleep you get at night because it's not natural for your body. I tried the gym thing for a couple months, but there literally is NO time for it with this type of schedule...unless you go on your days off. She needs some days off in there...it's not healthy to work night shifts like that.

 

[Hannathy]

I doubt very much she is gone 14 hours a day 7 days a week. Your body can adjust to sleeping during the day and you can get REM sleep. but you have to make it complete. get switched around and stay switched around. rotating shifts is the worst thing for you.


No matter how you want to say it the only thing important the only way to loose weight is to take in less calories than you use. Plain and simple. doesn't matter what you eat or how you use them as long as there is a deficit you will loose and if there isn't a deficit you will gain.

 

[mhsjax]

I don't think this is true. Eating healthy can be more expensive but it doesn't have to be. It requires doing a little research and cooking dinners at home but if you want to eat healthy you can find ways to do it on a budget. I spend no more on food than anyone I know with the exception of the people who grow and or shot their own food. Good produce, skinless chicken breast, and dried beans/grains aren't that much more than pre-packaged and processed foods. Sure, you might be getting free range chicken or grass fed beef but you don't have to go to that extent until the debt is paid down if you so choose.

OP, they aren't mutually exclusive. Yes, there are things that can cost money that will speed up weight loss like gym memberships, fitness classes, and nutritionists but those aren't necessary. A pair of decent shoes is all that is needed to start walking or running and there are inexpensive DVDs, books, and magazines you can buy to do some toning work at home. There is all kinds of free information on the Internet and since you post here I take it you have web access.

This time of year there are lots of good deals on things like gym memberships, beginner yoga classes, spinning classes, and stuff like that. If you think getting those things on a discount will allow you to make larger improvements without keeping you in debt give them a try.

Lastly, there is all kinds of free healthy lifestyle information right here on these boards. Head over to the WISH forum and introduce yourself.

I am glad that real healthy food isn't much more expensive where you are but it is here. Boneless, skinless chicken breast is over $2.00 a pound yet chicken with the skin on is .99 a pound. Apples, the good ones are at least $1.99 a pound and go up from there.

I do find ways to budget and try to really healthy, but buying like that for 5 is hard to stay on budget, especially when 2 of the 5 are growing boys. lol