By investing money, time and care, you are making the longest-lasting and most reliable investment. But how much should you invest in yourself? Is it necessary to be a Rockefeller descendant or can you lead a healthy lifestyle with modest financial resources? In order to have an objective picture, we paid attention not only to official definitions and figures but also conducted a sociological study among our target audience.
What is a healthy lifestyle?
This is how health is defined by the World Health Organization (WHO): “Health is a state of complete physical, spiritual (emotional) and social well-being, not just the absence of disease or disabilities.” This implies the definition of a healthy lifestyle – this is a conscious, active attitude to one’s own health, the accumulation of certain positive or neutralization of negative factors, external and internal.
Of our respondents, only 1% adhere to this particular lifestyle. The remaining 99% define a healthy lifestyle in their own way – in the general mass, the emphasis is only on physical well-being, while the spiritual and social are not considered necessary and vital aspects. Caring for the emotional (spiritual) state worries 6% of women. None of the men surveyed seem to be familiar with the concept of emotional well-being and healthy lifestyle, and accordingly, they are not going to take care of it.
It is noteworthy that 28% of men, after a little thought, decided to classify full-fledged sex as a healthy lifestyle and began to paint our correspondents in paints what the quality of the element under discussion should be. Such a riot of emotions suggests that sex “the right way” is the concern of men for emotional well-being.
Among women, only 12% indicated a direct relationship between sex and emotional comfort, but we did not find a substitution of the concepts of “sex” and “emotion”. Another nuance attracts attention: among men who named sex as part of a healthy lifestyle, the percentages by age categories were evenly distributed (from small to large), but then among women, the age category has clear boundaries: from 32 to 37 years.
Bad habits are expensive
An indispensable attribute of a healthy lifestyle is the absence of bad habits. Our respondents referred to them only smoking and alcohol. Moreover, the latter is considered harmful only if consumed in very large quantities. It’s a shame, but only 7% of women mentioned the quality of alcohol. By the way, the WHO classifies not only alcohol and tobacco smoking as bad habits but also overeating, excessive TV viewing and lack of physical activity. 3% of women believe that leading a healthy lifestyle means only eliminating bad habits. Lack of sports, rest and balanced nutrition is considered the norm.
This opinion is shared by 38% of men. It is surprising that such a stingy attitude towards health was revealed in a group whose income is much higher than the average: from 3 thousand dollars a month. 51% of women consider regular diagnostics of the body and timely visits to doctors to be the norm. And only 2% of men think the same way. The monthly income of this group of respondents averaged $600. The majority of men (96%) aged 22-28 with an average monthly income of more than a thousand dollars generally considered this item superfluous and insistently demanded that correspondents delete it from the list.
What is missing and how much does it cost?
We asked our respondents to answer whether they would invest more in themselves if their income increased by at least 50%.
Men for the most part answered quickly and clearly, as if they had just drawn up a business plan for their healthy lifestyle. Women’s eyes were wide open from the possibility of increasing their income. It turns out how many lovely ladies lack happiness! They wanted everything: a country house, a team of personal doctors, a cosmetologist, a trichologist, a psychologist, a massage therapist, a home gym, a personal instructor, a cook, a solarium, vitamins and a lover!!! Having estimated that this retinue could not be reached for the additional half of the income, they reluctantly chose.
Some of the respondents do not plan to invest more money in their health, even with an increase in income: the main limiting factor for them is not finances but lack of time. The income level of this group of respondents exceeds 2 thousand dollars for men and one thousand dollars for women. Also, all without exception in this group indicated that in order to lead a healthy lifestyle, it is enough to eat and sleep.
Health: to be or not to be?
One respondent, who in no way leads a healthy lifestyle, hit the bull’s eye, noting that healthy lifestyle is like the mainland of Australia: everyone knows that it is somewhere, but no one is interested. Most of the respondents persistently continue to assert that a healthy lifestyle is a tangible item of expenditure, although 69% immediately admit that they have never counted how much a healthy lifestyle costs! Someone manages to conduct it with an average monthly income of $300 and below, and someone insistently claims that there is no money for this (while preferring to go to a nightclub rather than a fitness center).
In a good scenario, a healthy lifestyle may not be very expensive. Let’s start with what they don’t take money for yet. At the forefront is sleep, which is sorely lacking for most of the townspeople. They talk about sleep with such a breath, as if we need to pay for an hour of sleep! Taking money from a sleeping person is not yet provided for by any legislation, but getting enough sleep is the cherished dream of most of the population. But here’s the paradox: despite all the complaints about lack of sleep, it is impossible to find a free table in a restaurant, nightclub or cafe at 12 pm on Friday!
This also includes the regime, which, like sleep, depends on the ability for self-organization and self-control. Sex and positive emotions are also absolutely not expensive items of expenditure, there would be a desire. Sport or activity with a certain approach is again a low-budget article. Running in the park, football on the street, skating, swimming, etc. require serious, but one-time investments only in equipment – winter and summer.
A constant monthly item of expenditure is a balanced diet. Agree, it is impossible to maintain health by eating pasta and potatoes. But, on the other hand, it is possible even with a minimal budget and a competent approach. Again – you just need a desire!