Here’s a curious question for you today, something that I’ve thought about myself before: if you won the lottery or came into a large sum of money in some other way, do you think that your eating and exercise habits would change?
I think that I could go either way – perhaps in the beginning I might feel like I could “relax” and eat whatever I want, however I don’t think that would last very long. I would love to construct an at-home gym and hire a personal trainer to work out with me. What about you? Do you think you would lose all control like many lottery winners have, and live a “free for all” lifestyle? Or, do you see yourself using the money to gather more resources to help you change your ways, whether that would be hiring a nutritionist, personal chef, personal trainer, and/or emotional/psychological therapy to uncover your motivators for overeating?
When we look at this further, if you say that you would change your lifestyle for the better, what is stopping you from doing so now? Do you truly need an influx of money before you change your ways, or are you using it as an excuse to put off making healthy changes in your life today?
First, let’s look at what winning the lottery represents (in my mind, at least):
- More time
- You could make your own schedule
- An abundance of finances
- An easier life
Now, what is truly the difference between today and a lotto win, besides the money? You are in control of your scheduling outside of work obligations, and you can make the time to exercise and prepare healthy meals if you choose to.
While money could hire you a personal chef, nutritionist, and trainer, you don’t really need a personal chef to prepare your meals, a personal trainer to start walking, or a nutritionist to tell you that refined sugar isn’t healthy and that it easily contributes to overweight (besides a whole host of other health problems). Yes, all of these resources could be helpful and make your life easier, but do you really need them to improve your health, lose weight, and shape up today?
So what do you think? Would you change your eating and exercise habits if you won the lottery, and would those changes be for the better or worse? If you would change for the better, what can you do today to make those changes instead of waiting for a future date and time? Leave a comment with your thoughts.
Just when i was thinking i could put the weight loss off until I’d won the lottery! And you are right JoLynn – there are many positive things we can do now without needing to win the lottery to do it.
I’m going to start by outsourcing more so I can get to the gym.
I think my habits would change. I often think how much more I could do if I had the time, like spending more time in the gym and spend more time cooking healthy meals. Above all I think the fact that you would never have any (financial) worries is also a big health benefit, because stress has a major impact on your overall health and wellbeing, as we all know.
Nice meeting you over blogging. I just saw your site listed on Catherine Lawson’s Success Passcord, my favorite blogsite.
In fact, I will definitely change my eating habit, because I like good food. As I am Japanese, I am always looking for the best Sushi in town. Sushi is expensive, so I can not enjoy it that often. Second, I am into good pasta sauce. Good ones are expensive 🙁 And I like organic vegetables…
On exercising, I would probably do the same. I like hiking. Maybe, I will finally take a trip to Kilimanjaro.
Now you are making me really wanting to win a lottery!
I love food but I hate cooking. I’m just too impatient to take the time to prepare something delicious. So if I were lucky enough to win the lottery a professional chef to prepare my meals would definitely be a priority.
I try to buy organic when it is reasonably priced. I feel I would probably go almost to far with the whole/natural foods with extra $ (I already bother the wife with my eating habits) 🙂
What are your thoughts on large chains buying into the organic market?
I would definitely eat out more often. Neither my wife or I look forward to cooking at the end of the day. Having the money, I doubt I would resort to filling myself with breaded food on a regular basis. I would enjoy eating well-prepared fish, chicken and beef at the nicer restaurants.
Thank you for all of your comments!
@Catherine, outsourcing, great! I’d love to be able to delegate some work around here, you’ll have to let me know how that goes for you. 🙂
@Dee, you’re right about stress, it’s a big one for having a negative effect on your health.
@Asako, I’m glad you found me through Catherine’s blog. Wow, hiking Kilimanjaro would be awesome. Can you do that now, without winning the lotto? 😉
@Chamonix, I didn’t used to enjoy cooking all that much either, but as long as I follow the recipe, I really like it now. I look at it as a creative process (even though I have to follow a recipe 🙂 ).
@Jason, I think that the large grocery chains are just trying to get a part of the organic market since there is more of a demand for it. I am seeing quite a bit more of it in the chain markets, however I haven’t compared their organic prices with those in the health food store yet.
@Curtis, I know what you mean about cooking at the end of a long day. I like to cook in bulk on the weekend so that I have meals in the frig for the week. Would that work for you and your wife? Of course it’s fun to go out to eat for a healthily prepared meal once in awhile, too. 🙂
Doing a week’s worth of cooking on the week-end really makes the week easier. Our sticking point is setting aside the 2-3 hours for cooking.
Our best results come when we sit down on Sunday, write out a weekly meal plan, make a grocery list and then go shopping.
We plan easy prep meals for evenings we know will be hectic and save the more elaborate meals for the weekend.
With all that said, I’d love to be able to eat out every other night or so 😀 .
Hi Curtis,
It sounds like you and your wife have a good plan of action already in place…also, I do know what you mean about setting aside that time to cook…there’s just always something to be done! 😉