Connection Between Health and Wealth

The Biggest Loser is one of my favourite shows, makes me happy and cry at the same time. Suze Orman (the Gail Vaz-Oxlade of the United States) was on tonight. She talked to the contestants individually about the connection they have between health and wealth.

"Usually we spend more than, when we feel like less" is one thing she mentioned to a contestant. Isn't this true? I know when I feel low I want to go to a store and browse around for a pick-me-up. Whether it be comfort food or a new toy or clothing.

She mentioned that you can look into your credit score and report as often as you like. It will not affect your score. It's if the creditors are looking into your credit score a lot that means that you are applying for credit a lot which is not a good thing.

They then played a multiple choice game on the treadmill and these were the results of their game:

• Obese employees earn about $7000 less than their co-workers (you are sick more and cost employers more).
  
• If a family of four swaps one meal out for a meal at home everyday for a year you can save $8750. This is approximately $24 a day.
  
• Americans spend approximately $4.4 billion on gastric bypass surgery each year. 220,000 Americans get this surgery each year at $20,000 per surgery.
  
• Americans spend $147 billion on obesity-related health issues each year. They spend $90 billion on cancer related issues. That's $57 billion more spent on obesity.

Sorry I missed the last statistic. It was how much you save each year from going from obese to your ideal weight. They went through that last one too fast for me to catch it! It was either $10,000 or $100,000. If you caught it let me know!

It's pretty amazing how staying in shape and eating well can actually SAVE you money!