I was reading an interesting article on WW online which stated that we often worry about how much becoming fitter and thinner costs (healthful food is more expensive, gym memberships, etc.), but asked readers to think about what being thin would "gain" them? I think another important way to think about that was what being overweight costs you? What did/is the extra weight cost you in money, time, emotions, etc.?
For me, I started using an online budgeting app that told me what I was spending in categories. For February, it alerted me that I had spent almost $300 in fast food - and that's the shortest month! Yikes! Plus, I'm at the doctor more for weight-related health issues. I have to keep buying clothes in sizes I hate, I feel miserable about my health and looks.
Buying healthful foods and paying my gym membership won't even add to nearly the amount I was spending on the above!
It cost me $50 a week in groceries. That's how much I save from eating less and more healthy.
The real cost however has been self-esteem and just "feeling". When you are obese everyone tells you, or assumes, that you must be feeling awful. But I didn't feel awful. It's only now that I am losing the weight that I am feeling better. So compared to now, I was feeling awful but just did not realize it at the time. I'm starting to wonder just how much better I can feel as the weight continues to come off. Weird.
Really, nothing. I live at home so hand up money to my mum anyway. So she controls what food to buy. If there is something I would like to try out and we are running out of fruit mid week, I'll just ask her to buy something to keep me going. She is very supportive.
I don't necessarily need to change my clothes all the time. So I've spend barely anything on new clothes which I needed. I have bought things which I wanted in the past year but that was because I wanted it.
I haven't lost any friendships as even before I started losing weight, I wouldn't go to the pub and go drinking with them an awful lot.
I'm actually saying money. I would spend so much money on junk food and now I try to limit that spending and keep it as low as possible.
In the future and plans to join the gym during the summer, that could be my only real expense.
Last edited by Dreamer2012; 04-01-2013 at 04:20 PM.
Foodwise, it probably cost me $150+ a week (gulp, that's $600 a month!) figuring every time I ate junk or went for drinks and or take-out I coerced my husband into wanting it too. That number is over and above any "healthy" food we bought for the house (even if it wasn't eaten).
Clothes were an ongoing expense. Even if I wasn't buying bigger sizes, I wore out my pants with my big thighs plus if I found a top I liked I'd wear it a couple of times a week. My clothes didn't last because they weren't good quality even though they were more expensive.
I am seeing my doctors more right now due to some weight related health issues so it's $20 co-pay for the doc and $30 co-pay for the specialist plus hospital parking, 10% owed on any surgery and procedures, time traveling an hour each way to the major hospital.
I'm still spending $$ for my medically supervised diet and still food shopping for regular food for my husband.
But really now....on a diet and eating healthy food...it's seriously cheaper than eating poorly...in every way.
I am finding I have more money. I would spend 200 bucks on groceries and still end up getting fast food nearly everyday and throwing away what was in my fridge when it inevitably went bad. I am trying to keep groceries to 100-150 bucks a week now (for two plus kitty) And we go out to eat maybe once a week. My BF thinks its too much, but he doesn't cook, so he doesn't get much of a say!) I used to easily spend 10-20 A DAY, getting pop, drinks, chips and candy on my way to or from work. Not to mention the (not terribly healthy, but homemade) lunches I would buy from work almost everyday. I do spend more on clothes recently (stuff for gym, plus replaced some too big stuff) and an extra 20 bucks a month for the gym. Once I am in regular store sizes, I can spend less (in theory!) on clothes too. IMO, it costs way more to be obese.
I am even considering getting a bike for the summer, save some money on gas maybe.
It cost me well over $1500 in a gym membership I never used. It cost me being able to enjoy summers in my late teens/early 20's as I could never wear anything that I really wanted. It cost me enjoying myself well out dancing as I was always way bigger than all my friends so I never got asked to dance. God knows how much it cost me in candy/cookies/cakes.
This summer is going to be different though =). In fact, I went out dancing for my birthday 2 weeks ago and I was literally swarmed by men - and I was even wearing jeans. All night long I had a dance partner! It was sooo odd to me.
My diet is a lot more expensive now than it was before - I ate lots of stretcher meals with my family (rice/pasta/beans in the main course to make it cheaper and go farther) and cheap frozen fare. Now, I eat mostly whole and unprocessed foods - lots of fresh veggies, dairy, meat, and a few specialty items like seaweed/pork rinds/stevia/etc. Our food budget has definitely gotten more expensive with my choices, but it's what it takes for me to be healthy AND sane
Two things that have gotten cheaper - my health insurance and clothes! Plus sized clothing, especially maternity, is SO pricy and the selection is very limited. Now I can shop much more easily and thriftily, with many more brands available for me to wear. I also have much better luck at thrift stores in this size range, whereas I didn't even try before!
And the health insurance - I went from expensive and almost uninsurable when morbidly obese to getting the normal rate or even cost discounts now, because of my changed BMI and clean medical history. That was a real, several hundred dollar a year savings to my family's bottom line, since we self insure.
I have absolutely no way to calculate the value of how many pictures I've avoided being in because I didn't want to see how I really looked or how many events I've chosen to not go to because I didn't have anything to wear and just the thought of trying to find clothes that fit sent me into a pit of hopelessness. There were so many times I avoided living because it was easier to sit around the house in comfortable sweatpants.
I'd like everyone to consider this: a 5 pound bag of apples costs less than a pound of chicken...
My family and I have been eating clean for over a year now. Our grocery bill - for a family of five - is $250 per week. Yes, that's $1,000 per month. BUT, we don't get sick. We only visit the doctor for "well visits" and check-ups. My kids are strong and healthy. My husband lost 40 pounds and I lost 15 pounds just because we changed our eating habits.
I make all of our own energy bars. We eat oatmeal every morning and enjoy smoothies and whole vegetables and fruit for snacks. Our meals still (sometimes) include meat, but it's mostly produce and minimally processed grains.
We saved over $400 per month when we cut out fast food - which was just what my husband was spending....not the whole family.
If you count the co-pays and prescription costs of an unhealthy family...we've saved well over $1,000 this year. Some of our friends have been chronically sick with colds, the flu, ear infections, sinus infections, etc. They've spent about $1,000 just for medications.
Just something I thought might help out in this discussion.
I've found that I spend just slightly more on healthier foods for the house than I used to spend
I've added a monthly gym membership to my automatic bill pay system, and gyms are spendy in this town
and I've found that, as I lose weight, I'm getting more sick which is the oddest thing...since I've lost weight I've gotten more ear infections, sinus infections, bronchitis and pneumonia than I did when I was heavier...so naturally our medical bills are more...
so I guess losing weight costs me more MONEY but im able to save on things like time because I have more energy to get things done and it's helping my job because I have the energy and confidence to do more leadership things within the school district
Well, I spend most of the year living abroad and local restaurants give me free meals because I teach them things about promoting themselves and how to attract more western customers to their establishments. So on average I only spend about $50 a month on food and most of that is local fruit and vegetables that are in season since I don't need to cook at home (I like raw fruits and vegetables.) Maybe another $20-50 a month for eating out (healthy meals).. eating out is very inexpensive so that probably equates to 15-20 meals or so. I suppose I have it easy because everything is so inexpensive in Asia.
Edit:
I'm in good health and insurance there is only $30 a month, regardless of whether you're overweight, smoke, or are just generally unhealthy lol.
Clothes are extremely cheap too, and I get free training at a lot of gyms because I also do promotional work/consulting for them.
I feel like the weight has cost me everything. Obviously health is a main thing. Love. Self Esteem. Happiness. Being able to do the things I want to do. Money. Beauty. In a word.... everything.
While I can't tell you a lot of things, I can tell you, I'm 53. When my Mom, who has always been obese turned 60, her health went down the tubes. She's a widow, had a part time job and no health insurance. From her 60th to her 65th, her health issues cost her around $40,000! When she finally qualified for medicare/medicaid, she was so far in credit card debt, she had to refi a paid for home to pay off her credit cards, which is how she paid for her meds! Now she is 71 and still making a house payment!
Her obesity, and her choices also causes other issues. She had to have her gall bladder out, and now she has explosive BM issues and is afraid to go more than a few minutes away from a bathroom. And all kinds of other stuff, all preventable, or at least could have waited 20 years to have, with a bit more mindful diet.
She is non insulin dependent diabetic, has 3 stints in her heart, a bad back and knees, hooked on Vicadin, sleeps in her recliner, and on and on and on. And yet when you walk into her house there is sugar and crap everywhere!
So, I look at what it has cost her, and some days I get sick and tired of tracking my food and going to the gym and slicing and dicing and so on, but, I don't want to be in the place she is in when given a few simple changes it could be so much different!
Like ReNew and JustB1027, my weight has cost me other things than money. I have given up volleyball and walking due to my plantar fasciitis. I have given up most of my social life with friends. My weight and my attitude towards myself have weakened certain aspects of my marriage. Why do I think cupcakes are worth this?
What Has Your Weight Cost You?
Yikes! Plus, I'm at the doctor more for weight-related health issues. I have to keep buying clothes in sizes I hate, I feel miserable about my health and looks.
