It’s time again to set goals for the new year. I know people make us feel bad for making New Year's resolutions because we rarely follow through with them, especially the ones centered around our weight and healthy living. But let’s ignore those people and set our goals anyway.  Last year, I suggested that we should change our mindset before we set our goals. (I would love to know if that worked for anyone). I still believe that changing our mindset is key, but I would like to add that knowing your WHY is pretty important to reaching a goal.               

Your WHY for making healthier choices might be to live a long active life. Often our WHYs have to do with our children and family. If you don’t have a strong WHY, might I suggest one? Bad health is negatively affecting our wealth. If we desire to transfer generational wealth, we must prioritize health. Our healthy choices today can increase our wealth tomorrow.

Not only does bad health require us to pay for more doctor visits and prescription drugs, but bad health and obesity increase the cost of insurance and can even make a person uninsurable. This is a major problem in the minority community. High insurance premiums often keep people from obtaining insurance. When they get sick or die, the family has to pull money from their savings, borrow money from high-interest credit cards or create Go Fund Me accounts. Many of you reading this article may be thinking this is not you, but I’m sure you know someone who had to do this. It is time for our community to do better.

1. Let 2023 be the year that we begin to make healthy choices at least 80% of the time.
2. Eat at least five portions of fruit and vegetables per day.
3. Reduce your salt intake to 5g per day, equivalent to about one teaspoon.
4. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends reducing sugar consummation to less than 5% of total calories.
5. WHO recommends reducing saturated fats to less than 10% of total calories and reducing trans-fats to less than 1% of total calories.
6. Do at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity throughout the week.
7. Sleep seven to eight hours per night.
8. The U.S. National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine advises an adequate daily fluid intake of 15.5 cups (3.7 liters) for men and 11.5 cups (2.7 liters) for women.
   

In addition to these healthy lifestyle changes, perhaps the most important thing we can do to prioritize our health is to get annual physicals and lab work. Do you know your numbers?

•     Is your A1C under 6.0?
•     Is your total cholesterol under 200?
•     Are your triglycerides under 150?
•     Is your blood pressure under 120/80?
  

Lastly, if you do not have health insurance, I beg you to get some to keep an illness from draining your bank account. I also suggest you purchase a living benefits life insurance policy where you can accelerate your death benefit if you are diagnosed with a critical or chronic illness. A living benefits life insurance policy can keep you from filing for bankruptcy due to medical debt.

Check to see if your current life insurance has living benefits. If it does not, and you want more information, go to www.raykeltolson.com or set an appointment with me at here.

Happy New Year! May you prosper in health and wealth!