Avoiding Nutritional Bankruptcy
Kelly McPherson CPT, CFT, CES


Personal finances are an interesting thing. The whole process is filled with natural consequences. If you work hard and save a little money here and there, you will eventually have enough to make a large purchase. On the other hand, if you spend more than you make, you will likely incur debt. Do this chronically and you could find yourself in extreme financial danger. When things get tough, there are only so many options as to how to relieve the financial stress. You can find a way to earn more money or your can trim your budget and find a way to spend less. There are many, many ways to do both. The essences of it all is, if you wish to have financial health, you must find ways to not out spend what you earn. If you wish to find financial wealth, you must find ways to earn more than you spend.

Another important thing about our personal finances is that we need to make sure that we provide for our necessities. It doesn’t matter if you make oodles and oodles of money, if you spend all of your money on things you don’t need and neglect to pay your mortgage or your power bill, the effect is the same as if you had very little money at all.

Ok, now some of you might wonder why I, a personal fitness trainer, am talking about finances. I know, it’s not my are of specialty. My expertise comes in the area of creating and maintaining healthy bodies. The reason I am bringing up the finances is they are something that all of us have a basic understanding of and they are a great metaphor for how to maintain a healthy calorie budget.

First off, maintaining a healthy weight is a lot like maintaining a healthy budget. You must properly balance what you spend with what you take in. A lot can be said about a healthy diet being all about calories in versus calories out. If you take in more calories than your burn on a regular basis, you will gain weight. If you do this chronically, you will find your health in extreme danger. We have all heard about the results of consistently consuming more calories than you expend. Everything from cancer to diabetes, from obesity to heart disease can be the result of this kind of imbalanced calorie budget. These diseases are your body’s bankruptcy.

If you wish to avoid this kind of physical disaster, you must balance your nutritional budget. If you need to lose weight, you need to find ways to burn more calories than you take in. This can be done by consuming fewer calories or finding ways to burn more. I won’t bore you with the host of ways you can do this. There are many, many ways. Find what works for you and do it.

Just like your finances, it doesn’t matter how many calories you are burning or how many you are consuming, if you neglect to spend your calories on what is really important first, you will end up in just as much trouble. Let me explain what I mean. The number of calories you can consume in a given day is your daily calorie budget. Within that budget, not only must you find nutritional satisfaction, but you must also provide your body with all the essential vitamins, minerals and nutrients that your body needs to function properly.

The interesting thing about our caloric budgets is that as we expend more calories, which should give us more room to consume calories, our necessities increase. The more we do with our bodies, the more exercise, the more stress, the more work, increases our body’s demand for essential nutrients. The more we cannot afford to spend our precious allotment of daily calories on frivolous foods that provide little or no nutrient value. The more we desperately need to pack every bite with as many nutrients as we can.

Take home message: Just like a financial budget, it is equally important to balance your nutritional budget. Balance what you expend with what you consume. Make sure to spend your calories on what is really important first.