We are all feeling the pinch due to the rising costs of living these days. Utilities, food, fuel; virtually everything we consume and rely upon has gone up in price thanks to inflation and interest rate hikes. Join us as we share with you our essential health tips for women that won’t break the bank!
Often during times of extreme pressure, it’s easy to take shortcuts when it comes to our health. It’s cheaper to eat unhealthier food and letting your gym membership expire is then one less expense to worry about.
Emphasising fitness and nutrition leads to something money can’t buy – health, wellbeing and resilience. And, bonus, our health tips for women won’t leave you breaking the budget every week either.
This also filters down onto the rest of the family, especially the kids. Your physical and mental well-being will see you through the toughest of times. These health tips for women are designed to help you keep it up amid economic challenges.
Health tips for women – Mind, body and more!
1. Let’s start with nutrition – eating right, feeling right
Good fuel in means more energy and vitality out. You don’t have to rely upon “quick meals” and cheap carbs to save money. By buying in bulk and planning your meals ahead, you can feed the entire family within a reasonable budget and time constraints.
Preparing meals ahead of time also means reducing reliance on takeaway and fast food – which means more money in your pocket and less empty calories weighing you down.
2. Exercise for busy mums
“Exercise is for people who don’t work and have kids to look after!” Not true! You can get your exercise in as a busy mum by setting a few realistic goals and getting organised. Even adding a 20-minute walk during a lunch break or swapping a five-minute drive for a walk can do wonders for your fitness.
Once you’ve got yourself into a rhythm, you can add weights or other compound exercises into your routine. There’s no shortage of apps and free YouTube videos that can help! By clearing out a space in your home, you can even have an exercise station set up with a few bits of equipment – no gym membership required!
Though having a gym membership and signing up for a class or two keeps you accountable and gives you the added benefit of social interaction, which is great for your mental health too!
3. Health cover – protecting your most precious asset
We don’t think twice about shelling out for our car insurance – but what about ourselves? Unlike cars, we have our own unique health needs and challenges, and private health insurance is rarely “one size fits all”.
As women, we may also be thinking of adding to our family, which of course comes with its own set of doctors and appointments! Choosing the right level of health care appropriate to your lifestyle and budget can be tricky, though you can research online through comparison sites to get the right balance of cost and value.
Remember that taking out private health cover not only entitles you to a higher quality of care, but also comes with a 30% government rebate and a waiver of the Medicare levy surcharge. Read more about it in this guide.
Make sure you take these into account when calculating the costs with their benefits. Remember to get regular checkups and be proactive about monitoring your health. No Dr. Google, either! If you have a complaint or niggle, get it checked out! Don’t rely on online sources for health information – some sites have a vested interest in selling you something to “cure” whatever you “have”.
4. Getting time out
Even if it’s only for 10 or 15 minutes a day, destressing by taking time out from the day can do wonders for your mental and physical health. You don’t have to indulge in the “out there” forms of time out like meditation or yoga – just having a cup of tea, doing a bit of stretching, or just helping yourself to a skincare routine is a fabulous way to decompress and leave the worries of the day behind.
That said, meditation and mindfulness can also suit a lot of mums – and there are plenty of ways of going about it, too. You can use apps, do moving meditations, or take a class. There’s something out there to suit every mum!
Remember, good health is an investment
You are worth the investment in your own health and well-being, and it need not cost the Earth. Eating well, moving more, finding the right kind of health cover, and taking time out to recharge can do wonders for your energy levels and moods.
It also means you can weather the financial storm at the moment and come out better and more powerful on the other side!
Additional health tips for women
- Mummy Burnout: 10 Tips for Preventing and Coping with Mummy Overwhelm
- The Real Mums’ Guide to Easy Self-Care
This is a sponsored post for Savvy
