Lose Weight And Save Money

Many of us have the same reasons for wanting to exercise andlose weight.....look better, feel better, lower blood pressure,lower cholesterol, decreased risk of some cancers, lower risk ofheart disease, etc.But did you know that making your waistline thinner will alsomake your wallet fatter?It's true! Losing weight will help you earn and save more money."Studies have consistently shown that obese employees are paidless than normal-weight employees doing similar jobs" (Source:HealthNewsDigest.com - Palo Alto, CA)A comprehensive study of wages in 1998 found that obese workersearn significantly less than than non-obese employees. How muchless? About $3.41 per hour. This discrepancy was found only inthose workers who had employer-sponsored health insurance,perhaps suggesting that the higher costs of insuring obeseindividuals was being passed on to the employees themselves.(Source: Bundorf and co-author Jay Bhattacharya, MD, PhD,assistant professor of medicine at the Center for HealthPolicy/Center for Primary Care and Outcomes Research).So it's possible that losing weight could eventually addsubstantially to your paycheck. But did you know that losingweight may also lower the amount of money you personally pay outin medical costs?According to a study recently published in Health Affairs, obeseAmericans pay $732 more for health care each year than donormal-weight adults. So what would you do with an extra $732?Considering that $732 is more than double the annual cost ofmost gym memberships, it seems that joining a health club paysfor itself.We all have great reasons for wanting to lose that excessweight, and how we have two more: potentially higher wages andlower out-of-pocket medical expenses.However, we do need to issue one word of warning.....when losingweight you may find that you need to spend some of that 'savedmoney' on a new wardrobe. After all, you will have to buy somenew 'skinny' clothes!