Our Infographic takes a look at some of the statistics about preventable diseases over the last few decades in the US, and a history of official food guides over time. It ends with some actionable pieces of advice for folks who find themselves in a less healthy state than they’d like or who simply want to maintain as healthy of a diet as they can. I thought it was very informative. I hope you find it helpful.

If you’ve been following the news, you know that Big Food successfully lobbied this week to have pizza sauce considered a vegetable under school lunch rules. The industry also managed to block most of the nutritional changes that to school lunches that doctors and dieticians had been recommending for years, virtually guaranteeing that America’s schools will continue to serve processed, unhealthy garbage to our children. If you didn’t know that Big Food wields disproportionate influence in America today, reading this infographic will be a great wakeup call.

Oh, and don’t blame me if your Turkey doesn’t taste quite as good on Thursday…

Armed with a new pedometer, I began taking little steps each day to increase my physical activity. Sure, I hit the gym a few days a week, but I’m only there an hour. The other 23 hours were filled with inactivity. The last thing I wanted to do was implement a formal walking program – sorry, but it’s boring to me. The following moves helped me reach my goal to walk 10,000 steps a day consistently, with minimal interference with my regular routine.

1. Get a pedometer. Unless you are really good at counting, you will probably want to pick up a quality pedometer to measure your steps. Some pedometers also monitor distances, and even heart rate, calories burned, etc. For this exercise I am most concerned with steps, so any decent pedometer will do. And since I’m a goal-oriented person, I love the challenge of trying to sneak in a few more steps than the day before.

2. If you have a desk job, stand up and walk every hour. I spend a lot of time in front of a computer – somewhere in the neighborhood of 14 hours a day. That’s rough on the eyeballs, and even rougher on my gut. Instead of sitting for three hour marathons writing an article, I have started forcing myself to get up and walk for a few minutes. Sometimes I just wander around the office, and when the weather is nice, I stroll outside to my truck and back. On the occasion someone stops to ask what I am doing, I simply tell them I am taking a “non-smoke” break.

3. Park farther away from entrances. We’ve heard this one over and over again, but according to my handy pedometer it really does work. I began parking at the far corner of parking lots and counting the number of steps to where I would normally park (and then double that number for the return trip). It wasn’t uncommon to earn an extra 200 steps from that move alone.

4. Put down the phone, cancel that email, and walk. Throughout the day I often call or email coworkers, even if they sit just a few steps away. Of course, it’s better to put some things in writing, but many things can be handled by a quick conversation.

5. Walk or jog in place during your favorite television show. In the evenings, after dinner and when I generally start to feel like a sloth, it’s hard not to just kick back and watch a couple hours of television, or surf the web. I enjoy only a couple television shows, but when they are on, I want to watch them because they represent my three or four hours during the week of mindless entertainment. So, I started standing during the program and walking in place, pacing the living room, and doing jumping jacks. If this disrupts your viewing pleasure, only do it during commercial breaks. Anything is better than just sitting there doing nothing for hours on end.

Bonus: If you have a treadmill at home, consider setting it up where you can watch television or surf the web. That’s right, it is possible to surf the web on your laptop while you walk thanks to a product called Surf Shelf - a laptop holder for home exercise equipment. Talk about increased productivity!

6. Take the stairs. Elevators and escalators were fun when we were kids, but taking the stairs adds steps to your daily total, and it is a great calorie burner.

7. Pacing. Spend a lot of your day standing around waiting? For the bus, the subway, a ride home, on hold on the phone? Instead of sitting or simply standing still, try pacing back and forth. This single act could add a few hundred steps to your day.

8. Take the dog for a walk. You and man’s best friend will benefit from a quick stroll around the block. This is something I need to do more often. Our dog loves to be walked, but when it’s cold and getting dark at the end of a long day, it sure is hard to go for the leash and head outside.

9. Hit the mall. Speaking of cold weather, did you know most malls open an hour or so early for walkers? And even if the stores are open, you can leave your cash and credit cards at home and simply stroll around the mall in a temperature-controlled, relatively safe environment. As long as you plan your route away from the food court, you’ll be fine.

After I bought my pedometer, I went about my normal routine for a couple days to get a baseline for my daily steps. Without additional exercise or behavior modifications I was walking around 3,300 steps a day. That’s a fairly low number considering 10,000 steps is roughly the equivalent of 30 minutes of moderate exercise.

On days I hit the gym that number increased to 6,000 steps thanks to a little time in the cardio area – still some 4,000 steps short of my goal. It was obvious I couldn’t make up all those steps from the gym alone, so I began implementing the steps above. Since the first of the year, simply by incorporating these simple tweaks, I’m averaging about 10,300 steps. I’d like to improve to 15,000 or so by the end of January. In that same time I’ve managed to drop seven pounds without much change to my diet (although admittedly, I am trying to eat less these days).

What other tips can you share to help walkers get a few extra steps each day?

This is basically the same approach I am taking to a variety of challenges, from losing weight to reaching a six-figure savings goal – even improving my energy levels. These are rather nebulous goals on their own, and we all know the importance of declaring SMART goals to have success. So my “everyday” goals will be very specific, actionable things I can do each day to move me towards the larger goals. Each goal has a very definite success or failure measurement – I can either put an “X” on the calendar or I can’t, depending on my completion of the goal.

Lifestyle Tweak #1: Get Eight Hours of Sleep Each Night

Some hardcore business types will tell you sleep is overrated. I used to believe that myself, spending late nights and early mornings banging away on a keyboard while passing on restorative sleep. Over time, this behavior takes a toll. Never mind the mounting evidence that lack of sleep is tied to things like obesity, heart disease, and other unsavory conditions, but for me personally lack of sleep leaves me feeling foggy, mentally, for much of the next day.

Repeated sleepless nights leave me in a permanent fog – lacking motivation, energy and mental clarity required for both my full-time job and my writing endeavors. More importantly, it turns me into a real grouch, which negatively affects my wife and kids.

Action Statement: I will retire to bed each night by 9:00pm. Why so early? You’ll see why when I mention the next lifestyle tweak. This one will be tough for a recovering insomniac with two small kids and many activities filling my after-work schedule the next few months.

Lifestyle Tweak #2: At Least One Hour of Physical Activity Each Day

Ideally, I’d like to do more, but I know myself, and extending this goal any further would likely lead to failure more times than not. In this case, I’ll set myself up for success and leave it at one hour. The benefits are obvious: improved physical condition, more energy, ease of sticking to my pseudo caveman diet plan, etc. But another intangible benefit comes from hitting this goal. I need a little “me” time.

Working in an office all day surrounded by coworkers, and coming home to a house filled with a wife, two kids and an attention-hungry dog leave little time for me. Is that selfish? Yes, but in this case it is a healthy selfishness because I think everyone needs a little “me” time.

Action Statement: I will visit the gym each morning at 5:15am and work out for one hour. Hopefully, I’ll be doing this on 8 hours of sleep, so getting up this early should not be too much of a struggle. As the weather warms I’ll alternate gym days with outside days because I much prefer being outside early in the mornings.

Lifestyle Tweak #3:  Have a More Positive Attitude

I confess – I am too critical. I spend too much life energy being negative. Some days the political climate, or the economy, or some local event just puts me in a bad mood. Going forward, I plan on being a more positive person – less critical of others, less negative about the future, more thankful for today.

It is hard not to get down, and you don’t have to look far for others to help you get there. The endless news cycle of negativity, the popularity of bashing others, condemning success, etc. provides plenty of fuel for negative attitudes.

Action Statement: I will give at least three compliments each day. The first three will be at home as I will make it a habit to give a genuine compliment to each family member at some point during the day. From there, I will extend a compliment to a coworker (work related, of course), and maybe a strange or two. I know this might sound a little silly, but when you think about it, it’s hard to find something positive to say to someone else without having a positive attitude.

Lifestyle Tweak #4: Create More Family Memories

Last year was a tough one. My mom had a stroke in August of 2008, and passed away last September after a long attempted recovery. We spent a lot of time caring for her both in the hospital (she spent about 150 days in the hospital and rehabilitation facility in that year) and at home. The entire experience left us drained, mentally, physically and emotionally.

We also spent much of that time fighting like crazy to become debt free. We skipped vacations, lived ultra-frugal, and worked a lot of hours to earn extra income to put towards debt. The days seemed to pass by without many milestones or events etched into our memory banks. Looking back, it seems like we lost an entire year, which makes this year’s goal that much more important.

Action Statement: We will take two family vacations this year, and a number of mini-vacations throughout the year. Our last family vacation was October of 2007, when my mom was still healthy. We spent a week in a mountain-side cabin in the Smoky Mountains. I had no internet connection, cell coverage was spotty, and we barely turned on the television: it was bliss! At the time, we planned to make it annual event. And even though Mom is gone now, we are dedicated to taking more time off as a family, whether it be a week-long, full-fledged vacation, or a short, frugal camping trip to a nearby state park. The objective is to get away from the “noise” of daily life and enjoy time as a family, creating memories that will last a lifetime.

So there it is, four seemingly simple lifestyle tweaks for the Frugal family in 2010. I’ll periodically follow up on these mini-goals throughout the year. Hopefully, they will be more apparent in my writing as I share stories about traveling, losing weight and looking at things through a more positive filter.

During these last few weeks of experimenting with new eating habits we have also been working to pay off debt at a fever pitch. I quickly discovered something – it is hard to focus on both goals, at least it is for me.

While the correlation between weight gain and the accumulation of debt is fairly obvious (it’s all about excesses) doing battle on both fronts is downright hard to do! Heck, working towards any two large goals simultaneously is difficult, but for some reason losing weight and paying off debt are particularly difficult because they involve changing habits.

Unfortunately, the two goals of weight loss and debt repayment also compete with each other in many ways. For instance, imagine a scale with weight loss on one side and debt repayment on the other. As we begin to do things that are healthy, such as eat more nutritious foods, join a gym, buy walking/running shoes, etc. we tend to increase spending, which lessens the amount of money to use towards debt repayment.

On the other hand, if we focus our attention on debt repayment and start eating cheap, unhealthy food, canceling gym memberships and working extra hours to increase income, our health starts to suffer. You see the dilemma.

So how does one work on losing weight and paying off debt at the same time? There are three basic approaches I have found that work well. One of these might work more for me than for you, or you may find some combination of the three to be most successful. As individuals, we each have a different tolerance for change, various amounts of willpower, resources, etc. So go with the plan that generates the most results for you with the least amount of pain.

The Cold Turkey Approach

Those who go “cold turkey” immediately toss everything bad from their pantry, their refrigerator, and their wallet. They cut up credit cards, immediately convert to a cash envelope budget system, and cancel all forms of entertainment from their spending plan.

Similarly, these same people immediately eliminate everything “bad” from their diets – including all their favorites foods. Rather than practicing moderation, they practice elimination – as in getting rid of anything they believe is off limits.

The problem with this approach is that the new habits are most difficult to maintain. Suddenly removing all fun from your diet and your wallet often creates a feeling of resentment as your body tends to turn on itself with increased cravings for all those things you eliminated.

One or the Other

If you are like me and it seems impossible to pull off successfully losing weight while paying down debts, pick one or the other and stick with it. If you can, simply “tread water” with one plan while focusing your energy on the other. If you decide to try to lose weight, debt repayment may slow as you invest in your health for a period to get a jumpstart on weight loss.

If you decide to pay off your debt first, it may mean that you won’t be ready for the pool by summer, but at least your budget will be lean and mean. At a minimum, try to avoid gaining weight, something many people do when their health is not a top priority – believe me, I am the perfect example of this phenomenon.

Moderation

This is the approach that works best for me. I have found that by simply reducing the bad things I eat, and amount that I spend, I can lose weight and pay down debt balances. Both goals tend to take longer with this approach, but because they are running concurrently I should arrive at my goal weight and debt freedom at just about the same time!

Rather than going cold turkey, or giving preference to one goal over the other, I simply reduce the frequency of one or two bad habits keeping me from achieving both goals. Here are two revised bad habits I had for each goal:

Revised Eating Habits

• Limit myself to one soda per day (diet). I used to drink two or three sodas a day – sometimes more. By limiting myself to one soda, a diet soda, I am reducing the number of liquid calories while still enjoying a soda with dinner.
• Late-night snacks must include a protein, and be less than 200 calories. I am a bit of a night owl. The problem with staying up too late is that you get hungry. It wasn’t uncommon to find me parked in front of the computer sipping a cold Coca Cola and munching on a bag chips late at night. Instead, I now eat a small snack properly proportioned with protein and only a few carbs.

Revised Spending Habits

• Reduce magazine subscriptions/purchases. I have let all but two magazine subscriptions go, and I rarely purchase one at newsstand. Magazines used to be a weakness for me, but now I look forward to the two that arrive by mail, and occasionally I’ll pick up a third one while browsing the bookstore.
• One meal out per week. This one could really belong in both categories. Eating out less helps your waistline and your wallet, as restaurant food is often unhealthy and overly expensive. For the most part we eat in, but we do make it a point to venture out once a week for a meal out as a family.

The bad news is that there does in fact appear to be a correlation between weight gain and debt accumulation. The good news is that there is a correlation between weight loss and debt reduction. The same shift in habits for one goal also works for the other, but neither goal is necessarily easy to accomplish. However, with proper motivation and discipline, it is possible to make improvements to both your health and your wallet.

The beauty of the Enough Diet is its simplicity.  I literally eat anything I want, but only until I’ve had enough. That means no downing an entire bag of M&Ms, or polishing off a 20oz. Coca Cola in one sitting.  Now I might just have a small handful of M&Ms, and pour about 6oz. of Coca Cola to enjoy with my dinner.  That’s just enough.

The Fab Five

What Money Can’t Buy. We talk a lot about money here, but this article is a great reminder that there are so many more important things in life that cannot be bought with any amount of money.  (@ Marc and Angel Hack Life)

Why I Pick Stocks: Choosing Individual Stocks Over Mutual Funds. In the past, I’ve shied away from picking individual stocks as part of my overall investing plan.  I did manage to make a little money with a speculative pick right out of college, but I lost any profit trying to recreate it through a number of bad picks. (@ The Digerati Life)

One Of Life’s Greatest Contradictions: Learn To Love What You Hate.  Ah, this one really spoke to me!  I prepared most of these links the night before and I was really dreading my workout.  I literally read this article, paused the roundup post and hit the weights.  (@ My Super-Charged Life)

The Savings Account, The Spending Account & The Charity Account.  The “giving” gift card idea shared here is brilliant!  What a wonderful way to encourage our kids to become givers. (@ My Life ROI)

Get Out of Debt: Give Up Your Favorites.  Getting out of a large hole of debt takes an unbelievable amount of sheer will and perseverance. The first step is the acknowledgment of the things you must give up to get there.  (@ No Debt Plan)

Best of the Rest

• Closing on Our First Rental Property
• Oh Crap! I Got Rid of Too Much Stuff!
• Want To Learn to Read Your Home’s Electric Meter?
• 8 Small Changes You Can Make to Save an Extra $100 This Month
• Improve Your Credit Score Under the New FICO Scoring
• COBRA Premium Reduction
• Investing in My SEP-IRA Account
• 7 Ways Saving Money is like Losing Weight
• Save Money with Fast Food Value Menus
  

Quote of the Week

I saw this one on Twitter, but unfortunately I don’t remember the author.  If you can claim it, let me know:

“Who would have thought the top headlines in 2009 would be Swine Flu, pirates and tea parties.”

Strange indeed.

Last week I mentioned our project to cut the cost of watching television for one year.  That project recently came to an end, and after some internal discussion as a family we decided to sign back up for the expanded cable service (not digital, not high-definition, no movies – just the regular cable lineup).  The decision was an easy one for our family, but a controversial one amongst readers.

Long-time reader, Robert, called me out:

Jason, I have been following your posts for a few months now and as an outsider looking in, it kind of seems like you may be on a financial diet vice a financial lifestyle change.”

My gut reaction was to be a little defensive, but then I realized in a way, Robert was right.

A Diet or A Lifestyle Change

When people start and fail a new “diet” plan they are often told to make a lifestyle change, rather than embark on a fad diet.  It’s good advice, because diets come and go, but lifestyle changes stick.  In some ways I have been on a spending diet, because early on in our financial turnaround it was required to free up some cash to use towards debt reduction, and to build our savings.

Now that we have a little breathing room, we are relaxing that spending “diet” some to allow back in a few “quality of life” expenses that we missed. For instance, cable was something we missed for the entertainment value it brought.  The monthly cable bill is cheaper than a night out at the movies for a family four.

This phase is commonly referred to as “maintenance” in the dieting world.  It’s the phase where you reintroduce carbs or fats or whatever it is that you restricted during your weight-loss phase, and it is by far the most dangerous time.  If you let too much back in you start putting weight back on, and if you allow too many new expenses to rack up you’ll suddenly find yourself right back in debt and living paycheck to paycheck.

A Frugal Lifestyle Not Without Luxuries

One of the things I’ve tried to stress here at Frugal Dad is the idea that you can live frugal and still enjoy life.  You don’t have to live a spartan existence, or be completely miserable, to lead a frugal lifestyle.  In fact, most frugal people I know are quite happy.  Having nice things and being frugal don’t have to be mutually exclusive.  In fact, I have a few nice things I am proud of, but I make sacrifices in other areas to balance things out. I try to avoid waste, but I don’t mind spending money to get a good value.

What Robert was right about was that my dedication to minding expenses was beginning to weaken.  It was a wakeup call I needed, and I appreciate his willingness to tell me.  Oddly enough, when things are going well, financially, we tend to let down our guard.  When things are going bad we make penching pennies our top priority.  I like to think I’m usually somewhere in the middle, but I occasionally need reminders like this to make me lean more towards the side of penny-penching.

No Sodas

I wouldn’t call myself a Coca Cola addict, but over the years I’ve enjoyed them more than I should have. This has probably contributed to my need to drop a few pounds. Aside from the empty calories and sugar content, sodas have a negative psychological effect on me — they make me want to eat more. If I am sitting down to watch a game and grab a cold soft drink I automatically reach for a bag of chips, some left over pizza, or pretzels. I don’t know what it is about sodas that makes me want to snack, but I know it isn’t a healthy habit.  Diet sodas are loaded with sodium, and don’t make for a great alternative.  It seems those who are truly successful losing a lot of weight just quit the sodas altogether.

No Juice

My son drinks apple juice like it is going out of style, and my wife and I have recently started watering it down because we are a bit concerned with his own sugar intake. I occasionally pour myself a glass of apple or orange juice over some crushed ice. Just because it is a fruit juice doesn’t mean it is particularly good for me. After all, even 100% juice brands have up to 30 grams of sugar per serving!

No Alcohol

This is an easy one for me. I couldn’t tell you the last time I drank a beer. And my efforts to drink a glass of wine daily (for the cardiovascular benefits, of course) dropped off when I realized I was spending way too much per bottle, even on the cheap stuff. Down the road I may try a homemade recipe or two, but for now I’ll just pass. Beer and wine are loaded with calories and the alcohol content works against my training efforts.

Got Milk? Not Me

Of all the items listed this may be the toughest for me to give up. I could probably go through a gallon of milk every other day if not kept in check. I just love the stuff! While milk is loaded with nutrients it also has sugar, something I’m trying to avoid in liquid form for the next month. Similar to the habitual effects soft drinks have on me, milk makes me want to eat something sweet. There is nothing better to me than chasing a fudge brownie with an ice cold glass of milk.

H2O All the Way

So for the next 30 days I’ll give up all other liquid vices and stick to water. After all, water is probably the best thing we can drink for improved digestion, metabolism, and for proper hydration. There are no calories, no caffeine and no additives (except for the ones added by our water treatment facility to keep it clean). I may cheat a bit here and there by adding some sugar-free drink powder to the water I have with my evening meal, or maybe a squeeze of lemon, just for a little variety. I’ll keep tabs on how much I would have spent on soft drinks over this same period and will report back at the end of the experiment. Along the way I hope to lose some weight, save some money, and cure a few of these bad habits I’ve developed.