The way of life for a personal training is routinely getting told no because of cost. Hiring a personal trainers can range anywhere from $50 a hour to over $100 an hour. I've been a trainer for just shy of 4 years as of this writing. I have heard those words all too often. Now this article isn't to play the victim card or for people to sign up with me. But it is to help and show people where they could be saving money on health products and where to invest it for better health outcomes.

Supplements

First we are going to hit supplements. Now I wrote a previous article on supplements and why I think most are a waste of money. Which you can click here to read. Looking at the broader impacts on health, supplements don't move the needle a whole lot. Buying a $60 jug of protein powder for example isn't going to help and get most people healthier or in better shape. You'd be much better off buying steak and eating that instead. Alternatively, if you have a diagnosed condition from a Dr. and they say you need to supplement with a certain nutrient to improve this diagnoses, then yes the supplement will be the biggest impact on your health. The supplements I'm talking mostly about are the ones most gym bros push or supplement shops push for. Protein powders, pre workouts, BCAAs, collagen, glutamine, even most electrolyte powders aren't dosed properly. Doctors will push hard for supplements for specific reasons. On the flip side as well, if your doctor wants you take more Vitamin-D, then that really means go outside more in the midday sun. Or if they want you to take an iron supplement, beef liver has 82% of the daily recommended intake in one serving. So look hard at all of your supplements and see if there aren't cheaper alternatives nature offers that you could trade them out for.

Wireless Headphones

Next on the list I think will surprise most people. Wireless headphones to me are a gigantic waste of money and I know it isn't a health & wellness item they likely think of. But none the less, people are using discretionary income on them that could be used more appropriately on other products. Back in time I use to be the guy who had to have the $200 wireless Beats by Dre headphones. I've probably had 3 or 4 pairs of them in my life. I have since stopped and now I've chosen to buy and use Apple's $5 wired pairs.

Does that mean I'm insisting that bluetooth headphones are unhealthy? It really depends on what people mean by unhealthy. This study showed potential correlation between thyroid nodule growth and bluetooth headphone usage. This doesn't mean that the sky is falling and that if you've used bluetooth heads you're going to die of cancer tomorrow. But what it does say and mean is we need more time to study this technology and how it effects our biology.  Removing wireless headphones from your daily routine won't get you out of bluetooth wavelengths, our phone, laptops, tablets, speakers, keyboards, mouses, etc. are all using it. All I'm going to argue is we shouldn't be cooking our brains with it regularly and having bluetooth technology that close to our brains. Instead you could take a more conservative approach and buy cheaper wired ones, save the money and invest that money in more useful places.

Sunglasses

The last item I put on the list is sunglasses. I know this one may offend people the most. Sunglasses have become and are a major fashion trend and are apart of people's personalities now. But the reason behind this one is simple. Light frequencies and brightness of light are key inputs to the body. The wrong wavelengths and brightness of light can really mess up ones circadian rhythm. If you read this study, you will see how blue light at the wrong time affects melatonin levels in saliva. Improper melatonin levels can lead to poor sleep quantity, and then sleep quality. These perpetuated over time can lead to gaining weight, poor mood, hormonal issues since melatonin is a hormone and more. Also I'll just throw in there too that we already don't spend enough time outside. So why should we block the sun from penetrating our eyes when we are inside most of the time anyway?

So to make your life more in tuned with day and night or dark and light. Ditch the $200 pair of Ray Bans. Embrace the brightness and full spectrum of the sun shining on you. This also isn't me advocating for you to stare at the sun either. That isn't good for you eyes. But what I am advocating  for is your eyes to get the full spectrum of the sun as much as possible to help synch your circadian rhythm, help your body with hormonal timing and live the way your body was designed to be lived, which is not covering your eyes outside.

Where you should invest the money instead

To conclude, if you ditch your expensive sunglasses and bluetooth headphones, that could save you $400 by those two things alone. That's not mentioning ditching ridiculous supplements and health products you may have bought off of infomercials. But that $400 could go a lot longer way toward supporting your health. To name some of my top choices of repurposing the money, I would start with buying local food. Finding local farmers to sell you eggs, dairy, meat. If you can't find a farmer around, then try buying food from local farmers markets. It keeps the money more local and the food is going to be of a higher quality. Next, I would spend it on a good pair of nighttime blue light blockers like the study earlier mentioned. I personally recommend Bon Charge for blue blockers. I have nothing but good things to say about them. Lastly, investing in a quality personal trainer would be a great way to improve you strength, health, pain, posture, etc. You don't necessarily have to stick with the trainer for months. But a month of training sessions could go miles for you progress and overall health and fitness.  Now there are other things you could obviously cut out of your life. But I think these are the easiest modalities to get rid of and reap the benefits of almost immediately.