This post on weight loss and the path to FI contains affiliate links. If you click on a link and make a purchase, I will receive an affiliate commission at no extra cost to you. Please read my disclosure page for more info.
Weight loss seems elusive at times. The path to financial independence (FI) can also be unclear. Is it possible that the effort to lose weight and the path to FI have other similarities?
I started writing this post from high above the earth, on board a flight home after my niece’s wedding.
Yes, the wedding that I wanted to lose 10 pounds for.
Both the wedding and The Smart Fi’s Weight Loss Challenge are over. It’s time for a wrap-up to see how I did. Let’s also explore what weight loss and the path to FI have in common.
Table of Contents
What Do Weight Loss & The Path To FI Have In Common?
Previously, I shared a commitment to lose weight, along with other amazing bloggers who also accepted The Smart Fi’s Weight Loss Challenge.
Related: June Weight Loss Challenge: A Four-Part Approach
My goal was to lose ten pounds in June, which I planned to do using a four-part approach: counting calories, eliminating stevia from my diet, increasing fiber, and getting more exercise.
So, how did I do?
As I report on each of the four ways I targeted to help me lose weight, I’ve added my thoughts on how these steps can smooth the path to FI.
1. Counting Calories (Paying Attention On The Path To FI)
Although my diet is healthy, I found that counting calories confirmed what I suspected. I just eat too much food. By keeping a food journal, I quickly began to have a general idea of which foods were going to help or harm my efforts to lose weight.
However, I didn’t track my calories in a food journal every single day. It might have helped me to stay within my daily calorie budget if I would have.
When I didn’t pay attention to how many calories I was consuming, I usually ended up consuming more than I intended to.
Sometimes I would catch myself eating and realize I wasn’t even hungry. Was I just eating to eat – as entertainment?
When I haven’t paid attention to my money in the past, I have been guilty of overspending.
I will admit I’ve spent money on things I didn’t need or even want in the past. Was I spending money just to spend – as entertainment?
It takes effort and discipline to follow a healthy diet, as well as to save for retirement.
If you don’t pay attention to your money, it will go away.
2. Stop Using Stevia (There Are No Shortcuts On The Path To FI)
I’ve relied heavily on stevia as a no-calorie sweetener in the past, almost like a crutch. Since stevia is an herb, I’d always thought it was safe to use, despite being banned in the USA by the Food & Drug Administration (FDA).
The actual stevia plant has been used safely as a traditional herbal sweetener in other countries for many years.
Back in the 1990s some questions about stevia’s potential toxicity caused the FDA to deny stevia from obtaining generally recognized as safe (GRAS) status in food. Then surprise, surprise, the FDA granted GRAS status to Truvia and PureVia in 2008 (both use rebaudioside A, extracted from stevia).
Follow the money . . .
Big food corporations wanted to use stevia! The FDA now approves the use of highly purified, highly processed stevia glycosides in food.
Artificial sweeteners have been linked to the death of friendly gut bacteria – the good bugs that improve digestion and strengthen the immune system. People are moving away from aspartame and embracing the more natural sweetness of stevia. But at what cost?
Is there a dark side to stevia?
In my earlier post I mentioned that stevia may increase abdominal fat by causing the body to produce excess cortisol.
My friend is a competitive bodybuilder. When I asked her about belly bloat and stevia, she responded with a knowing smile. She confirmed that stevia has a reputation for belly bloat among bodybuilders.
Although it saves calories, using stevia and artificial sweeteners remains a crutch. There are no shortcuts to weight loss. You must put in the effort to lose weight!
There are no shortcuts on the path to FI, either. You’ve got to do what it takes to accumulate wealth. This usually means spending less than you make. The most powerful tool is your income, so do what you can to increase it. Then start saving and investing.
Whether it’s investing in yourself by learning a new skill so you can earn more, starting a business, getting into real estate, or consistently putting money in stocks & bonds . . .
. . . the path to FI takes time and effort.
3. Get More Fiber (Set A Savings Target & Hit It)
Fiber gets the gold star when it comes to weight loss. I found on the days I consumed more fiber that I felt full longer and had less food cravings.
My go-to high fiber foods included green smoothies, nuts, beans, salads, and colorful fruits & veggies. Black bean soup and split pea soup were repeatedly on my menu due to the high fiber content.
As I suspected, eating this way helped me to save money. I brought my lunch to work instead of going out to eat.
Minimally processed foods cost less. Meat and cheese is more expensive than greens, vegetables and fruit. Nutrient dense nuts are very filling, so I felt satisfied eating less.
Health experts recommend that men get 38 grams of fiber per day while women should get 25 grams per day.
My fiber intake during the weight loss challenge averaged 25 grams of fiber or more per day.
I hit the target for fiber consumption! However, I’ve been off target for retirement savings.
After exploring creative ways to boost my retirement nest egg, I started this blog to share my journey and help others. The response has been amazing and I’m excited to share more tips.
There are several ways that I’m saving money to catch up my retirement savings. After going for a promotion at my current job, and picking up a second job, I’ve been able to increase my contributions to my 457 plan, my IRA, spousal IRA, and Flexible Spending Account (FSA).
Each of these accounts have yearly contribution limits, which serve as my targets. Without a target, I’d have no direction to my retirement savings.
4. Move More! (Delayed Savings Means The Path To FI Will Take Longer)
Exercise has always been something I know that I should do, but it’s never been something I love to do. As a result, I need to move more to lose the weight that’s crept on.
I enjoy walking, so I try to walk a mile during my breaks at work. One thing that makes my walks more enjoyable is listening to personal finance podcasts such as Choose FI.
Listening to personal finance podcasts while I walk keeps me motivated on the path to FI.
By the end of June I increased my walking average to 8,000 steps per day. Once per week, I hit 10,000 steps per day. One week I had over 12,000 steps in a day! (That’s a lot for me). I made it to two yoga classes per week.
Saving for retirement was also something that I knew I should have done. I delayed saving when I was younger, and now I need to save even more to catch up. My path to FI is going to take a little longer since I started saving later in life.
Results And Reflections
During the June Weight Loss Challenge, I quickly lost 4 pounds in the first week.
No change the second week.
Then I gained 2 pounds the third week, akk!
By the fourth week, I lost 3 more pounds.
Overall, I lost 5 pounds by the end of the challenge.
I did not reach my goal to lose 10 pounds, but I’m happy to have lost 5 pounds.
What was frustrating for me about the weight loss challenge was the constant up and down of my weight. It takes effort to lose weight, and I’m going to have to put a lot more effort in. I’ll let you know how I do . . .
Reflecting on the weight loss challenge, I realized that when I pay attention, I’m able to eat better food while consuming fewer calories. I was surprised to discover that I didn’t miss my stevia crutch, although cutting it out of my diet didn’t magically shrink my tummy. It was easy to hit my fiber target, but tougher to move more.
Related: HealthyWage Review
Lessons from the weight loss challenge also apply to the path to FI.
When I pay attention to money, I have more of it. The path to FI requires both time and effort, there are no shortcuts. It’s important to set targets and savings goals on the path to FI. If you wait too long to start saving (like I did) the path to FI will take longer.
The good news is that it’s not too late to catch up retirement savings or to make healthy lifestyle changes.
Question: What changes have you implemented to improve your health or savings?
Up and down is (frustratingly) totally normal. Congrats on the 5lb weight loss! 3.6 for me.
Yeah, I know it is, but it still sucks, lol. Thank you so much for reading and lending your support, I really appreciate it! Congrats on your weight loss as well, Angela!
I had no idea that stevia was so bad. It is really advertised as a healthy alternative to sugar. It just goes to show how clever marketing in America can steer you to make poor decisions.
I love the food journal idea. It really makes you question everything you put in your mouth.
Congratulations BBSS on the awesome progress you have made. I’m so glad I could be part of it.
Thank you so much, Shawn, I really appreciate your support and feedback!
There may still be a place for stevia, because diabetics can’t really use honey or dates, and I think stevia is probably better than aspartame!
It seems that every food fad has it’s 15 seconds of fame, and then fades as more info comes to light. I suspect it has something to do with the fact that commercial stevia extract is so heavily processed – natural stevia leaf from an actual plant is not used in the same way.
Everyone in the raw food movement loved agave for awhile, too, but it’s popularity crashed as well. Agave is also heavily processed and much like high fructose syrup in how the body responds to it.
The body is expecting glucose when it tastes something sweet. Can’t really get around that! I think I can give up the extra sweetness and just eat an apple.
Nice work! 5 pounds is a great start! I’m not sure if you’d be interested – but the book, Younger Next Year was a game changer for me. (It’s a New York Times best seller.) It has a companion book – Thinner This Year too. No dieting – just changing your eating for good. We finally did it and dropped 8 and 9 pounds (me, my husband) in about 3 months and we’ve kept it off. We feel a ton better too.
Vicki,
Yes, I absolutely love reading health, wellness and nutrition books! I’ve read Younger Next Year. Looks like a trip to the library is in order to pick up Thinner This Year!
Wow, that is a nice success story, congratulations to you and your husband for releasing that weight!
Thank you for checking out my post, and for sharing your thoughts! Very helpful!
Whether it’s about achieving FI or reaching an ideal body weight, you really can’t manage what you don’t track. Counting calories like managing your budget is the single most important thing that one should do to achieve success. Great job!
Thank you! It’s amazing how quickly money can just disappear when you’re not tracking it. Just as the calories can add up before I even realize I’m over my limit for the day. I agree with you, Menard Solve, thanks so much for stopping by!
Well done on your loss! I found this really interesting, and enjoyed your comparisons. I can relate to not paying attention causing a few hiccups here and there, both with weight loss and finances! It’s amazing the difference it makes when you really start to look at what you’re doing.
Great post with a unique approach – thanks for sharing!
Thank you, Ruth! It’s so true, energy flows where attention goes, whether it’s personal fitness or personal finance.
I really appreciate that you popped in and shared your thoughts ~ thanks for the feedback!
Nice report and comparison between weight loss and retirement catch up.
I have been working on weight loss also and it is frustratingly slow and inconsistent. Still, I am down 10 lbs from last year, I would like to lose another 10 lbs though.
I mostly work on smaller portions and healthier food. Sometimes I am successful, sometimes I am not. 🙂
Karen, that is great that you’ve lost & kept off 10 pounds! I go up and down and end up staying in the same range most of the time. I’m still working on it! Thanks for stopping by!
Hi Kathy.
Great post!
And well done on the weight loss. I know its a struggle for all of us to keep things in control.
And how good an office is an airplane? I write some of my best posts in the fastest times sitting in an airplane, especially on those little 1 hour flights.
As a side note, i will soon be doing a post on some great weight loss results I had recently. Similar to what you did but with some minor twists. I absolutely am guilty of eating for entertainment so it was a huge challenge for me.
As another side note. Artificial sweeteners. Interesting theory.
Regardless of any other benefit or risk, when we consume an artificial sweetener with zero calories, but we enjoy the sweetness, we record a win in our minds. However our bodies experience an ‘ i just had something sweet’ reaction. all the processes that happen when we have something sweet go in to motion. Your metabolism or whatever it is goes looking for sugar to turn in to fat, just as if you had cake, but they rake it from, say, the apple you just ate. you may as well have had the sugar.
The trick is more likely to move away from the need to have the sugar cube treat. when i work out the answer to that dilemma, i will let you know. In the mean time, happy saving on the calory and fiscal front.
Looking forward to reading both your next posts and your back catalogue.
Shaun
Thank you, Shaun! I’m definitely looking forward to your weight loss post, let me know when it goes live. One of the things that makes the biggest difference for me is moving more. I’ll keep working on that. Thanks for checking out my posts!
Great post and congrats on losing 5lbs. I know it was short of your goal but any progress is worth celebrating. I really enjoyed the comparison between weight loss and financial independence. I hadn’t really thought about it before but there are a lot of similarities. Thanks.
Thanks for your support, Bill! I’m still working on eating healthy, reducing weight, and catching up retirement savings. Glad you enjoyed the post!
I’m so glad I came across this! I didn’t know that about Stevia and will be taking a closer look at food labels! Congratulations on your weight loss; 5 lbs is worth celebrating!
Aw, thank you, Lori! Yes, I read labels quite a bit, lol. It helps.
I like how you made the comparison between weight loss and financial independence. Both can be such an up and down struggle at times. You’ve got some great tips and I did not know about the problems with Stevia, my mom uses that all the time! I will have to speak with her about that.
I’ve got to go out now and do some moving around after reading your article! I’m a little more motivated!
Trace
Thank you, Trace! Glad you found it motivating! I just got back from a walk myself. I’m still on the path – working on healthy weight loss as well as catching up retirement savings.
Congrats on the weight loss! I think that when you start changing your lifestyle around to be more aware of your finances you start to make better choices regarding your health as well: the food you buy, the activities you do etc. They often go hand-in-hand.
Thank you, I’m actually down 18 pounds now. I’ve definitely found that to be true, you’re right. Changing my behavior with money has led me to see that I really can make positive changes in many areas. I’m currently doing a Healthy Wage challenge, which is motivating from both a financial and a health perspective.
Thanks for stopping by, A Dime Saved!
Calorie counting helped me the most and it actually controlled my hunger too. But I think I will implement the other ideas as well, I gotta get ready for the summer after all.
Glad to hear what worked for you, too, Heidi! It’s good to try different strategies, I think it all helps. I’ve stuck to eating low carb and increasing plants and fiber in my diet. I’ve also increased the amount of walking I do. Adding more healthy fats to my diet curbed my hunger – I eat avocados almost every day. Thanks for stopping by!
Hey Kathy,
first, congrats on the weight loss.
Second, thank you for this great post. I never thought about it but there are definitely similarities between weight loss & FI.
Thank you for that! 🙂
Of course, Lily! So glad you enjoyed the post! I need to do an update, as I’ve now lost 30 pounds over the course of a year. It’s fun to think about the similarities between weight loss and FI. I’m losing weight as I catch-up my retirement savings!
Never heard about Path to Fi, amazing ideas..