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[note: links at the end of the post, for enhanced readability]

I was thinking about some of the various changes I’ve made in my life over the last couple of years, and it occurred to me that one of the most successful efforts I’ve made to turn around an aspect of my life was getting out of debt, using Dave Ramsey’s Total Money Makeover plan. In a little over a year, I went from being deeply in debt, to completely debt-free with the exception of my mortgage. What that required was really changing my mindset about money, and whether debt is an acceptable way to obtain things that seem important to me (hint: it isn’t!).

The insight that occurred to me this morning is that my effort to lose weight and get in shape has some interesting parallels to Dave’s Total Money Makeover that bear thinking about. In TMM, one of the first things you do is STOP spending more than you make each month, cut up the credit cards, and build up a small emergency fund ($1000) to help you weather life’s unexpected issues without going further into debt. Then it’s time to start working on paying off your debts, and you’ve got two basic ways to do that:

1. Cut your spending to well below your income, and apply the difference to your debt.
2. Increase your income, and apply the additional income to your debt.

Of course, you can also combine 1 and 2 which can make things go faster than either alone.

The parallels I see are that in any attempt to lose weight and/or get in shape, you’ve got a budget, which is based on your metabolism. Your body will use a certain amount of energy (calories) each day. If you exceed that budget (i.e. – consume more than you burn) you will incur debt (i.e. – gain weight). Thought of that way, the extra weight I’m carrying around can really be thought of as a form of debt, having “financed” my desire for more food, or more fattening foods.

Regardless of the type of plan you have for losing weight, you have two basic options:

1. Cut your calorie intake below what your body burns.
2. Increase your activity/exercise to burn more energy.

Like the Total Money Makeover, you can do both to move things faster. And in another parallel, while you’re figuring out how to best achieve your weight loss/fitness goal, you can start an “emergency fund” by doing small amounts of activity to keep you from getting any deeper in debt (fat). A walk around the block at lunchtime isn’t much, but it’s far better than no activity at all, and doesn’t take much investment.

One of the most important parallels, however, is that like the Total Money Makeover, the plan needs to be a permanent part of your life, not just a technique you use to reach a specific goal. If I decided tomorrow that I wanted a new car, and was willing to borrow to get it, I would be throwing away most or all of the ground I gained by following the TMM plan in the first place.

Likewise, my decision to go to low-carb, and exercising daily as a way of improving my health and fitness needs to be a lifetime decision. So when I reach my weight-loss goal, I need to remember that going back to my previous lifestyle will incur unacceptable debt. As Dave Ramsey likes to say, “debt is dumb,” and I’m tired of being dumb with how I eat and exercise.

Links:

The Total Money Makeover: A Proven Plan for Financial Fitness