Recession/Depression and Health…..
Posted by Karina on March 08, 2010 - Posted in News There are 5 comments, Add yours!
As you all know we are living in a “recession”. That is what the government calls it anyway. My feeling is that they are too scared to call it like it is; a depression.
We may not fully be there yet but we are heading down a slippery slope of economic downturn that has the momentum of a locomotive. We have seen worse though, in our grandparent’s lifetime.
The great depression started after the stock market crash in 1929 and continued for some well into the 1940’s.
There is an interesting correlation of health to economic hardship. A ton of people lose their jobs therefore lose their health insurance. They run out of money due to the loss of that job and have make cut backs on what type of things they buy and the lifestyle they lead. Most people, rich and poor, had to make sacrifices. They did not worry about not getting ice cream; they worried whether they could give their kids a meal to eat that day. They chose not to fill their bodies with empty calories but with things like veggies, and some meat if they were lucky. Food was extremely expensive so they had to make every penny count.
There was a magazine in print during the Great Depression called Physical Culture that sold hundreds of thousands of copies a month. It was similar to a ”Muscle and Fitness” mixed with Goop.com on how you should eat during these times to stay healthy to avoid too many costly trips to the doctor’s office. The magazine promoted juice concoctions, heavy vegetarian diets, and a lot of fasting to maintain an optimal GI tract. We do not suggest some of these things, but I find it amazing that all these poor down and out people paid to buy magazines to learn how to “take care” of themselves so that they stayed healthier.
This is exactly what we are seeing in our small facility. We have seen some wonderful growth over the last few years while most businesses are having a tough time keeping their heads above water. Why I ask you???? It is for the exact same reason as the Great Depression. Tough times are here and we all know that it is better to stay healthy and be preventative then to suffer the COSTLY expense of illness.
We appreciate each and every one of our members and the effort/money it takes all of you to be a part of our gym.
During the depression, pasture-raised chickens was a necessity, not a luxury. We’re lucky enough to have clients Karen and Merre Jope provide tasty farm fresh eggs for the trainers on a weekly basis!
Comments
That wasn’t very nice John. I like the post, and I’d also like to add that I read in a book written by Christopher McDougal about how you would see a boom in running during times of economic downtime. I don’t remember the statistics he gave, but I found that piece of information very interesting because it seems like it would go the other way. Also, my roommate talked to a spitfire of an old man a few months back. This guy seemed to a 20 year old trapped in an 89 year old body. She asked him about his secret to life. Among different things, he added that the fruits and veggies don’t taste the same as it did back in the good ol days. It got me thinking, how wonderful and enjoyable fruits and vegetables of that time must have tasted.
P.S. - I just saw the link to the Paleo Food Brands. I like the page turning effect. Gonna get me some right now! 
Thanks Christina! It’s important to learn from history as it does tend to repeat itself. We can change many of our current situations by seeing how others, even in different times, dealt with hardships. Learning something new is never uninteresting.
When times are tough people seem to go back to basics. Some of those basics are taking care of yourself and also learning how to optimize the time you spend on your well being. Hey John, it is great that you are so uninterested that you read the post then commented on it.
That was a very uninteresting post. Thanks for the waste of time!