Let’s talk about “Free” Healthcare. Here’s what I see;

So often, especially in Canada, we are programmed to look for free healthcare. 

Because we don’t pay a fee each time we see a doctor, we think it’s free.

Spoiler alert – it’s not free!

Most benefit plans cover medications but not supplements and other natural remedies.

I even have a client who had her stress leave revoked because her doctor DIDN’T put her on meds!!

She was using counselling, essential oils, meditation, laughter and time in nature but it ‘didn’t count’.

Let’s Get AHEAD Of It

Preventative care is where it’s at for eliminating *yes eliminating* chronic conditions in the body.

Think of chiropractic care, massage, health coaching, gym memberships, nutritional appointments, etc.

These things all serve to keep you well and are designed to stop illness before it starts.

But they’ll cost you.

Our medical system very rarely steps in before there is a problem or diagnosis – something to fix.

What would it be like, instead of waiting for things to get to the diagnosis point, to handle health proactively? What does that even mean?

One of the first things we learned in nutrition school was this “Holistic care for chronic, Allopathic care for acute”

If I break my arm or am in a car accident, I absolutely want to be taken to a hospital. 

If I’m struggling with high cholesterol, diabetes, arthritis, mood swings, hormonal issues, etc. get me some holistic care and get it to me stat.

When we have chronic conditions in the body, it is our lifestyle that we need to look at first. The body is not deficient in a certain medication or pill. It’s deficient in a nutrient or getting too much of something harmful and we can completely address this with lifestyle. And we should address this with lifestyle lest we be at the mercy of ‘FREE Healthcare’ for the rest of our lives.

You’re Paying for “FREE” Healthcare

Nothing is truly free.

We all know that we pay for this health care (I like to call it sick care) with our taxes – which are always going up!

Not only that, when we ignore our body’s basic needs of nutrients, time in nature, movement, stillness, sunshine, etc, we become chronically ill. 

So you may eat carbs all day long, rely on caffeine to keep you going because you don’t sleep, sit at a desk all day and fall asleep in front of the TV every night. That’s a cost!

Meet Health Simplified

In my Health Simplified program, we catch things before they become chronic so that you can live in your best health at each and every age! We focus on living a life focused on being well in every area of your life. We look at the 3 key areas of health (physical, emotional and spiritual) and build from the ground up, focusing on the root cause of dis-ease in the body.

I’m here to tell you, this is the magic sauce. This is what moves the needle forward.

What Happens When Your 3 Key Areas Are Out of Sync?

I’m telling you – every day I get emails like this one telling me that they can’t afford to spend money on their health. 

“I want to eat better – I do.  Time always gets in the way. I have the best of intentions and then I don’t prepare at night, I hit the snooze button and then I’m racing out the door. A typical day for me (this is an actual email I got from someone) includes Tim Hortons breakfast sandwich and French Vanilla Coffee, then cookies or whatever is lying around in the kitchenette at work mid-day, grabbing a Wendy’s salad for lunch or just working through it.

By the time I leave work to run the kids to where they’re going I am FAMISHED.  Often I devour a bag of McDonalds in my car on the way home and then hide the bag in the garbage so my partner doesn’t make any smart assed comments.

I feed everyone else and pick away at it lest they know I’ve grabbed take out on the way home.  They think I barely eat when in reality I’m keeping myself going on garbage!!

Alternatively, I skip the McDonalds, cook something for everyone and eat (while drinking wine) the entire time I’m cooking!

I know this needs to change but I can’t even begin to know where to start. HELP!”

Let’s unpack this together.

So What is “FREE” Actually Costing You???

1. MONEY. The cost, the actual $ out the door on this is astronomical.

Breakfast $7 – $10

Snacks $20 on days I’m providing for office (once a week)

Lunch Wendy’s salad with drink $10

Dinner McDonalds on the way home – $7-$10

A bottle of wine every 3 days = $5/day

Conservatively speaking, that’s $175/week but it goes out in dribs and drabs and it’s food and you have to eat so you just pay it and don’t give a thought to the total cost over time.

For 144.40/week you could join the Health Simplified Program and get a handle on this once and for all.

2. ADRENALINE. The cost of this on your adrenal system is HUGE.

This type of eating pattern and the foods chosen is quite literally sending your body on an adrenaline roller coaster all day long. Your blood sugar levels are rising and crashing so your energy levels have to rise and crash in response.

Longer term we see pre-diabetes and insulin resistance, weight gain especially around the middle and the dreaded ‘back fat’, inability to sleep without something to soothe the adrenals (booze, pot, pills, copious amounts of carbohydrates).

Now you may be reading this thinking “But I don’t eat THAT badly”.

I would NEVER eat McDonalds on a regular basis.

That may be true but believe me when I say that the foods that you are (maybe even subconsciously) choosing are specifically chosen to keep your adrenaline system fired up in order to keep you going.

3. EMOTIONS. The cost on your emotional system is off the charts.

If you’re eating this way, I’m betting you are not being kind to yourself about it. You’re sitting in self-loathing for so much of your day. It can look like:

• telling yourself you are worthless and don’t deserve to feel good – to buy that thing – to take that time for yourself because you are a slob about your food and your weight.
• feeling depressed and relieving or soothing yourself with your favourite food.
• binging and purging.
• falling into a pattern of buying detoxes and quick fixes.
• making deals with yourself “If I don’t do this – I can reward myself with that’.
• feeling like you’ll never get it right so there’s no sense in trying.

4. YOU’VE BEEN PAYING YOUR ENTIRE LIFE ALREADY.

This is a big one I see in the field of holistic or natural health. In Canada, we are under the illusion that healthcare is free. If I break my arm, I can go to the hospital and have it fixed without paying a penny in that moment.

I’ve been paying for this ‘free healthcare’ all my life though – and so have you!

Investing In Your Health

When it comes to putting money on the line for a health program, the first question I’m inevitably asked is “Will my plan cover it?”

Usually no.

What will happen is that you’ll be able to step off the rollercoaster ride of the first 3 things that are going on and stop spending $ on things that are either making your health worse (so that you’re guaranteed to need that free healthcare soon) or spending $ constantly going after the thing that will really soothe the pain away and fill the void that food is filling.

Free Healthcare is not free.

There’s a cost to staying where you are.

Only you can decide if it’s worth it or not.

Curious about the Health Simplified Program?

You can check it out here