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Transcription
Liz Josefsberg:
I was able to get a lower health insurance bill because I was so healthy. Just being a healthy person saves you so much money.
Bobbi Rebell:
You're listening to Financial Grownup, with me, certified financial planner Bobbi Rebell, author of How To Be A Financial Grownup, and you know what? Being a grownup is really hard, especially when it comes to money. But it's okay, we're going to get there together. I'm going to bring you one money story from a financial grownup, one lesson, and then my take on how you can make it your own. We got this.
Bobbi Rebell:
Hello, my financial grownup friends, we are talking health and wellness here on the Financial Grownup podcast, because you gotta have those if you want to be wealthy in the end. Very excited to share this interview with this woman that I have come to adore. Her name is Liz Josefsberg, she is a health, wellness and weight loss expert. She has worked with so many big names, everyone, including Jessica Simpson, Jennifer Hudson, who is on The Voice, love her. Katie Couric, personal idol of mine, I think she is amazing, and Charles Barkley. All of whom she talks about in her latest book, Target 100. And by the way, the love is mutual, they all endorse her as well.
Bobbi Rebell:
Welcome everyone, and to our new listeners, thank you for checking us out. We keep the shows on the shorter side, but they are designed to stack together to fit whatever amount of time you have available. Make your own playlist. With that, let's get some great advice from Liz, who after leaving her corporate job at Weight Watchers, started her own business, and like millions of people had to go shopping for health insurance on her own for the very first time. Here is Liz Josefsberg.
Bobbi Rebell:
Hey, Liz Josefsberg, you're a financial grownup, welcome to the podcast.
Liz Josefsberg:
Great to be here, thanks for having me.
Bobbi Rebell:
For those of our listeners who aren't already fans of yours, you are a very well known weight loss expert. You are the author of Target 100, the world's simplest weight loss program in six easy steps, foreword by non other than Jennifer Hudson, and as a lot of our listeners know, I always love to talk about the connection between health and wealth. So I'm so happy to have you.
Liz Josefsberg:
I'm so glad to be here.
Bobbi Rebell:
And before we get into your money story, I do want to talk just a little bit about the book. Right here on the front page it is a who's who of people that are famous for getting in shape, and you were their coach. People like Jessica Simpson, Charles Barkley, Katie Couric, Dr. Oz, Rocco DiSpirito, the famous chef. Pretty cool stuff.
Liz Josefsberg:
Yeah. I've had a great, great career and I'm very lucky to work with amazing, amazing people, and I love all those guys, but I would say standing behind those famous names are thousands of people, thousands of everyday moms, dads, working people, and even myself, having lost 65 pounds.
Bobbi Rebell:
Right. You lost that weight and then you went on to work at Weight Watchers where you were really a brand ambassador for them and working with all these celebrities, but then it came time for you to go out on your own, and that was a big life transition, and you had to make some big financial grownup choices of your own. One of which, and this is a big one, is for the first time in your life you had to buy your own health insurance.
Liz Josefsberg:
Yeah.
Bobbi Rebell:
So that is your money story. So tell us, what happened? You leave Weight Watchers, and suddenly you're starting your own company, what do you do? Where do you begin, and what was that like?
Liz Josefsberg:
I have to say, that was one of the scariest parts. You work for a big corporation, and I was there for 11 years, I played all these roles, and the corporation takes care of everything for you. It's like they're leading you through it, there aren't that many choices, and then I was very intentional about wanting to start my own company and wanting to get out on my own, but that was one of the things that held me back for some time actually. So I'm here to say that once you do go out into the world and buy your own health insurance, it's not as scary as it seems, so don't let it hold you back.
Bobbi Rebell:
Tell us what actually happened. So you realized you had to do this, where do you even begin, for people that have never had to do this, and what was it like?
Liz Josefsberg:
Yeah. So, I was lucky because the marketplace was open that year. It was the first time it had ever opened, so things weren't going smoothly, I will give you that. It was crashing all the time, if you remember. So I started there and I started just researching a bunch of different plans, and looking at different levels of what did I actually need? Because my husband is an actor, he has a union, and he has life insurance and health insurance through there, and I just was, it's just for me, not for my kids. Just for me as a solo person, I don't have a big corporation.
Liz Josefsberg:
So I started to think about what did I actually need, and I think this was one of those moments where I was so grateful that I did live a healthy lifestyle and I was a healthy person, because I felt like I looked through things like what a bronze level was, and what a silver level, and what a gold level was, and what those comparisons were between different companies, and what I would be getting, and what my deductibles would be. And I was just grateful that I was able to get a lower health insurance bill because I was so healthy.
Liz Josefsberg:
I would say as a part of what I do, I'm always encouraging people to think about where and how just being a healthy person saves you so much money.
Bobbi Rebell:
And just to ask this, I feel a little silly that maybe this is obvious, but when you say you got a lower rate because you were healthier, do you go in and get an exam and get told, "Oh, you're at low risk for all of these things, so we'll give you a better rate," or are you just self diagnosing and saying, "Well, I'm going to go on the bronze plan, not the silver plan, because I feel more comfortable with that because I think the odds of me having something more serious are low."
Liz Josefsberg:
Do you know what? I did two things hand in hand. I did go to my general practitioner and have a check up to just reinstate and recheck my blood sugar levels, things like that. I was pretty confident that I was a healthy person, but I wanted to make sure first. I also looked back and did a little bit of a self audit about how often am I going to the doctor? I knew I wanted to be covered for anything catastrophic, but honestly I get sick, if even, I'm knocking on some wood right now, but if even once a year, and usually some little cold.
Liz Josefsberg:
That was my 'aha' moment. I go for my general checkups, I get my mammograms, I want those things to be covered, but I don't have a lot of need because I'm really taking great care of myself, and I would say that some of that money that I save on health insurance, I definitely spend on healthcare for myself. I spend it on supplements that I believe in, I spend it on gym memberships, and athletic clothing, and all the things that keep me healthy, but it's much less than I would be spending.
Bobbi Rebell:
I love the idea that you did this health audit of looking back at the actual healthcare services and products that you were actually using, because a lot of us don't necessarily pay deliberate attention to that the way we do with our finances. So we have all these software programs that we use to analyze where our money is going, but you were analyzing where your healthcare spending was going, and broadening that, not just to the actual medical bills, but also to things that improved your health, and really taking a tactical approach when making this ... How much you pay for health insurance can be a huge part of your financial budget.
Liz Josefsberg:
Yes. I'm probably spending about a third as much of a lot of the people that I've heard in my age range are spending, and that is because I feel so confident that with my lifestyle, and the lifestyle that I've created even in my book, which it's not really just about your weight, it's about the hours of sleep that I get, it's about the stress relief that I believe in, it's about my hydration levels, it's about my exercise and my movements. So not just getting to the gym, but how much I walk, how many steps I get in a day, and then about my nutrition as well.
Liz Josefsberg:
So I feel very confident having built a life of healthy habits, that this would be the right amount of coverage for me, and I think thinking about those things of, "Okay, how could I lower my health insurance bills? I could really investigate the habits in my life that are making me get sick more often, that are making me less strong and stable, so that I am falling and breaking things." All of those things that are going to cost you so much more in the long run than taking care of yourself in a gentle way. And I'm not talking crazy change your life kind of ways, but the simplest things like staying hydrated keep my immune system running at its optimum levels. 75% of America is critically, critically dehydrated.
Liz Josefsberg:
So I'm always talking about simple shifts that are going to pay major, major dividends.
Bobbi Rebell:
So what is the lesson for our listeners here then, what's the take away?
Liz Josefsberg:
I really encourage people to make the small shifts that give the biggest impact. So I keep coming back to hydration because it's such a great example. If you are critically dehydrated, all of your systems aren't running well. So learning and triggering the habit of drinking water is a perfect example of how you can change your health outcomes and change your life with a simple shift.
Bobbi Rebell:
And speaking of which, that brings us to our everyday money tip, and this has to do with a client of yours.
Liz Josefsberg:
Yeah. I'm all about people living and having a weight loss program that actually fits in their life. So this particular client lives in New York, he has to dine out a lot, most days he's eating out, and he didn't want to give that piece up because he can't really. So we looked at his life, and he was talking about wanting to go out for Chinese food, and I said, "What you're ordering isn't bad at all, it's the amount that you're ordering. So instead I want you to sit down, I want you to order what you like, I want you to ask them for a to go box, put half of it in and have that for lunch the next day." So my everyday money tip is, you can get two meals out of one. You can split that price right down the middle and save a ton of money, and lose weight at the same time, by just splitting those portions. Always do it upfront, because if you leave it on the plate you might not be able to stop yourself from eating it.
Bobbi Rebell:
That last part is key. Alright, let's talk about your business and Target 100. There's so many things that I like about this, one of which is that you talk about sample eating plans. That's one of the first major chapters of it, but then you say, but this is my eating plan and that doesn't mean it's right for you.
Liz Josefsberg:
That's where I saw long term success living. Wasn't if you blindly follow somebody else's meal plan, because maybe you don't like kale and quinoa, it doesn't mean you can't lose weight.
Bobbi Rebell:
Right, and you talk about how certain celebrities, like Jennifer Hudson, had trouble with that. They were on these different plans but they couldn't stick to it.
Liz Josefsberg:
Jennifer was terrified. She loves chicken wings, that's one of her favorite foods, and sushi too, and she swore off of those. I was like, "You don't need to swear off of those." I said, "But hey, when you get out and you want to have the chicken wings, you've got to start with a salad to fill yourself up, then get a half order instead." So it's not about not having, it's about the management of.
Bobbi Rebell:
And portion control. Then the final thing I want to touch on is technology, that you're really pro technology.
Liz Josefsberg:
I am pro technology. I think about this as there are of course Fitbits, but there are also these amazing technologies. These scales that wirelessly upload to your phone and they give you all these outputs of not just your weight, but your body fat. There are connected water bottles that tell you how much water you've had during the day, and ping you to remind you to drink the water. There are incredible breath analysis technologies now that can tell us if we're actually in ketosis, if you wanted to be on a keto diet, just by analyzing particles in your breath. So there are incredible moves forward that are happening in technology, or just take Peloton.
Bobbi Rebell:
Yes.
Liz Josefsberg:
You've got this amazing technology that's creating community and inspiring people, and gamifying exercise in a way that we know those are the things that are going to move the needle on obesity. It's really about accountability, support, and gamification. Technology is going to single handedly be the thing that turns the tide on this thing.
Bobbi Rebell:
Love it all. Where can people get in touch with you and learn more about all of this?
Liz Josefsberg:
You can look me up on all platforms, Instagram, Facebook, Linkedin, you name it, as Liz Josefsberg, and it's J-O-S-E-F-S-B-E-R-G, and or you can look up the book at Target 100 program on all the platforms as well.
Bobbi Rebell:
Finally, one thing I love about the book is, I feel like I read this but now I'm going to go back and do the worksheets and really go through it. This is a library book, it's not a book you read and then give away. You keep it and make it part of your plan to be healthier. So thank you, Liz.
Liz Josefsberg:
Thank you.
Bobbi Rebell:
Okay my friends, here we go. Financial Grownup tip number one, let's talk about working out and let's be honest here. I love a great $35 boutique fitness class as much as the next person, maybe you don't, but a lot of us do, if we're being honest. But if we're also being honest about the cost, it is really expensive and to some degree not really the best use of our money all the time. Maybe a treat, maybe you get it on a discount site. I use Gilt a lot sometimes, G-I-L-T, but for a lot of us it's really not necessarily the best option all the time, and also it's winter, and for some of us that live in colder climates, we're just not motivating to leave the house all that much.
Bobbi Rebell:
The solution; pick your favorite kind of boutique class and see if they offer a streaming option, or if there's a similar class that does. And remember, obviously you might like your local place, but if you're going online and you're looking for streaming options, the sky's the limit. You are not limited to local, you could go everywhere, and if you're looking for other ideas, you don't know where to start, Class Pass now offers free workouts. Look for Class Pass Go, it is an app, and at least for now, it's free.
Bobbi Rebell:
Financial Grownup tip number two; find the technology that works for you, and you may already have it by the way. It could be on your phone and you just haven't noticed it. For example, if you have an iPhone there's a health app built right in, and you know what? It tracks a lot of things. What I use it for is my steps, and it's great because I will forget about it for the longest time, and then I'll check it, and because I live in New York city and we walk a lot here, I usually get a nice surprise in terms of how many steps I have actually been doing throughout my week.
Bobbi Rebell:
Another one that a lot of people love is My Fitness Pal, which I just downloaded and I'm going to be trying it out, if anyone there has feedback or suggestions for me about My Fitness Pal. Other ones to check out include Health Out, this one is interesting because it puts together restaurants in your area that have healthy menu items, so it actually gives you those options, and then done, which is about habit building.
Bobbi Rebell:
Liz also in the interview, as you remember, stressed hydration. Another thing that I working on, and probably a lot of you, because we always should be drinking more water. A couple apps to try out for that include Water Time, Mobile Creatures, we'll leave links to all of these in the show notes, which rewards you with adorable creatures like cute cats. The other one Drink Water Reminder, great names, they really get to the point. Drink Water Reminder, which will give you a nudge to drink water at set times throughout the day, and by the way the show notes are always at BobbiRebell.com/financialgrownuppodcast and find them there, you could also look at the bottom of the notes, if you're listening in an app, and there'll be a link right there. The other format is BobbiRebell.com/podcast/ and then the guest's name.
Bobbi Rebell:
And of course, I need to know what your favorite fitness, health, and hydration apps are. So please send them to me, you can DM @BobbiRebell1 at Instagram, @BobbiRebell on Twitter, or you could email us hello@financialgrownup.com, and we will then share them with the rest of the listeners through the show notes. Maybe I'll share them on social media as well. Big thanks to Liz Josefsberg for her healthy tips to help us all live our richest lives, and for helping us all get closer to being financial grownups.
Bobbi Rebell:
Financial Grownup with Bobbi Rebell is edited and produced by Steve Stewart and is a BRK media production.
