Fitness Tracking to Slimmer Pants & Bigger Profits

What's the point of  these Urbanomics Pillars: “Spiritual”, “Financial”, “Physical”, and “Mental” if I am not applying the tools that have made me successful in business and in the stock market to my health. Are you going corporate on me??....Quite simply, yes :)  When I sit back and reflect on what things made me college recruited football player, I circle back to one word: DISCIPLINE..not a fad or a diet or a quick fix.  I'm getting OLD but the one thing every gym rat had in his or her hands before phones and fitness trackers took over...was a WORKOUT SHEET. This sheet tracked my progress and told the story if I got stronger, faster, and more agile.  I still used a spreadsheet up until a few years ago because it was built into my DNA. But with a very busy schedule at work I noticed I was declining into a part-time gym rat, I'd go for a few months...then stop because of work or life imbalances.

I decided to stop making excuses and use the same tools that I use to track my investments:

Health Goal: While I would like to retire financially fit and early...let's add physically fit

Budget: While I have a financial budget, I needed to have a health budget (Higher Calories Burned minus Calories Being Eaten = Healthy Rewards. Keep it simple

Risk Management - In the stock market, Warren Buffet has 1 rule...never lose money. So why not transform this rule simply to: Don't Gain Weight. If I stick to my budget (above) some days I might not lose weight but ultimately I won't gain unhealthy amounts of weight.  If I am thoughtful, I can CHOOSE to just eat a little less OR more of something healthier. I choose to not invest in RISKY Penny Stocks so why not cut back on risky foods :)

Benchmark: You're not managing your money wisely IF you don't know what the average market returns.  So to understand the averages, I purchased a Fitbit health tracker and used their baseline. 8-10K steps (3-5 miles), climbing 10-20 stairs a day, walking at least 3-10 minutes an hour (during the 8 hr workday). I added in basic government calorie consumption guidelines and ATTEMPT sleeping 8 hours a night. 

Tracking: I have an fitness tracker that tracks my portfolio because I need to BEAT the benchmark to be financially fit. My goals are set to the benchmarks above and it creates a "no excuses" culture. I couldn't believe early on what the reader was telling me. Sometimes with work, I might not move within an hour...what!!!  I've lost over 10% of my body weight, wear clothes that didn't fit, decreased the waistline, and more importantly watched things like my resting heart rate drop.

The path to bigger pockets is being active and clear: mind, body, and soul, so get moving and don't let unhealthy habits drain your riches in your later years. I share my health goals with others so its no longer weird when I excuse myself for a 10 minute walk/break, jog at random times in my house to reach my goals, look forward to cutting the grass each week to pad the ole stats. I'll tell you more about my eating adjustments later but a low carb/Keto/S.Beach like lifestyle has grown on me and even allows me to FAST now for multiple hours in the morning, still feel great, and many times I feel sharper when making business and investment decisions. If you've cheated yourself...get back in balance and slimmer pants and a calmer mind could mean bigger pockets.

I'm Tracker Agnostic so tell me if you're a fan of Fitbit, Apple Watch, Samsung Gear, Garmin, AND more importantly what you track.  For now, I'm gonna "Walk It Out" to my goals:

Walk It Out

Do you know how to get there...

Is a common question you get nowadays when travelling somewhere. The answer has now been simplified to a VERB that references a webpage. It usually goes something like this: Well I'll MAPQUEST it, or don't forget to GOOGLE it, or hey I'll look it up on Yahoo Maps. And for the sophisticated crowd they will be happy to let you know that they are looking up directions on their Global Positioning System (GPS) device. You have seen the increase in commercials telling us to use "Tom Tom" or a "Garmin" GPS device to get you to where you need without much thought on your part. And when you go to Google, Mapquest and Yahoo have you ever noticed the little company in the corner of the map with the trademark. It usually says NAVTEQ, which is the provider of digital mapping technology.

So I am bringing up the obvious because when I read a book awhile ago by legendary investor named, Peter Lynch, one of the themes I took away was INVEST IN WHAT YOU KNOW. And what I know is there is definitely a buzz around GPS devices and digital maps. So I remind all Urbanomics readers...when something is in front on your face, don't overlook the obvious. A friend of mine just bought a portable Garmin device that can be used inside and outside of the car. And the other night as we headed to a new club, my brother used the computer to get directions to the location. Lastly, I am in the search for a new car and for the first time ever I included in my search the cars with navigation technology.

So what companies are leading the way say in digital maps and GPS technology. Check these companies out:

GARMIN (GRMN) - maker of GPS devices
NAVTEQ (NVT) - digital mapping
TRIMBLE (TRMB) - maker of GPS devices
SIRF TECH (SIRF) - maker of semiconductor chips that are used in GPS devices

So if I am an average person and I realize the growth of this industry its pretty easy to guess that so have the guys on Wall Street. Need proof, just look at the stock prices of these companies. I think GRMN alone is up over 60% this year alone. So why am I telling you to talk a look at this group, because just like other technologies that were in the stages of taking off, like the IPOD, mapping technology will become a household function used everyday in cars, on the computer, and through portable devices. These stocks are richly valued so wait for an opportunity to buy them, especially going into the holiday season. One thing that I also have learned is that its difficult to price a fast growing stock like the ones listed above...they could keep going up and up.