The Upside: Habits of the rich and thin

Since the recession began, we've all been tightening our belts, but only metaphorically. As our finances have grown leaner, Americans' bellies continue to grow larger. Therefore, the question of how to increase net worth while decreasing net girth has been on my mind for a while -- like about 20 years.

You see, I've been both rich and poor as well as fat and thin. Say what you want about the best things in life being free and money not being able to buy you happiness; in my experience, rich and thin were way better. What's more, for me physical and fiscal fitness seem to go together.

For instance, with the help of Jim Karas' The Business Plan for the Body I lost more than 60 pounds in a year by applying the skills I learned from running a successful small business. Since then, I've noticed that the challenges and benefits of following a diet mirror that of following a budget.