We all know that technology is a huge part of our lives, and we all interact with it in different ways. While technology has been incredibly beneficial to us for the purposes of staying connected to our families, it’s limited our connection to ourselves. How can we keep the family connected while also staying active in caring for our bodies?
Decrease Screen Time:
There is so much benefit to being outdoors and being physical. Using your body through motor function and activity helps to develop your brain’s ability to process information, emotion, and even helps to develop the brain’s ability to retain information! Another benefit to getting outside is Vitamin D. Vitamin D comes through the sunlight and is important for strong bones. There’s also a high correlation between Vitamin D and decreased risk of mental illness, weight gain, and even some cancers.
(http://www.webmd.com/osteoporosis/features/the-truth-about-vitamin-d-why-you-need-vitamin-d) If you need to keep your screens on you, even when you’re outside, consider picking up a fitness tracker with the option to allow calls to come through.
Find The Right Exercise:
Find an exercise that the whole family can enjoy. Encourage individual exploration of physical activity. Use the devices to look up something you can do together and have fun with the suggestions. Have everyone look up an activity they’d like to try and put them into a bag and pick selections to try.
Use Positive Reinforcement:
Try a reward system that doesn’t include screen time, but incentivizes physical activity. Offer to have the person who picked the activity skip a dreaded chore the next day. If there was a family member who really hated the workout, but still accomplished it, give them the option to pick the next family activity. Encouraging positive healthy behaviors by rewarding with positive healthy behaviors is a great way to encourage physical activity.
Encourage healthy eating habits:
Make sure you encourage healthy eating with kids. Show how good the food tastes, learn to play with different recipes with your family. Swap out some of your disposable income for healthier habits, skip the Starbucks, and grab a banana and some granola instead! Spend quality time cooking together, and cook multiple meals in advance to save time. Buy your staples in bulk, and set them so they can keep longer.
Ultimately, when families do health conscious things together, their bond becomes stronger as a unit, and each generation thereafter learns more. When kids learn from the family and cook with the family not only are they learning how to do these things for themselves but they’re also creating a stronger bond with their loved ones. That want and love within a family is very healthy for developing the brain, and very healthy for maintaining healthy bodies and selves.