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You can help your family meet several goals this year with some minor lifestyle changes. While people tend to lose interest in living healthier when they’re faced with changing their lifestyle habits, many changes can be enjoyable. In addition to helping your family live healthier lives, these changes can help you build stronger bonds with your spouse and children.
Get More Exercise Together
Everyone in your family should be getting 30-60 minutes of moderate to high-intensity exercise each day, but more physical activity is better. Even if your children take up sports in school, you should still require them to participate in family workouts each night. This doesn’t necessarily require hitting the gym for an hour of resistance training. In fact, you’ll keep your family interested in fitness if you find a variety of different physical activities to enjoy. You can go swimming a few nights a week, take up bicycle riding, or enjoy a game of tennis. Try letting each family member pick an activity to ensure everyone gets to do something they enjoy.
Promote Relaxation and Stress Relief
Alleviating stress is as important to your family’s health as getting enough physical exercise. While physical activity helps reduce stress, you should encourage your loved ones to engage in relaxation activities as well. Certain types of physical therapy, such as seeing a chiropractor in Jonesboro GA, can also be very effective in reducing stress. Anything that promotes the production of endorphins or “feel good” neurotransmitters will help combat higher levels of stress hormones in the blood. Encouraging your family members to read, take warm baths, or practice meditation are more ways to promote relaxation.
Drink More Water
Each person should drink two-thirds of their weight in water. To figure this out, take your weight and convert that number to ounces. Two-thirds of that number is how many ounces you should be drinking each day. For example, a 200-pound individual should be drinking 150 ounces of water per day. Meeting this goal for water consumption will help ensure your skin and internal organs get the hydration they need to thrive. Additionally, drinking more water will leave you and your loved ones feeling full for longer. Your family will have fewer opportunities to drink sugary beverages, and that full feeling will prevent unhealthy snacking.
Adopt a Healthier Diet
Good nutrition is an essential part of any health and wellness plan, so you should begin by making small changes to your family’s diet. Start by choosing healthier options that will be less noticeable, such as replacing white bread with whole grain alternatives. Instead of buying potato chips and popcorn, buy dried fruits and vegetables for snacks. Frozen berries can easily replace ice cream and sherbet. Rather than eliminating meat altogether, choose leaner cuts of red meat, poultry, and wild caught fish. Instead of buying pasta and potatoes, make pasta out of zucchini or squash. Sweet potatoes and yams are healthier options over white potatoes. Making these substitutions will make it easier for your family to eat healthier on a gradual basis. Since you won’t be buying processed foods that are high in sugar and trans fat, your family will have to turn to the healthier options that you are buying.
Make Sure Everyone Gets Enough Sleep
Getting a full seven to eight hours of sleep is also essential to your family’s health and wellness. You should make sure everyone in the home stops drinking caffeinated beverages six hours before they go to bed. The blue light given off by phone and tablet screens can also disrupt the sleep cycle, so electronic devices should be put away one hour before bedtime. Instead, this time of the evening is ideal for meditation, yoga, reading, and other relaxing activities. You should also ensure everyone’s bedding is soft and comfortable. Use fans and the air conditioner to keep the temperature around 65 to 70 degrees for an optimal sleep environment. If your family still has trouble sleeping, try using sleep masks and earplugs to eliminate distractions.
Conclusion
Before making significant changes to your lifestyle, everyone in your family should undergo a medical evaluation. Your family doctor can recommend safer ways to change daily habits, so your family can benefit from making positive changes. Your doctor may also recommend other lifestyle changes to increase your family’s quality of life.
