Sometimes healthy living can feel like a burden or a chore that your family just doesn’t have time for. While you know it’s important, you don’t always know how to make it work in your everyday life. Healthy living requires commitment, education, and time, and these are the things that many families around Tampa don’t always feel that they have.
While it’s easy to sneak in some exercise with a visit to the park or beach, and enjoy healthy eating from local farmer’s markets, it’s tempting to enjoy high calorie dining around town or enjoy a lazy weekend after a busy week at work and school. Now, it’s more important than ever to encourage healthy living habits for your family so that they become a normal part of life. Take a look at these ways that you can create healthy habits for your family right in your own home.
Make healthier choices
A great place to start is just to become determined to make healthy choices. For example, instead of buying potato chips and candy bars at the store, fill your home with fruits and vegetables to snack on. Having celery and carrot sticks easily accessible in the fridge will make it easier than ever for your family to choose a vegetable snack over a bag of chips from the pantry.
Stop having unhealthy items accessible in the home, and make healthy choices extremely accessible in the house. This will take out the excuses and create an enticing option for family members looking for something in a pinch. Pre-cutting veggies for the fridge will also make it easier to healthy lunches too.
Encourage activity
While it’s tempting to take it easy in your downtime and relax around the house, making physical activity the go-to decision is a wise way to go. Get the kids involved in an after-school activity like sports or volunteering. Invite your children’s friends over for some backyard fun throwing a ball around or take the whole family to the local gym for some activity. Making physical activity fun will make it easier for the kids to stay healthy without realizing they are doing it.
Create zones in your home
Consider separating the house into different zones so that the family understands the different functions of each part of the house for different purposes. For example, is there a part of the house that is best to use technology and smart devices like a homework area, while another area is better to be tech-free, such as the dining room table? Set up zones that allow your family to focus on the appropriate thing for each room, whether it’s family bonding, a snacking area, a study area, and an area to let loose.
Relaxation and quality time is still important
Don’t get too caught up in staying active and having everyone involved in extracurriculars that you forget to schedule time in for family quality time and relaxation. These are just as important as the other tasks, because you need time to take a break and enjoy some more intellectually stimulating or some social interaction with your family.
You can play a game together in the backyard, relax with a book and a hot tea, cook dinner together, or play a board game. Be sure to also use this time to teach your family to practice gratitude to talk about what everyone is grateful for and what brought them joy each day; a great practice to bring the family together and to keep everyone’s mental health in check.
It’s important to keep your family happy and healthy. Promoting health habits like these will make life in Tampa just a little bit sweeter.
Posted by Mike + Michelle Grizzell on
Leave A Comment