Healthy Home = Healthy Life

I want to share some stats and awesome info that I recently read in the book Eat Move Sleep. First off let me give a plug for the book...it's been a great read that goes super fast and has tons of practical tips to help you start making changes in your life.  It's not loaded down with science but provides enough to let you know that the stuff he is saying isn't some nonsense he pulled out of thin air.  

There is a chapter in the book where he refers to a study of more than 6,000 people that all tried to lose weight and what the common characteristics were of the most successful.  A common theme among the successful was being healthy at home.  Seems like common sense right??? You spend most of your time there but so many people live in a toxic home that doesn't promote health!  

Here were just a few of the interesting stats that the study showed:

• 92% of the participants found a way to workout from home
• 78% ate breakfast every day
• 75% weighed themselves once a week
• 66% watched less 10 hours of TV per week
  
  

I love that first stat and I wish I could say that I knew that before I started working out at home but that was just a complete accident.  It makes a ton of sense though!  Whether you are doing a Beachbody program, going for a run, or following some fitness app program being active is key.  The thing with home workouts that we love is that the convenience and the time we save.  Let's be honest most people are busy these days so finding 60-90 minutes to get to a gym, workout, shower, and get home is tough.  So if you can roll out of bed lace up your shoes and be done working out in 30 minutes that's a huge plus and I think that is why 92% of the people that were successful found a way to make that happen at home.  

Eating breakfast... If you've followed us for a bit you know I've dabbled with Intermittent Fasting.  There is a great science behind it and can lead some amazing results.  It's a hard thing though for a novice to jump right in to and be successful.  I think that is why the breakfast stat is an important one.  Eating breakfast is a great way to set the stage for the rest of the day.  If you start your day with a quality breakfast you will be a lot less likely to jump at the office donuts or the french fries at lunch.  Your cravings will stay in check!  

Weighing yourself once a week, this one was a little interesting to me.  I get that tracking your progress is a good way to determine if you need to make changes but for the average person they really don't know what changes to make.  Other than maybe eat less and exercise more, which we know isn't always a great solution.  Plus weight isn't the sole determiner of progress.  So we will just let this one go...and agree to disagree.

I love this last stat about TV watching.  Frankly because I used to be a 10+ hour a week TV watcher.  Let's be honest even the most riveting show gets boring at times so I turned to ice cream to help with that boredom.  Mindless TV watching often times leads to mindless eating.  On top of that TV watching also means sitting which is terrible for your health.  The amount of activity went up substantially when we ditched the cable and we would encourage you to do the same.  

Other Ways to "Healthify" Your Home

1. Clean out your pantry and fridge!  If you have junk in the house you will eat it.  
2. Get some quality sleep!  Sleep is one of the most underrated things people focus on when it comes to their health.  It is vital to get some quality sleep every night and let your body reset.  If you want a great book to read on the subject check out Shawn Stevenson's Sleep Smarter. 
3. Eat as a family.  Kind of a weird one coming from a nutritional geek but our relationships are key to our health.  Slowing down enough to sit around a dinner table and have a conversation with your loved ones will not only help your relationships with your family, it will also set the stage for your kids' kids in their homes.