8 Healthy Habits for the Whole Family

Working as a team can increase motivation and encourage accountability. When you build healthy habits, it can strengthen your family bonds and create a strong foundation for your children’s future.

Let’s check out 8 small ways to get started.

1. Start the day with a healthy breakfast. If you have some picky eaters, try using basic fruit and make a smoothie. Spend one day preparing breakfast sandwiches ahead of time and warm them up for an easy and quick breakfast for the entire week.
   
   
2. Include your children in meal prep once a week. Making a dish as a family requires participation from each member and helps foster team-building with a delicious reward at the end! Choose something easy like pizza or spaghetti to decrease frustration. If you have multiple children, have them alternate weekly. One week of cooking, the other week setting the table or doing the dishes.
   
   
3. Eat together as often as possible. Take it one step further and keep the devices away from the table. Some families have implemented a gadget basket. Place a basket or box nearby but out of reach, and before sitting down, ask everyone to put their phone or gadget into the basket—you go first! By removing distractions, you are more likely to engage in conversation and teach active listening. If prompts are needed to get the conversation going, ask everyone to share one thing about their day that made them smile.
   
   
4. Drink more water. To encourage healthy hydration, why not purchase reusable water bottles for each family member and encourage them to refill them throughout the day. You can even have a contest to see who drinks the most water!
   
   
5. Talk about your feelings. Family is where your first and strongest emotional memories are made. Active awareness is powerful as it creates emotional intimacy. When it’s safe and acceptable to be open and honest, your family will become stronger and closer.
   
   
6. Keep a bedtime routine. Encouraging kids to get the proper amount of quality sleep will not only help them today but in the future. Involve your children in decision-making when it comes to a bedtime routine, so it becomes less of a struggle.
   
   
7. Stay active together. Going for walks as a family is a great way to reinforce healthy habits. You can incorporate daily walks or commit to 3 days a week. Children love consistency, and giving them something to look forward to that encourages an active lifestyle will be a great memory to cherish.
   
   
8. Celebrate achievements. It’s a great confidence builder to focus on each other’s progress and successes instead of mistakes and weaknesses. Don’t expect perfection. If your child is supposed to clean their room five times a week, but they only do it three times, praise them for their effort instead of focusing on what they did not do. Positive reinforcement always brings about better results than shame-based feedback.

You may not have everyone’s support when you get started. After all, forming good habits can be a challenge. So choose one and after you feel that your family has mastered that, move on to the next.

Good times are better when shared with family.