- Laugh out loud, a lot
- Cook together, Eat together
- Never miss breakfast
- Conscious snacking
- Tackle household chores together
- Exercise together
- Pray together
- Get enough sleep
- Get regular oral health checks
- Take regular breaks from technology
- Have you tried Sunfeast Farmlite? What do you think?
- What are your favorite healthy snack options?
Investing in our health pays huge dividends, making life happy and enjoyable. The good news is, staying healthy doesn’t have to be a challenge. All it takes is incorporating healthy habits into our lifestyle and we’re half way there.
And when you rope in your family to do it with you, it is a win-win situation for all. And? fewer doctor’s bills!
Last week, I saw the “Health is fun with Farmlite” campaign videos driven by the Farmlite Bytes Film festival from Sunfeast. There’s a whole playlist here. I liked their idea of promoting healthy living. While I found all of them fun, this is my favorite as it pretty much reminded me of my own family having fun!
In our family, we’ve pledged to live healthy.
Inspired by the Health is fun with Farmlite campaign, I’d like to share how our family makes healthy living fun!
Laugh out loud, a lot
We are always ready for a good joke. In fact, we can laugh even without one. Over the years, we’ve developed the ability to see the funny side of everything, even dire situations. Then there are our favorite comedy shows in TV. We like to lighten it up. The laughter helps us stay stress-free, keeps us bonded. Of course, married to someone who can play with puns all the time and has a huge sense of humor helps.
Bonus? Stronger immune systems and balanced blood pressure. All because we enjoy a good laugh.
Cook together, Eat together
You know what they say – the family that eats together stays together. I love that everyone takes a big interest in the grocery shopping list and the menu planning. I love that my son prefers “homemade”, thanks to my Mom who inculcated healthy eating in him. We make it a point to have dinner together every day since lunch is obviously packed and at school / office. Then we clear up together, taking turns with the washing.
Never miss breakfast
This is a rule in our family. No matter how early we have to go out, we make sure we pack in a healthy breakfast. None of that “no time to eat” in our house!
Conscious snacking
My son does not get time to snack, what with his busy schedule as a 12th grader, but on the days he does, he enjoys a family specialty – made from wheat.
As a diabetic I have to be careful about what I eat. My snacks between meals usually consist of these:
- boiled chickpeas, soya beans, black-eyed peas, and just about any sprouts
- salads – tomato and cucumber slices sprinkled with oregano seasoning, a bowl of capsicum, shredded cabbage, carrots
- fruit – apple, guava, half an avocado, apple, orange, pomegranate, pear
- dry fruit trail mix with nuts – almonds, walnut, watermelon seeds, pistachios
I enjoy a cookie once in a while but have to be very careful.
During a trip to the supermarket a month ago, I came across Sunfeast’s Farmlite’s attractive pack in the biscuits aisle. There were two variants – oats and almonds and oats and raisins.
Rather pleased, and curious, I got a closer look. These cookies are made with oats, wheat, almonds / raisins. A first in the health category from the house of ITC foods.
I’ve always been a fan of Sunfeast’s products and was keen on trying this. I got the smaller pack first. And since my family liked it, Sunfeast Farmlite is on my shopping list.
Sunfeast Farmlite’s ingredients include:
- oats and wheat fiber – good for digestion
- proteins – the building blocks
- magnesium – which aids normal muscle function and bone health.
My son likes the oats /raisin version and I find it is a good snack option for those days when he has to stay back at school for lab work. What? His friends love it too! I hope Sunfeast will introduce more variants!
Tackle household chores together
Yep! We prefer not to employ a maid. We enjoy housework! Division of our labors of love, we call it. When the weekend arrives, we start the day early with our coffee and breakfast together. Then, we turn the music on and get going. It is not unusual for that mop to double up as a temporary microphone – we like to sing as we work!
A cheerful three hours later, we’re ready for lunch, which I cook on the side – and we eat. Sometimes we watch a movie together in the afternoon depending on the catching up we have to do.
Exercise together
Exercise is one of the main ingredients of healthy living – I can give you a 100 reasons to exercise! We walk for an hour every evening. I wish we could do that in the mornings, but with everyone having an early start, that’s not possible. We start off by walking briskly for 45 minutes and then for the remaining 15, chat and share the day’s events with each other. We make it a point to take the stairs, not the elevator. And we also make it a point to walk everywhere within a 5 mile radius!
Watch this hilarious video from the Farmlite Bytes Film festival – the guy is so funny making faces!
Pray together
What started off as a childhood habit for my son has become a regular habit before we go to bed. We like it – and feel good after we’ve recited some “shlokas” together. Very soothing.
Get enough sleep
Years ago, we experienced the fatigue of sleeping late. I confess that I find it convenient to stay up late, when there’s no interruption from doorbells and phone calls after dinner. In fact, I am still guilty of sitting up late occasionally, but not as often as before. A lack of sleep is known to cause a number of health issues and I have no intention of finding out what they are. Also, I do not encourage my son to stay up late and study – if he has extra work, I urge him to wake up early and tackle it.
Get regular oral health checks
While we visit the doctor when we have a health problem, it is easy to overlook dental health, which actually determines our overall health. I’ve made the mistake of ignoring a cavity that developed into a root canal – heavier expense + pain. Lesson learned. Now we’re more alert about keeping our dentist’s appointments. Prevention is always better than cure.
Take regular breaks from technology
You know how technology can rule our lives. We’ve made a conscious decision to cut down and get out of the house instead. We enjoy travel and when we cannot go away on a trip, we get to know our own locality better. We also spend time at the local welfare home that we support. Yes, as much as we like to nourish our body, we strive to nourish our soul.
I live with type 2 diabetes and I have to make sure my ABC’s are in check. Which means always being conscious of what I put in my mouth. I am lucky that my family buddies up with me in eating healthy and exercising. While we prefer to snack on fruits and nuts, Sunfeast Farmlite offers a healthy snack option, helping us stay healthy.
Have you tried Sunfeast Farmlite? What do you think?
What are your favorite healthy snack options?
The lovely featured image right on top – with the oats and almonds – is from www.crunchybetty.com ♥