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Keeping Your Family Healthy and Well

12/18/2020 R.C. Liley Leave a comment

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2020 hasn’t been the best year for many of us. The coronavirus and Covid-19 pandemic has caused stress and wrought chaos throughout the past months and many of us are pretty concerned when it comes to maintaining our families’ health and wellbeing. Not only are we concerned on a physical level – as nobody wants to contract the virus – but we are also concerned on a level associated with mental health and wellbeing. Isolation is proving pretty difficult for many of us. But what can you do to maximise your family’s overall wellbeing during these times? Here are some suggestions to help guide you along the way!

Follow Covid Guidelines

Perhaps one of the most important things you should be doing right now is following the coronavirus and Covid-19 restrictions being laid out by your government. Why? Well, these measures are being specifically put in place to slow the spread of the virus and to keep you and your family – included in the general world population – as safe as possible. Sure, it may feel difficult playing by the rules all the time. Staying home isn’t the most fun and after months of this situation, many of us are craving seeing people who are not inside our bubble. But at the end of the day, the sooner we all comply with these restrictions, the sooner this will all resolve and pass. Some general advice includes:

Avoid spending time in public as much as possible
Wear masks when in public
Make sure everyone washes their hands regularly
Avoid touching things in public spaces
Stay two metres away from others who don’t live with you
Carry hand sanitiser for use outside of the home

Keep Up With Routine Health Appointments

If your family is asked to attend routine health appointments, it’s still important to attend them. They’re designed to check in on your health so that medical intervention can take place if necessary. Some routine checks could include a visit to the optometrist, a dental checkup, a smear test, a prostate check, routine vaccinations or other health appointments that will vary depending on you and your family members’ sex, age and other factors.

As mentioned earlier, going for a routine medical examination can also include regular visits to dentists and other healthcare professionals, even when you feel there’s no reason to do so. Such regular examinations can help identify potential health issues before they become problematic. This way, your healthcare expert will be in a better position to offer immediate treatment or prevent the condition from occurring. How often you visit your healthcare provider will depend on which area of your health. That said, going for medical examinations at least once a year should be more than enough in most cases.

Routine health appointments cannot only keep you physically healthy, but they can also promote your mental health. Once you attend a specific appointment, you may have to worry less, leading to a stress-free life. And if the health of your family members is in check, as a parent, this can significantly impact your mental state.

Health appointments will go a long way in promoting a healthy lifestyle. For instance, a dental check-up with Zuroff Orthodontic Care will not only promote your teeth’ health, but it can boost your confidence. Going for a scan can help detect the presence of cancerous cells. This can enable you to get the proper treatment and ultimately put you in a better mental state. It can also allow you to prepare yourself financially and also have every family member on board.

There is no limit to how you can benefit from regular health checks. Therefore, ensure you make it a habit never to skip them.

Keep Spirits Up

It can be easy to begin to feel down or struggle during these times. But where possible, do what you can to keep spirits up. Think about it. You and your family at least get to be together during these times. Some people are living completely alone. You can keep spirits up in a number of ways. Cook great meals. Bake together. Watch films. Decorate the house. Pick up hobbies. Exercise together indoors. Use video chat to keep in touch with others. While we may be leading more limited lives than before, there are a number of things you can do to keep yourselves entertained.

Sure, times are difficult. But hopefully, you and your family will pull through okay. The above advice could help to make the upcoming months a little easier, so why not try them out?

Going Healthy, Health, Life, Parenting

Here are 12 Ways To Safe Guard The Health of Your Family

12/16/2020 R.C. Liley Leave a comment

If you have a family, one of your top priorities will be making sure you help them to stay healthy and happy. But how can you do that in the uncertain world that we all live in? Below, you’ll find 12 ways you can safe guard the health of your family. Take a look and see what you can do to make a difference to the lives of those you love:

Get Health Insurance

Start by getting health insurance. It’s so simple to do, and providing you find a policy that suits you and your lifestyle, you’ll be able to protect your family. The last thing you want to do is leave them behind without anything to help them out, should something happen to you. It’s not the most pleasant of situations to think about, but if you plan for it and get insurance now you’ll barely need to think about it again.

Be Active As A Family

When you can be active as a family, you’ll find it so much easier to get and stay healthy. When you’re active as a family, you make exercise fun. You’ll probably have so much fun that it won’t even feel like exercise! However, you’ll show your family how great exercise is and why they should be doing it, instilling healthy habits into them in the long run. You can go on hikes, bike rides, and even do things like roller skating – just have fun together and see it as a bonding exercise.

Stay On Top Of Your Health Appointments

Make sure you stay on top of the health appointments of your family. Stay up to date with your eye appointments and dental appointments, and consider getting your prescriptions online from an online doctor if that would make your lives easier. Just don’t skip appointments and you’ll be able to keep your family healthy and ensure they have everything they need – whether that’s a filling, a new pair of glasses, or an online medical certificate to ensure you can take a day off from work whenever your health takes a turn for the worst.

Take The Taboo Out Of Mental Health

Don’t just focus on your family’s physical health. Focus on your mental health, too. Taking the taboo out of mental health is so important. People can struggle with their mental health for a variety of reasons, and sometimes those reasons aren’t obvious. Making sure you can all talk about these things will create a healthier family culture and ensure your kids know that they shouldn’t feel shame for struggling. There are so many misconceptions out there when it comes to mental health, so make sure you’re not perpetuating and encouraging them in your family.

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Make Sure Your Home Is Safe

Making sure your home is safe can take some time, so pick the most important things and go from there. For example, things like outside lighting and CCTV can help to deter intruders from your home immediately. You can also:

Get rid of trees, shrubs, and anything else that could allow an intruder to hide.
Reinforce your windows and doors to ensure they are safe from intruders.
Change the locks.
Get down to your kid’s level and make sure it’s childproof- are sharp corners covered? Have you covered the plug sockets?
Get a dog – or if you can’t afford one/don’t have the time for one, put up a sign that says you have a dog. Studies show that it can be just as good of a deterrent.

Pay Attention To The Behaviour You’re Modeling

You should know that everything you do is modelling behaviour to your kids. If you talk badly about yourself, you’re modeling that behaviour. If you work too much and don’t rest, you’re modeling that behaviour. Make sure you model the behaviour that you’d like your kids to pick up on. Whether they show it or not, they are picking up on it. You can tell them until you’re blue in the face not to do something, but if you’re showing them with your own behaviour that it’s fine to do, they are going to do it.

Make Balanced Meals

Balanced meals for your family ensure you’re all getting plenty of fruit and veg and other nutrients each day. It can be tough to make balanced meals each day, so use the following pointers:

Prep veg in advance. As soon as you buy your veg and get it home, wash it and chop it. You can then just grab what you need when you’re cooking.
Set a few hours aside on a day each week when you’re free and make some meals to freeze. This way, you can avoid buying take out and just grab meals out of the freezer instead.
Stick to the same sort of meal plan each week so you can save time buying and preparing food. You can change it with the seasons, but you’ll find it much easier this way.

Eat At Least One Meal Together Per Day

You’d be surprised at the benefits that eating one meal together per day can have on your family. Eating just one meal together each day can help your kids to do better in school, encourage them to avoid peer pressure, avoid bad habits like smoking, and so much more. You don’t even need to talk about these things at the table – they are just side effects of spending quality time together like this as a family. Take a look at some more of the benefits of this here.

Be Careful With Your Language

The words and phrases you choose can truly make a difference to the people around you. Make sure you’re careful with your language. Don’t lose your temper and scream at your kids, or you can expect similar behavior from them later on. Keeping your cool and explaining why they have behaved poorly is so much more effective. You should also know how to praise your kids effectively. Remember to praise their efforts, and not just the results – and don’t just reward them with food. Using the right kind of language can help them so much in the long run. Using the wrong kind can create perfectionists that are reluctant to try anything new through fear of failure.

Limit Screen Time

Limiting screen time is best for your families mental and physical health. Allowing them too much time on a screen could stop them from spending enough time in the great outdoors. Not only that, they could end up forgetting what is truly important. Screen time can be addictive, but living a life away from the screen is so important. Make sure you have clear rules around screen time so that your family is healthy and happy with other hobbies.

Encourage Hobbies

Encouraging your family to have hobbies is crucial, too. Ask your kids what they are interested in and allow them to try things out until they find something they’d like to stick to. They might want to dance, paint, play a sport, or do something a bit unusual. Try to humor them, and remember, this isn’t about you living your life vicariously through them. Let them follow their own interests and passions.

Protect Your Skin

Protecting your skin might not sound that important, but the sun can be more harmful than you think – even during winter. Apply SPF each day and get your family into the habit, too. This will protect from cancer, damage, and other issues that come with unprotected skin.

Are you ready to safeguard your family with the information here? Leave your own thoughts and advice below!

Going Healthy, Health, Life, Lifestyle

Why Sleep Matters As Much As Exercise For Your Dog

12/14/2020 R.C. Liley Leave a comment

As a dog owner, you would want your furry companion to be active and healthy throughout its life. Ensuring a balanced diet can make all the difference, and you will probably emphasize a lot on exercise as well. Even as you wouldn’t ever want to miss out on its daily walks and playtime, there is another factor you cannot ignore. Giving them ample rest is equally important to keep their health and energy levels on top. Surprisingly, sleep matters as much as an exercise to keep your dog happy and healthy. Here are some reasons why you should make sure that the pet is getting enough sleep and rest every day.

Keeps physical illness at bay

Just like humans, dogs need enough sleep to be healthy and stay safe from disease. A lack of sleep wreaks havoc on the animal’s immune system, and it will fall sick often. Ample rest, on the other hand, boosts immunity and keeps disease at bay. If your pet has medical conditions such as joint problems, it will need an extra dose of rest to stay comfortable. It is best to discuss the optimal sleep period with your pet and ensure that it is getting enough. Also, your vet will have the recommendations for the kind of exercise that would work for the sick animal.

Helps in processing life skills

Sleep is as important for your pet’s mind as it is for its body. A restless dog tends to be lethargic, and there are good chances that it will develop behavioral issues such as separation anxiety and aggression. Moreover, good rest lets the animal develop social and behavioral skills. If you are training the animal, investing in natural sleep aids for dogs is a good idea because it is likely to be overtired during the training phase. The effort is worthwhile because you have a healthy, happy, and well-behaved companion at the end of the day.

Know how much is enough

Now that you understand the value of good sleep and rest for your dog, you will also want to know how much enough is. Although there isn’t a one-size-fits-all formula, the age and size of your pet can help you decide the right number of hours of sleep that would be sufficient. Puppies require 12-18 hours of it because they are often highly energetic and stay on the move. Adults require 14 hours, while larger breeds may even need up to 18 hours of sleep. The requirement increases as the animal ages, so you can expect the senior dog to rest for more than 18 hours a day.

A dog owner needs to pay attention to the signs of insomnia and check with the vet immediately at the earliest symptoms. The problem may not be serious as your pet maybe a little more tired than usual on some days, just because it has been extra active or it isn’t well. You can consider missing the walk once a while if the pet appears to need a rest day.