BE a Healthy Consumer

Another helping of mashed potatoes or a bit more harvest salad? A mug of eggnog or a glass pinot noir? A slice of pecan pie a-la-mode or a helping of fresh fruit? These are the decisions we’ll all be making this holiday season and boy will the struggle be REAL! The temptations will be endless, but we all know that what we do decide to consume this season will directly impact our health. And, while I wholeheartedly support bending the rules a bit during the holidays (after all that IS part of the fun!)… let’s all pledge to seriously consider our options before we indulge because our health is more important than ANYTHING else! But, I encourage you to take it a step further and think not only about what you physically consume, but also about what you mentally consume!

Who you spend time with, what you watch, what you read, and your own personal thoughts all impact your mental health. Just as eating certain foods is unhealthy for you physically, all the negativity and hate you absorb is unhealthy for you mentally. To this end, I think it’s okay to avoid a holiday gathering if you’re definitely not going to enjoy it. It’s okay to avoid dinner table conversations with your cantankourous uncle, too. Take a break from watching the news - spoiler alert, it’s all bad until that last story about puppies they include in the last minute. And, if you really want to focus on your mental health -clean up your social media feed and stop hitting the like button!

Unfortunately, there's a lot of hate in the world right now and there's no spreader of hate with more power and speed than social media. The average adult spends over two hours a day on social media and if even a portion of what we ‘digest’ from that time is hateful it’s going to have a negative affect on our minds. But, guess what? You have control over what you consume. News alert: You decide who you follow and who you don't! So, do yourself a favor and go through all the twitter and instagram accounts you follow as well as those that get recommended to you via algorithms. Then, adopt the Marie Kondo Rule by asking yourself 'Does it spark joy?’ - deleting/unfollowing/blocking all of those that don’t. You’d be surprised how many accounts there are on your feed that you once liked that are now full of negativity. I’m telling you…I did this and it was WELL worth the time and effort! Now I follow less accounts, but I enjoy almost 100% of what comes up on my feed. 😍

Next, vow to stop being a spreader. We all scroll and like while on autopilot. Our brains have been rewired to consume and react to social media quickly and we get tiny hits of dopamine while we do. Unfortunately though, sometimes things that we think are funny in that split second...perhaps a picture of Mitch McConnell as a turtle or of Ye doing an interview in a full mask...are really based in hate. Do you really want to be spreading messages of hate with your 🤍 or your repost? Nah, you'd rather not consume or disseminate hate. You care about your mental health and that of others!

Negativity and hate beget negativity and hate. We've been living in a period of time that has been challenging to say the least. We faced a once in a lifetime public health issue; a drastic shift in work-life balance/culture as a result; a re-examination of Roe V Wade; growing doubt about the credibility of our media; an increase in racial-related crimes; and some legislative attacks on the LGBTQ community- to name just a few! These complex issues can evoke strong, intense emotions and so I’ll give us all a pass if we used our social media likes to make our voices heard a bit. But enough is enough. No more participating in the perpetuation of the problems…we have to become part of the solution!

Clean up your feed and be more mindful of your likes. I promise you that you will enjoy social media so much more and you will avoid letting any hate seep into your psyche. This season is the perfect time to change what you consume physically and mentally! BE a Healthy Consumer!