Facebook and Health

One of the main reasons why people spend excessive time on Facebook is to satisfy the basic need of wanting to belong to a group. In today’s fast paced life, Facebook offers an easy way to stay connected to all your contacts, even if they were old classmates whom you have not met for several years and have nothing in common with today.

Facebook and Health

However, what Facebook has done is to take away the personal element from relationships.

Earlier, having a healthy relationship with your friends meant that you would engage in some activity together. You would get together, maybe play a game, share some happy memories, laugh out loud and de-stress completely. This was a key element in having a healthy lifestyle. Today, though most socializing happens virtually over Facebook and this has resulted in all types of health related issues ranging from obesity (due to binge eating and lack of physical exercise) to carpal tunnel syndrome (caused by excessive typing). This is a compelling reason to avoid Facebook and start focusing on staying healthy. You need to move away from the virtual world and start engaging with people on a real basis. You can even keep in touch with people at remote locations through a telephone call rather than a Facebook message. Even if you do not avoid Facebook completely, you can restrict the time that you spend on Facebook and focus on other healthy activities.

Plan your day in such a way that you spend some time outdoors – it can be any form of exercise. It has been proven by several studies that you are likely to stick to a routine of exercise when you do it with a buddy rather than try to do it alone. Get hold of a friend who has the same interests in staying fit and schedule an early morning jog. You can aim to maybe run the marathon and work towards that goal. This would give you some sense of purpose while you exercise and is a far more interesting way to spend your time than refreshing your Facebook page looking for updates from friends.

You can also plan an outdoor picnic with friends and have a pot luck lunch where each of you cook one item of the meal and join together for an outdoor trek. Make sure to select a trek that would stretch your endurance levels. You would bond with each other in a much better way when you engage in such activities than when you chat through Facebook.

Try to avoid Facebook in phases, so that you do not completely get cut off from your peer group. Encourage your friends also to avoid Facebook and spend less time updating status messages. When there are not many status updates to read, then your interest in Facebook would automatically start dwindling. This way your group of friends will lead a far healthier lifestyle than by just keeping yourselves updated through Facebook.

Let this New Year be a year of new beginnings as well. Make a resolution to avoid Facebook and get outdoors more often. You do not have to miss out on your friendships by doing this. In fact, like a true friend you can encourage your peers also to think and act differently. Join the movement to take care of your health and not fall a prey to the marketing gimmicks of social network sites such as Facebook. Remember that social network sites such as Facebook should at best be only a small part of your life. Avoid Facebook and enjoy the bounty of nature to have a healthy and meaningful life!