Homemaker Mom: Do You Eat in Front of the TV?

Mom never stops
being your mother

How often do you sit in front of the TV with the dinner plate in your lap instead of site at the kitchen table.

Sometimes, yes; sometimes, no? Does it feel like a ping pong ball? Table yes, table no, table yes…

November is "Eat at the Table" month, and my honey and I face a challenge. I can't believe it either.
There's an actual day to promote people to eat at the kitchen table. Who would have guessed?

I think back to leaner first days when we didn't even have a table. We used to hope and wish for the day when we finally would get a table so we could eat a meal sitting at our table. Fast forward to years later and today we have two dining tables: a dining room table and a casual kitchen table.

Funny thing, now we very often sit in front of the TV with our dinner plate in our lap instead of at the kitchen table. It feels like a ping pong ball, table yes, table no, table yes…

Well, we decided that November is the month that we will sit at our kitchen table and eat at least one meal. Even if my honey is not home, I plan to eat at the table to fulfill this month's call to action. It can't hurt and actually can help.

1. Eating at a table promotes healthy eating!
When you eat at the kitchen table, you are likely to fix a more healthy meal. Eating a quick meal in front of the TV tends to put less healthy foods on the plate. According to the Harvard School of Public Health, it is estimated that 13 percent of premature deaths can be attributed to an unhealthy diet. Furthermore, the prevalence of obesity is rising rapidly, with chronic diseases and mortality projected to become more pronounced in the future.

2. Eating at a table improves your posture!
Sitting in a chair while you eat helps maximize back support and maintain good posture. Poor posture is associated with depression and a feeling of dejection. Poor posture reduces lung capacity, adds stress to the spine, accumulates muscular tension, and leads to a higher susceptibility to injury.

3. Eating at a table advances good digestion!
We are upright creatures and that has an effect on all of our organs. When we slump on the couch in front of the TV, it impacts not only our spine, joints and muscles but our organs as well, slowing down our digestion. Sitting upright in a chair at the table when we eat helps to prevent bloating and heaviness. This means digesting and eliminating toxins with more ease.

Do you eat in front of the TV? I challenge YOU to sit in a chair at the table every day in November when you eat a meal.