Week #1 Challenge- Enjoy some sunshine

Not sure if you are aware but there is a movement encouraging families (especially those with small children) to spend 1,000 hours outside each year. Woah that works out to about 3 hours a day but DON’T WORRY— I will not challenge you to spending that much outside time (although if you could manage it that would be awesome!)

However I would like to share a podcast on the topic with you. The hostess grew up across the street from our Florida home and is the CEO of Chatbooks. Here is the link for the interview.
https://chatbooks.com/blog/ginny-yurich-1000-hours-outside-podcast-interview

I hope that gives you some incentive and encouragement to spend more time outside. 

According to Select Health being outside in the sunshine has a lot of benefits for our bodies. They share these seven great reasons you should get outside and soak in the sun.

1. Improves your sleep

Your body creates a hormone called melatonin that is critical to helping you sleep. Because your body starts producing it when it’s dark, you usually start to feel sleepy two hours after the sun sets, which is one of the reasons our bodies naturally stay up later in the summer.

Research indicates that an hour of natural light in the morning will help you sleep better. Sunshine regulates your circadian rhythm by telling your body when to increase and decrease your melatonin levels. So, the more daylight exposure you can get, the better your body will produce melatonin when it’s time to go to sleep.

2. Reduces stress

Melatonin also lowers stress reactivity and being outside will help your body naturally regulate melatonin, which can help reduce your stress level. Additionally, because you're often doing something active when you’re outside (walking, playing, etc.), that extra exercise also helps to lower stress.

3. Maintains strong bones

One of the best (and easiest) ways to get vitamin D is by being outside. Our bodies produce vitamin D when exposed to sunlight. And since Vitamin D helps your body maintain calcium and prevents brittle, thin, or misshapen bones, soaking in sun may be just what the doctor ordered.

4. Helps keep the weight off

Getting outside for 30 minutes sometime between 8 a.m. and noon has been linked to weight loss. And you don’t even have to be exercising outside to reap the benefits. Why not eat breakfast in the backyard or read a book on the deck?

5. Strengthens your immune system

Vitamin D is also critical for your immune system, and with consistent exposure to sunlight, you can help strengthen it. A healthy immune system can help reduce the risk of illness, infections, some cancers, and mortality after surgery.

6. Fights off depression

It’s not just in your head; there’s a scientific reason being in the sunshine improves your mood. Sunshine boosts your body’s level of serotonin, which is a chemical that improves your mood and helps you stay calm and focused. Increased exposure to natural light may help ease the symptoms of seasonal affective disorder--a change in mood that typically occurs in the fall and winter months when there are fewer hours of daylight.

7. Can give you a longer life

A study that followed 30,000 Swedish women revealed that those who spent more time in the sun lived six months to two years longer than those with less sun exposure. More research needs to be done in this area, but it’s something scientists are continuing to study.

So what is your challenge for the first week of this round of healthy living competition?

1. Each day spend more time outside then you have been spending- how much is up to you but get a good solid extra dose of sunshine
2. Listen to the podcast I linked and consider how to spend more time outdoors with children or grandchildren https://chatbooks.com/blog/ginny-yurich-1000-hours-outside-podcast-interview