{"id":3064,"date":"2021-11-04T14:58:17","date_gmt":"2021-11-04T14:58:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/?p=3064"},"modified":"2021-11-04T14:58:17","modified_gmt":"2021-11-04T14:58:17","slug":"play-your-way-through-the-holidays","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/2021\/11\/04\/play-your-way-through-the-holidays\/","title":{"rendered":"Play Your Way Through the Holidays"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Patrice Powers-Barker, OSU Extension, Lucas County
\nThe Truth Contributor<\/p>\n

This week the Ohio State University\u2019s Live Healthy Live Well team kicks off the annual six-week email challenge with the 2021 theme of Play Your Way Through the Holidays<\/em>. They ask: \u00a0Does the holiday season stress you out instead of making you smile? Do you feel like you don\u2019t have time to spend doing the important things?<\/em><\/p>\n

Consider joining the \u201cPlay Your Way Through the Holidays\u201d six-week email wellness challenge for tips, research, and resources to help you navigate life so you can spend time doing things that are truly important to you. It\u2019s free, you will need an email and you will need to sign-up by the end of this week at go.osu.edu\/LHLWLUCAS. <\/u><\/p>\n

This topic made me wonder, can you play your way to eating healthy food?<\/em> One of the dictionary definitions of play is \u201cactivity engaged in for enjoyment and recreation.\u201d I would not recommend eating just<\/em> for recreation purposes, but we can eat with enjoyment.<\/p>\n

Some suggest that slowing down while we eat can make it more enjoyable. We can appreciate the food and the time that it took to prepare it and to eat it. We can pay attention to all our senses such as the temperature and taste of the food. We can also be aware of our fullness. When we slow down to eat verses rushing through the meal and multitasking, we pay more attention to the food as well as our bodies. This can lead us to healthier choices.<\/p>\n

Another advantage of enjoying your healthy food and playing your way through the holidays is that we can notice when we are feeling better. We might feel a little clearer, healthier and find it easier to add more steps to the day. More energy will allow us to do more play in other areas of life!<\/p>\n

As adults we might remember during childhood, being warned: do not play with your food! Although we don\u2019t want children making a big mess, there\u2019s a different understanding now about children\u2019s development.<\/p>\n

Now, parents might encourage young children to play or explore with their food. They can use their hands to touch it before putting it into their mouth. They might squish new food around in their mouth as they make a decision about it. Maybe adults can take an example about playing with food. Once again, this is not to suggest that we\u2019re making a mess. For adults, playing with food might look like:<\/p>\n