How To Live Paleo in The Digital Age

Here are small changes you can make every day to live a healthier, happier life in the digital age.

Sometimes we spend far too much time on our computers and digital devices. This can go against Paleo core concepts such as sunshine, natural food, and face-to-face socialization. So what can we do to help us spend a little less time in the digital age and a little more time participating in healthier activities?

First, we’ll begin by going over simple health tips to learn how to take breaks from social media. Then, we’ll discuss how to spend less time on the computer and finally we’ll learn how to switch off our phones to enjoy social nights out mingling with friends.

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Additionally, we’ll talk about some of the ways you can be healthier while still using a digital device.  There are many digital age benefits that help strengthen our Paleo lifestyle. It allows us to enjoy music when exercising, provides streamable content for workouts, and health-related readings to inform us. This is certainly a positive thing – as long as it is kept within the right context and in appropriate amounts.

Limiting Social Media: Cold Turkey or Baby Steps?

If you’re stuck on social media constantly, you should consider deactivating your accounts for a period of time. You can place a complete ban on all computer usage or slowly ween yourself off with short periods of non-usage. This all depends on what you want to accomplish and how much social media plays into your work and play.

Less drastic measures would consist of setting a schedule for social media use. For example, you could choose time slots to deactivate between 6:30 and 7:00 PM. The less time spent on social media – the better. The only exception here is for people who work in tech-related fields requiring some level of social media activity. In other words, you have to be on social media. In this scenario, you can limit your personal usage while you’re at home. No matter what the scenario, we can always take steps to make things a little bit healthier!

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How To Stop Your Friends From Being a Digital Buzzkill

Have you ever been on a date with someone and they won’t stop looking at their phone? This nightmare scenario has likely happened to many of us and is simply a sign of the times. But we do not ever want to be the person on their phone – so how do we avoid this?

You can put your phone on ‘do not disturb’ mode, which will stop it from interrupting you in the middle of dinner conversations.

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The Easy Answer: Exercise

So what can you do instead of constantly watching YouTube videos? For one – start exercising! Those who are on digital devices constantly are typically more sedentary and less active. Science shows that more exercise means better health outcomes. This includes better quality of life, better functional capacity, and an overall better mood.

Exercise also results in vast molecular changes and increased muscle tone. This helps better your glucose tolerance and lower stress levels. Not too shabby, for only a small daily time investment. If you have weight loss goals, you’ll want to dedicate some time to exercise regularly. Why? Because it actually helps you get a better night’s sleep and reduces health risks. In fact, blue light exposure before bed has been shown to lead to decreased melatonin production.

What might come as more of a surprise here is that regular exercise actually helps us think better – no small feat for just a 30 minute daily investment.

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Finding a Balance

Regardless of what we think of the digital age, we can take steps to not let it completely control our lives. It’s a  very simple way to improve your health and offers many benefits. You’ll need some self-discipline though to maintain a healthy work and personal life balance. When using digital devices constantly, it can become very difficult to separate what is needed and what is not.

You are in control of the choices you make and what you choose to do with your time. Try going outdoors, running, hiking, or going for a walk in the sunshine while listening to music on your digital device! There is definitely a happy medium between technology and health – even if our caveman ancestors never logged on and signed in.

(Read This Next: 14 Types of Exercise For People Who Hate Exercise)