TV Ate My Brain!

Jun 03, 2009

Long time, no OH blog, huh?

I'm actually still blogging, I've just been doing it on a different site - sparkpeople.com.  It gets kind of difficult and time consuming to post more than one blog on any given day.  Anyhoo... I thought I'd stop by and post my blog from that site over here...

Have you seen those commercials lately for a website that allows you to watch TV shows online?  I think it's Hulu.com or something.  They have celebrities walking around who turn out to be aliens using television to turn our brains to mush and conquer the earth. 40

Well, it turns out those commercials might not be that far fetched!  There have been several studies lately that link watching too much TV to depression.  People who have more active hobbies tend to describe themselves as happier.   (Read more at www.realage.com/ct/tips/8755 )

If you think about it, it makes perfect sense.  Watching TV is a fairly isolating activity.  Even when I watch TV with friends or family, I'm not really interacting with them much.  I think I even remember studies I read back when I was teaching that monitored brain waves in children when they were watching TV.  The children's brain activity actually slowed while the TV was on!

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Not that watching TV in smaller doses is damaging, but like everything else, it should be done in moderation.  Think of what you can accomplish if you turn some of those passive hours on the couch into active hours exercising, spending time with friends and loved ones, or even preparing healthy meals as opposed to hitting a drive-through or getting take out!

So, how much TV are you watching?  Is it something you could cut back on?  I know I certainly can.  Since I got my DVR, it seems like I spend enormous amounts of time "catching up" on weekday TV on the weekends.  Come Monday, I don't feel that I've done anything to really refresh myself for another week behind the desk.  When I complain that I don't have time to read anything fun or not work-related, it's probably more true that I took the time I could've spent reading  and wasted it sitting on my tush watching mindless entertainment on the electronic babysitter.

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Something to ponder.

Blessings!

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