When it comes to a father and their health, the natural option is to be taciturn and stoic about it. We have a reputation for being stubborn that isn’t entirely unearned. Many men feel they have to shoulder the burden of being strong, vital, and able to provide. However, turning your back on the issue like that can, more often than not, be detrimental in the long run. It’s time to start acknowledging the truths about our health, how it might lie in future, and what we can do about it now.
If we don’t work at it, it goes away
Our health is no longer just about us. It’s about the family we raise and provide for. There are a few little ways we could all take better care of ourselves. For one, the dad of the home should cook the family meals a little more often. Cooking for oneself rather than relying on frozen meals or, worse, takeout, results in a significantly healthier diet with fresher foods. Similarly, we need to take a look at our bad habits and start measuring how often we indulge them. If you’re a smoker, then consider looking at vaping alternatives, for instance. As we age, our body takes more effort to thoroughly rejuvenate. We no longer have the regenerative capacities we did when we were younger. It’s time to adapt to that knowledge.
It might go away anyway, so we should be prepared
For a lot of fathers, our ability to support our family is linked directly to health. If we can’t work, we can be left in a very tricky situation. It’s important to realize that no matter how well we look after ourselves, accidents and illness that turn the situation on its head in a matter of moments. It’s worth looking at options like this Health IQ review to put preparations in place to keep providing for our families when we can’t do it ourselves. Preparing for potential disability, loss of employment and even the end of life might not solve our health problems, but it can make sure we still do our job as a father when we’re not able to work.
Our kids learn from us
Habits are learned from our parents. Whatever bad habits we picked up might very well be shaped by the homes we were raised in and we can expect the same for our kids. Start teaching them healthier habits earlier. For instance, if you are taking up the duty of cooking for the home, enlist the kids to help and make sure that healthy eating choices are made by the whole family. Take the opportunity to get active with them more often, too, whether it’s playing with the ball in the yard more often or going on long walks with them on the weekend. Make sure you set the right example for them. Do otherwise and they’ll still learn from it.
Rather than being the metaphorical Atlas with the world on our shoulders, it will do us and our families a lot more good to be honest and proactive when it comes to questions of health. Otherwise, we can let problems lie for so long that we have no real answer for them when they become truly serious.