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| Dr. Lindsey doesn't have a TV...so we can be friends:-) |
Lets cut to the chase on this one. We all watch waaay to much TV. And if you think you don't...your wrong, YOU do! (Still don't believe me, keep reading and look at the stats below, stats don't lie)
I do. I noticed a big difference when I was recently moving and cut the cable early. I had so much more time on my hands. I was always early for everything. I had time to spare to clean, cook, fold, walk the dog, read, etc... I distinctly remember thinking to myself, "What should I do now?" Wow! It was crazy.
This week's Mental WOD is to cut (at a minimum) half the time you watch TV and a max out effort of turning it off completely.
What about the NBA playoffs?
Desperate Housewives?
American Idol?
My reality TV shows?
Bahhh!
Think of TV like you cheat meals. Use in moderation. The less you watch the better you will become.
From Whole9 site. For the FULL read click HERE
Television can just as easily fill the same psychological need as food. You turn on the TV for comfort, as reward, for “company”, for some perceived “human” connection. You turn it on because, well, it’s there. And you let it run, assailing your brains with messages you can’t control, for hour upon hour every single day. When that TV is on, you are not present – not for yourself, nor for those around you. The television turns you into a spectator, not a participant in your own life. And the worst part is that you’re not even aware of what you are doing, and what you are missing as a result.
How many of us have turned down the opportunity to interact with a real, live person because we have to watch our show? How many of us have blown off spouses, children, friends – people standing right in front of us – because we are too distracted by the characters on our TV screen? How many of us know more about our favorite American Idol contestant or sitcom actor than we do about our next-door neighbor?
Average Viewing Habits
- Time the average American watches TV each day: 4 hours
- Time the average 65-year old has spent watching TV: 9 years
- Number of hours per day that TV is on in an average U.S. home: 6 hours, 47 minutes
- Percentage of Americans that regularly watch television while eating dinner: 66
- Percentage of Americans who say they watch too much TV: 49
TV and Children
- Number of minutes per week parents spend in meaningful conversation with their children: 3.5
- Number of minutes per week the average child watches television: 1,680
- Hours per year the average American youth spends in school: 900 hours
- Hours per year the average American youth watches television: 1500
What we are watching
- Number of murders seen on TV by the time an average child finishes elementary school: 8,000
- Number of 30-second TV commercials seen in a year by an average child: 20,000
- Percentage of local TV news broadcast time devoted to advertising: 30
- Percentage devoted to stories about crime, disaster and war: 53.8
- Percentage devoted to public service announcements: 0.7
YIKES! P.T.S.!!!
Great post! We don't have cable, but TV series on DVD are killer for me (most recently: It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia). It's so easy to become addicted to the episodes and watch them continuously, especially when I don't want to study. Now that summer is here, I need to reduce my TV watching and make better use of my time!!!
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