How Elk Mountain Tents can help you keep your New Year’s Resolution to stay active and healthy (the Great Outdoors and Physical Fitness)

It is hard to believe that 2022 is drawing to a close. Many people often take the last few days of the year for introspection. As they reflect on the good and the bad of the current year, they carefully reflect on what they would like to change about themselves. Many people initially are quite enthusiastic about their goals, commonly referred to as New Years’ Resolutions, but quickly lose their initial drive to continue past the first month of the New Year. This is often due to us beginning to dread the change we had determined to make happen. Many people often choose to get healthy and be active but after a few weeks resent having to go to the gym. Instead of thinking there is only one way to be active and healthy (that is, going to the gym and eating certain foods), there is a better way to find better health – and that is going camping.

Camping has many positive health benefits that will not only help you be healthy but also be a good way to bond with friends and family, to be able to unwind and relax and simply have a lot of fun. So what are all these wonderful health benefits? It is quite amazing how simply going camping can help anyone be more resolved to keep their New Years’ Resolutions.

One of the many benefits of going camping is being able to enjoy cleaner air. While overall air quality in urban and suburban areas has vastly improved in the United States due to the Clean Air Act passed in 1963, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has found as many as 30 million people suffer from asthma and other breathing-related issues primarily due to air pollution. It has been found that cleaner air has higher levels of oxygen. If you are breathing air that has higher levels of oxygen this will help your brain be able to produce more serotonin. A good level of serotonin will help improve your sleep, appetite, digestion, mood, memory, sexual desire, and behavior. If your serotonin levels get too low then you will feel more depressed and stressed. So while you are out camping be sure to take many long and deep breaths of the wonderful fresh air that can only be found in the wilderness.

Another one of the wonderful benefits of camping is spending more time in bright natural light. It has been found that over forty percent of American adults do not get enough Vitamin D. So if you spend a large part of your day in an office you are likely among the growing number of people who are Vitamin D deficient. The primary way our bodies can produce this important vitamin is through the absorption of sunshine on our skin. Without Vitamin D our bodies would not be able to efficiently absorb the necessary calcium needed to keep our bones strong and healthy. Calcium also helps us maintain healthy cells.

Bright natural sunlight can also help our bodies produce two important hormones: serotonin and melatonin. We have already gone over the many benefits of serotonin. Melatonin is a chemical that our bodies produce that helps regulate our sleep and wake cycles. It is the chemical that makes you get sleepy at night. Many people will take a melatonin supplement to help ease themselves to sleep naturally. Being exposed over several days to natural sunlight will also help reset your circadian rhythm. Your circadian rhythm is thrown off by artificial lights, smartphones, and computers. If you don’t get enough sleep you will often feel stressed. Since you don’t generally bring a lot of electronics and lights with you on a camping trip you will find after a few days that you awake with the rising sun and want to go to sleep not long after the sun sets. In fact, research suggests the quality of sleep is so much better when we set our sleep cycles with the sun’s cycle. So if you are struggling with getting enough sleep or are waking up still exhausted and stressed, then a camping trip will be just the ticket for you.

While spending time in bright natural sunlight will improve the quality of sleep you will have, you also need to have the proper gear for your camping trip. The most important piece of gear you will need is a good quality tent. One of the best four-season tents on the market right now is Elk Mountain Wall Tent. This tent comes in three different sizes (13X13, 13X16, and 13X20) to help ensure you and your group have plenty of room to be able to sleep comfortably and to be able to store all your other camping gear in the tent.

Since the wall tent is made out of canvas this will ensure you stay cool in the summer and warm in the winter. Not only is the canvas breathable but this tent has four to six meshed windows and two ridge openings. These various openings will help keep the air circulating in the tent. This will help prevent the tent from feeling stuffy in the summer or from becoming covered in condensation in the wintertime.

This canvas is also incredibly tough.. It has a breaking strength of 449 pounds (warp direction) and 382 pounds (fill direction). This means that this tent can withstand high winds, heavy rain, and snow. Because you never know when the weather will change unexpectedly, this tent will give you peace of mind knowing your tent can handle whatever nature throws at it. If you want to go camping in the wintertime this tent has a stove jack which will allow you to have either a wood or gas burning stove. You can stay comfortable while enjoying the benefits of camping even in the dead of winter.

Another one of the amazing benefits of camping is all the exercise you can do. When people think of exercise it is often visions of sweating it out in the gym. But who said exercise can only be done in one particular way? After all, exercise really is just getting that heart rate up while you are moving. When you are camping you will find exercise is both a natural and easy part of the experience. Whether it is chopping wood for a fire, setting up your campsite, or walking to the bathroom these are all little ways you are being more active than you would be at home. According to one study, the average woman burns around 1,500-2,000 calories a day but when that same woman is camping they will average around 2,000-2,500 calories a day. And that average does not even include doing some of the fun activities you can do while camping. This would include but is not limited to swimming, hiking, biking, fishing, hunting, climbing, and canoeing. All these opportunities to move your body will also help produce endorphins which is why many people always feel happier after they exercise. Having an opportunity to move in many new and fun ways will also give you the motivation and break from the usual exercise routine. This will help you stay active even after you come back from a camping trip.

While exercise will help keep you active if you want to be healthy it also needs to be balanced by what you are eating. When you are camping you are building quite an appetite for foods that will fuel your body, not just the usual junk food that is so easily accessible. Now, you can still enjoy some s’mores without feeling guilty, but generally, the foods you cook over an open fire are much better for you. Plus this is the perfect time to try something new and different from your usual diet. Also, if you decide to indulge in some fishing while you are camping, you can enjoy a lot of healthy fats and proteins in whatever you catch. Enjoying the many wonderful dishes that can be cooked over an open fire simply takes a little planning, but it can open your eyes to the wonders of healthy eating. This can translate into changing the way you cook at home as well.

One final benefit that comes from camping is how it affects your mental health. You can be physically as fit as a fiddle but it won’t matter if you are plagued with anxiety, depression, or insomnia. While camping won’t be a cure-all for you it will be an excellent way to reduce levels of stress and anxiety that are plaguing you. In part that has to do with simply having a break from the daily stressors of life. It is also due to many simply unplugging themselves from their electronics and simply being free from any of the usual distractions.
So now that you have seen the many benefits that can be had from camping don’t shy away from making that New Years’ Resolution to stay active and healthy. With the right camping gear like a good quality tent, you can make many camping trips throughout the year to finally fulfill your resolution by the end of the year. Not only that, but you can feel better about your body, improve your mind and make many wonderful memories with those you care about as well. Camping with an Elk Mountain tent is the way to better health in the up and coming year.

Sources:

https://www.sport-fitness-advisor.com/benefits-of-camping.html

https://www.eurekacamping.com/blog/article/10-health-benefits-camping