Morning!
Well, okay, true…it’s not EXACTLY the morning, given the fact it’s almost midnight (6:45pm), but the point still stands…hello!
Today’s post centers upon family fitness…most notably, how to interest your kids in being healthy without causing them to angst all over the place.
You see, it all happened on Sunday morning. Yesterday, I had awakened at my usual late morning time of 4am, wrote bunches of copy, cuddled with the kids at 7am, and started my morning workout routine around 8am.
Now, I always vary my exercising, depending upon how my body shrieks at me when I put on my sports bra and shorts. Having totally fried my arms the day before, I opted instead to focus on karate kicks instead (100+ each leg with various forms and styles)…and turned on the TV to FitTV for some mindless entertainment at the same time.
It turns out, the show playing was Biggest Loser Family Edition. Instead of individual adults, the theme here centers upon pitting one overweight family against another to see who loses the most weight in a fixed period of time.
While I’m certainly aware of how impossible the weight loss generated by TBL is for the majority of humanoids (let’s be serious here – how many of us have trainers to pounce on us 8 hours a day?), I still confess to finding a guilty pleasure in watching the trials and tribulations of the people involved. After all, having lost 50+ pounds myself, I can appreciate what’s really involved in getting healthy.
Anywhos, my kids started watching with me, and wow oh wow,did they get caught up with the drama of it all!
So! While yours truly was kicking up a storm and valiantly trying to keep her balance between all sorts of martial arts moves, my kids were glued to watching (especially!) the teen in both families as she worked out and sweated to the not-exactly-oldies. And afterwards (when of course I was exhausted from 800 odd karate kicks), they asked me to play DDR with them as well.
How could I resist?
40 minutes later, my entire family was done with DDR. Okay, true, my skill level has just barely nicked "superior to an inanimate brick", but hey….it’s still great fun!!
What’s the morale of the story?
I think one of the best ways to help imbue your kids with a healthy attitude regarding weight and stamina is to make it a family activity. DDR (dance dance revolution) makes exercise tons of fun! and the kids adore seeing Mom fall over her feet and generally poking bunches of fun at herself.
Never cause your children to angst over their weight…instead, simply make it a:
"Hey! Here’s the BEST way to live, because this way, we get enough energy to really enjoy our activities and life together."
Want to learn more about The Biggest Loser? Check out:
Weight loss doesn’t have to be a big huge angst! Turn the key in your mind, make it a fact of life and one that can be fun….and you should see the pounds melt off. My family certainly did.
Enjoy,
Barbara Ling
ps – want to see how I lost 50+ pounds? Check out my book The Safe and Smart Internet Weight Loss Edge!
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{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }
good point. that way, it’s a social activity, and furthermore, the parents can act as good role models for the kids.
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Yep….I always believe in walking the talk with my kids. Barbara
There are a ton of new fitness equipment that appeals to the young techie types…DDR is just the start! My local YMCA just purchased a huge variety of interactive bikes, climbing walls, hand/eye coordination games and much more…pretty cool stuff!
I tried DDR, but I wasn’t very good at it, so I sold it. The Wii is really good at getting you moving though, and they have a lot of games to at least get you off the couch. Speaking of that, I think I might go play.
Enjoy!
Barbara
Great article!
Sounds like the perfect idea to combine exercise and entertainment to get the kids interested. As parents we have to constantly realize that they look up to us, and when positively reinforced they will do exactly as we do. So, if we look after our selves and take care of our health they will too. Go! Fun Family Fitness!
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Indeed – the family that works out together generally is more healthy than the ones that dont.