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| A fun and rewarding activity with your family is to sign up for a 5K Walk or Run |
We all know our kids are not getting enough regular
exercise. The truth is we aren’t either. The challenge becomes how do we all
get moving?
Not long ago the Center for Disease Control made a profound
statement. They proclaimed that we are now living in a generation where parents
are going to out live their children because of obesity. When you think about
it, this is a very frightening and scary statement. The good news is that as
parents we are not powerless.
As parents we are powerful role models. Making a commitment
to build more exercise into our lives can not only help us live healthier lives
but it may just save our children’s lives. The key is that our children need to
see us in action. In order to become healthier and live a healthy lifestyle we
all have to change our habits.
A great way to get moving is to build exercise and fun
activities into your family’s routine on a regular basis. This is possible even during the Pandemic. What you choose
should be something you enjoy doing, is easily planned and remember, it doesn’t
have to cost a lot of money or any money.
Here are some ideas of what has worked in our family:
Ask for the gift of exercise. Think of it as a “positive” bribe. On more
than one Mother’s Day I have asked members of my family to commit to giving me
the gift of working out with me for a period of time. It is a great way for
each of us to be committed to exercising. For the kids it is a way for them to
give you something you want without a whole lot of effort or money. With my
daughter I even did exercises together with her. I really enjoyed it and she
did too.
Plan a special activity over a vacation or holiday. A way to build in
activities you have never tried before or that require a little more planning,
think about making them a part of a holiday, this includes staycations. Where we live it is possible to go
horseback riding. It is actually more work than you realize. Or you could sign
up for Line Dancing or a Karate class--many of these are offered online these days.
Sign up for Run or Walk and include the family. Over the years our family
has done a number of runs/walks together. The list has become long. It is a
great way to raise awareness and funds for an important cause, spend time with
your family and also practice fitness. Most communities have a ton of
opportunities to sign up from The American Heart Association or March of Dimes
to local hospitals or health oriented organizations as well as special needs
associations. Most all of them have become virtual so you can do it where you live and in a safe environment. Pick one that means something to you and sign up to do it. Get it
on the calendar early and then do it annually. It is a wonderful community to
become a part of.
Fit in some weekend fun. We have come to look forward to the weekends.
There are many activities, like cycling, kayaking or hiking that can take more
time than you have available during the week. We love to get on our bikes, take our masks with us, and
pick new places to explore on Saturdays. Or it could be taking your dogs to a
new park and walking around it with them. Take a Frisbee too and you can add
even more fun.
Think about an activity before or after dinner. Often we tend to lose a lot
of time in front of the TV before and after dinner. This is a time we can often
fit in a short walk around the neighborhood. My dad used to do this all the
time we were growing up. It was a way for him to relax after work. We were
always invited. Somehow I got out of the habit until recently. Now I love my
evening walks with the dogs and any other family member who can join me.
We have found the more we do work in family exercise the
easier it becomes to sustain it. The challenge is to make it the priority and work
the other parts of our schedule around it. Regrettably, we tend to put exercise
at the bottom of our list of priorities until we realize the health of our
family and the quality of our lives depends on it. In reality, there is no
better time than the present to get started moving. That is why we want to make
it fun and enjoyable. Taking a walk or doing a “run” or trying out a new
activity are all great ways to spend time with the ones we love. Not only are
we moving, we are also bonding and sharing the important value of health. There
is no way to beat that. Let’s commit to live vibrant!
#NCOAM
#Kidliga
#CCHLN
#healthykids
#Livliga
#LiveVibrant
#Kidfriendly
#HelpUsHelpKidsLiveHealthy
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