Good morning friends! I got so much positive feed back from my post yesterday that discussed appreciating your body! I hope you will take a minute to read if you haven’t already!!
This week I have been theming around the whole New Year’s resolution thing because it’s just that time of year!! We are all looking for change and I hope that when you think of change, you are including your whole family in that scenario!!
I have seen and heard many people (women especially), who eat an extremely healthy diet and hit the gym quite regularly, yet their husband and/or children are overweight, inactive, or unhealthy eaters.
One of the best things about changing your lifestyle SHOULD be that your family reaps the benefits as well! Since you are shopping and cooking differently, that should have a direct impact on your family. While I understand that some family members may initially turn their nose up to certain things, eventually they will become accustomed to this new way of eating and start to enjoy it! It is all about broadening your horizons! Think outside the box!! I have tons of recipes on my site that are a healthier version of classic dishes!! Give them a try!! You might be surprised when you see your husband or children asking for leftovers!!
I choose to include my husband in my venture of living a healthy lifestyle. While he used to survive on fast food, chips, white bread, and only 2 meals a day, I have slowly introduced the importance of eating fruits, veggies, whole grains, and BREAKFAST!!
How did I get him to this point? Gradually. You cannot expect someone to change overnight, but by slowly showing him how I eat, giving him nutritional tidbits, and preparing meals together, Brandon realized that he wanted to eat better too. He made small changes at first like not buying pop, to where he now packs a salad in his lunch daily, never eats lunchmeat, always has at least 3 fruits a day, and stopped drinking milk. He even has other people asking him about nutrition! I could not be more proud! See? Little changes can add up!!
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A few more ways to get the whole family on board?
- Plan active family outings! Take active vacations that involve hiking or biking, take a family stroll each and every night, play an active game of Wii if it is too cold to take the kids outside!
- Shoot for 60! Kids need activity and ideally 60+ minutes is the recommendation! These activities do not necessarily have to be structured, so anything that gets them moving counts; walking, running, tag, riding bikes, sledding, skiing, jump rope, etc.
- Create a space to be active. Whether it is a basement, garage, or other room in the house, designate that one place for the family to “play.” Set it up with balls, games, jump ropes, etc., so that the kids can feel like they CAN get up and be active!! Allow them to use their imaginations! It’s a beautiful thing!
- Set a time limit. While television, computer games, and X-Box are now a regular part of our world, it is still important to set a limit as to how much of these sedentary activities kids can partake in. Get them outside!!
- Eat as a family. I know I’ve mentioned this in my Eat and Eat Well post, but I still strongly encourage people to sit down at the table and eat together. Catch up on each other’s day and relish in that time together! Even though it is just the two of us, we ALWAYS eat together at the table with out the distractions of the tv!
Your goal to be healthy in 2011 should not just apply to you, but to everyone you love and cherish! Get your spouse and kids to develop healthy habits now and it will stick with them throughout their lifetime!
Envision your own idea of greatness, not someone else’s. Denise Austin
QUESTION: How do you keep your family active?
Last night, as the husband was packing up his lunch, he turned to me and said “I make sure I have a piece of fruit with lunch everyday now.” It made me so proud. We’re both pretty active people, and lately I’ve noticed that he’s starting to eat more healthy foods. It is definitely gradual, but I’m proud of him for at least trying.
My son eats a very healthy vegetarian diet and is very active–which makes me soo proud! He is surprisingly conscious of the way he eats and he truly enjoys eating/being healthy.
His father, on the other hand, was a bit harder to persuade. He enjoys healthy meals that I cook, but when he’s out on his own, his choices nearly always run along the lines of fast food! He’s been expressing interest in working out with me lately–so my fingers are crossed that it actually happens!
This rings true for us. Through my eating healthily and exercising, Tom (my hub) is slowly changing his eating habits and finding time for exercise. It’s great to see, and the weight is slowly coming off. If Tom and I are eating something different I try to point out healthy alternatives likes having plain rice instead of egg-fried rice when getting a chinese takeaway.
Hope you’re having a good week xxx
Healthy living has become a family affair for us. My husband still likes his chips, but eats WAY more veggies and fruit now, and has lost some weight because of our healthy cooking. We both feel better, which is great.
Thanks for the post, love the family photo that includes your cat. Awww.
I think it’s very important for husband and wives (and the entire family!) to join in on healthy living. Not only does it keep you healthy, but it keeps your relationship strong.
Good for you!
Great ideas- my husband and I definitely hold each other accountable for exercising and eating healthy!
I couldn’t agree more that living healthy should be a family affair. And it can be loads of fun.
Excellent post, Erin!!! This is the ONE major bonus about me having a girl, lol. Michael told me he wont even go there with “healthy stuff.” If it were a boy, I would of have many fights in my future about steaks and who knows what else. Not that my husband is extremely unhealthy, he has come a LONG way since we’ve met. I am impressed you got yours eating breakfast..this is something I STILL struggle with Michael on. You can’t force feed someone in the morning, and he refuses to eat then. Oye.
This is definitely a work in progress in my household. My husband is very active, played football in high school and college, and works our regularly but his eating habits definitely leave something to be desired. When we first go married it was all white bread, fast food hamburgers, pop tarts, snickers and gatorade. Like you said, it is better to start with small changes. He slowly (and not so willingly) switched to wheat bread, George Foreman hamburgers, oatmmeal, granola bars, and propel. Still not totally ideal, but we’re getting there!
all wonderful advice! i’m blessed with a very healthy husband who is very encouraging about healthy meals and active dates.
p.s. excited to be a new follower
I don’t have a family of my own yet, but I have definitely thought about this before- my boyfriend is a bit unhealthy, and I think we struggle sometimes with finding a right balance between our eating “styles.” I want him to be healthy and live a long life, but I don’t want to feel like I’m forcing anything on him. Thanks for the tips!
Back in the day… I remember playing outside for hours and hours and only until it was dark, or dinnertime or bedtime would we get called into the house. We also went on vacations to places where there was lots of hiking or river wading (at the time, we were living in New Mexico and would head to places in Colorado like Creed and Red River). The older I get, the more I appreciate my parents keeping us active as kids.
Even when Jeremy and I were dating, we’d go to the gym and he’d put me through the ringer on the weights. I’d be the one pushing him out the door for a 5:30 am run but once we got out there, I’d be trying to catch up! Having a dog with lots of energy is also motivation to get out and exercise for his benefit as well. The only vegetables he will eat are corn and green beans, so I encourage him to eat lots of fruit to try to get some vitamins and fiber.
Thanks for these tips! I do not have children, but my husband and I try to go to the gym together. It’s a great motivator!
These are some great tips and definitely things I think about for when I have children!
My boyfriend never used to eat breakfast, and some days he still doesn’t. But, since I always eat breakfast, we now take turns cooking each other breakfast. I was even surprised with breakfast in bed a few months ago!
Eating as a family and involving the fam.. and even friends on healthy lifestyle goals IS super important! Great post, love! =)
These are all great tips! I agree with all of them
As a mom, its so important to set a good example for my daughter. We eat together as a family and stay every active.
So true!!! As a family, we go on walks, bike rides, my son plays soccer (so we are outside kicking soccer balls with him a lot), go to the park, etc.
I will admit, in the wintertime it is hard staying active, with all the snow and cold weather…but we do like to still go for walks when we can!
While I don’t really have a ‘family’ per se, I persuaded my 2 roommates to join my gym and lately we’ve been participating in group exercise classes together. We also make an effort to make and eat dinner together each night, which is fun and a good way to catch up at the end of the day. I love these tips though, and when I eventually do have a family of my own, I’m totally taking your advice to keep them active and healthy!