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6 Ways To Raise A Fit Family

by LAGOCREATIVE

Mirror, mirror on the wall. Make a conscious and honest check of the level of health and well-being of your family, starting with you and your partner (if you have one).

We do not have to be doctors or personal trainers to know if our family in general or, any of its members, is in “good shape” or not. And, “good shape” does not mean ready to compete in the Mister or Miss Universe; means to be at a reasonable weight according to their height and size, good level of energy and vitality according to age, presence of a chronic disease such as diabetes, hypertension, etc. If one or more members is not in “good shape”, this is a reason to make changes in the whole family.

The Law Begins with The Head

70% of what children learn at the level of their deep beliefs and habits “model” their parents. Pretending to make changes in the nutrition or level of activity in our home without the fact that we parents also do it will not last over time and does not work.

The “change” has to be general and as a tacit agreement of the whole family.

Let it flow, let it flow, let it flow ….

Establishing new habits should be a fluid and not imposed process.Start with your new routines and let other members of your family appreciate the positive changes in you and want to follow it.

Especially with these new “Why” generations (for all they ask “Why”), nothing imposed or forced works without a logical and proven reason.

Second thoughts sometimes are not that bad after all

Everything starts in “the purchase of food.” What is not in the fridge cannot be eaten. So, if you limit your purchase to only healthy foods and leave on the shelves of the supermarket the products for: “from time to time” or, “cheat days” or, “those that my son (the youngest, or the thin, or, the one who does more sport, etc.) likes”….then you will not have the temptation at home for anyone.

By controlling that first impulse to eat out or order food with Uber eats, and then choosing to prepare food at home, many times we beat the battle to all those artificial additives, GMOs and low quality that the mass-produced food chain restaurants offer. It takes about 10 seconds to think it over and about 20 minutes to put a chicken breast on the grill, roast some vegetables, and put a glass of water on the table. Not counting the years of life that you are adding to the members of your family.

80-15-5…Numbers do count.

80% of our body’s fitness level depends on what we eat; 15% depends on the exercise we make, and 5% depends on our genes. These percentage doesn’t mean that exercise is not essential for health and physical and emotional well-being, but when it comes down to the importance of the physical conditions of a person, training falls to a second place concerning eating habits.

So, encouraging your family and yourself to get off of the couch is part of the whole equation.

In this article, I referred mainly to the things that parents, being those that are supposed to direct the family, can begin to do to make slight changes in the lifestyles of their family members.

In other articles, I will share with you more ideas on how to help your children to choose better food options and my recommendations on how to engage your loved ones in a more active daily life and have exercise become part of the “family philosophy.”