How to Get Your Kids Involved in Being Active

A lot of times when we set out on our own fitness journey, people get left behind.  We concentrate so much on making sure that we are active that we forget that everyone, especially our kids, needs to be active.  About a year into my new fit life it suddenly hit me, my kids need to be active too. As a child I was always in the house reading or watching TV. I was never encouraged to get active. When I think about it, I was never an active adult because I was never an active child. Our children develop habits early, so it is important that getting active at an early age is emphasized.

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Coming from someone who has been down that road, kids aren't always ready to “go exercise”. As a parent, it has been my duty to find ways to get my kids active that they will enjoy. Here is my list of fun activities that you can do with your kids to get them moving around and off the couch:

1. Take a walk
2. Go for a hike
3. Go bowling
4. Go on a family bike ride
5. Go on a nature scavenger hunt
6. Go to the pool
7. Go play mini golf
8. Go to an indoor trampoline or bounce house
9. Sign up for a family sports league
10. Play laser tag
11. Do a running plan together such as couch to 5K (my kids loved this)
12. Get a fitness video game
13. Go to the park
14. Do a downtown scavenger hunt, exploring your city
15. Walk to the grocery store
16. Go mall walking
17. Take a family karate class
18. Do a race together (many 5k's have kid fun runs)
19. Go to the zoo
20. Go to an amusement park
21. Go to a rock climbing facility that is kid friendly
22. Require mandatory active commercial breaks where you and your kids do exercises (jumping jacks, jog in place) during a commercial break while enjoying a show together
23. Create a backyard obstacle course for the family
24. Play tag
25. Have a water balloon or snowball fight

While this is just a short list to get you started, I am sure with enough creativity you and your family can come up with many more. The important thing is to get up and get the whole family moving and active. You won't regret it.

What's in a Calorie?

They’re so small, but they add up so quickly. I would go over the technical definition of calories, the chemistry of a calorie, and calories versus kilocalories (which is what we actually use to quantify our food) but for the sake of brevity, I’ll just say that a calorie is measured as the amount of food energy per unit of mass. Calories equal energy.

Grams of fat, protein, and carbohydrates have caloric values. Fat has nine calories per gram, while protein and carbohydrates have four each. This means that something with five grams of fat, 20 grams of carbs, and 10 grams of protein would have 165 total calories (45+80+40).

If you want to lose weight, your calories consumed must be less than the calories burned. Three thousand five hundred calories equal a pound. So if you want to lose a pound a week then you need to cut an average of five hundred calories a day from what you consume, or burn an extra 500 in the gym (or some combination of the two like consuming 250 less and burn 250 more at the gym).

To figure out how many calories that you need to consume, you must first determine how many calories a day you burn. To get a rough estimate of how many calories you burn a day, you need to figure out how many you burn in the gym (several heart rate monitors can do that) and what your BMR is.

Basal metabolic rate, also known as BMR, is the minimum number of calories that your body burns to function. Basically it is the number of calories burned in a 24 hour period if you stayed in bed the entire time. Many websites can help you get a rough estimate. Obviously you don’t always know how many calories you burn outside of the gym doing regular every day activities so that’ll be a little extra.

You can see now that you can use calories to your advantage. They no longer have to be a hindrance, but a tool that you can use and manipulate in order to reach your goals.

Forget the Resolutions; Here are some goals you can actually stick to

As the new year rolls around the buzz has already started about all of the resolutions that people are going to make.  I can already see the people flocking to the gym to sign up for what is going to be their year. I have been one of these people too. In the past, every year I would set a resolution to lose weight and, guess what, it never happened.  The sad part is, after the month of January, many of these resolutions are long gone and the people seem to lose sight of the result that they are working toward. I attribute this to the fact that many times, people (myself included) set resolutions, that are much too lofty for them to reach in a reasonable period of time. When they do not see immediate results, it becomes really hard for them to continue.  

What most people don't realize (and what I have had to learn) is that in order to turn your life around it is about making small changes over time. I say for this year, we throw out the resolutions, those never work anyways, and set goals for the new year. So this year, for all of those who wish to live a healthier lifestyle, I am proposing the following goals for the new year.  If you follow these it is almost certain that you will end the coming year a healthier person.

1. Eat more real food!! While this may sound silly, since we are all eating real food everyday, real food refers to food that is for the most part unprocessed.  I challenge you to throw out the microwaveable meals and boxed dinners and fill your diet with things such as fruits, vegetables, fresh dairy, and fresh meats.  In the end remember this simple rule: If your food can go bad, it is good for you, if it can't go bad, it's not good for you

2. Drink more water!! This is definitely one of the greatest things you can do for yourself. Many people have a negative misconception about water because they think that drinking too much water will make them hold water weight, when actually it is just the opposite.  When our bodies are not receiving a sufficient amount of water, they start to hold water, to help prevent dehydration.  So keeping your body fully hydrated will let your body get rid of the water that it is holding on to, and also help clean out toxins in the body. 

3. Exercise more!! Many people think that in order to start exercising you have to jump into an elaborate workout regimen.  You just need to come up with a work out schedule that you can and will stick to. For many people, something as simple as adding a walk to their daily routine would do them a world of good.  It is about analyzing your current workouts and thinking about how you can take it to the next level.  For me I am adding an extra HIIT cardio session each week.  For one of my friends, who does not usually work out, she is going to use her new exercise bike as much as she can.  The key is to challenge yourself at what ever level you are currently at.  If you are challenging yourself you WILL see results.  

4. Praise yourself more!! I really think that many people fail to meet their goals because they just give up. I have been there, and been to a point where I feel so negative about my current situation that I just don't see the point in continuing. Now that I have tried to move past that negativity, Each day I try to find something that I can compliment myself on. I don't make this up, each day I am always able to find something about myself that I am really proud of. While this may be hard sometimes, it is about looking past all of the negatives you may feel about yourself and realizing that you do have wonderful attributes.  I promise if you try hard enough, you will find that you actually love many things about yourself

On a final note, as you are setting your goals for the new year, remember that you will not reach your goals over night, you may fall off the horse, but you must be sure to jump right back on. You can meet your goals, you can be successful. So give yourself the chance to do so!!!