3 Actions You Can Take Today to Lose Weight, Get In Shape, and Help your Children to Do the Same

In today’s blog I’d like to help you get a plan for improving your health, losing weight, and helping your children to do the same. I have three practical suggestions for you as well as some guidelines for getting started.

I’m in a wonderful season of life where I am able to truly enjoy the fruits of raising six children. I enjoy their company and I respect their goals and achievements. I have found that it isn’t necessary to be perfect or to raise perfect children to be in a position to enjoy this time of life. It is important, however, to have lead your children in a purposeful way toward the excellent and praiseworthy. Moving in that direction and brushing yourself off after mistakes is key.

I have created Exercising Values to help families with young children to commit to excellent character as well as habits of fitness. I also want to invest the proceeds from this effort in orphans who do not have the advantage of loving parents to watch over them. This is the season of widening outreach but it is built on helping the young family to invest in their own children’s well being. It is a privledged time where it is exciting to endeavor to follow the Biblical words: “Lay not up for yourself treasures on earth where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal. But lay up for yourself treasures in heaven where neither moth nor rust consume nor thieves break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”

Today I’m writing while on a plane heading to what is called The Death Ride in Markleeville, California. It’s a day of cycling over five mountain passes and will certainly test my limits as an endurance athlete. I’ve been following the Tour de France this week and have been inspired by their perseverance and the legacy of the race.

I hope that you will find Exercising Values helpful in identifying what you want your legacy to be. If you are a parent that will certainly involve your children. Trek is running an ad campaign during the Tour that says Dream Big. While you are formulating and working towards your dreams Exercising Values can help you achieve weight control. physical fitness, and a closer relationship with your children. It will take you step by step through a daily program that combines character training and physical fitness training. Both you and your children will change for the better and have fun doing so.

I invite you to share your dreams with the Exercising Values community and to let me know if there is a particular topic you would like to see addressed in this blog.

See you at the top of your mountain. I believe that you are going to get there. To help you with this quest I’ll leave you with just a few healthy reminders that you can implement today because the key to any change is taking that first step. Today I’ll focus on physical health because several recent studies are predicting that this generation of children will be the first in history to die before their parents from diseases that are preventable with better exercise and nutrition choices. These are the children of the fattest generation yet so it’s easy to see who needs to make the changes to lead the next generation in a better direction.

When parents fly with young children, the flight attendants will always explain that in the event of an emergency parents should put their own oxygen mask on and then assist their children. The emergency of childhood obesity is such that the first lady, Michelle Obama, is focusing on how to turn this crisis around. Parents must take charge of their own health to have the best impact on their children’s health. Don’t use them as the excuse why you are bringing processed junk food into your refrigerator and cabinets.

1. Purge the Junk Food from your Home
Processed, high carb food is potentially DANGEROUS and certainly useless especially when consumed in large quantity. I teach nutrition at a college for personal trainers where the expected message is just follow the USDA guidelines. I am one of the few regular citizens who will actually read the document they produce and I have already printed and perused their initial 2010 recommendations.

The document contains some worthwhile recommendations such as advising parents to not allow their children to eat in front of theTV because that practice is linked to obesity. However, do you think a document created by the Department of Agriculture and not the Department of Health and Human Services might just be influenced by say the wheat and dairy industries? Please read beyond this document and think about what you read. Use common sense not common practice because the common practice of parents today has lead us to the most overweight generation of both parents and their children ever. This does not need to be true of you if you are willing to think and act in your own best interest.

I recommend lean protein foods mixed with plenty of fresh vegetables and modest portions of fruits, grains, nuts, seeds, cold pressed oils, coconut oil, and filtered water as the drink of choice. You should, however, consult a trusted dietician for details on your particular diet needs. There are individual exceptions to every rule. For example, it has been recommended to me to avoid raw broccoli because of my hypothyroidism whereas for most people this would be a very healthy choice. I’ve had a personal training client consult a nutritionally aware doctor and discovery that she is allergic to rice not one of the commonly listed allergens like wheat, dairy and soy. Make the effort to discover the best diet for you.

2. Drink More Water

Your liver wants to help you burn fat but it needs adequate water to do so or it will be diverted from this task to helping the kidneys. Detoxing the effects of drinking alcohol will also be prioritized over fat burning by your liver. Sodas leach calcium from your bones heading you towards possibly developing osteoporosis. Even two daily glasses of fruit juice has been linked to diabetes whereas a piece of whole fruit a day has been shown to help prevent it.

A small glass of water every hour or so is a great practice but a larger glass every two hours will also work. Once you feel thirsty you are already somewhat dehydrated which again slows fat burning and decreases physical performance. Some of your water needs can be met through increase consumption of vegetables and smaller portions of fruits.

3. Do a 15- 20 Minute Workout Today with your Children

The Exercising Values Book will give you exact workouts that can be enjoyed as a family and will give you well-rounded cardio, strength and flexibility. This daily practice may cut many disease risks in half as well as getting you in the best shape of your life. By including your children you put them on the path to life long health and fitness as well. They will stand out in a generation that is looking for answers to avoiding life style diseases. At the very least, go for a walk and as you walk think about the body and lifestyle that you really want. Remember to dream a big dream. There are resources to help you get there including this blog and the Exercising Values monthly program and book.

Please let me know how implementing these suggestions has impacted your family. Your comments are always welcomed and appreciated.