Have you ever tried to take steps toward improving your nutrition and increasing your activity level only to fall back into your old patterns? There are many different factors that can contribute to situations like this and as a fitness and nutritional consultant, I have seen them all. While there are several different ways to stay more consistent with your efforts, one of the more powerful and impact filled options is to invite your loved ones to be healthy and active with you.
A common complaint among clients in their quest for a healthier lifestyle is a lack of outside support. I've often heard it said, "If only I had you around all the time, my willpower would be stronger in both making healthy decisions in nutrition and with staying consistent with my physical activities." A statement like this usually refers to a person's source of motivation and the availability of it. Once you leave the gym and your trainer, you may be going home to a life without similar encouragement. Receiving additional support in your home environment is necessary to help you avoid a dangerous reality occurring in American households-inactivity.
Our culture is fostering a growing trend toward family inactivity and this shift is contributing to the dramatic increase of obesity within our country. Coupling an individual's need for support to maintain a healthy lifestyle and the family's need to be active, provides a powerful platform for involving the entire family in changes leading to a healthier lifestyle.
Attempting a personal overhaul of your lifestyle is not an easy task. Taking on an entire group of people with habits that perpetuate each other's unhealthy choices may require a SWAT team. The key to success begins with recognizing the need for changes as an individual and as a family. There are many current family studies showing the need for families to make changes that will positively affect their health.
The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP), has researched several factors contributing to childhood obesity and other significant health problems. According to AACAP, childhood obesity is a national epidemic, currently affecting about nine million children. This number has tripled in the last thirty years. On their website, www.aacap.org, they stress the high risk of obese children becoming overweight adults unless their patterns in choices are redirected to include more physical activity and proper nutrition.
Children tend to model their behavior after the adults in their lives. The importance of adults adjusting their attitudes to encompass wiser decisions reaches into two key areas. The first impact is directly personal. No matter what age you are, or where your level of fitness lies, improving your nutrition and activity level will always have a positive influence on your health. It doesn't matter at what stage of life you are, a doctor's first recommendation for most health concerns is often to improve their fitness and nutrition. This approach redirects the patient's thinking from problem solving to preventive action. Instead of waiting until there is a problem, imagine making aggressive attempts to ensure fewer health complications down the road. This leads into the second area of importance. As adults realize and embrace such changes, their children are taught to model the same behavioral patterns. A family can make great strides together to ensure a healthy future through the influence of good adult leadership.
Teaching your children how to choose wisely and safeguard their health becomes more than a family project. It becomes a gift for their future-a gift that will literally continue giving for generations. There are many obstacles that will hinder this process. America's mainstream culture has adopted quick fixes and eroded our quality of life in the process. The portion sizes at every restaurant have dramatically increased along with the calorie count. As the demand for quantity increases, food is produced at a faster rate and less healthy production methods are being utilized. Growth hormones, meat factory farms and chemicals are negatively impacting the future of nutrition.
Another vice is the ever-growing age of technology. Video games and TV often replace outdoor activities or real athletics. Daily, younger generations spend more time at the computer than simply walking. Overcoming these temptations will require effort, but in the long run, it should build a much stronger family. There are many quick and easy alternatives that can be incorporated into the weekly routine. Time is precious, so it can be helpful to limit time spent with distractions like TV or computers. This one notion may open up many other possibilities.
As simple as it sounds, just going for a walk together can do more than you might expect. Walking a mile in fifteen minutes for a 150-pound person can burn close to 92 calories, which is almost equivocal to the same person running one mile in six minutes. This demonstrates that the activity is not about the intensity level as much as it is about engaging in the activity itself. Other options are doing yard work, going to the local pool, playing sports together at the park, hiking and bike riding together.
Not all modifications come in the form of activity. Nutrition within a family can suffer greatly when time is of the essence. According to AACAP, research indicates that children have the tendency to eat more nutritiously in the presence of parents than when left to fend for themselves. Simply finding one or two nights a week to eat together could make a significant impact in the dietary styles of the entire family.
Avoid fast food and attempt to use fresh produce in meals. If at all possible, opt for homemade lunches for your kids instead of prepackaged meals. Not all children become excited over the thought of fruits and veggies, so be adventurous as a family and try new and different varieties together. Any journey taken alone seems longer and more difficult than one accompanied by those we love.
Creating an environment at home that promotes healthy choices will take time, but the end result reaches further than just nutrition and fitness. One client at Fitness Together, in Brookfield, shared her own family's progress. Dr. Laurie Lowenbraun said, "I am approaching my late thirties, work full time and have a two and a four-year- old. I've never enjoyed exercise and despite being in a health profession, have dieted for years rather than adopting lifestyle changes conducive to long term health and fitness. My husband urged me to try Fitness Together. Six months later, modifications to my lifestyle have infiltrated the rest of my family in a positive, yet non-intrusive way. We enjoy high-energy activities together and I'm no longer just an observer. My children opt for healthy snacks rather than chocolate, as they've watched my husband and I select better choices. I have truly shed 'mother guilt' when I take time out for fitness-my healthy changes have set the stage for my family's enhanced health and well-being."
Just like Dr. Lowenbraun, the impact of investing in lifestyle changes as a family increases the accountability that parents have. It allows an easier transition for their own smart choices rather than trying to balance them with the adverse attitudes of the rest of the family. Eventually, the home front evolves into a safety net of support rather than a minefield of distraction, allowing for good new habits to form and flourish.
Pete Piranio, BS, CSCS, Owner of Fitness Together and Piranio Fitness Systems, Inc is a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist, from the National Strength and Conditioning Association.
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