So our newest routine involves Peanut working out with me every day. It is amazing how she looks forward to it now. We head to the YMCA and she goes to the chid watch while I get my workout done. And then when I go to pick her up she says mommy I have to workout too!
We head back up to the gym and she runs around the indoor track with me and walks, for a few laps. Then she gets some weights and mimics what I do. It is adorable. What makes me proud is she encourages it! She says mommy we have to do push ups, or her favorite bear crawls.
When she was born 3.5 years ago, I weighed 274 pounds. I was never going to a gym, never working out, never eating healthy. I realized I had to change, I had to set the example.
So that is my best advice for any parent out there on the fence about getting healthy this year. For any parent who thinks that being healthy will not be achievable, look at your child. You may not realize it, but they watch every single thing we do. They become little versions of us.
If you smile and get excited to do some activity and healthy exercise no matter what it may be they see it. And when they are old enough, they will want to tag along and do it too. Your enthusiasm transfers onto them. I have watched it time and time again with clients and their children, and now with my own child.
The same goes for nutrition as well. If you are enthusiastic about eating healthy and just living it every day, they will follow suit. We spend so much time worrying about being good parents and what our children are consuming, etc. But really all that you have to do is be that example. Set the tone for their lives for them. I never force my daughter to eat anything I just cook dinner and let her eat. I make my own clean healthy foods too and more often than not she will eventually try them and eat them. My best example is my morning oatmeal. She looked at it for about a week strait, and would ask about it. I would smile and explain it and eat it. Next step, one day she asked to taste it, I let her and she said she liked it. So the next few days I kept letting her taste it. She started eating more and more of it. After about 2 weeks, now she wants her own bowl of it in the morning and she eats it.
Setting the example each and every day will make a world of a difference to your child. That is the one thing I have learned these last 3 years. Being positive, being a cheerleader of a healthy lifestyle, that is the BEST way to encourage a healthy child.
4 comments:
I totally agree! So many parents don't realize how much of an example they are setting for their kids. I was very involved with a mommy fitness group when my daughter was little. She is 6 and sees fitness activities as fun things that you do with your friends, not something you "have" to do to burn calories.
Great job making working out fun for your daughter.
Awesome! You are setting her up for a healthy future.
You are such a great mom! It is so important to realize that they are watching us, and a positive attitude about health and fitness is contagious.
You are such a great example to not only Peanut, but to everyone! Peanut is SO lucky to have you as her mom. :)
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