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Healthy living for the whole family

February 5, 2015 19 Comments

This article first appeared on Run Stroller Run and is republished here with permission.

As a mom, I strive to model healthy living to my toddler daughter Emma through my food choices and regular exercise. Since I work as a Holistic Health Coach and a fitness instructor, my daughter has been exposed to healthy living from a young age. Ensuring that she is involved in my choices has been the best motivation for me to follow a healthy path.

There are numerous ways to include your entire family in the decision to lead a healthier life, but I find that it is best to keep it simple. Modeling healthy choices for your children is a great way to ensure that they also strive to follow a healthy lifestyle.

Mother with her boy in the supermarket

Photo credit: Dollar Photo Club

 

Healthy Food Choices

When it comes to meals, I keep my daughter involved with food selection and preparation. One of the easiest ways to do this is to take your children food shopping. I usually bring Emma to the grocery store and the farmers market and I keep her entertained by letting her make decisions about what to buy. For example, I will ask her to decide whether we should buy blueberries or strawberries. She always gets excited when she gets to choose which food to put into the cart.

I won’t lie; she had one or two complete meltdowns in the grocery store. Last summer, she knocked over an entire crate of tomatoes at the farmer’s market. Despite these incidents, I feel bringing her grocery shopping is a simple way to keep her involved in our family’s food choices and worth the risk of her having a tantrum.

Although Emma is too young to help with food preparation, she uses a mixing bowl and ladle to “cook” while I am making meals. She basically just bangs the ladle on the bowl, but it helps her to feel involved in the process of cooking. If your kids are older and you want them to help with cooking, have them assist with basic tasks like shucking corn or washing lettuce.

Exercising with your Family

Exercising with your kids is a great way to include your family in healthy living. You can keep it simple by going on a family walk on a nice day. Play tag in the backyard. Run around the playground instead of sitting in front of the television. Go on a hike with your family on a local trail. These are all easy ways to keep your children active. Leading an active lifestyle with the whole family keeps both kids and adults fit.

There are many ways to stay active with your children, even if they aren’t walking yet. I have exercised with my daughter since she was a few months old. Even though she is almost two, I still bring her in the stroller when I go on runs and walks. In addition, she attends Stroller Strides with me, which is a mommy and me fitness class. She likes to do squats during class and mimics many of the exercises.

If there are no mommy and me fitness classes where you live, consider simply working out with your child nearby. Explain that you are going to exercise and invite your child to watch or join you.

Lastly, I always make a point to tell my daughter how happy exercise makes me. I hope that this helps her understand the importance of fitness.

Healthy living doesn’t have to be complicated. Including your children in simple tasks like food shopping and walking can be enough to keep them involved and excited about being a part of your family’s healthy lifestyle.

How do you keep your family healthy? I would love to hear more ideas in the comments!

Comments

  1. Amanda @ queenofthelandoftwigsnberries says

    February 5, 2015 at 6:59 pm

    These are all such great tips. Here’s to a happy and healthy 2015!

    Reply
    • becky says

      February 8, 2015 at 2:59 am

      Thanks Amanda!

      Reply
  2. Marc says

    February 5, 2015 at 10:11 pm

    All so very trie

    Reply
  3. Marc says

    February 5, 2015 at 10:11 pm

    True

    Reply
    • becky says

      February 8, 2015 at 2:59 am

      thanks dad!

      Reply
  4. Kari says

    February 11, 2015 at 2:03 pm

    Great tips – one thing we did when they kids were little was go to the farmers market and they picked one new food each week. We would look up how to make it and then try it out.

    Reply
    • Becky Tountas says

      February 13, 2015 at 3:43 am

      Thanks! Yes, I do that too in the summer. its a great activity for kids!

      Reply
  5. Patricia says

    February 11, 2015 at 11:30 pm

    Both of these tips are great for keeping your family healthy, especially the one about keeping your child involved in the food process. Thanks for the great post!

    Reply
    • Becky Tountas says

      February 13, 2015 at 3:43 am

      Thanks Patricia!

      Reply
  6. Johanna says

    February 12, 2015 at 12:34 am

    Great post! I love how you give examples for ways to invole children in making healthy choices from start to finish… Grocery shopping, helping with preparation, and exercise. You don’t let excuses get in your way and this is inspiring.

    Reply
    • Becky Tountas says

      February 13, 2015 at 3:44 am

      I am with her all of the time anyway, so I may as well take her with me on my excursions! 🙂

      Reply
  7. Shani says

    February 12, 2015 at 1:19 am

    Great direction! You have given some great examples to go by when trying to live a healthy life as a family and not just individual! I love it and will certainly share with my friends and family!

    Reply
    • Becky Tountas says

      February 13, 2015 at 3:45 am

      Awesome, thanks Shani!

      Reply
  8. shelley ugyan says

    February 12, 2015 at 2:19 am

    LOVE your tips! Kids want to do what we are doing so what better way to share health than to BE it! I love that you take this one step further and share how exercise makes you FEEL. This is so important for kids to hear! Thanks for the great reminders:)

    Reply
    • becky says

      February 13, 2015 at 7:23 pm

      Thanks Shelley!

      Reply
  9. Cathy Sakora says

    February 12, 2015 at 9:13 pm

    Thank you, these are fantastic tips! Weather permitting I like to go on walks with our dog, I share that with the whole family. I also keep a treadmill in my office and some weights to continue on my fitness so I’m not sitting all day. Last but not least I try to eat very clean, while others in the house do not share my Vegan tastes, I keep it up hoping one day they will. It’s important to be a good role model for the young and impressionable ones. Thanks again for all the reminders and tips!

    Reply
    • becky says

      February 13, 2015 at 7:24 pm

      Awesome – I love the idea of family dog walks. 🙂

      Reply
  10. Alison Conner says

    May 30, 2015 at 7:04 am

    I think the best tip in here is exercise with your family. Not only does it make your family healthy, it keeps everybody motivated.

    Reply
    • Becky Tountas says

      May 30, 2015 at 6:14 pm

      absolutely. it works for us!

      Reply

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Welcome!

becky_150
After ten years as an attorney, I retired from the practice of law to become a stay-at-home mom. This gave me the opportunity to develop my lifelong love of writing. Today I am also a certified Holistic Health Coach and an ACE certified group fitness instructor. I believe in mindful living and present parenting. My writing has been published by the Huffington Post, Scary Mommy, Literary Mama, Mamalode, Kveller, Elephant Journal, BlogHer, Bonbon Break, Mom Babble and Andrea Beaman's blog, among others.
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