Activity + Poor Food Choices = Non Healthy Lifestyle
by Sue DeFiore
zone3
One of the biggest misconceptions people have today is what constitutes
a healthy lifestyle. Just because you exercise does not mean you are
healthy. I hear much too often, oh, I can eat this because then I will
work 30 or 40 minutes on the treadmill, jogging, walking, (fill in the
blank with the exercise of choice). NO, NO, NO! Once in a while
transgressions are one things, however, if you want to be healthy you need
to eat healthy and exercise, the two go hand in hand.
Now, think about this, if you think this way as an adult, what are you
teaching your children. Yep, that is it OK to eat junk food as long as you
are active. Not only that, so many parents, say well my kids eat all this
stuff but don’t gain any weight, so it is OK. NO IT IS NOT! While on the
surface, you think it is, it is doing major damage to both yours and your
child’s body. Think high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease and
diabetes.
Remember folks the old adage “you are what you eat” applies here. We
all carry over what we learn in our childhood into our lives as adults.
You are setting the foundation here for a lifetime of bad eating for your
child. Do you really want to do that? No, I don’t think so. So you need to
set an example and start eating healthier and continue to be active. Right
now the majority of children that are active are doing so through after
school or organized sports activities that interest them. However, what
happens when they get older, when these activities are no longer a part of
his/her life. You got it, sedentary behavior because you didn’t provide
the role model they needed for a healthy lifestyle. You need to provide
them with other choices besides just sporting activities: walking,
jogging, riding, jumping rope, aerobics to name a few.
It is one of your responsibilities as a parent to teach your children
about healthy eating and the importance of activity not only as a child
but as they grow into adulthood. So you need to be a good role model. We
have discussed in other articles, taking the stairs instead of the
elevator, and walking from the far end of the parking lot. Joining a gym
or having exercise equipment (bikes, trampolines, DVDs) in your home. One
of the cutest things is for a young child to watch their mom or dad
watching a video or working out on a piece of exercise equipment and
trying to emulate them. What a perfect opportunity for you to show them
how to dance, jog, jump rope so they can do something right along with
you.
Next be sure you let them be active in the planning and preparation of
meals. Let them give their input. Take the time to talk to them about the
foods you are making and they are eating. And please don’t tell me you
don’t have the time, make the time or in all honesty why did you have
children!
Yes, we want our children to be active and involved. However, one big
caveat here is to limit the number of activities your children get
involved with. Too many children today join everything to please their
parents and they are exhausted! So be realistic with their time just as
you would be with yours. Be sure to emphasize to your child that they
don’t have to be involved in everything. Emphasis that if they do too much
they are going to make compromises in one or more activities and that
isn’t fair to that particular group. Talk to them about down time. Be sure
they know it is OK to relax. We need balance in our life and the only way
to be sure we do is to do everything in moderation and get that down time
for ourselves. Relaxing restores our balance which is so very important
for healthy living.
So let’s start today to show our children that Healthy Eating +
Activity = Healthy Lifestyle!
Copyright 2006, DeFiore Enterprises
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
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