Watching the season finale of The Biggest Loser a few weeks ago, Mom and I hit on a bit of inspiration.
side note: as much as I always want to watch that show and as inspiring as I tend to find it, I never seem to catch any episode other than the finale...and usually watch about 5 minutes of it. this year was no exception.
We'd been looking for some inspiration - something to get the family moving and eating better this summer - and, in one of those lightbult moments, found it.
A family version of The Biggest Loser.
We're all weighing and measuring, eating better and working out, from yesterday until Labor Day.
Even the kids.
They went to the gym for the first time yesterday, and both loved it. They're a little bit limited by what machines they actually fit on, but I've come to believe that you have never seen cuteness until you've seen a 9 year old on the elliptical machine. I might need to take in Hanna's Flip and record it.
We've been talking - a lot - about what better, healthier choices mean. About how one good choice leads to more of them. And that we're not expecting big results or perfection, but that we're wanting to make little changes that add up to big ones that last a lifetime.
Because we're competitive, we did add a little monetary incentive. All of our recycling money, plus the dollar equivalent of what each person loses, is going into a jar for Labor Day. Because there are a 9 and 13 year old taking part, I'm hoping we can take that money and do something fun together with it...but it's also been suggested that, like on the show, the person with the highest percentage of weight loss takes the prize. We'll see.
Right now, my main focus is on those little choices and instilling in the kids a love of activity. And if no one loses a single pound, but a bit of that happens - we'll be the best sort of losers of all.
2 of my boys LOVE sugar. I talk about making healthy choices but my 9 year old tends to give me trouble and "mock" healthy choices. He gets in trouble for his attitude but still wants to each junk and I see him making poor choices when I am not around. We were at a church lunch recently and I found him with a plate full of brownies, cookies and chips. It was SO frustrating. My oldest loves veggies. My youngest is heading down the same path as my 9 year old. It is discouraging. What do you have around the kitchen for snacks?
Posted by: Ingrid | June 15, 2011 at 06:22 PM
It's a little more difficult right now since we're living with my parents. Usually, we're big on string cheese, trail mix, fruit of any kind, and stuff like that. Last summer, I set them up with snack boxes - I'd put in 7 or 8 snack sized baggies of crackers. They could eat them all the first day, but it wouldn't get refilled until the following Sunday. It seemed to help them learn to monitor themselves a bit.
My 13 year old tends to think it's abusive that I don't let her eat Pop Tarts for breakfast, pizza pockets for lunch and frozen dinners. I think it's that sense of being different from her peers, but I try to calmly explain that I'm doing it for her long-term health. Not sure how much it's sinking in, but I do see her trying to make better choices on her own a bit more now. The food culture that kids are around so often is so toxic, and it's a constant battle.
Posted by: Samantha Widlund | June 17, 2011 at 08:35 PM