For many of us, ?lose weight, get fit, and exercise more? top our New Year’s Resolutions list. We commit to some pretty incredible (and fun!) challenges and fetes that we know will give us a few of the victories we need to achieve the levels of fitness we are striving for. Unfortunately, all too often there is a harsh reality to our wishful New Year thinking. By January’s end, many of us will have priority shifts and work/family obstacles that will start to overrule the necessity of us keeping our commitments. Working out, eating healthy, and keeping our promises will seem to have ?justifiably? fallen by the wayside. The way I see it, our reasons have all of a sudden become more powerful than our promises?leaving us to break our resolutions and once again feel hopeless.
Guys, I am here to tell you this does not have to happen. I know?life can get tough. As a working mom of 4 (very busy) kiddos, I can relate to the stress that many of you feel to balance kids, life, work?and now your new resolutions! It?s tough! On top of that, there is a natural sense of guilt that comes along with taking time out for ?me?, right? For so long we?ve allowed ourselves to feel like we must be slaves to our duties?that if everyone isn?t happy, mom isn?t happy. No way, Jose! Truth is that if Mom ain?t happy, nobody?s happy!!!! We must take the time we need to feel good about ourselves, while simultaneously knowing that everyone else is going to be okay. After all, maintaining an active lifestyle is not only essential for your?physical and mental health, but for the health of your children as well.
So how can it be done? I’m sharing my top 5 ways to get up and get moving… as a family! That’s right, no missing out on your kiddo’s soccer practice or piano lessons to hit the gym. I’m sharing my favorite ways to make exercise a family affair that can create a lifetime of positive habits.
1. Just get moving! So many of us think of exercise as something that is painful?that must involve weights, tons of laps around the track, and laying on the floor afterward. Good news?it doesn?t have to! Break your kids from their TV coma, and take a walk around the block, maybe even to a local park for a game of tag. If you’re moving, you are exercising!
2. Get up and get down! Nothing says family fun quite like a dance party ;). Crank the music all the way up, and dance like no one’s watching. Kids (especially younger ones who haven’t learned the eye roll yet) love to dance. Make your exercise fun by throwing an impromptu family dance-off right in your living room. This is literally a daily thing at our home!
3. Turn TV into an exercise routine! Still trying to rid your family of a media addiction? Make some fun fitness rules out of your family’s favorite television programs. For example, during a 30-minute show, spend each commercial break in a fast-paced jog or do a jumping jack every time a character says “um” or “like”. TV doesn’t have to be a sedentary activity. Make it fun? and more importantly, make it active!
4. Clean to get lean! Are Saturday morning chores already a part of your family’s routine? Keep it up! Deep cleaning actually burns quite a few calories and is a great way to get those endorphins going and start off the day in a healthy way. Intense yard work, like mowing the lawn or picking weeds is an amazing way to burn some extra calories…and of course keep that yard looking beautiful!
5. Make exercise, a date night! Many families designate a weekly movie date, right? Why not swap out that 2 hour movie at home for a fun sports night at the park? Grab a ball and get your family’s competitive side going with a friendly game of kickball or softball. Let a member of the family choose their sport of choice each week so everyone can be part of the fun.
As you can see, there are many ways to get your family up and moving, and started on the path toward an active lifestyle?all while keeping YOUR New Year?s Resolutions (and sanity). Try them all out, see what works for you, and have some fun! I promise, there is no wrong way to start healthy habits for your family in 2015!
Xoxo,
Heidi
11 Responses
Hello! I’ve been watching you and your husband’s show for a couple years now and it inspires me to get active.. I have three kids (my youngest is almost 3 months) and I’ve been trying to get us up and moving more and have a healthier lifestyle. But I was wondering if you had a workout for my husband and I to do together.. we’ve started stretching and getting small workouts in every night but I like routines and I don’t know where to start. He’s in shape do to work and he’s very active. I am not. I haven’t really worked out since the 9th grade. We eat pretty healthy we just need a workout routine. Since having my youngest just 2 and 1/2 months ago, I don’t know where to start and I instantly thought of you considering you have 4 kids you would know. If you could please help me. Defiantly going to get my girls up and moving more too. Mainly looking for something for me to start doing and something for my husband and I.. thank you!
I need help, I am trying to make a better, healthier life for my family. My husband was diagnosed with diabetes two years ago. He has recent been told he is on the verge of kidney failure and dialysis due to the diabetes attacking his kidneys. I feel it is my duty to save my family. I have been trying to cut carbs and sugar from our diets but we have a 6 year old so it is a challenge. How do I motivate and stress importance to my husband without blasting his ego which happens to be VERY sensitive. Any help would be great. Diet ideas, hints, tips etc. thank you!!!
That can be a tough one. Maybe go about it from the perspective that you’re all going to get healthier as a family and set an example for your 6 year old. As far as ideas, hints, and tips, check out Chris and Heidi’s carb cycling program in their book, “Choose More, Lose More for Life.” The book contains their complete nutrition and exercise program, and it’s the same one they use on the show. It will teach you everything you need to know and do to achieve your own transformations and develop healthy habits as a family! Learn all about it here: https://heidipowell.net/9060/how-to-begin-your-transformation-journey-step-by-step/. You all can do this!
We really just started working out as a family inside. In summer we are pretty good at getting outside, going on hikes, going to the park, etc. In a cold climate, I always found it hard in the winter (for myself AND the kids) but what we’ve started doing is my 3 year old jumps on a mini-trampoline while I work on the elliptical and we do body weight strength training which she doesn’t do perfectly yet but she does her best and she’ll get it eventually!
I’ve been doing carb cycling for three weeks now. I’ve lost 8 lbs so far. The trouble is that yesterday I noticed I had developed acetone breath, having had gestational diabetes I knew what I was dealing with. I dealt with it the only way I knew how, which was to eat carb until it subsided. My question is, how would you suggest I avoid ketosis to that degree? Should I be going into ketosis with this diet? Is my acetone breath indicative of something I may be doing incorrectly with the carb cycling? Thank you so much for you’re help, this is my last option before gastric bypass, which is a surgery I do not want to do.
Congratulations on those 8 pounds gone – that’s awesome! I’d suggest you discuss carb cycling with your healthcare team and get their opinion on this. They are best equipped to help you since they know your health history and can work with you on a one-on-one basis. You can do this!
Hi Heidi.
I follow you and Chris from Norway and i can`t begin to tell you guys how great you are. And how much you and Chris inspires me every day. However what I do miss from you guys, and I hope You`ll do this; A Spotify list with your best workout music. Maybe a list you both put together or one each.
I love working out and do that every day, but the same songs keep playing over and over again, and the only sport I have done, that does not require music to make even more fun is horseback riding.
If my writing is bad, than I am sorry. I`m norwegian 😛
I don’t have a family (yet lol) but most of my close friends do. My “Cali BFF,” as we call ourselves lol, Megan, is an AMAZING zumba instructor here in California. She’s lost over 100lbs doing it and of course she loves fitness. Her and her husband Will have twin 6 y/o boys and they take them hiking often. I’ve gone with them and it’s tons of fun. Sometimes one or both of the boys resists but it becomes a good lesson in pushing though things, finishing what you start, and over coming things you thought you couldn’t. I see plenty of ppl on hiking trails here in California with kids in tow or the younger ones strapped to their backs. What a great way to lead by example and have fun with the whole fam!! =D
You can go skating with the whole family. Here in Canada we have a ton of public skating rinks both inside and outside. There are even a few weekends where skating is free of charge. You can even take the whole family for some fun at the community centre pool. How about going for a cross country or downhill ski. There are a ton of fun things to do with the whole family to get you up and moving and having fun.
My husband and I love to kayak in the summer time and we will look for new places to explore in the kayak. Fitness doesn’t just mean working out in a gym. Go outside for some fresh air and fitness. You will have a lot of fun!
Hi. We have 9 kids. I am currently only home schooling 6 right now. Their ages are 6-18. We live in North Dakota. What other suggestions do you have for cold climate areas? Thanks! God bless you and your family. Margaret
Anything you do outside that’s “fun” can work: sledding, snow shoeing, ice skating, etc. Or do things in the house and make a game of fitness. Here’s an awesome idea from another post: https://heidipowell.net/6948/my-kind-of-family-fitness-deck-of-cards-kids-edition/. Hope these ideas help get those creative juices flowing!