Make a Pledge For The Entire Family To Eat Healthier Foods and Be Active in 2013!

With the new year upon us, it is the perfect time to keep that new year's resolution by not only keeping yourself active and eating right, but also an opportunity to teach your kids how to have healthy bodies. Often as parents, we are so focused on our own waistline that we forget the little ones need our attention too. My challenge is always the snack time between when I pick them up from school late in the day afterwork and dinner time. I'm happy they are hungry so the likelihood of them eating almost anything I put in front of them will be devoured without much fuss, but they are so hungry that I have to give them something to snack on until dinner is ready. Although my kids eat healthy foods, at this time of day they are not asking for carrot sticks and apple slices. Instead they want to grab chips and juice. So to avoid this predictable headache, I make sure my dinner is on the table in 30 minutes or less. This involves some advance planning: a weekly menu. This prevents me from standing in front of the fridge shaking my head, screaming at the kids, or crying from frustration (yes, I'll admit - those are my grown-up tears, not theirs!). So I plan ahead, all the way down to boiling the pasta or making the rice days in advance which later only requires a quick heating to keep the dinner preparation moving fast.

My own schedule is pretty grueling: up at 4:30am, out of the house by 5:45am and in the office by 6:30am! (my husband takes the kids to school).  Sitting in front of the computer for 9 hours on average a day and some additional hours on Saturdays, I try to make sure to at least walk around the building if I'm not able to get a 30 minute workout at the company gym. Just as important is making sure the boys get of the house and stretch their legs on a daily basis. Often I'll take a soccer ball with me to the park and kick it around with them before they go to the playground. This is a good heart pumping exercise for all of us!

So this year when you are reminding yourself of the new year's resolution you made in the mirror to finally shed those extra 10-15 pounds, don't leave your kids at home playing video games. (And no, Wii fit doesn't count, it's been proven in a lab!) Get the kids out of the house and take a ball, frisbee, bikes, skateboards, or scooters and get moving. Your body will appreciate the extra cardio workout!