Reasons to get your KIDS to get in shape

First, don't make their weight/losing weight/ getting into shape have even the HINT of conditional love, you'll either give them an eating disorder or they'll end up in therapy later. Make sure they understand you're looking out for them, and that losing weight isn't a condition of you loving them.

Are your girls involved/interested in sports? either competitively through school, hobbies, etc. Getting exercise is much better when you're having fun. For me, that's tennis or lifting weights. For others, its running, biking, whatever. Find out what activities their friends are in and encourage that. Start with a Nintendo Wii if you have to! Find something they like to do and encourage it.

I assume you and your wife still have a fair amount of control over their diet, at least breakfast and dinner. Maybe try a brown bag lunch for school (although school lunches have gotten better). Start them on some good habits now. I hated eating vegetables when I was younger but I'm glad I had to now.

You're right, "scared straight" probably won't cut it at that age, so I'd start with encouragement and positive reinforcement. let us know how it goes!

 

Maybe next time offer to take them on a hike/walk at the park or local hiking trail/mountain. If they bite, try and offer some sort of reward.

 

When I was about the age of your daughters I started selecting a lot more of my own food. And what I'd select when eating with my freinds was cheese fries, ice cream, just general junk. I had always been super skinny to the point of being teased about it and then all of a sudden I gained weight. It wasn't anything to do with exercise. It was what I was eating. And I had to just figure out on my own that I wanted to lose some weight and make the effort even though my mom could see what was happening.

 

"Reasons to get your KIDS to get in shape?"


To get them married to a nice guy?

 

Avoid the Wii at all costs. If they have video games, make them available only on rainy days.

Partly you have to find out something they're into that will have them active. Then go from there. Heck have the entire family go for a walk around the neighborhood every other evening, if not everyday. It'll be a great way to spend time with each other and speak to your daughters about whatever, and get some excercise.

I would start small, which in the long run is part of the bigger picture. Diet. Get rid of any junk food and sodas in the house, at least make them limited. One soda every other day or something like that. Introduce fruits and vegetables to their palette. Now, you may already be doing something like this as you and your wife are changing your lifestyles. If they don't like something you can't say okay, and try something else immediately.

My mom told me something really interesting recently. She said it can take up to 10 times to begin "liking" a food.

You're heart is definitely in the right place, but dealing with your daughters at those ages is going to be tough. They may not be bothered right now, but it may in years to come.

 

Ha! I moved back after dropping out of law school "just temporarily" until I could get myself situated. I ended up staying until I was 30. But I did go back to school for 7 years during that time. My dad was all about marrying me off!

 

The whole "everyone should accept everyone for the way they are" is completely overused and there comes a point when it's just too much IMO. Good luck with trying to motivate them I didn't do anything about being chubby until I was 17 and fed up with being chubby that and my dad offered to go workout with me and offered some monetary incentives to sweeten the deal.

 

I've struggled with weight my entire life (I **** you not I was fat straight out of the womb) I lose weight though all the time but I tend to relapse and gain alot of it back. But the last few years I've been in the best shape of my life and am pretty healthy my doc says I've lost and kept off 30lbs over the last three years (could have kept off 60-70) my incentive-girls and if they all start porking up well there goes my incentive. One thing that might help is hooking them up with a guy who needs to work out (or does anyway) it helps alot to workout with the opposite sex. Anyway good luck I've got a little brother your daughters age and he's a big guy he's morbidly obese spends all his ****ing time in front of his pc. I can't seem to motivate him. I keep telling him he's gonna be on viagra when he turns 20 (hell that may not help) he's in very poor health. Things are not well with kids my age on down thats for sure-we're to ******* lazy

 

I myself made the mistake not to lose weight when i really could. I have been overweight for most of my life, not overly obese but also not an attractive body when going to the beach for instance. I kick myself in the nuts every single f-ng day for not going on a good diet when i should have. When in school I always got bullied about my weight, definately not nice and its a big reason how i couldnt get the girls i liked.

When your kids are old enough they maybe want to go to spring break, or go to the beach often to meet guys, or just in general hang out with her girlfriends. going to the beach while not feeling comfortable in your own skin is crap, you'll lack self confidence and ultimately can lead to depression....which can cause you to eat even more OR then get on a serious diet, possibly lose weight to quickly and get strech marks...they dont want that either.

i know it sounds a bit weird, im crap at explaining stuff but this is just the reality.

 

I think that part of the problem is that most of our mental stimulation is found on the couch, and it becomes a habit at an early age with video games, computers, etc. 40 years ago, you might have one show that you watched a night, no internet, no cell phones to text constantly with, etc.

As far as your daughters go, ultimately they'll have to make the choice for themselves. You can run them to death to make them lose weight, and if they hate it, when they leave the house they'll gain it all back. Make sure they know that you love them, but that you also want the best for them--which is why you want them healthy.

 

I don't know, maybe you've tried these things already.... but you could do small things like stop buying soda/soft drinks because "It's a waste of money." A lot of people consume 400+ calories of pure sugar daily in the form of soft drinks, so wipe that out and you're at 2800 fewer worthless calories per week, which is a HUGE start.

Or maybe next time you take her and her friends to the mall or movie or school, park further away from the destination so they have to walk. When I revealed to someone that I walk 3 miles round trip to work each day, they made the remark "Oh you can walk far because you're good shape" to which I responded, "No, I'm in good shape because I walk."

It sounds like they're still at an age where they depend on you for sustenance, so take that into your own hands and minimize their exposure to junk food. The challenge is to try and impart a mindset for wise lifestyle choices now so that when they're 18+ and no longer under your supervision that they have the knowledge and determination to keep making those good decisions.

 

A jelly donut maybe? What is with all this reward BS.

Get them to understand that getting in shape is for their benefit. Show them a picture of Roseanne Barr next to Angelina Jolie's. They will get the point.

You could also help by not having much food around in the house.

 

also i'd like to add that if you tell them 'you've got to eat healty, its better for your organs' doesnt work. yes, deep down we all know that this is true but we wont care about it until we're 35+ really.

 

Swimming, best exercise EVER!

 

You can't force them. Just make opportunities available and limit junk in the house. If they want to lose weight they'll come around, but it's like any addiction - you can't force someone to get into it unless they're deciding to make their own change.

 

+1

I remember when I was getting porky in middle school that my father would take me over to the elementary school to run with him. I soon realized it was more for me to get into shape and that I was getting a little too out of shape. My mother would buy better foods and I hardly noticed it. Ever since then I have been in tip top shape, perfectly content.

I'm very grateful for what my parents did and really feel that that is the correct way to go about helping a child.