Last week I went to the doctor and decided to start dieting and exercise… again. I need to lose around 30 pounds and I have been fighting with this for over a year. I was at my mom’s house and we ate some juicy steaks and it was my turn to do the dishes. I picked up the pan from the oven and all I saw was fat left over. I was so grossed out, I told my husband I was starting new habits right away. Then I recruited my second son to help me stay motivated. So far he has done an amazing job: “Mom, no bread today. Mom get on the bicycle. Mom eat some broccoli.” He may get on my nerves but he is helping me on my lifetime weight journey.

While doing some research on this subject it came to my attention that there are many articles on overweight children but only a few on their parents. There are many guides on how to help them deal with food choices and exercise but not much about how parents deal with their own pounds issues. Parents are poor at identifying overweight in themselves and their children, and less likely to identify overweight in sons.

On WebMD a study was completed to show that parents can serve as healthy role models to their kids. Here are some of the strategies from those weight control studies:

• Writing down foods eaten
• Tracking calories
• Doing daily weigh-ins and graphing weight
• Sticking to their calorie budget
• Meeting goals for physical activity (and writing down activities)
• Limiting high-calorie foods
• Following a food reference guide
• Having nightly family meetings
• Praising each other
• Picking physical activities to do as a family
• Eating no more than seven high-fat foods per week
• Modeling healthy eating habits
• Planning ahead for events where high-calorie foods will be served
• Eating only in one room
• Suggesting alternatives to high-calorie foods

My kids are very athletic and they do their physical activity without complaint. On the other hand, I tend to struggle to even walk from the parking lot! I know that this is something that I need to improve and I’m working on it. While I’m doing that, I’m being taught by one of the best teachers in the world: my son.

Posted by momcrazyforkids.