"I need some fuel"

My kids were (and continue) to be a huge motivation to me when it comes to my own weight loss and healthy living. They come with me to the gym and on the way there we frequently talk about how mommy needs to exercise to be a better mommy and have a stronger heart. We are incredibly blessed to attend a gym with a play area where the kids can actually play and get in their own exercise. They ride bikes alongside me while I run in the summers. We are involved in sports pretty much year round. Fitness and healthy eating are priorities in our home. We've come further in the fitness arena and are still working on the healthy eating. We will get there! It's hard with kids. Well, it's hard for me with kids.

I'm sure many of you saw the blog this week about how to talk to your daughters about exercise. I've read it probably 10 times since last Friday.  

Yesterday, Sissy and I were talking about my workout plan for the day. The weather has been nasty so I told her that I was going to run on the treadmill and watch a movie. She was instantly intrigued. My favorite thing about my treadmill is that it has built in speakers so I can plug in my iPod and watch TV while running. It makes treadmill running a little less boring. 

We got home and she wanted to try walking on the treadmill while watching the cross over episode between Jessie and Austin&Ally. Apparently that episode was "epic". I set her up on the treadmill at 2 MPH. Showed her the emergency rope and the stop button and she was off. Sissy walked and rested and walked and rested for the entire episode (about 30 minutes). 

She came in to the kitchen to report that she needed "more fuel" so that she could watch another episode and walk some more. Food is fuel. Food gives us the energy we need to move our bodies in ways we want. What type of food did she want? An orange! "Oranges give us good energy. Right Mom?". Right!

She wasn't walking to lose weight. She was walking because it was a "fun" way to watch her show. She was excited to see her distance increase. She set (and achieved!) a goal of 2 miles. May she always see exercise as fun!

How do you teach your kids that exercise and fitness can be fun?

~Kari