The basic key is to eat smaller portions and to exercise more.
Let's start with portion control.
Forget the Clean Plate Club. You won't be shipping uneaten
food to starving people. As my father used to say, " No
matter what, too much food all goes to "waist" anyway!"
A serving size for most foods is 1/2 cup, 4 oz. If you are
using food from a box, learn to read the nutritional information.
It will tell you what amount equals one serving. Let the kids
start with one serving of each item, but let them go back for
seconds, not you.
Teens often will not listen to Mom's advice, so try to get
a coach or athlete to tell them what to eat to maintain athletic
strength and energy. I asked my son, away at college, if he was
eating right. And he told me he was making careful food choices,
listing the various food groups. I sighed, and told him I was
glad he'd remembered what I taught him. He paused, and said,
"Well, I met this cute girl on the swim team, and she told
me what I should be eating!"
Have healthy snacks on hand at home, and have caloric treats
like ice cream or cookies when you are out. The price alone will
keep portions small. The temptation to go back for more won't
be there.
Often kids will come to enjoy healthy foods! Our daughter
used to love to have dill pickles around for a fun snack! She'd
head for the pickle jar before the cookie jar!
On my community site, I have a Weight
Loss page, a page of links
to sites with lo-cal recipes, and a Weight
Loss points Calculator I think you'll like.
Exercise more!
Start each morning with a walk. Talk about your plans and
goals for the near future. Kids often like talking while they
walk, and you'll better be able to have child led learning if
you hear them out.
Too often park days mean the kids run around while the parents
all lounge around in canvas chairs. Convince one homeschool friend
to spend part of the park day taking a walk around the park.
Try to walk at least a mile if not two. Tell your child and another
parent where you will be, but try to stay in shouting range.
Keep a cell phone on you, and give your child one, too.
When you drop off your kid at some program, spend the time
waiting by taking a walk, or shopping at a new store.
Buy The Ultimate Homeschool Physical Education Game
Book so you'll have lots of ideas of how to teach sports
skills when your "team" only consists of an adult or
two and kids of different sizes. There are ways to handicap so
that teams are fairly equal to get points.
If you belong to a gym, convince the owner to allow you to
supervise your older child on the equipment. Pay a trainer to
teach you and your child how to use the equipment safely. It
will be worth every penny!
Join a walking or hiking group. Our local mall opens an hour
early one day a week so that walkers can stroll and not be tempted
to stop and shop. For a number of years we belonged to an orienteering
club, and so learned how to use a compass on and off trails.
It was a fun way for the whole family to get out and hike. If
you can't find a group, start one. It just takes one additional
friend to make a walking group!
Make a point of finding walking field trips at least twice
a month. Tour lovely natural areas when the weather permits,
or tour factories when it isn't.
Use your computer to find trail maps, and then get offline
and go walk! Google "trail maps" and your county name.
I'll be adding more tips to this page as community members
send me ideas or I think of more. I'm not looking so much for
general weight loss tips, so much as you manage to eat right
with kids around, too.
See also ~ Keeping Mom Fit While Homeschooling
