We are two weeks into the new year – so how are those resolutions going? What about your children, did you make a few resolutions with or for them? Or better yet, did your kids make a few resolutions for themselves? Here is what my little man is striving for this year. We decided that it would be the prefect time to get more fit, active, and healthy. Maybe these healthy resolutions for the new year can either help you keep your goals or encourage you to make some new ones. Good luck!
Five Healthy Resolutions You Can Keep:
1. Limit Sodas and Other Sugary Treats
We don’t do soda in our house but we do have a pretty big sweet tooth. So this one was geared more toward the candy and deserts. The key is to start simple. First, educate your children about the downfalls of eating and drinking too much sugar. Then, move on to limiting their soda intake, and other sugary drinks, and high sugar foods, that they love, just to the weekends. If you do away with sugar all together, chances are your children will be unhappy and upset (to say the least).
By allowing sugary treats on the weekends, your kids won’t feel like you’re punishing them, and they’ll realize that they don’t need to consume their favorite sugary treats all the time. Start simple, and eventually you can phase some sugary products out of the diet completely. Keep in mind, that moderation is the key to a healthy lifestyle, so don’t begin by cutting out sugars all together.
2. Prepare Healthy Meals Together as a Family
Children love hands-on activities. What better way to get your children interested in eating healthy foods than by involving them in cooking healthy meals? Depending on the age of your kids, they can help set the table, mix ingredients (that don’t involve using the stove or oven), or even plan the meals themselves. Teaching your children to make healthy food also gets them involved in grocery shopping. Take your children to the store with you or ask them to write the shopping list. There are many different ways of involving kids in the process of planning and making a healthy meal.
Best of all, spending time together as a family is priceless. Planning, prepping, and eating a family meal together are wonderful ways to not only promote children’s health but also to gain some great family time. This healthy resolution for the new year is going to be fun to keep!
3. Get Involved in Sports
Eating well is just one aspect of a healthy lifestyle. Being active is another important part of being healthy. Getting children involved in family sports, or other extracurricular activities is a fun way to get kids to enjoy exercise.
Traditional sports like soccer, football, and basketball involve a lot of cardiovascular and strength training. For children that aren’t as interested in traditional sports, activities like skateboarding and dance are fun alternatives. My son Evan loves to dance and could shake his groove thing for hours! Whatever activity your child chooses, it certainly beats staying in and playing video games on the couch!
4. Start a Garden – Get Something to Grow!
Let’s face it, most children aren’t crazy about fruits and vegetables. Most of the time it can be difficult to get them excited about eating broccoli, lettuce, beans, or anything else that’s green. One way of getting children excited about eating more fruits and vegetables is to plant a garden. Depending on where you live and what the climate is like – this can be a full-out garden in the backyard or a few select plants in a windowsill. Also remember many fruits and vegetables can even be grown inside your house.
Watching plants develop from a little seed to something edible not only provides food but is also a fun experience for the family. Best of all, it is incredibly rewarding to eat the literal “fruits of your labor!” Planting a garden may be the extra push that some children need in order to enjoy healthier foods.
5. Pack Lunches
Lots of schools are trying to be more health oriented about the lunch options they offer children throughout the day. However in many schools, children are still able to pick and choose from different lunch options– and not all of them are healthy. Let’s be honest, most kids are going to choose fried foods or sugary options over a healthy snack 90% of the time. In order to make sure that your child is receiving a healthy lunch, pack it yourself! Have your child help in the process of getting lunch ready and choosing good food. Juices, fresh fruits, turkey slices, and low fat cheese are always winners that travel well in the back pack.
With not too much effort, it will be easy to make 2015 the healthiest year yet for your kids… and hopefully some of those good habits will rub off on you parents as well! Which ones of these healthy resolutions for the new year do you want to try?