150

“I just don’t have time!”  Have you ever said it or heard someone else say it?  Well, sadly we probably all at some time have said that we just don’t have time to workout.  The title of this blog is 150 because the average American adult needs 150 minutes of moderate physical exercise a week.  Moderate physical exercise is brisk walking!  The CDC obesity facts from 2010 are that one third of the American adult population is obese. By 2030, the CDC predicts that 42% of the American population with be obese. IF that’s not enough to get you out walking then maybe I should talk about your kids; well really our kids since it does take a village to raise them.  12.5 million children are obese and obesity rates have tripled in children since 1980! Oh and by the way, children need 60 minutes of physical activity at day; mulitple that by 7 for a total of 420 minutes a week.

So as mothers and wives what can we do?

1. lead by example-make time for yourself to get your 150 minutes.  Go to the gym and explain to your children why you are going and what they will do while you are exercising.  When I leave my son in the child care room at the gym I tell him to have fun while mommy is exercising.  And I tell him that exercise is fun for me but it makes me tired because I’m working hard to be fit.

2. play with your children-my son will be 7 months soon and I try to take him to the park at least once a week.  I think that even if you have a backyard with a playset it is good for children to go to the park with other children and run and play.  You can lead your children in activities or even make a fitness chart and put a star for every day they perform certain activities or a star for every 30 minutes of play.

3. no excuses-don’t let excuses get in the way of having some fun with your family or even for yourself.  When you feel tired, try doing just 10 minutes.  Make a plan for the week and tally up those minutes.

I know you can do it for yourself and your kids.  Make a goal chart for yourself and the children then discuss how you will reach the goal.

Have fun, be fit

This is my cousin’s daughter, Elly, that we spent time with while they visited on vacation.  She was so much fun to watch and play with at the playground.  She’s so cute how could you not have fun with her.  Photos taken by my husband!  Pierce Brunson Photography:  http://piercebrunson.zenfolio.com/

statistics from CDC and abc, see the full articles at the following links:

http://www.cdc.gov/physicalactivity/everyone/guidelines/children.html

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/health/2012/05/07/fat-forecast-42-of-americans-obese-by-2030/

© 2012, Ruth Brunson. All rights reserved. Love it? Print, email, pin, tweet or share but please don’t use my work without permission. {Copyright Fancy Little Things. All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this article or portions thereof in any form whatsoever.}