Family Involvement

I am ALL about getting others involved with your lifestyle change!  Eating better.  Working out.  It's ALL so much easier and more fun when you have others along for the ride too!!  

Running in the RAIN!

 Today was a big day!  Two of my kids ran a race with me.  Not so new; they've ran a few races now.  But this was the farthest we've let them run.  Prior to this we've only let them run up to 1 mile.  This was a 4 miler.  They were so stinking excited!  For WEEKS!!

And would you know it?  They did AWESOME!  We crossed the finish line in just over 46 minutes.  They learned so much about racing and running.  They have good technique for an 800m or 1600m but this was their first real distance run.  We talked about breathing.  Pacing yourself.  About keeping your upper body relaxed.  How to run hills {because I am YET to see a stretch of road here that is flat}.  Hydration.  Encouraging other racers.  It was so fun to run with them and see them do so well!  I am so proud of them.  They did better than I imagined and I am thrilled for them to experience running and racing for the rest of their lives... I hope! 

Summer Family Boot Camp

My neighborhood just started this "Boot Camp" today and I HAD to share with ya'll! Cause I KNOW you're going to want to organize your own neighborhood Boot Camp after this!! It's all about keeping your kids active and healthy throughout the summer!!

We started out today with a Duathlon. It was split into 4 groups: Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced and Adult {I'll get to distances in a minute}. Afterwards we had treats and everyone got a chart to keep track of points earned {I'll get to that in a minute too}. It was a really fun way to kick this thing off. The kids had SO much fun. And it's helping motivate us Moms too. Every couple of weeks we will get together for a game {kickball, soccer,ultimate frisbee...}. At the end of the summer we will have another Duathlon {same course}, water party and awards ceremony. Fun huh?!

Here's the skinny:

Beginners: BIKE 100m RUN 100m BIKE 100m
Intermediate: BIKE .5 mile RUN .5 mile BIKE .5mile
Advanced: BIKE 1 mile RUN .5 mile BIKE .5 mile
Adult: We haven't done ours yet, so I'm not sure on distances... maybe 1-1-1 or 2-1-1 or 2-1-2?

THEN, all summer you keep track of points earned in which ever category of your choice. One point per day, per action. They are:

Basic
~drink 4 cups of water
~1 hour of playing outside
~1 treat a day {1 SERVING size treat}
~3-5 servings of fruit and vegetables

Intermediate
~drink 6-8 cups of water
~3-5 serving of fruits and vegetables
~one treat a day
~30 minutes intense workout
~20 pushups and 25 sit-ups

Advanced
~drink 8 cups of water
~one treat a day {one allowed on one free day}
~one hour of intense workout
~25 pushups and 50 situps
~5 servings of fruit and 5 servings of vegetables

Adult Advanced
~drink 8 cups of water
~no treats {one allowed on one free day}
~one hour of intense workout
~25 pushups and 50 situps
~5 servings of fruit and vegetables
~I can't remember this 6th one {I'll come back and update it as soon as I find out}

So that's it. We got a simple graph/calendar to mark how many points we got each day. Just before school starts in the fall we'll redo the Duathlon to see our improvement, have a picnic & simple awards {parents are chipping in $3}!

I am loving this idea! What a great way to help motivate kids to be proactive about their health! This is on a small neighborhood scale {20 kids or so} so you can all easily whip this thing together! Help your family and friends get motivated to be active and healthy!! Have fun!