Losing Weight? Make it a Family Project

Obesity runs in families, it’s true.  So does a life-long love affair with chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream!  For better or worse, our children learn their eating habits directly from mom and dad.  If you have noticed lately that things are getting a little chubby around the house, maybe it’s time for the family to make a project about losing a bit around the middle.  It’s time to make dieting fun!  Well, OK, dieting isn’t fun, but how about having fun while dieting?  That’s a goal that’s worth pursuing.

The first item on the agenda is having everyone in the family on board.  Announce the date dieting and getting fit is to begin.  Of course, you may have a family member or two that shy away from this little project. They will at least have to eat what the rest of the family eats, and hopefully can be motivated to join the fun.

Perhaps the family should create a name and a theme for this new way of life. How about something like “The Pirate Family Jones Sets Sail for Bikini Island” or “Team Smith Sacks the Calories”?

Some lifestyle changes also have to happen. It must be an absolute rule that no eating of any kind happens away from the table.  It is a fact that people who eat at a table and away from TV or other distractions will consume fewer calories. 

Speaking of munchies, all those empty-calorie and sugar-laden eats are definitely out of bounds in your house.  No sticking them up in high cupboards for the duration; they are gone! There should always be a big, fresh bunch of veggies on hand.  Rice cakes, apples, and plain popcorn can help soothe the crunchy yearnings. Fruit, fresh or canned, will help with wanting something sweet.  In fact, summer is a really good time to put on a family diet because of the abundance of fresh fruit, which is tasty anytime.  Buy and chill a family-size watermelon, cut it up, and have seed-spitting contests.  Summer is also a good time because the weather is warm and the sun is up later so all kinds of fun exercising can take place.  Can’t bat another ball or sprint another inch?  Have mom and dad dig out their goofiest old-fashioned music and have a family sock-hop! A rousing game of take-no-prisoners charades can be a great aerobic exercise!

Now we must discuss the black sheep of this pudgy flock.  Nearly every family harbors one of them.  We are speaking of the family member who is…skinny.  Who knows where they came from and how they got here; they just don’t or can’t gain weight no matter how many chocolates and yummies they eat.  These family members can be very helpful during this Family Quest.  They can help by not being smug, for one thing.  They can help with salad preparation, thinking up new taste treats for the family and dishing out the occasional frozen yogurt or other frozen low calorie treat. They can spritz or drizzle the salad dressing, apportion the chocolate rice cakes with chocolate chips, in short, do the portion control that the rest of the family cannot.  The skinny one can also tell jokes and do comical dances to keep the family’s morale up, and to not take it personally when someone throws a slipper at them.

So there you have it.  Do your dieting as a Family Quest and it won’t be just deprivation.  Have fun with it and encourage everyone else.  Perhaps some good new lifestyle changes will become the norm at your house, and your collective waist can feel the difference.  The most important thing is you are a family, and that you share life together.

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