Revving up for the Fit Family Challenge

The Fit Family Challenge is getting ready to start for us…cringe (biting my nails). My family is excited to start on this journey, yet I feel nervous, scared, excited, naseous, determined, well you get the picture. While I am excited to see what is in store for us, I am nervous that I won’t be able to keep it all together and finish strong. As a mother, I’m the glue that keeps the family on schedule, where everyone needs to be, food on the table, etc. If I get derailed, everyone gets derailed. For me, that’s a lot of pressure. My goal during the next 8 weeks is to focus on making small changes that lead to big changes that can withstand the test of time.

The first change we are making is no soda in the house. Sounds simple enough, but my husband and kids like soda (and I mean LIKE)!!!!. This should be interesting. I may want to move out for a few weeks. The second change that we have started this week is to be mindful on our eating. We tend to eat in front of the TV or in the car travelling from one practice to another. We have a nice kithcen that shuld be used for more than folding laundry. We are working on eating as a family at the table. Even snacks are to be eaten at the table with no iPad present (sorry kids).

I would love to hear from moms, dads, kids on how you are incorporating a healthy eating plan in your house. I think we all struggle with healthy eating habits and most of us know what to do, but if we all share and work together, I think we can change the way people eat and get back to family dinners where you talk about your day. I know very Leave it to Beaver, but obsesity wasn’t what it is today, so they must have been doing something right.

Simple ideas like what you pack your kids for lunch can have a huge impact on people, give people ideas that they never thought about. I have posted my son’s lunch from the other day. The container is great for packing everything together and it stays cold. He loves having his own little container and it saves on plastic bags (YAY… Go Green!).

Exercise: That thing we all know we need to do, but have the hardest time fitting it in. How is it that we had no problem riding our bikes for hours when we were kids, no you ask me to go for a 10-minute bike ride and I try to find any excuse not to. My son just learned to ride his bike all by himself with no training wheels and I can’t get him off the bike. I will be posting a video of my son riding his bike for the first time. As a mother it is one of the greatest accomplishments to see, your child finding their independence. Me… I am more of an observer than doer. I talk a good game, but when it comes to actually doing it, well that’s a different story. My small goal for this week is to ride my bike with the kids … around the block, heck I might even do the block twice.

Each week of the challenge I plan on incorporating a different exercise into the mix. My husband and I will also be working with Devan at Burn Bootcamp to get the fat out (literally). I hope to bring some of the bootcamp home to the kids and make it a fun family workout.

Tracey Bacon and her family are new to Charlotte and want to get healthy in their new home. The Bacons are participating in the 2015 Fit Family Challenge and chronicling their healthy family journey along the way. Learn more about the Bacons and their healthy family goals, and follow along with their progress in the Fit Family Challenge blog.

Want your family to get healthy, too?
Join the challenge to get moving with your family toward a healthier lifestyle and to win fun family prizes. Find out more and sign up here.