Childhood Obesity - 1 Week Summer Challenge
The first thing that we need to state is that I'm not a doctor, and if you have any questions or concerns we recommend contacting your own doctor. But I am a parent, and I do know what it is like to carry extra weight so these are our recommendations for a short summer experiment to get a little fitter.
What to Do For Childhood Obesity in Ireland - 1 Week Summer Plan?
In our humble opinion, the biggest challenge in the modern western world is lifestyle, the foods that we eat and the habits that we have around eating.
But lets get straight to the point.
1. Set A Goal
If you're reading this blog post then its likely that you and your kids may be able to benefit from becoming a little fitter and losing some weight, but for right now I suggest starting with setting the goal as completing your 1 week challenge, and just observing the results.
2. Have A Reason for the Goal
Having a reason will certainly help you to stick with it, but maybe it will come later.
For example it took me many years to make the connection between inflammation in my toes and eating too much sugar ie chocolate, (and even longer to do something about it).
For this 1st week its only an experiment, just try it out and see what happens.
3. Mark it On A Calendar
One week is a short 7 days, mark it on a calendar and count down the days. When you break it down like this it will be easy.
4. Ditch Breakfast and Go for A Walk
When you wake up in the morning, get dressed and take the kids for a walk. You don't have to go far, ten minutes will be fine. You just want to get the body moving at the beginning of your day, and to wait for one to 2 hours after you get up before you eat.
5. Swap Cereal for Traditional Breakfasts
As a former employer of mine, who had type 2 diabetes once explained to me, if it comes in a shiny wrapper, you know that it can't be good for you.
For one week, the goal is to swap out cereal, bagels, toast, croissants, poptarts and other fake foods for old-style traditional breakfasts.
Tradtional breakfasts include:
bacon and eggs,
porridge.
And if you're ready you can go with foods like green salads and sausages, chicken, bacon, meat or fish.
The goal is to reduce carbs for the week, and this is one way to achieve that.
6. Two Meals A Day
Remember its only for one week to see how it goes. Who knows maybe you will gain weight, but you won't know until you try it for 7 days.
Basically the more often that you eat the more insulin that your body produces and insulin both stops your body from burning fat stores, and programs your body to store more fat.
Our goal is to have two medium to large meals per day to lower the amount of insulin that our body produces for one week.
7. No Snacks
The more often that you eat, the more insulin that your body will produce. If there is something that you really want, eat it after your meal. Do your best not to eat between meals.
That means chocolate bars, crisps, ice cream, cake and so on - for 1 week.
8. Move More
As you may have noticed we sell trampolines so of course we recommend bouncing on a trampoline to get some activity into your day, but there are lots of things that you can do.
Trampolines for Childhood Obesity Discussed
Exercise ideas during the 1 week childhood obesity challenge
1. go for a short walk after dinner
It doesn't need to be a marathon, and often less is more.
2. take the kids to the pitch or the park
take the kids to the pitch or the park, play rounders, football, tennis, basketball or go on the swings but do something every day with them for 1 week.
3. cut the grass, brush the path, cut the weeds, wash the windows
the activity that you and your kids engage in for the week doesn't need to be super tough, and it should be as enjoyable as possible.
9. Swap Juice for Water
Its only for one week, so just swap out all juices for water for one week.
This includes soft drinks, fruit juices like pure orange, flavoured water and anything that isn't water. Aim to drink 3 to 4 pints of water per day, more if its very warm.
CONCLUSION
That's it for now, we'd be delighted to hear from you if you try the challenge above. Our suggestions are deliberately concise as we don't want to muddy the water with too much info, but this is certainly worth a try over the Summer as you and your kids will have a lot time together, that could be put to really good use for both your mutual long-term good health and well-being.