Hey everyone. Welcome back to the fit to fat to fit experience podcast. I’m your host, drew manning cohost Lynn manning. Thank you guys so much for tuning back in for another great episode here on the fit Tibet fit experience podcast. We’re excited you guys are here. Um, first of all, we just wanna start off this episode by saying thank you. Like we really appreciate all the support throughout all the years. I mean, I did it, I did fit that fit six years ago and I can’t believe that it is where it is today. Like I’m just so humbled, so grateful, so blessed and it wouldn’t be possible without you guys. So thank you so much for listening to our podcast. Um, I did want to make you guys aware of a few things that maybe you don’t even know about. For example, I have a book.
I still have people asking me to this day, you know, do you have a book? And I’m like, yeah, it’s a New York time bestseller. It’s called fit to fat to fit. Check it out on Amazon, Barnes and noble. Um, it’s a great book. Half of the book is my narrative story of what I went through with FITARA fit and the second half of the book you guys is all the meal plans and exercises and recipes that I used to get back to fit because people always ask me like, what did you eat and exercises and things like that. Check out my book fit to fat to fit. Like I said, you can check it out on Amazon and Barnes and noble. Also you guys, I know it sounds weird but I love public speaking. Mike, I enjoy going up on stage in front of other people and I don’t get nervous and I just love speaking in front of people and I do about two or three of these speaking engagements per month.
Different different corporations or people will hire me for expos or conventions or schools, universities. Um, if you are interested or if you have connections with company that would want to hire someone like me to come speak at your company, to your employees, to your faculty, to your students, please reach out to me. My email is drew at Fitbit, fit.com super easy to get ahold of me. I answer all my emails personally and I would love to hear from you as I would love to come to your city. You know, some people ask me like, can you come here, can you come there? I love to travel you guys and I would love to come to your city. I would love to come to your company and speak so please reach out to me. Let me know if you’d be interested in having me.
Yeah, and a lot of people have inquired, especially during the last few podcasts that we did about self-love and they’re like, they call them me and the self love guru, which is a really great title. I don’t know if I deserve that, but I’ve, a lot of people have been asking the steps that I’ve taken specifically what tips I would give them, how they can get started and I realized most people don’t realize on my site to fit@homedotcomundertheshopsoyoucaneitherdoforwardslashshoporjustgototofitathome.com and then click on the shop. I actually have a love yourself to greater health 30 day program and in it it has 30 days worth of of challenges. Basically they’re going to help you start to gain insight into finding yourself into loving yourself into healing and into becoming healthier so that hopefully you can listen to your body, do more of intuitive eating. And I also have my four week detox, um, which can help reduce inflammation in your body, can help start the process of losing weight if you need to lose weight at the back of that book. So if somebody wants some guidance and a meal plan, I have that on there. And also I have my healthier fast food guide on there, which is really popular. A lot of people know that drew and I travel a lot and always ask us, how can you eat healthier on the road? It seems hard to do and we took a couple of years and actually compiled a great list. It’s 20 major chain restaurants and what we would order, it gives you all the macronutrients so you can find that under my shop@tofitathome.com
yep. And this podcast episode you guys is brought to you by or sponsored by Kegenix now key next.com. You can go check it out. These exoticness ketones. I’ve been talking about them forever. I think everyone should at least experience what it’s like to be in ketosis at least once in your life. It might not be the right diet for everybody, but what’s cool about these exoneration as ketone supplements that you can take through key gen X, you guys, is that it gives you a quicker way to get into ketosis to experience what it’s like, um, to run off of ketones versus glucose. So what’s great about it is you take the product within 60 minutes, you’re in ketosis and you get experienced the increase brain power, cognitive function, mental clarity, focus, energy throughout the day of what it’s like to run off of ketones versus glucose. So check it out. Key genex.com you can use my code fit to fat to fit for a 10% discount. You guys. Um, and, and you can also go to Amazon prime now and, and order from Amazon prime key X. You can just go to Amazon shipping. Exactly. So now shipping is not as expensive. I don’t think you can use the code though on Amazon, which is fine, but you know, you can get it on Amazon prime now. So all you prime members out there rejoice, you know, you don’t have to pay expensive shipping anymore.
Awesome. And our other show sponsor is quest nutrition. You guys know that. We’ve love quest. We’ve been using their product for a years. I specifically, I love their quest chips, but my go to is still always going to be their quest protein bars. My favorite is the chocolate chip cookie dough. I keep them everywhere. I keep them in my car, I keep them in my purse, I take them on the go. I just got back from a month long trip in Costa Rica. I literally packed one for every day that I was there. It’s just a great way to get in protein. Of course, eating whole foods is always wonderful and the best option, but the fact is is most of us are on the go at one point or another and we fall into eating unhealthy foods on the go because we don’t have any options and we’re hangry. We’re starving. So um, quest, nutrition.com we’ll put the link in the show notes so that you guys can check that out.
Yep. All right you guys. Let’s go ahead and jump into today’s episode. Today we have 10 tips that have worked for us and other people’s well with kids. 10 tips for getting your kids to eat healthy and now this is a struggle. And just before we get started, we know that every family is different. Every situation is different. So these 10 tips, yeah. Might be like one or two might be applicable or doable for you. Uh, but not all of them. You know, like some things will work, some things won’t work. So just be open. Um, you know, and see what works best for you and your kids and your child. But uh, we’re just going to go over the top 10 that we’ve noticed that have worked for us and other families with kids. So, um, yeah, just be patient with us, but a lot of great tips for kids of any ages, not just toddlers or not just newborns, not just teenagers. We’re going to try and cover the whole,
yeah. Or like your adult child, like your spouse, you know, this could help them. A lot of them are picky. Actually. I have women that ask me that all the time. They’re like, my husband’s the most picky of all of them. So some of these tips, I’m like, these are good tips for them to see your husband has. And the thing is, as you guys, you know, hopefully this doesn’t come across the wrong way. Being a parent is hard and I love, I love unsolicited parenting advice, especially from people that make it sound like this is easy and it’s the best way to do it. We get that. It’s hard, especially with kids. I understand that kids can be picky. I’ve seen it firsthand when my children refuse to eat certain things. I know the struggle is real. My friends, the struggle is real. So just, you know, again, take this in the, in the spirit of us trying to give you some tips that might help you, things that you hadn’t thought of, but know that we know that it is a struggle. It’s a battle. So yeah, get on your battle.
At least. We’re not like preaching to you guys of what to do without actually having kids. That would be,
we’ve implemented it ourselves. So I’m going to start, I’m going to start with number one. I’m going to start with number one, which is the big one. And it’s really just cause also just set the tone, talking a little bit about childhood obesity, but number one is be the example. This is coming from the donut lover. Maybe eat donuts, but tell me, I donuts. My kids sometimes eat donuts. I eat broccoli, I do my kids eat broccoli. Um, childhood obesity is growing. You guys, this is why we wanted to have this podcast specifically on healthier children right now, more than one third of children or adolescents are overweight or obese. Let that sink in. That’s a large number. And I’ve heard a lot of parents talk about, unfortunately they’ll say things like, well, I don’t care about my health or my weight, but I do want to make sure my children are really healthy.
And what’s hard about that and why, number one really needs to be be the example. Studies have shown that having obese parents actually increases the child’s child’s likelihood of becoming overweight. And I know it’s a hard one to swallow and I’m not, again, I’m not here to judge. I, I, my heart goes out to so many people that I know struggle with their weight. A lot of them have health problems that make it harder. Um, and they do want to have their kids be healthier, but they feel like they’ve given up on themselves. But a recent study that I had read found that 48 so almost 50% of children with overweight parents actually become overweight. And that’s compared to only about 13% of those with normal weight parents. So having overweight parents does make a huge effect on the children as far as eating. So it is really crucial that you be the example, you know?
And it’s again, not about necessarily even the weight, it’s about being healthy. It’s the way you talk about food. It’s the way that you talk about yourself. I tell women all the time, you know, a lot of women will talk to me about, Oh my daughter’s only five and talking about how she’s fat or my daughters, you know, in elementary school and she’s doing these habits, what can I do? And I always tell them, you know, it starts with you kids are sponges and they soak up everything you hear. And I know this because our children are saying some vulgar words and I’m like, where are they learning this? And then I realize it’s from me. So she was like looking at me like what the little password cuss words here and they’re like oops. But kids are sponges and so when you talk about if you talk about how I’m fat or I’m, you know, I hate the way I look or I’m ugly and of course I’m saying this to women cause I hear women say this often but I know men do it too.
Kids are going to hear that and they’re going to mimic that because kids mimic us. You have to be very careful of the tone that you set for your children. For me it’s not about labeling food or telling my kids this is bad or this is good. I actually think that can also create a lot of unhealthy food disorders for children and start at a young age. It is just about talking about health, about having energy, about, you know, how do you feel when you eat that? How does, how does it feel when you eat healthier food, you have more energy. It’s about setting a good example. Being the example, I realized it’s easier to get takeout or buy prepared food at the store. Of course it’s fast and convenience, but if we fill our cupboards full of that, that’s what our kids are going to expect to eat, you know, so be the example. Have healthier foods on hand. It’s, we’ll talk a little bit about balance and moderation. You guys all know that I practice balance and moderation. My kids eat pizza. I eat pizza donuts but have healthier foods on hand and focus on being the example of not necessarily weight loss but about talking to your kids about just being healthy and about living a healthy lifestyle.
Yeah. Tip number two, you guys is to take them grocery shopping with you. I know that most parents want to leave their kids at home and go grocery shopping cause it’s, you know, a relief, a stress relief. Um, uh, going grocery shopping without the kids stressing you out saying I want this, I want that. Uh, or fighting in the middle of the grocery store throwing a tantrum. I get that. Um, hopefully your kids are of age where they’re not doing that. But still, I’ve always made it a point to bring my girls with me to the grocery store and not just throw food in the cart. I want them to be a part of the process. So ask them, okay girls, what vegetables do you guys want to eat this week? And sometimes they might not say broccoli or sometimes that will or they’ll say, okay, I want, if I get to choose then I have all these vegetables to choose from.
And they know the names of these vegetables. They can name off each vegetable cause I teach them, I teach them, you know, what each vegetable is and they can kind of pick and choose based off of looks. And then we bring it home and cook it together. But make them part of the process. Explain to them why it’s important to eat real food like vegetables and fruits and nuts and seeds and meats that we think are healthy. Right? Um, it’s important to teach them. Why not just say, Hey, eat these foods. We explain the why behind eating these foods. And so at a young age, they understand, Oh, you know, this is protein, this helps me build muscles. Or that says healthy fat. This is good for my brain. Or these are vegetables is good for my heart. Those kinds of things so that they understand the importance of health. They understand what food is, uh, at a younger age. So, you know, pass on the knowledge that you know, you know, it’s kind of selfish if you don’t pass on that knowledge to your kids. So tip number two is to take them grocery shopping.
All right, tip number three, make the same meal for everyone. And I know this can be really hard and it’s funny cause this is like one of Drew’s pet peeves because it would totally bother him if we would go eat at someone’s house and they would prepare something separate for the kids versus all the adults.
Yeah. Tell them the story of what your mom did growing up. You guys were, did like she would make your dad a meal.
It’s true. Well my family, you know, we’re foodies. Everybody that knows me knows we’re foodies. And my family was picky. Like I didn’t even try a tomato till I was 19. You guys. I did. I, you know, I go sugary food, you know, I, if you want to call it food. And so yeah, we were picky. My mom would make separate meals for each member of the family. And first of all, ain’t nobody got time for that. Okay. Second of all, you really should be all eating the same food because really, again, going back to number one, be the example, you all should be healthy eating healthy source of protein. Uh, carbohydrates normally, you know, getting a lot of your carbs from vegetables and fruits and healthy fats and everyone in the family should be eating that. And so, you know, if you haven’t introduced your kids to a lot of healthier foods at a young age, I know there might be like a warmup period where they might be hesitant and trying the foods that you generally eat.
But let’s be real. If you only have hot dogs and chicken nuggets available, and that’s what you’re making your kids every night, they’re never going to branch out. They’re never going to try the salmon that you made. They’re never going to eat the chicken that you try. They’re never going to have the brussel sprouts or the broccoli. So get in the habit of making one healthy meal. And if you want to diversify it a little bit. I know some adults, depending on your lifestyle choices and your fitness goals, maybe you’re not having as much complex carbohydrates as your kids. And so maybe you’re all eating the same meat and vegetables, but maybe the kids are eating more keen wall or whole wheat pasta or you know, maybe they have different sides that go with that. But nothing that’s going to require you to do a whole separate mail. And again, always focusing on a healthy protein source and mostly healthy vegetables. So getting in some good carbs, vegetables, fruits for the kids at dinner.
Yeah, and we have so many people that tell us, you know, my kid won’t eat well. He won’t eat anything except for French fries or chicken McNuggets or macaroni and cheese. Like that’s all they’ll eat. Well that’s because they’ve been given that and they liked that of course over broccoli who doesn’t. So unfortunately this is situations you do have to show some tough love and say, look, this is our dinner, you know? Yeah, I made salmon and salad and green beans or whatever the sides are. And like let’s say you can add extra size and for your kids, like for example, like let’s say you’re trying to be low carb and your kids don’t need to be low carb, right? For example, um, you know, you make some extra rice for them. But if they’re going to be super picky, like, I want tacos and I want, you know, macaroni and cheese and no kid has ever starved themselves to death by not eating.
I Googled that. I’m not kidding. I’ve actually Googled. I really did. I was curious if a child in their stubbornness and their parents being like, this is what we’re eating. If there was like some crazy article about a child dying from that and there actually wasn’t. I was surprised.
Yeah. I mean cause that’s the thing that kids are gonna get hungry and eventually they’re going to eat the food. And I know you feel like a bad parent but you’re teaching them a valuable lesson. Like this is food, this is what we’re having and if you don’t like it then you know, unfortunate you’re going to go hungry tonight but it’s going to be there in the morning for you for bread.
Yeah. And our kids have experienced that are the same. My kids know it. I say it all the time. If they ever say something like I don’t want that. I’m like, you get what you get and then like you and you don’t throw a fit. I’m like, exactly. They know the saying, they know how it goes and they know. I’ll tell them this is all I have. This is what’s for dinner. You either eat it or don’t. If you want to go to bed hungry, you can and I’ll have this for you in the morning. And they’ve done that. And they’ve eaten cold salmon with broccoli in the morning. So they’ve gotten into the routine where they are basically trained to know that I’m in to cook a healthy meal and they’re going to eat it or not. But the choice is theirs and for the most part they always eat what I have on their plate because of that. But there was some tough love moments for sure.
Exactly. And we’re not always that way. It’s not like always salmon and broccoli. We mix it up. Yeah. Okay. Tip number four is to let them cook with you. So let them learn how to cook the foods. You know, at a young age. Doesn’t mean you let them, you know, burn their hands off or anything like that. But let them see how food is made, how is prepared. Let them help you. Like, for example, my girls will help me pretend, cut the vegetables or they’ll hold my hand as I’m cutting, you know, so that they can see how things are prepared and when they’re a part of the process, you guys have promise you there’ll be more willing to eat the food because they actually were a part of it. You know, it’s not just like, Oh, we’re playing time for dinner, come inside, wash your hands and all of a sudden there’s just a plate of broccoli and then they throw a fit.
It’s like, Hey, you know, let them be a part of cutting up the broccoli. Um, you know, cooking it in the oven or in the pan or the microwave or however you cook your food. But let them be a part of the process and I promise you there’ll be more willing to try the foods that are in front of them if they actually learn how to cook the foods with you. Plus that’s a great skill. I mean, who doesn’t want their son or daughter to know how to cook? I mean, so many kids don’t know how. And then they get off to college. I was like, well, microwave meals. It is, and then the freshmen 15 becomes a freshmen 45 and then before you know it, you know, just kidding. Go ahead.
Duh.
Um, no, but what I’m saying is like, you know, it’s a good skill though to have to learn how to cook at a young age and yeah, I definitely have my daughters to be a part of the process and they usually eat the food or they don’t throw a fit about it when it’s in front of them because they actually helped cook it and it feels special to them.
All right. Number five, you guys be patient. I know. What is that?
Ain’t nobody got time for that.
That was a hard one because I know that we all like seeing results instantly. It’s kind of like my clients that go on a diet and after day one they’re like, okay, did I lose five pounds? You know, it doesn’t work like that. Everything takes time. It’s a process. So any worthwhile endeavor really is rarely that easy. You guys, this is no exception. The older your kids are, the harder this transition may even be. But a key thing that I had read that I found was interesting is most research shows it takes on average 10 to 12 attempts before a child will try a new food, 10 to 12 so you may be thinking to yourself, I’ve done this, you guys, I’ve tried to take my kids grocery shopping, I’ve made something healthy and told them to eat it or they’d starve. I’ve done that once and it didn’t work well, I’m here to say, be patient. Try it again. 10 to 12 times for on average for a child to try new food. So there’ve been plenty of times we made vegetables and we put it on the kid’s plate and they’ve had one bite or said that they don’t want to try it and we just keep doing it. And that’s just how it is. You know? A lot of times kids need to be asked or told several times. It’s struggle at first. That’s normal. You are not alone. So be patient with themselves, but with yourself and be patient with you.
Yeah, we’re on your guys’ side here. We’re not like tell him we’re not, you know, teen parents here. Yeah. Teen parents. Okay. A step or a tip number six is to make it fun. And what I mean by this you guys, and this is something I’ve done myself with my kids and I’ve noticed a huge difference is for example, make the plate more colorful, make it, you know, sometimes I’ll buy them, you know, new plates that are like 99 cents each or whatever to make them more excited about, Oh wow, I’m getting this cool meal on this new plate that we just got. Um, on top of that, it’s uh, adding colors to your food so that they see, you know, a rainbow of colors on their plate. You know, the more colors the better and it really does perk their interest and when it’s colorful, you guys there, they’re more interested in the meal.
So adding greens and blues and reds and purples, oranges, yellows, all kinds of different colored foods, which obviously you’re mostly going to get from plant based food, which is very healthy food. Adding that to their diet makes it make, makes it more exciting for them. So add a variety of colors. And then also what I’ve noticed you guys, and this is something I’ve done, it takes five or 10 extra minutes and I know sometimes we’re in a hurry. We just want them to eat as fast as possible, clean up the dishes and get them in bed as fast as possible. Trust me, I’ve been there. I feel your pain in those situations where you’re just like, I just want to get this over with. Um, I promise you putting in a little bit of effort, cutting up their fruits, vegetables in different shapes or sizes or di or putting them together in different figures or numbers or carving letters into their food like I’ve done with uh, or Kiki all carved like their name and to sound like a banana or something like that. You guys a carrot and basically it’s just a lot more, you know, peaks their interest and makes them more excited.
Here’s one. Actually I had read a study that talks specifically about that. The study had concluded that the type and amount of vegetables children, uh, consumed was improved after they took part in a program using multimedia role models. So you know, Popeye helps children eat more spinach. Um, and we’ve done similar things. You know, my daughters used to love Dora w when they were a little bit younger. They still like it. But we do say boots loves bananas or you know, curious George loves sugar snap peas, they’re so yummy. Do you want some, and by using their favorite characters, their favorite role models, it really does make a difference. So the healthier, you know, making it fun, healthier tip is probably one of the top tips. I would, I would say that’s really number one. Like drew said, carving shapes, making it a game, anything like that.
I mean studies also show when children participate in planting a garden or vegetable taste parties or cooking classes, all of that has been shown to increase their willingness and desire to eat more vegetables and fruits. It’s all been positive across the board. So those really make that tip really makes a huge difference. Give that one a try. All right, so number seven, don’t go overboard. Yeah, don’t go overboard. I love the movie over right now, so don’t go crazy you guys. I, like I said, you guys know me. You know my, my love for donuts. Yes, my children eat vegetables, but they also have treats. Okay. As long as you’re helping your kid make healthier choices, as long as you’re being a healthy example and they’re eating fruits and vegetables every day, the fact that you might want to take them on a Friday night to get pizza or to go grab a donut one morning, that is completely fine. You know, we switched from time to time, which means they splurge from time to time. It’s really no different. And since you really should be the example, and again, having them eat the same foods as you when you’re splurging, they’re splurging, you know? So a lot of people actually, that kind of goes a lot with your soda pop Sunday tip.
Uh, yes, I was going to save that one for last, but I can jump into that one now. I think it just would go well with that. Yes. Okay, so I’m actually got this idea from a doctor friend of mine who said this works for his older kids who are teenagers. Now. A lot of the tips we’ve given have been great. Maybe for some teenagers, but yeah, if you cut your your food into shapes and S and and numbers and letters for your 16 year old kid, they’re not going to be too excited about it. Like it might not and it might not work for a teenager. This one I feel works for older kids and it’s something called sort of pop Sunday. It’s not my idea, but I can see how it would work and as my girls get older know we’ll talk about it with land to see if it’s something we want to implement.
But basically what it is, is the deal you make with your kids saying, okay, you guys, if you guys eat the food, I make you Monday through Saturday, I’ll let you guys eat whatever you want on Sunday. And kids are like, what? Whatever we want. And uh, you agree to that. And so basically you take them grocery shopping on a Saturday night or Friday night, you get the food that they want and Sunday they can eat whatever they want to, if they ate all the food that you know, all the healthy food that you made them during the week. So it was kind of a deal. It’s a cheat day. Something that kids can look forward to. Um, it does implement balance. Now some people are extremist and they might think that’s evil and it’s bad. Like I said, this might work for some people, might not work for some people.
So try it out with your kids, see how it works. Um, my buddy said the first day he did this for his kids, the kids went overboard and bought like, yeah, they went crazy at the grocery store. Like, Oh my gosh, that’s a free for all. And they got so sick that first day, the next Sunday they like, okay, we don’t need to go that crazy. This isn’t the last time we’re going to have this food. So they kind of even it even now, but like he said the first Sunday, like they just went crazy at the grocery store, like chocolate and syrup and Carmel and soda.
That’s good though because in that moment they got sick. You know, this happened to our kids on Halloween where we let them find, eat, eat all the candy you want tonight. And then they get to this point, they get a little sick. They’re like those terrible, I never want to do that again. And it teaches them through their own example what they want to do for their body, you know, that shows them their limits. It shows that eating a couple of pieces of chocolate scrape, but when you eat 10 you don’t feel good. So sometimes it’s good to let them have that experience.
Yeah, it’s interesting cause I feel like, you know, there’s those people that are like, yeah, I gave my son my eight year old son a cigarette and that was the last time he smoked a cigarette and he decided never to smoke a cigarette the rest of his life. You know what I’m saying? And so it’s like you gotta drive
[inaudible]
okay. I could see how that could work, but I’m not sure if I want to go down that route. So this might not be for you, but I could see how it could work.
Well, I’m not judging parents. My daughter, my daughter would drove me nuts asking to drink my coffee every time she saw me drink coffee, she drove me. It got to the point where a driver was driving me crazy, especially cause it would be in the car. She said, can I have some? No. Can I have some? No. Can I have some? No for the love just shut up. Like I was going crazy. And finally they’re like, you know what, fine. I told her, I was like, you know what? You’re not going to like it. I’ve told you know dozens of times for, you know, the past month. So fine here take a step. She took a step, she spit it out all over herself and I said, see, you don’t like it. It’s disgusting. I told you, I told you you wouldn’t like it and now you know, and you know what, she stopped bugging me. So I don’t know. Maybe I am that parent saying is that I can see
how it can work in some situations, be the example. But you know with different things, coffee versus cigarettes versus alcohol versus drugs. Like you know, you can go crazy overboard. But I think the soda pop Sunday principle is something that could work cause it’s, it’s adding a balance. Your kid’s life. It gives them something so they’re not too extreme and they get, uh, you know, but they are on track six out of seven days. That’s really good. As long as you’re in control of what they eat during those, those six days, you know. So that was number eight.
Oh that was tip number eight. Okay. Am I on number eight? Are you on number nine? I’m on number nine. Oh, okay. So be active with your kids. So you guys, I know we’re talking about like having kids be healthier and we’re talked a lot about food and food. It really is number one, but obviously just teaching them by example to be active is a huge component of them living healthier lifestyle and I personally think it’s important for you to teach them how to make it a fun lifestyle choice to be active because it’s fun. It’s not about, it’s not like they’re going to the gym necessarily with you and pump an iron. Okay. Which actually our kids have done that. They, they have little kid weights and that is fun for them. But really just showing them that being active, being outdoors, playing kickball, going on a hike, you know, children exercising is so beneficial.
It helps their bones, it helps their muscles, it helps their heart, their lungs, their brain and you guys, children that exercise are way less likely not only to become overweight, but also do develop type two diabetes, which is becoming a huge epidemic among young children. Another thing that’s really important that I realized, especially cause this has also been a problem. Studies show that exercise decreases anxiety. Depression improves the mood and outlook and children. It helps their sleep. There’s so many benefits to exercising for children. So get out and be active with them. Again, it doesn’t have to look a certain way. It doesn’t have to be them going obviously going to the gym. It could be you playing kickball, it can be you playing. Like with my kids, one of the things that I did a lot of, especially in Hawaii is I always chased them on the playground. I’d play tag on the playground with them. Parents seems less picky in Hawaii. I was, I’m kind of nervous to do it here in the States cause I’m worried parents will be upset, but people in Hawaii don’t care. So like I be chasing everyone’s kids. We’d be playing fun games of tag. You know, the kids are running around having a great time, getting a good sweat on. So just showing kids that being active can be fun. And again, by doing it by example,
that’s a great one. That kind of goes into my last, the 10th tip you guys, is to don’t ever make it about weight with your kids. Don’t ever say you need to lose weight. Don’t ever say, you know, you’re, you’re heavy or you’re fat obviously, but some parents do unfortunately, and it can scar your kid for life. You know, don’t ever make it about them losing weight. Just make it about health, healthier habits. You know, they don’t have to weigh in. They don’t have to, you know, um, check their weight to see if they’re making progress. Start implementing healthy habits, eating healthy, exercising with you, making it fun, the whole thing. And, and that’s what it should be about. You don’t need, you can’t control what their weight is. Right. You can’t let yourself worry about that. Yes. It’s hard not to like when if your kid’s being bullied or made fun of, but just make it about them having healthy habits. And you know, if they have healthy habits, most likely over time, they’re going to start losing weight naturally. But you never make it about their weight.
Yeah. I’ve never, yeah, I mean, and I know this is hard and again I, I know that I know several parents that really struggle because of their kids being obese and they’ve told me it’s really hard for them not to talk to about their kids about weight, but I’ve told them that they’re like, are you sure I shouldn’t say anything? I never, and I can’t say that I never will do it, but I never want to ever talk to my girls about their weight. I don’t want that to ever be a focus for them about their self worth, about who they think they’re they are. And if they’re beautiful based on a size. So I never talked to them about being fat or skinny. I don’t talk to about them about their weight either way. I never go, Oh, you’re so skinny. You know, that’s not, that’s not, it’s not good the other way either weight is not an issue.
Their body, you know, how their body looks. I talk about the being strong about them being confident about them being kind about them being beautiful about them, having great personalities. But yeah, let’s stay away the best you can of not talking to your kids about, about wait you guys, that’s, that’s a disaster waiting to happen. Especially with, you know, eating disorders. I think for girls, you know, one in three have eating disorders may be more is the new statistic and that is just really tough. And the best way is to focus on healthier things about being healthy, not labeling food, not labeling that, not labeling bodies, just talking about healthy lifestyle and how their body feels, but don’t talk to them about their weight.
Yeah. And that’s where I think all these tips that we listed kind of help you out with this, where it’s like, you know, you’re, you’re including them in your active lifestyle. You know, you’re making it fun for them. It’s not just like, okay, you got to go to the gym for an hour. Okay, you have to eat your broccoli so you can be skinny. Um, it’s all about health and healthy habits. And, um, you know, I think for example, like, I’m just thinking about this, if one of my girls became overweight one day, you know, what would I do? You know, cause right now my girls are six and five and you know, they’re little, they’re not like, you know, they’re not overweight. But what if it happened one day, what would I do? Would I freak out here I am, this fit the fit to fat to fit guy and I have an overweight kid.
Would it bother me? I don’t really know if it would like, I think part of me, yes, but at the same time, it’s like what would I do for them? Like what I make it, you know what, I make them go to the gym. No, I wouldn’t do that at all. Like for me it would just be more about like, Hey family, we’re all going to, we’re all going on a hike today or we’re going to the pool and we’re having fun. And, um, you need to prepare yourself for those situations. So it never comes across wrong way, you know, especially especially for girls, you know, being the dad of two daughters, you do have to be very sensitive, very careful about how you phrase things.
Yeah. And yeah, I know it’s, yeah.
Because even if they are skinny and they’re teenagers, they might get picked on for their weight and they look great, but other kids are can be really cruel. So you need to, it’s going to be an issue I think at some point for everybody.
Yeah. And I mean the good news is, is I know so many of my clients talk to me about them, worried about their kids or their way, and I know you guys that this really isn’t about their physical appearance. You are amazing parents and you’re doing the best you can and you’re worried about your kid’s health. And we get it. So again, this is, this podcast was really in the spirit of just giving you good ideas and tips, things that we have seen work not only in our lives, but in family members lives and hopes that you can teach your kids to live a healthier lifestyle. And make it more fun for everyone and get everyone in the family involved and make it about, make it about the right reasons about living a healthy lifestyle, about avoiding disease, about, you know, making it so everyone could be more fun and active and not about their physical appearance and weight. Yeah.
Yep. So we hope these 10 tips helped you and your family and you can implement at least one of these in your life. And if you even have tips you guys want to send us or things that have worked for your kids, feel free to reach out to us. You know, we can, um, we’d definitely love to share other people’s ideas that have worked for other people. Um, so yeah, let us know. Reach out to us you guys and thank you once again for tuning in for another great episode here on the fit to fat to fit experienced podcast. Don’t forget to subscribe to us on iTunes now. Some people don’t even know how to do that. And I had to show a friend the other day, I went to her phone and she has an iPhone. I’m like, okay, you see this app right here, that podcast app.
Click on that type in the fit to retrofit experience. It pulls up, you click on it and there’s this subscribe button. You click on subscribe. And that way every time there’s a new episode, it notifies you that there’s a new episode, like a download. And um, that way you don’t have to, some people are like, I didn’t see, you know, in any of your new episodes, like have you guys posted about it? It’s like, well, yeah, I would do on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram and Snapchat, but if you don’t follow us or you know, the new algorithms, some people might miss that. So subscribe to us on iTunes. Um, so you’re notified each week when the new episode, a podcast episode is released and you can stay in the know and please leave us a review and share it with your friends and family. If you find this information valuable, we hope to make you laugh.
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Yeah. And you guys can find me. My social handle for almost all my social media is the number to fit at home. And you can find me on Facebook, on Instagram and on Twitter with that. Um, my Snapchat don’t follow my Snapchat, follow her Snapchat, always Snapchat. It’s mostly inappropriate and I don’t post a lot of fitness gods. It
when this comes out, you’ll be in Europe. So if you guys want to see a Europe trip,
Oh, that’s true. Okay, fine. My Snapchat if you want to see what I’m up to, cause I’m going to be backpacking through Europe for the next month when drew has the girls, cause I just got back from a month in Costa Rica with them is Lynn, L, Y, N, N and then another N, so three ends in a row. And then Manning, M a N N, I, N G. So L Y N N N M. A. N. N. I. N. G. If you want to follow me on Snapchat and if you go to my website, the number to fit@home.com. Again, my shop is there, but at the bottom there is a newsletter sign up and I send out a free newsletter every week and I share good tips and different things. So if you want to stay in the know, you can join my newsletter there
and don’t forget to tune in next week for another great episode here on the fit to fat to fit experience podcast. Thank you guys. Once again, we love you, we appreciate you. We’ll see you back here next week.
