The Importance of Staying Fit For You and Your Family
I just finished an hour bike ride with my 7-year-old daughter and she said, “mom I love spending time with you, can we do this again?” And so we did. In fact on non-bootcamp days she’s a drill Sargent! She gives me early morning wake up calls so we can ride together. I think it’s great that she’s so motivated and I have a little coach too.
Our kids look at us use as role models. If we like to exercise they may try it too. My daughter is very excited about Bootcamp to the point where she created an entire hula routine. She adapted a stay fit attitude and wants to run her own Bootcamp one day.
As fun as it may be for kids we may feel that exercise is a chore or something we have to do to lose weight. For me I want to live healthy for my kids and be able to keep up with their enthusiasm. As we age it’s important to stay fit for our kids and ourselves. Our body is at its peak between the age of 25 and 30. After this point, our body starts to slowly go into a decline and we tend to put on weight a little faster than before. Part of the reason for this is, after 30, we begin to lose muscle to what is known as atrophy (muscle shrinkage due to disuse). We also begin to lose bone density leading very slowly to eventual osteoporosis. Muscle is an active tissue and therefore burns calories. When we start to lose muscle to atrophy, our metabolism begins to slow down as a result leading to more fat storage and weight gain, and over 50% of this is due to inactivity
We’ve all seen it, there are men standing together, one is around 35 years old while the other is around 50, yet the older man looks more firm and vigorous than the younger man. You might ask yourself; how does he do it? The answer is, he exercises. At almost any age you can stay in great shape as well, but you have to exercise.
So what do we need to do?
If you have kids make it fun. Try riding bikes, playing soccer, basketball, baseball, swimming, and hiking. Anything that’s interactive will work but make it fun. Playing sports is great way to keep fit because it’s not boring. Also, the positive feedback will be memorable and maybe you’ll look at fitness differently.
If exercise is not part of your life ease into it slowly to avoid feeling self defeated. Start by walking then try running for 5-10 minute intervals. If you’re in a park, find a bench and try tricep dips, turn around and try push-ups. Find a coach or call a friend. Make a date to go for walks, rides etc. The goal is to try any type of activity a few days a week that you’ll enjoy. Do for yourself and for your family.
-Bernadette McLoughlin
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