| All moms are crunched for time, even I have to take a shortcut here and there in order to fit everything in. But there are simple steps that families can take to incorporate health and nutrition into their lives and I'm sharing some of my favorite tricks with you. 
| Incorporate exercise into your family's daily routine by creating a "Family Fitness Chart." On a piece of paper include everyone's name, the date and your family's favorite physical activities (such as one minute of jump rope, 25 jumping jacks, running around the house two times, 25 ab crunches). Track activities and offer everyone rewards for getting and staying fit. | |
 | Getting your children to enjoy fruits and vegetables is easy when you play "The Colors Game." Challenge your kids to eat two of each color - green, red, yellow, orange, and purple - throughout the day. Make sure to go over all the different fruits and vegetables in each color category and, at meal times, ask them "how many colors have you had today?" They'll love reviewing their menus with you and hearing your praise when they've completed the rainbow. | |
Rushing to the car and then racing to the school can
really send your blood pressure up. I found a way to
keep my entire family calm -- the "Walk or Bike to School"
policy. We organize everything the night before and get up a little earlier to allow time to walk or ride our bikes to school. "Walk or Bike" days are a time to share stories, review for the big test, or just be active as a family. Be consistent. Plan ahead and tell your kids what days you will walk or bike to school. Pretty soon they will be asking to do it. | |
| If getting your kids to eat veggies is sometimes challenging, look for new and interesting ways to serve those vegetables you know they'll eat. If broccoli is the only vegetable your child likes, figuring out more ways to serve it will help keep them from getting bored of it! For example, one-half cup of Ragú® pasta sauce equals a full serving of vegetables... and what kid doesn't like pasta sauce? So find ways to get it into their diet instead of just adding it to spaghetti (even though they probably wouldn't mind having spaghetti every night!) - You can serve it over shaped pasta, use it as a dip for string cheese (a great snack!) or mix it with ground turkey or beef for a quick sloppy joe. | |
| Get your kids excited about exercise. Make it fun and something you can do as a family. Here are a few family-friendly activities that will burn calories for both kids and parents:
| |  | Back yard running races | | | Handstands against the garage door | | | Basketball chest passes and bounce passes | | | Leap frog | | | Tag | | | Hula hoop | | | Skip around the block | | |
Encourage balanced meals by making your child
"Chef for a Day." Let them choose the menu
(incorporating a main course, side dishes and
salad). Then let them help shop for the ingredients
and help prepare the meal.
Try this activity with your children once a week and you'll be amazed at the foods they'll eat, and how excited they are to sit down to dinner! For menu ideas check out the Ragú® Soccer Mom Shortcuts Book. It offers simple recipe and snack ideas your family can cook together. | |
| For more tips from Kathy and fun family fitness activities
visit Kathy's Ultimate Fit Kids website at: www.ultimatefitkids.com To receive weekly fitness and nutrition tips from Kathy, check out Kathy's Health-e-tips program. You can sign up for these weekly e-tips or learn more about free programs available for your child's school at www.healthetips.com |
| | | Kathy Kaehler is a mom and NBC's "Today" show fitness expert. Her demanding schedule includes looking after her kids, a six-year old and twin ten-year old boys, training high profile clients and fellow moms like Julia Roberts, Kim Basinger and Cindy Crawford and teaching daily classes in Los Angeles.
She is the author of several popular fitness books including the upcoming "Fit and Sexy for Life." Kathy believes that everyone, at any age can adopt a lifestyle that incorporates fitness, good nutrition and a positive outlook. | | 
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