By ELIZABETH SIMPSON
Sometimes the secret to losing weight is not a diet or a gym membership or a lean, mean personal trainer.
Your best allies can be the people facing you at the dinner table: your family.
They are so important in the mind of Barbara Benson, who coordinates a weight-management class at Children’s Hospital of The King’s Daughters, she requires a parent to come with youngsters enrolled in the Healthy You class.
“Sometimes there’s an attitude of ‘Here’s my child. Fix him.’ And that doesn’t work.”
Fitness instructors, too, say a commitment on the part of other family members – whether it’s a parent or a spouse or a sibling – can be the make-or-break factor in a person’s drive to become fit.
That’s because being healthy is a goal that depends not just on what you do at the gym but on the way you eat and live once you get home.
Three local families shared their experiences of making lifestyle changes together. Elderd Sauls is both partner and drill sergeant when she and her 9-year-old daughter, Shanice Morgan, go to the Greenbrier Family YMCA in Chesapeake.
“Ten minutes,” she told Shanice as the two pumped stationary bikes next to one another.
“I can’t do that much,” Shanice said.
“Yes, you can,” Elderd responded, wiping her own brow with a towel.
Sauls had known for a while that her daughter needed help losing weight, so together the single mother and her daughter joined the Y.
“She wanted to do it,” said Elderd, who’s 46. “I told her I would be there to support her.”
An instructor there hooked them up with the 10-week Healthy You weight-management class at Children’s Hospital.
They took the class together in February and March and learned about exercise and nutrition, and the different lifestyle changes they needed to make.
They started swimming together at the Y and going for walks. They cut out a lot of fast food, and Elderd began using brown rice instead of white and offering more fruit and vegetables.
Once the class was over, they began participating in the Greenbrier Family Y’s six-month follow-up program. Twice a week, they exercise together on stationary bikes and weight machines and then attend a one-hour class where they learn about health tips and different exercise strategies.
Fitness instructor Vanessa Faircloth sets up goals for each of the class members, like moving from 10 push-ups to 12, or completing a one-mile walk in ever-decreasing amounts of time, so it’s not all focused on weight loss.
Faircloth said parents aren’t required to come, but most of them do. “If the parent puts forth the effort, it encourages the kids more,” she said. “Not just exercising, but changing the way they eat.’
Benson, coordinator of the hospital’s Healthy You class, said the majority of the parents of children in the classes are also overweight.
Parents will often use euphemisms to describe their children: husky or big-boned or chunky.
“You have to look it squarely and say, ‘This is a problem,’
” Benson said.
The No. 1 mark of success? Parents who make a lifestyle change with the child.
Benson sometimes meets her class members in the lobby of the Y the first night they attend to say, “You can do this,” because gyms can be intimidating.
“They think everyone at the Y is fit, but that’s not true.”
One evening last week, Elderd and Shanice followed a biking and weight training session with a game in the Y’s Interactive Zone. They each took a yellow foam “noodle” and stood at the ready in front of two wall-sized panels with lights that blinked on and off.
When a light blinked on, they hit it with their noodles or kicked it with their feet to gain points.
Mom was getting ahead. 100, 200, 300.
“I call time out,” Shanice said.
But mom didn’t let up,
“Keep going,” she said, dodging from one end of the panel to the other with her noodle to collect more points.
And Shanice did, stretching up to hit her own noodle on a light panel.
Since the first of the year, Shanice has lost 21 pounds, her mother 15.
Does Shanice like working out with her mom?
“Sometimes. And sometimes not,” she said with a wry smile.
Her mother laughed.
“You enjoy time with your child,” she said. “You get to be healthy together.” By Elizabeth Simpson
The Virginian-Pilot
Sometimes the secret to losing weight is not a diet or a gym membership or a lean, mean personal trainer.
Your best allies can be the people facing you at the dinner table: your family.
They are so important in the mind of Barbara Benson, who coordinates a weight-management class at Children’s Hospital of The King’s Daughters, she requires a parent to come with youngsters enrolled in the “Healthy You” class.
“Sometimes there’s an attitude of ‘Here’s my child. Fix him.’ And that doesn’t work.”
Fitness instructors, too, say that a commitment on the part of other family members – whether it’s a parent or a spouse or a sibling – can be the make-or-break factor in a person’s drive to become fit.
That’s because being healthy is a goal that depends not just on what you do at the gym, but the way you eat and live once you get home.
Three local families shared their experiences of making lifestyle changes together:
—
The Lawson family:
The Gonzales family:
Elderd Sauls and Shanice Morgan:
The Gonzales family With plenty of prompting from Mom, the whole family – including daughter Jennifer, above – finally got into the act last year, exercising together and upgrading their diets. The Lawson family Michael Lawson first noticed the Carrollton gym and suggested his wife and son work out there. After shedding more than 100 pounds among them, they’re now inspiring others to lose weight. game on Making exercise fun is a key ingredient to success. Shanice Morgan, 9, jokes with her mother, Elderd Sauls, while they get ready to work out at the Greenbrier Family YMCA in Chesapeake. the program
For additional information regarding Healthy You, the CHKD weight- management program, contact Barbara Benson at (757) 668-7035 or [email protected].
weight-gain causes
* Doing activities that require little physical movement such as watching TV and playing computer and video games.
* Eating junk food frequently.
* Constant snacking.
* Too little exercise.
* Eating fast foods frequently.
* Drinking too much soda and fruit juice.
be a role model
* Make healthy selections for meals served at home, as well as when eating out.
* Choose healthy snacks and beverages.
* Make healthy food choices available.
* Keep precut vegetables, such as carrots, celery and broccoli, in plastic bags in the refrigerator.
* Keep fresh fruits available for snacks.
* Make healthy foods look appetizing.
* Serve water instead of soda, fruit juice or powdered drinks.
* Stay positive.
For additional information regarding Healthy You, the CHKD weight- management program, contact Barbara Benson at (757) 668-7035 or [email protected].
Common causes of weight gain:
Doing activities that require little physical movement such as watching TV, and playing computer and video games.
Eating junk food frequently.
Constant snacking.
Too little exercise.
Eating fast foods frequently.
Drinking too much soda and fruit juice.
Being a good role model:
Make healthy food choices for yourself and let your child know why you made those selections.
Make healthy selections for meals served at home, as well as when eating out.
Encourage the family to become involved in a healthy eating plan.
Choose healthy snacks and beverages.
Make healthy food choices available.
Keep precut vegetables, such as carrots, celery and broccoli in plastic bags in the refrigerator.
Keep fresh fruits available for snacks.
Make healthy foods look appetizing.
Serve water instead of soda, fruit juice, or powdered drinks.
Substitute non-fat ices, juice popsicles, or frozen yogurt for ice cream, cake, or cookie snacks.
Substitute skim or 1 percent milk for whole or 2 percent milk if your child is 2 years or older. Infants less than one year of age need to continue with breast feeding or infant formula.
Stay positive.
Include your children when shopping for groceries. Invite them to make healthy choices.
Read labels with your child to determine fat and calorie content.
Use positive statements to encourage your child to eat healthy.
Avoid using food as a reward or a bribe to change behaviors. Instead offer stickers, special outings.
Source: Children’s Hospital of The King’s Daughters
Family fitness tips from “Shape Up America!”
Buy toys or equipment that promote physical activity.
Select fitness-oriented gifts with the person’s skills and interests in mind.
Limit time spent watching television programs, videotapes, and playing computer games.
Use physical activity, like a trip to the ice-skating rink, as a reward rather than food.
Include grandparents, other relatives, and friends whenever possible.
Spend as much time outdoors as possible.
Schedule regular time throughout the week for physical activity.
Take turns picking an activity for the family to do as a group each week.
Start a log of daily fitness activities for each family member.
Adapt activities to suit those with special needs or preferences.
Check out parks, bike trails, hiking trails, tennis courts, swimming pools, near your home.
Rake leaves, and jump in them.
Dig and plant in the garden. Help everyone plant their own vegetables, fruits and flowers.
Chop and stack wood.
Take a long walk or jog on the beach.
Canoe or raft for an afternoon.
Take a nature hike.
Try kite flying, or miniature golf.
Go camping where you can pitch a tent, gather firewood, fish, bike, and walk.
Visit farms to pick strawberries, peaches, and apples.
Run, jog, and walk in a family treasure hunt.
Play backyard sports: basketball, softball, volleyball, and tetherball.
Take the family pet for a walk or jog.
Enter and walk in holiday parades, ethnic festivals, and charity fund raisers.
Adopt a highway, park, or beach, and keep it clean.
Enter a “Fun Run” or a “Bike-a-Thon.”
Originally published by BY ELIZABETH SIMPSON | THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT.
(c) 2008 Virginian – Pilot. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.
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