Mary Angel

(4/2025) Well, we are at it again. My whole family is trying to get healthier. We all have different goals, but we are doing this together. Some of us want to lose weight, some want to build muscle, and some want to just eat healthier. The key is, since we are doing this as a family, we are supporting, challenging, and encouraging one another. This can look very different depending on the person and situation.

When we started this journey, it was the start of the New Year, and it began because my husband and I started having little aches and pains. For some reason my husband decided to get on the scale, and he was shocked. He had put on a large amount of weight since he had last climbed on a scale. This then prompted me to take the plunge and get on the scale. Obviously, I discovered I had gained weight as well. For me, it was extremely disappointing to see that I weighed more than I had ever weighed in my life, even when I was pregnant.

All of this led us to talk about our youngest child who has struggled with her weight for most of her life. She has been tested for many different diseases and disorders and tried many different programs to lose weight and nothing has worked. As we discussed her health, more than her weight, we decided we needed to help her any way we can. As the snowball effect worked, the conversation moved on to the rest of the kids.

After a long discussion we decided we had fallen short of teaching our kids some healthy habits surrounding food and activity. It wasn’t that we hadn’t discussed all of this, and they were certainly taught it in school, but we had not demonstrated it. This was a case of taught but not caught. So many things our kids learn, especially bad habits, are learned through watching others, not what they are told verbally. So, we decided we were going to try and change our habits, our lifestyle, and take them along for the ride.

We began by eliminating most snacks from the house, but since we wanted to be successful, we did not eliminate everything. We started by trying to have at least one salad a day. If the kids asked, we would explain our reasoning behind what we were doing. "Why do we have a different salad dressing?", would be answered with, "Look at the back of both bottles". They were all in shock from the very beginning at the calorie differences in many of the foods they loved depending on the brand we chose. I do have to be honest and say that none of us are a fan of most "diet" foods that contain artificial sweeteners, as we feel the after taste is not worth it. That doesn’t mean you can’t find lower calorie options just by switching brands. My kids have mastered reading labels for calories, content, and nutritional facts.

Our next step was portion control. This proved to be met with much more opposition, since my kids love salads, but hate to be told no second helping. The good news is that this led to a conversation about all calories not being equal and what calories look like. In other words, 100 calories of broccoli and 100 calories of candy will not affect your body the same way. Also, if you want seconds at a meal and you only want to eat 100 calories you will find that 100 calories of broccoli will give you way more than 100 calories of chicken. Since my kids love vegetables, for the most part, this was eye opening for them. This didn’t mean they were always going to choose broccoli, but it meant they were more educated and could make a better choice in each individual situation.

Several of us found it helpful to get an app on our phones. My fitness Pal has always been my go-to. When I use it, I make better choices and lose weight, and when I don’t, well, I don’t. There is a free version and a paid version, like with most apps. I do not pay, but find it suits my needs just fine. What I find most helpful is when I am eating out, I can compare food calories, fat, and carbs for different restaurants and different meals. If someone says, "Where do you want to go to dinner?"

I can look at the choices and make an educated decision. Now that I have been using it for a while I now have my go to places and dishes, so it makes it easy to make a quick choice. This app also helps me at the end of the day, if I really want a treat, to see how many calories I have left and choose my treat accordingly. Just because you are trying to eat a healthier diet, or lose weight, it does not mean you have to always do without. Instead, it means you have to make better decisions in each situation.

After we passed the hump of changing the family diet, which was met with a little bit of moaning, we moved onto activity. This was met with some resistance. It was a hard conversation to explain that we aren’t all built for the same activities, nor would we all like the same ones. I have some friends who love running, but since I was a young girl, I have struggled with shin splints when I run. You can bet my activities will not be centered around running. A few of us got gym memberships to be able to have a variety of equipment, my boys go for a two-to-five-mile walk/run after work each day, and I prefer the quiet of my treadmill in the office. Some of us have programmed our watches or phones to remind us to get up and move at work, while others get up at the crack of dawn to work out. The lesson here was to get moving, any additional movement will be good for your body in the long run.

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