One of the things I’m incredibly passionate about is helping families build healthier lives.
And when I say healthier, I mean much more than getting fit.
I’m talking about creating a lifestyle your family can hopefully carry with them for the rest of their lives.
Because when we talk about health and fitness, it’s very easy to focus on the immediate goal.
Lose 10kg.
Get fitter.
Do a race.
Get ready for HYROX.
Feel better before summer.
Those goals can be great. They can give us something to work towards and sometimes they’re exactly what gets us started.
But as a parent, I think there’s an even bigger opportunity.
What if the habits you’re building today become the habits your kids carry with them for the rest of their lives?
Imagine If Healthy Was Just Normal
Think about this for a second.
Imagine your children reaching adulthood and exercise is already a normal part of their lives.
They don’t have to suddenly “start exercising.”
They’ve grown up seeing people exercise.
They’ve seen Mom or Dad go to training.
They’ve gone for walks with you.
They’ve played outside.
They’ve seen you prioritise your health.
Being active is simply something people do.
Now think about food.
Imagine they grow up in a house where eating reasonably well is normal.
There’s fruit around.
There’s water available.
Meals generally include protein and vegetables.
Sometimes you have pizza.
Sometimes you have sweets.
Sometimes you have ice cream.
And then you carry on with your normal routine.
There isn’t this constant cycle of being “good” and then being “bad.”
Healthy choices are simply part of everyday life.
That’s what I want families to understand.
We have an opportunity to make healthy living feel normal for our children.
They’re Watching Us
As parents, we teach our kids all sorts of things.
We teach them manners.
We teach them to work hard.
We teach them how to treat other people.
We teach them about money.
We teach them to brush their teeth.
But a lot of the lessons they learn aren’t taught through conversations.
They’re taught through what they see us doing.
Your kids see you going to training when you’ve had a busy day.
They see what you put on your plate.
They see whether you spend the entire weekend sitting on the couch or whether the family gets outside and does something.
They see you preparing food for the week.
They see you drinking water.
They see you taking care of yourself.
They also see how you speak about your body and your health.
That’s powerful.
Because we’re showing them what looking after yourself actually looks like.
Think About the Adult You’re Helping Create
This is the part I think about a lot.
One day your eight-year-old is going to be 28.
Your twelve-year-old is going to be 32.
They’re going to have jobs.
They might have their own kids.
Life is going to get busy.
And they’ll have to make decisions about their own health.
What will feel normal to them?
If movement has always been part of their life, hopefully being active won’t feel like some massive task they suddenly need to figure out.
If reasonably good food has always been available at home, hopefully making better food choices won’t feel completely foreign.
If they’ve grown up seeing their parents prioritise health, hopefully they’ll understand that taking care of yourself is simply part of being an adult.
That doesn’t guarantee they’ll make perfect choices.
None of us do.
But you’ve given them a foundation.
And I think that’s an incredible gift.
Small Wins Build on Each Other
I’ve been reading Developing the Leader Within You 2.0 by John C. Maxwell, and something from his chapter on self-discipline really connected with this idea.
He talks about developing self-discipline through small victories.
You don’t suddenly become incredibly disciplined one morning.
You practise it.
You get a small win.
Then another.
And those wins begin to build on each other.
I think family health works exactly the same way.
You don’t need to completely overhaul your family’s life this weekend.
Start somewhere.
Get one win.
Then build on it.
Maybe the first win is everyone drinking more water.
Maybe it’s making breakfast better.
Maybe it’s going for a family walk twice a week.
Maybe it’s Mom training three times a week.
Maybe it’s Dad doing the same.
Maybe it’s eating dinner together a few nights each week.
Small victories.
Repeated often enough that eventually they become normal.
Make the Healthy Choice Easier
Another idea from the chapter really stood out to me.
If you know something is going to tempt you, create some distance between yourself and the temptation.
That’s such a simple idea, but it’s incredibly practical when we think about family health.
We actually use the same principle in our CrossFit Alberton 2.0 Family Eating Guide:
Make the good choice the easy choice.
Your environment matters.
If there’s a fruit bowl sitting where everyone can see it, fruit becomes an easy option.
If you’ve got cut vegetables and hummus ready in the fridge, there’s an easy snack.
If water bottles are filled and ready to go, drinking water becomes easier.
If the cupboard is constantly overflowing with sweets, biscuits and chips, everyone in the house has to make a decision every time they walk past it.
You can make some of those decisions easier before they even happen.
This isn’t about having a perfect kitchen.
It’s about setting your family up to succeed more often.
Five Simple Healthy Habits Your Family Can Start
Here’s where I’d start.
1. Make Movement Something Your Family Does
Exercise doesn’t only have to happen inside a gym.
Go for a walk.
Ride bikes.
Kick a ball around.
Go hiking.
Let your kids see you training.
Find activities everyone enjoys.
We want movement to become part of normal family life.
2. Start With One Good Meal
Trying to fix your entire family’s diet overnight can become overwhelming very quickly.
Choose one meal.
Breakfast is a great place to start.
Instead of trying to create the perfect meal plan, find two or three simple breakfasts that work for your family.
Eggs on toast.
Overnight oats.
Greek yoghurt with fruit and nuts.
Get that right consistently.
Then work on something else.
3. Change the Food Environment
Take a look around your kitchen.
What foods are easiest to grab?
What is sitting on the counter?
What’s at eye level in the fridge?
What goes into the kids’ lunchboxes?
You don’t need to ban foods.
Think about creating everyday foods and sometimes foods.
Make your everyday options easy to find and easy to eat.
4. Eat Together More Often
Family life is busy.
Work, school, homework, training and everything else can make this difficult.
But where you can, sit down and eat together.
Even three meals a week is a start.
Food is only one part of that habit.
You’re creating time to talk.
You’re slowing things down.
You’re building a family routine.
And your children get to see you eating the same foods you’re encouraging them to eat.
5. Pick One Habit and Do It for Two Weeks
This is probably the biggest one.
Don’t choose ten things from this blog.
Choose one.
For the next two weeks, your family might:
Drink water before meals.
Eat a better breakfast.
Go for two family walks each week.
Put protein into every meal.
Prepare lunchboxes the night before.
Eat dinner together three times per week.
Pick one.
Do it consistently.
Then add another.
That’s how habits grow.
Lead By Example
I think this is ultimately where it starts.
If we want our kids to value their health, they need to see that we value ours.
That doesn’t require perfection.
Your children don’t need to see you training seven days a week.
They don’t need every meal weighed and measured.
They don’t need a house where nobody ever eats chocolate.
They need to see consistency.
They need to see that looking after yourself matters.
They need to see you make time for movement.
They need to see you come back after you’ve fallen out of routine.
They need to see that health is something we work on throughout our lives.
This Is Bigger Than a Six-Week Challenge
This is why I’m so passionate about this.
Fitness can give you so much more than a result on the scale.
We’re trying to build healthier humans.
And when we help a parent become healthier, there’s an opportunity for that impact to reach further.
It can influence their partner.
It can influence their children.
And maybe one day it influences how those children raise their own families.
That’s a pretty powerful ripple effect.
So yes, train for the race.
Work towards losing the weight.
Get stronger.
Improve your fitness.
Have goals.
But somewhere along the way, remember the bigger picture.
You’re building habits your children are watching.
And some of those habits might stay with them long after they’ve left your home.
Your Family Challenge
This week, sit down with your family and choose one healthy habit.
Keep it ridiculously simple.
Put fruit somewhere everyone can see it.
Fill everyone’s water bottles each morning.
Go for a walk after dinner twice this week.
Make a good breakfast.
Eat dinner together.
Book your training sessions.
Then do it for two weeks.
Once it starts feeling normal, choose the next thing.
Small wins.
Healthy habits.
Repeated for years.
That’s how we start building a healthier family.
And hopefully, a healthier next generation.
Let’s get healthy. For life.
If you’d like some help creating a healthier lifestyle for yourself and your family, come chat to us.
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We’ll sit down, talk about where you are now and help you figure out a realistic place to start.
