If you say you are unhealthy, overweight and lethargic because you have children, you are inadvertently blaming their being born for your health demise.
Yet, if you think back, your eating, drinking and exercise habits might not have been exactly fantastic before you gave birth. Whatever, you still need to understand that it’s not the children preventing you from getting the body you crave – it’s only you and your excuses!
‘But I can’t make it to the gym as I’m at home with the kids all day.’ Again, so what? This doesn’t stop you exercising or eating well. You can get some kind of home exercise equipment, take the kids to the park, go for a walk, etc.
There is always a way if you are committed, no matter how many children you are fortunate to have. If you really wanted to join a gym and make it there a few times a week – you could. If you really wanted to start eating well – you could. Children are a blessing; it’s time to stop blaming them for your bad habits.
‘But the kids like McDonald’s so it’s hard’
I was on the phone to a friend of a friend recently about a matter which had nothing to do with health. Because of what I do, however, health, and in particular his weight, soon came into the conversation. He said, ‘If you are what you eat, then I’m a Big Mac,’ and proceeded to tell me how his eating habits had gone pear-shaped (or burger-shaped) because of his son. I asked him how on earth he worked that out. His reply was one I’d heard a few times, ‘Well, he loves McDonald’s and I have to take him in there.” And?’ I replied. ‘And, you know, once you’re in there…’
Firstly, what does he mean, he has to take him there? Does his son have a gun to his head? Is his son in charge? Isn’t this man meant to be his child’s guardian? Isn’t he meant to be looking out for his child’s best interest even if that means having to be a strong parent and say no? After all, if your child wanted to go and play in quicksand because it looked fun, you’d shout, scream and do whatever it took to make sure they never went in: you certainly wouldn’t join them because they’re doing it. Why do so many people these days have such difficulty in saying a simple NO to their children? Some people see places like McDonald’s as a treat, but that’s hardly an argument.
If parents think a treat is to feed their loved ones a load of refined sugar and fat, then I’d hate to see what they do to punish them.
Secondly, even if he does see it as a treat and his son only has McDonald’s once a week, why on earth does that mean he has to join his son with a Big Mac and fries? I explained that McDonald’s now do salads, so he could always tuck into one of those. But of course the reason why he doesn’t is the same reason why he doesn’t say NO to his boy – he wants to go and he wants a McDonald’s; but boy, aren’t kids a great scapegoat for our failures?
Stop blaming the fact you’ve had kids or you’ve got kids; if you want a slim trim body you can get one. You don’t have to feed your kids junk; you don’t have to pander to their every terrorist tantrum for their next sugar fix and you can be strong and take control of at least their household’s dietary habits. I realize that some households are different and many ‘buts’ can come into play. ‘But I’m only the step-parent so I must feed them what their real parent wants’, ‘but my kids are teenagers and they are so set in their ways it would be wrong to change now’, or whatever. If that’s the case then it still doesn’t mean you have to eat stuff from their plates and it doesn’t mean because they eat junk food that it automatically means you have to.
You might see a great opportunity to add another but, something like ‘but I can’t make it to the gym as I’m at home with the kids all day’. Again so what? This doesn’t stop you exercising or eating well. You can get some kind of home exercise equipment; take the kids to the park; go for a walk; etc. etc. Remember the question should always be ‘What could I do in this situation to move more towards my goal?’ It’s a great question; it stops the ‘buts’ and your brain will always think of a solution. Ask the right questions and you get the right answers
There is always a way if you are committed. There is always a way if you really make it a priority – no matter how many children you are fortunate to have. If you really wanted to join a gym and make it there a few times a week – you could. If you really wanted to start eating well – you could; if you wanted to get the children involved in playing every night or joining some kind of active sports club – you could. Children are a blessing; it’s time to stop blaming them for your bad habits.
‘But it’s different for me because…I know it all already’
This is one ‘but’ I love. When it comes to the subject of health and fitness, because there have been so many ‘diet’ books, God knows how many TV shows about this subject and because food plays such a role in today’s Western world, everyone is an expert. The amount of people I see who at first say, ‘I know that’ or ‘tell me something I don’t know’ is amazing. What’s amazing is in many cases they do know it all (well, most of it anyway). They know that if they eat less junk, increase their intake of fruit and veg and take regular exercise they will change body shape, have more energy and be healthier. More and more people are also aware of the danger of refined sugar and fat; how too much alcohol can cause weight gain and speed up the aging process; how sitting around on furniture for hours on end can cause bone and back problems; and people are even becoming experts on how certain foods have a low or high ‘GI’ (Glycaemic Index) rating and what role that plays on fat levels in their body. In fact with more and more ‘health’ and ‘diet’ books hitting the shops and becoming number-one bestsellers throughout the western world, I think it’s safe to say more and more people aren’t just getting to know a little bit more about how certain foods act on the body – they really are becoming experts in this field.
I think it is almost undisputed that most people, even if they don’t know the exact science behind certain foods and drinks, have a pretty good idea of what’s best to eat for a healthy lifestyle. But just knowing it doesn’t mean anything. I know that if I actually listen to the Spanish course I paid good money for that sits with dust on my top shelf, I’ll be able to learn Spanish. But just knowing that doesn’t mean I’ll ever do it. Just knowing what to eat and what exercises you need to do to get the body of your dreams means jack unless you are going to actually get off your derri&re and do it.
Even the Experts have Buts!
Another problem for people is that many of the true diet experts aren’t exactly applying what they teach and often aren’t exactly the picture of health themselves. Many seem to have the old doctor adage of ‘do as I say not as I do’. It is amazing how many people seem happy to take health advice from unhealthy people. It is true that you don’t necessarily need to be the best football player in order to be a good football manager, but at the same time I personally would never take financial advice from a poor person and I wouldn’t go to a stop-smoking therapist who had a cigarette hanging out of their mouth. I think I make my point!
What I’m saying is, knowing what’s good and bad and being an ‘expert’ on the subject of health and fitness doesn’t mean anything unless you apply it to your own life. After all what’s the point of being the most knowledgeable health and fitness expert if you’re fat and ill yourself?
I’m not so much here to teach you what to eat, drink and how to exercise for optimum health and vitality – although clearly these nuggets are covered in depth in case of any doubt and you’ll have a step-by-step plan for the 14-day Turbo Charge Your