Dad Diet

[originally posted in PersonalDevelopmentMaster]

Computers and other gadgets have become pivotal in the lives of most people under 50. Technology is infused into the everyday lives of your children in ways most of us never imagined. Whatever happened to playing outside?

Most technology involves a lot of sitting still, which doesn’t use our children’s natural abundance of energy. However, if you’ve ever tried to get your kids to unplug from these devices, you know what a chore that can be!

You’ve most likely set limits on how long your kids can fiddle with their gadgets. However, they’ll probably need help finding things to do when they’re not allowed to plug in. Why not play outside as a family?

Take advantage of these benefits of old-fashioned fun outdoors

1. Demonstrate the importance of outdoor activities. If your kids see you take the time to stop what you’re doing inside and go outside to do something completely different, they’ll assume it must be the thing to do. Play outdoors consistently with them from an early age, and they’ll adopt your active lifestyle.

2. Offer quality time. Spending time outside with your kids provides wonderful opportunities to see what they like to do. You can also offer them activities from your own life. Teach them how to play freeze tag and all those other “old-fashioned” games you used to play outdoors.

3. Get physical. When outside, most people are moving around physically. Riding bikes, going for a jog, walking, throwing around the football, or playing kick ball are healthy outdoor activities. You’ll get a good workout and so will your kids.

4. Develop your children’s coordination. Whether you’re tossing a ball, walking around the block, or riding bikes, your child’s dexterity and coordination will grow when you regularly play outdoors together.

5. Grow their passions. Being consistently active outdoors with your kids introduces them to various activities. They just may find some that bring joy and fascination to their lives.

* There’s no reason this has to mean sports or competitive games if your kids aren’t into those. You may have a budding naturopath on your hands, or a marine biologist. But if you didn’t go outside together as a family, you’d never know, and neither would they

6. Unwind. There’s no better way to teach your children how to discharge stress than to go outside and connect with nature every day. You’ll feel better, calmer and more relaxed, and so will your kids.

7. Make memories and traditions. Being outside together is a family activity you can practice all your lives. Whether your kids are 5, 15 or 25 years old, if they grew up playing outdoors with you, you’ve got an easy family tradition you can do anywhere.

Although letting your kids play endlessly with their computers or video games may seem easier than a battle of the wills, physical activity is still crucial, especially for growing bodies. Make an effort to squeeze outdoor time into the schedule, even for 30 minutes a day. You’ll feel better, connect more, and discover all kinds of wonderful things about yourselves and each other!

For more information regarding getting your kids excited, The healthy eating for kids website has tons of fun recipes that will turn mealtime into funtime!

Post written by Leo Babauta.

I’m a big subscriber to using whatever you can find to work out: pullups on trees, throw big boulders, flip logs or big tires, jump over things, sprint up hills (see Minimalist Fitness, part 1 & part 2).

As a parent and a minimalist, I’d like to share my ultimate minimalist workout secret: my kids are my gym.

Fellow parents, if you’re not doing this yet, I can’t recommend it highly enough. How are they my gym? Instead of paying hundreds of dollars (even thousands) a year for a gym, I use my kids to get in shape.

How? Every way I can, but here’s a few:

• I carry them on my shoulders as we walk around town.
• We race each other to the corner, sprinting. Often up hills.
• I do pushups with them on my back.
• I lift them up in the air — it’s like lifting weights.
• I’ll let them hang on me as I do chinups.
• We climb and jump around in the playground.
• We play with the soccer ball — getting lots of sprints in as we do.
• We jump around in the ocean. A great workout.
• We wrestle.
• We challenge each other to do pistols (one-legged squats) or handstand pushups (what they sound like). Mostly we can’t, but it’s fun.
• We do lunges while walking up a hill.
• I carry them slung across my shoulders — a fireman’s carry — which is a great workout btw.
• I’ll carry one on my back, piggy-back style, while racing another kid up a hill. Yes, I love hills.

Awesomer than a gym

So why is this so awesome?

1. We bond. Instead of spending time away from the kids at a gym, I spend time with them. And get a great workout in throughout the day. It’s two birds, one stone, saving time while helping me bond with my kids.

2. Work becomes play. It’s not exercise, it’s not a workout, it’s *play*. And that’s a whole different ballgame. Play is fun, it’s challenging, it’s easy, and yet it’s a great way to get in shape.

3. No cost. OK, kids aren’t cheap — but I have them anyway, so why not use them? I’m saving money and getting fit — that’s all kinds of win.

4. I’m being a role model. Kid learn most of all from what they see others doing, especially their parents. You can tell them things all day long, but unless they see you doing it, you’re not teaching them much. When we go to the gym, they don’t see us working out. When we workout as we play with them, they’re learning how to be healthy, and that is a gift that will last a lifetime.

5. It’s a lifestyle. I don’t work out at one time during the day, and then stay sedentary the rest of the day. It’s all throughout the day, every day, which means it’s woven into my life, not a small segment of my life. This is what a healthy lifestyle looks like.

6. It’s functional. When you do a bicep curl with a dumbbell, you’re making a motion that you never would do in real life — when have you ever lifted something heavy while keeping your upper arm fixed to your torso? Instead, when we lift heavy things, we bend at the knees, and use our legs, our torso, our shoulders, our arms — basically most of our body at once. When I lift my kids, that’s the same motion I’d use to lift anything else. Functional exercise is much more useful than isolated lifts.

Working out using my kids as equipment is the best thing I’ve done with my fitness. It’s fun, so I never want to stop. It’s functional, it’s cheap, and best of all, I get to do it with my kids. I love it.