• Teach them how to cook, simple, healthy foods.
• You want them outside? Go outside with them!
• Start walking or even jogging and take them along.
• Workout and do it with them. They'll try and do better than you and they'll learn a lot.
• Don't complain about fitness or weight loss as if its a chore, talk about it as if it's something you're looking forward to everyday!
• Don't make excuses, it just gives them excuses...and they learn to do that throughout life.
• Simply talk to them about it. No one is saying to hurt their feelings, but if we get so protective as to not talk about it, well, how will they know they need to do it?

All of these things take effort on your part, and on theirs. You can put in the effort now, for yours and their sake, or you can put in the effort later when they really need your help to lose weight or get fit. It's not just about being overweight. It's about giving them just one more tool in the arsenal of tools they'll need when they are older to live better lives, and hopefully, that's what we want for our kids...no matter what the effort is needed now, versus the struggle that adulthood brings.

When a child is out of shape, or overweight as a kid, they have a much harder time losing weight or getting fit as an adult. Your body learns as well as your mind. Get them fit young, and their body remembers that state. Later in life, that can come in handy...so give them the gift of muscle memory. Overweight or obese children have a much harder time later taking off that weight and are exponentially at higher risk for type II diabetes, heart disease, cardio vascular disease and a wide variety of other problems, physically, emotionally and socially. The article link is about playing outside, but has additional information that supports the above statements.
http://www.education.com/reference/article/playing-outdoors-enhances-development/
Also, see one of my clients who succeeded and how it impacted his life!
http://www.coreybeachfitness.com/success.htm

Let's not let what we do or don't do now make them accept certain consequences when they are older. Remember, childhood and teenhood is their time to learn to be adults. Give them the advantage in everyway, let's not give them something to struggle with later. We are the parents! We're responsible and accountable...just as we are for our own fitness successes and failures.

Let's help them succeed in this way, as well as all the other ways we've helped them.

Fitness By the Bay trains children, and adults. We'd love to train both of you at the same time. Make it fun way to do it. Bring another family of mom's or dad's and kids. You can do up to five at a time and you'll not only be doing them and yourselves good, but you'll be saving money by doing it all together!

Hope to see you soon, and enjoy the weather outdoors!