Get Moving With Thibodaux Regional Health System | Move 150

Finding time to exercise can be difficult for parents. However, moving our bodies is a basic part of caring for ourselves.  We feel a lot more energetic when we move and stretch. Movement actually changes the chemistry of our bodies to be happier, more relaxed, and healthier.  We not only look better, we feel better. Exercise also offers us the ability to be better as parents.

The secret is setting aside the time to exercise. Set a goal to exercise three times weekly. An overall goal of 150 minutes a week is the ultimate as recommended by the American College of Sports Medicine. Start with ten minutes a day outside together, add in a weekend outing, then before you know it, you’ll have worked up to 20 minutes daily, with an hour on weekend days. Sure, you’ll skip some days. But if that’s more exercise than you’re getting now, you are on the right track! 

• When you’re confined to the house, play “Take off each other’s’ socks,” wrestling, or chase games. (Games that get your family laughing! That’s a huge bonus, because you’re helping them evaporate any anxieties they’re carrying around.)
  
• Let each person in the family take turns being the leader while the rest of the family follows, doing jumping jacks, sit-ups, or invented moves.
  
• Load the kids and their bikes or scooters into the car and drive to the track at your local high school or University in the evening or on the weekend. Let the kids ride their trikes or bikes around the track, while you walk or jog.
  
• Chasing your toddler all over the playground? Turn it into a positive, get a pedometer, and work up to 10,000 steps a day.

You won’t believe how much ten minutes of movement daily will lift your mood. And when we feel good, it has an almost magical effect on our children. We have a lighter touch, and a sense of humor, which makes our kids happier and more cooperative.

You’re also getting your child involved in an active lifestyle, which is a great counter-balance to all that screen-time in our lives. Kids who are physically active into the preteen and teen years are 75% less likely to be overweight when they’re grown.

If you do this every single day, you’ll all start looking forward to it and moving 150 minutes a week! Exercise is a great way to nurture yourself and your child at the same time. •

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For more information contact the Thibodaux Regional Fitness Center, 985.493.4950.