Health and Exercise

    When I was in high school I had a eating disorder.  I was totally anorexic because no matter how much weight I lost my mom would always say I wasn't skinny I was slim.  Slim was not what I wanted to hear and it wasn't until I had met Chad that I really started liking myself.  The ironic part is that I'm about 10 pounds more than I was in high school now and if I hadn't been so concerned with my weight I would probably have been this weight then. 
   It's probably a good thing I don't have girls because even though I like what I look like now and don't think myself fat, with the exception of a bloated pre-period day, I would probably pass my early teenage insecurities to my girls.  As soon as my kids were old enough to eat solid foods I started explaining what that food could do for your body, for example; carrots are good for your eyes, especially your night vision so you can see like a cat.  Pancakes have lots of carbs to give your body the energy it needs to run super fast at school.  Now I know that is totally a yuppie thing to do, but I needed to help them to understand that their bodies need food and that making good decisions on what they eat will help them to live a long and healthy life.  Of course there is always a flip side to explaining what foods do for your body like when my kids started asking what candy/cakes/cookies did for them my response has been negative.  They are bad for your body, your teeth and they make you fat.  We all know that I'm right, but probably it wasn't the right way to explain it.  My poor husband can't have a soda with out my kids telling him he's fat because he drinks it. 
   As my kids grow older we have started telling them the importance of exercise and how just playing outside is a great form of exercise, but neither Chad or I exercise.  Kind of  hypocritical right?  Part of our New Year's resolution is to eat at home more, eat healthier and exercise.  So far two of the three are going well, but exercise is the hardest to conquer because I have no inclination to exercise.  I am super lucky to have an awesome metabolism and I think that's part of my problem.  I don't have to work to get skinny and because of this I am teaching my children the wrong lessons.  Now that Chad is done with basketball we are going to be making a conscious effort to eat better and exercise with our kids so that as a family we stay healthy.  Hopefully knowing what the foods that go into their bodies and exercising together will help my kids to have a better body image than I did growing up and stay healthy when they are out of our house eating on their own.