Family Fit Challenge week 1

We are participating in a really fun event "Family Fit Challenge" through the Boys & Girls Clubs of America.

We will be chronicling our journey and our family transformations as we go.

Week1:

We started our challenge early, by participating in our city's family day of play. We were educated on healthy snacks and activities.  From there we went shopping as a family to help make our family dinner list for the next two weeks. We chose healthy snacks and made sure we incorporated fruits and vegetables into every meal.

Once we were home we took time measuring out serving sizes so we know what it looks like with our eyes, so we are able to make decisions correctly instead of serving with our tummy... 

We had received water bottles from a booth at the day of play event, so we measured how many 8oz cups fit in the bottle. We learned it holds 2.5 cups every time its filled. We keep a tally on the refrigerator. It has become a friendly competition amongst the family, who drank the most each day. As well as a good way to spend some time on math with the kids counting up how many times we filled the bottle and converting it to ounces.

When making our dinner list we decided we would substitute 2 meals a week for vegetarian meals. One night we had a vegetable paella served with baked tofu as our protein and last night we had talapia as our protein. So far 2 new meal choices and they were a hit with the entire family!

We also started taking a family walk together each night after dinner. We pick something to discuss, the first night we asked "what did you do today that helped someone else?" It invoked a great conversation about being selfless. Last night we talked about our best Halloween memories,  we sure did have some fun laughs!

Thursday night we designated our family fun night! We went to Makutu's Island which is an indoor play place. We were there with only 1 other family, so Cory and I were able to play and run right along with the kids. We were on the go for 2 hours straight! We had so much fun!!!

Some great choices we have made as a family is we no longer drink any soda pop. We rarely did before, but we completely made a choice to cut it out. Cory and I also decided to cut 2 days a week out of coffee, because of the caffeine. I also made the decision to switch my coffee creamer to sugar free. Every little choice we make helps us to be healthier in the long run!

This week has been a great experience for our family. Besides becoming aware of the proper things to eat, portion sizes, we have been able to integrate other aspects, working on math, great discussions as a family, and all around family fun.

Although no one has any weight to lose in our family except for me because I am still carrying this baby weight :) After 1 week of making positive choices and doing a physical activity every night, I am happy to say I am down 2 pounds!!

We can't wait for week 2!