No matter where you are on your weight loss journey, you know how important it is to have the support of your family. After all, everything is a bit easier when the people you love are behind you! Want to take their involvement deeper—while building strong bonds AND creating healthy new habits for everyone in the house? Kick off a personal family fitness challenge! You’ve probably seen various challenges in the news and on your Facebook feed, and it’s easy to customise a 30-day program for your own family. Here are a few tips to help you structure your program and get started.
Set a schedule.
Start by finding a time to which all members of your family can commit for 30 days. For most families, this will be in the morning before work or school, or in the early evening when everyone gets home. Encourage participating adults to make this “appointment” a priority, and to juggle potential work commitments around it whenever possible. If they can’t, encourage them to fit in some exercise on their lunch break.
Find an activity.
Next, find a few activities that the whole family can enjoy together, regardless of age or fitness level. Since you’ll be doing this every day for a month, it’s good to have a mix of more involved activities you can do on weekends (i.e. family hikes, or taking a yoga class together) and simple activities you can do at home on weekdays (like walking around the block or doing a dance workout together). Not everyone needs to do exactly the same activity; if your little ones are have trouble keeping up with (or staying interested in) your walk, have them ride bikes or scooters. It’s important to keep ALL your activities accessible and realistic, so you’ll actually accomplish them every day.
Set goals.
If you’re a Jenny Craig member, you’ve already set a weight loss goal. Now it’s time to set your sights on a fitness accomplishment—then get the whole gang on board. Again, this goal need not be the same for each member of your family. You and your partner might want to count your steps each day, while your kids might want to attain a certain “level” in a particular fitness-inspired video game. Or you all might just want to commit to simply exercising together every day, regardless of the outcome. There are no bad ideas in a fitness challenge!
Choose rewards.
What’s a challenge without a little incentive? For adults and kids alike, identifying rewards in advance can help keep you motivated throughout the month. Rewards can be individual, like a new outfit for mum or a coveted toy for the kids, or family-minded, like a trip to your local mini golf, cinema, or zoo. Just be sure that you choose something that can keep the whole team motivated throughout the challenge.
