My Daughter Out Ran Me, Teach Kids Health and Fitness47 lbs LOSTso farSeptember 29, 2008 by Israel Lagares | 50 comments
I recently wrote about how my wife kicked my butt in a some sprints. I guess it runs in the family because my 3 year old daughter out did me too. Ugh, I don’t know if I should be embarrassed or proud. What the heck, I’m gonna go with being proud.
I had just finished a pretty decent workout when my daughter asked me to run around with her. I figured I would go ahead and show her how to run sprints, especially since my wife and I had been running sprints recently. It wasn’t really meant to be competitive. I just wanted to continue educating her on health and fitness. She happens to love exercise. She likes eating broccoli and celery too.
So how did I teach her about sprints? I first told her about high intensity exercises and how they help me get in shape and gain strength. I then went about it like a game, the first to the other side wins. What we do is run a sprint then count to ten (reinforcing what she learns in school) and run another sprint. We do this about 10 times, or in this case I do 6 and she runs 14. By the time I got to 3 I was burnt out and couldn’t even go full speed. Normally I would let my daughter win but I couldn’t even fake it, I was really being beaten by my 3 year old.
Afterwards we drank water, walked around and did some total body stretching. I have been slowly adding different exercises to her repertoire. A few months ago it was push ups, a few weeks after that it was squats. Then we started stretching and yoga. She likes the stretching a lot since she can dictate and make up her own stretches as we go. Maybe I have a future Personal Trainer in the making?
I always enjoy spending time with my daughter and being able to share health knowledge makes it all the better.
For those parents, guardians, uncles, aunts, teachers, etc out there: What are some things you do to teach your kids about health and fitness?
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Believe you are giving your daughter the two most precious gifts you can .. (1) time with her dad, (2) the knowledge and discipline of a healthy lifestyle! Way to go dad!!! ((Hugs)) Ranae
Thanks Ranae, as always your presence is appreciated.
Congragulations on taking the time to appreciate the moment with your daughter. Too often we get caught up in our own activities and neglect to spend time with our loved ones. They are always watching you, and regardless of what you say, they will learn from your behavior. Kudos to you!
That is so true Greg, they pick up on just about everything.
Great story! Taking the time to instill healthy habits in our kids is important; I hope that I have as much success as you seem to be having when my wife and I start growing our family.
Thanks Blaine, I still have a long way to go but I am trying my best.
Healthy habits in children is so important. I hate seing children just fed more and more sweets… it’s just a downward spiral of them expecting then receiving more.
Keep up the good work and this is a great blog.
Frank.
Yes. I was a fatty as a child. I feel sad when I see talk shows with obese children on them.
You are a great dad
haha, thx.
I believe spending time with your kids is pretty awesome. Especially when we organize different activities to keep them healthy too! Congratulations man
Nice post Israel; it made me smile …
Thanks Muata, glad I can do that for you.
Aww that was cute.
I don’t have any kids yet, but I really can’t wait.
I can’t wait to be healthy fit mom that cooks up veggies, protein and whole grains. I will be the Food Nazi!
I can’t wait to enroll them in different sports and music programs.
My parents fed me till there was no tomorrow and overeating caused havoc to my body and shape.
I recently lost 10 dress sizes and I look forward to healthy years to come.
Thanks for sharing!
Love,
Ghada
Ghada, congrats on the weight loss. It makes me happy knowing that you plan on instilling healthy habits in your children.
my wife is 4 months pregnant with our first. I am excited to do stuff like this with my kids! great stuff.
Blake, get ready for some fun, and crazy, times ahead! Congrats.
I wish I had a dad like you seriously
I remember, my dad was always busy with his work and never ever paid attention to me
It happens…
Interesting training system for children! And does it work?
Not sure if it’s a training system that everyone should implement, it just happens to work for us.
haha, you daughter look like cherubic.
She is my little angel!
Thanks for an interesting post, although we do do some exercise we teach our children a lot about portion control and healthy eating.
I’m glad my daughter enjoys eating veggies and fruits. She especially likes uncooked broccoli. It makes things easier.
This is an absolutely fabulous post! How is that for quality time with your kid? What a gift to give your kid. I can’t think of a better way to set an example of the fun that can be built into fitness. Great stuff! Thanks!
Thank you very much.
Interesting post. Cute kid!
Keith Maven
Truth About Abs Editor
Thank you Keith, what’s interesting about it to you?
I loved this post! Some of the comments really concerned me though. My parents only gave us toally healthy options. They freqently commented on what and how much I was eating.I became self conscious about how much food I needed. I’d try to not eat too much, but that just made me feel hungry and eventually led to binging. For my son, I give him lots of food choices. For the most part, I only put healthy options in front of him. But I try to throw in junk food and candy here and there without giving it any extra attention. I never make him finish his food. I never make him try a few bites of everything. He’s a great eater, and he likes sweets but they aren’t a big deal (he can walk away from over half a slice of cake because he’s not hungry anymore, I could never do that).
I do the same sort of thing with my daughter. We don’t over or under feed her and don’t deprive her either.
Great post Israel - I know for me one of my motivations to get in shape is so that I can keep up with my 4-year-old, especially as he starts to get into sports more. Those little guys and gals are quick!
Thanks for the post!
Thanks, it’s part of the parenting process.
It’s great to hear about a dad participating in healthy activities with their child, especially when the child is 3 years old! Most parents, with children that age, live a sedentary lifestyle. Sit on the couch while the child plays with toys. I’ve got a 1 year old who just started to walk, and we walk everywhere! I’ll use your story as a reminder for the later years. Thanks for the inspiration.
Thanks. I try to make sure we all get activity in our daily lives, if not what’s the point of having legs?
I should ask my daughter to do exercise with me too, just like what you do.
It’s a lot more fun than you would expect.
That’s awesome that you are teaching your kids to love exercise so early. I’m doing the same with my 3 year old as well. Running is her thing, she loves it and is sooo fast. Her heels never touch the ground.
She actually out ran the 5-6 year olds on my other daughters soccer team this summer.
That’s impressive. I haven’t been really teaching her techniques, it’s more about enjoying the activity right now.
great story loved it!
Thanks.
Getting family involved is great! My brother transformed his kids health by starting to take them jogging in the neighborhood 3-4 times a week. At first they could hardly get around the block - now they are doing 20 minutes or more each time!
How old are his kids???
This sounds like a great idea. I am concerned about making sure that my children do not think that I am Mum who is always on a diet or anything like that. I would like them to have a healthy balanced diet and a healthy lifestyle so that they form good habits as children and never have to worry about their weight or dieting. Sounds like you are doing the same thing with your daughter.
Exactly, well said.
Even if you were outrunned by your daughter, at least you get to bond with her. That is more important than winning.
Your daughter cute ! well running together was a perfect bonding experience and not many kids can say that daddy took the time to exercise with me
congrats on the weight loss.
Thanks. I try to do fun things like that with her.
Hi
Nice inspiration you have given me
It is really important to make kids understand about fitness and health at an early stage so that they can make it a part of their life.
Yes. I think back to my childhood and how all of my friends would always encourage me to run around with them. Now I know how important that was.