10 Ways to Help Your Child Lose Weight

Children in their growing phase need to have balanced diet so that the body gets its daily dose of required nutrients. With both the spouses working, there is extra income in the house but less time to cook. The result is that children binge on junk food resulting in malnutrition and obesity. Making your child loose weight requires you to be determined, supportive and gentle with your children.  Here are a few tips to make your child loose weight the healthy way.

  1. Cut the junk– Reduce the junk diet that your child consumes and tutor him gently to avoid aerated drinks. Replace the cola with fresh juices and milk shakes. Cook up some tasty surprises at home to keep your child’s taste buds happy and body junk food free.
  2. Add some raw food– Encourage the consumption of fruits at home. Try fruit salads, custard and fresh fruit juices to add some variety. You can also dish out some tasty salads with their favorite dressings and store it in the fridge. Your children can snack on it whenever they are hungry.
  3. Exercise– Get you child to be active. Buy him/her a cycle and tell them to get outdoors and play. Sitting indoors watching TV and playing videogames lowers their BMR and weakens their bone and eyesight. Encourage them to play basketball, foot ball or rugby. Getting on the field and running around will help them shed off the puppy fat.
  4. Be a role model– Your children look up to you. Join them in their quest to loose weight and share their meals. This will ensure that they don’t feel left out and will also keep you in shape. It will also minimize their chances of cheating on their diet.
  5. Family health‘ The whole family switching to a healthy diet and exercising together can be fun and help to bond well together. Working out and eating right will benefit all your kids irrespective of them being thin or fat.
  6. Choose the right food– While dishing out recipes; choose foods that are high on nutrition but low on calories. Discourage the use of packaged food as they have preservatives that decrease the nutrient absorption in the body and lower the BMR.
  7. Encourage outdoor activities– With computer games and video games taking on the fancy of the children, they tend to get stuck indoors. Encourage them to go out, play in the garden. Take short walks with your children every day.
  8. Picnic with them– Go out on weekends instead of being stuck indoors. Play games like Frisbee and badminton while you are out. It can be a fun way to give your children a work out.
  9. Join classes– For children who are extremely obese and lethargic, make them join classes like karate, swimming, dancing or gymnastics. It’s the perfect way to make them learn something new and also loose weight.
  10. Avoid comfort food‘ Do not use junk food as treat or comfort food when they are low. It will only make them crave for them more, whenever they are low and increase their addiction to junk food.

Daily activities that can burn calories

Machines have become indispensable part of our lives, cutting down the time taken to get work done by half. But they have also helped to add a few inches to our waist and few pounds to our weight. A few changes in our daily activities can keep us in shape by increasing the amount of calories burnt. Just follow these tips and get slim.  

  • Take the stairs– Start with giving elevators or lifts a miss and climbing the stairs. Just ensure that you have comfortable footwear and safe, well lit stairs. Initial few days you may pant your way up, but later you can try increasing the speed. Since you have to fight the gravity to go up, it proves to be a vigorous and effective exercise. You can burn around 8 calories in minute and also tone your legs and butts. Besides, it’s a good exercise for your knee and hip joints. It’s also the perfect exercise to perk up muscular stamina in the legs and increase cardiovascular endurance to excess strain. In fact, fitness equipment companies have taken the inspiration of the motion of climbing of stairs to design the stepper. While climbing down, slow the pace so your knee does not feel overloaded.
  • Scrub and clean your floors and kitchen shelves– Stop hiring help to clean the floor and keeping your kitchen clean. Go down on your knees and scrub the floor clean. This gives good complete body work out. It tones the muscles in your arms and legs, burns mores than 200 calories, tucks your tummy in and above all, gives you a spotlessly clean kitchen.
  • Hide that remote – This may initially seem annoying, but helps in a big way to burn those calories. Get up and switch channels, increase or decrease the volume and if it gets too annoying, just shut the TV and go for a walk.
  • Stop taking the car for short distances– Next time if you are heading for grocery shopping, leave the car behind and walk the distance. For all you know, you may enjoy the walk, reconnect with nature and lose some calories.
  • Fire the gardener– No one can beautify your garden as well as you do. So tend to your plants, mow the lawn and water your seeds by yourself. It can keep you active and you just might get a new hobby that you can enjoy. Besides, you save on the gardener’s salary.
  • Fetch your things yourself– Stop sending your kids to fetch things. Get up and fetch them for yourself. In time it can get you more active and less bossy.
  • Cut the stops– If you take the bus to work, get off a stop earlier and walk the rest of the way. Just learn to catch the bus early, so you are not late to work.
  • Play with your kids– Stop just watching them have fun, join them. It can get the kids happy; give you some work out, not to forget be equally fun for you too.
  • Do some crunches while watching TV– Don’t be a couch potato and sit and stare at the idiot box. So some crunches or finish cooking while watching TV. It can get you a flat tummy and stop you from putting on calories due to sitting idle.
  • Take walk breaks– Take a walk for a minute or two between work at office. It can refresh your mind and get your body active again.
  • Take the dog for a walk– In reality let your dog take you for the walk and burn the excess calories.