My children are already overweight and I think I am to blame. I am giving them all the bad habits that they have. We eat out all the time, I never get out and play sports or anything and of course now they do not like to play sports. We play games on the computer as our fun and though entertaining, it is not active for them. I do not know how I will get them out and active, I have tried some of the games you mentioned on the site but I am so out of shape, I can barely do them and my kids don't seem like they are having fun. I am frustrated and don't know where to go from here.

Hi Junior, I'm Angee. I used to be a school teacher and when I worked with kids I saw that many of them are overweight and unhealthy. It's a huge tragedy! I'm glad you are aware of the problem and want to fix it in your family. I've read a few of your posts on here and it looks like you're starting from square one--you want to change your entire lifestyle. This is exciting! And probably a little scary. As you make the many changes you need to make to be healthier, be patient with yourself and your children. Try to set short and long-term goals for yourself and your family. Monitor your weight, but don't let it be the only scale you use to measure your success. Part of getting fit and healthy is finding ways to have fun.

Here are some ideas:
1) Try urban hiking. Use public transit and walking to visit several sites in a city. This isn't super active, but it gets you out of the house and seeing new things.

2) This sounds terrible, but . . . make your kids play a sport for a full season. Once they get to know some other kids, they might enjoy it. It may be a challenge for awhile, but playing a sport can be a really great way for younger kids to learn LOTS of skills--like how to use their bodies, how to be a team player, how to push themselves.

3) I don't know where you live, but if you're in the Tacoma area, check out what MetroParks has to offer. Canoe and kayak trips, dance classes, recreational sports. I also recommend the YMCA because there are classes for different age groups.

4) Find a group of people who are striving to live the way you want to. Reach out to other people who you think might want to change and support each other. Do you have family or friends who feel like you do? If you plan activities together, you might have more fun. If you cook together it might not feel like such a chore.

5) Go roller skating or swimming once a week. Both of these are relatively inexpensive activities that are open to the public that you can do with your children.

Again, be patient. Change the easiest things first. Set small goals and big goals and remember that the biggest goal of all is for all of you to be strong and healthy. Any steps you make in that direction will make a difference. Good luck! Keep coming back here for encouragement. Tell us what you're going to make and how it's going.

Hi Junior,

How old are you children? It's never too late to change your lifestyle and get your children on the right track!

Angee has some good suggestions, try one of those and let us know how it goes!

Thank you Angee for the response. I am really thinking about it. I am looking for places I can take the kids maybe to the waterwall or something like that. My boy is 9 and my girl is 3 years old. I have thought about putting Mark in sports, I just don't know which one. Most of the other kids have been doing the sports for so long, I don't want to embarrass him by making him play something he's not good at, you know?

Do you have kids, you have such good ideas. Well all of them except the roller skates, these legs haven't seen roller saktes in 20 years and I don't know that they make wheel big enough for me

I appreciate your encouragement and I will definitely let you know what we are doing and how things are going!

Sorry I didn't get back to you earlier on this topic... I think it's very brave to admit this to everyone and yourself! I was always the athletic one in my family, but my little brother never really got into sports. As Angee suggested, my dad did make him play though. Even though Korey was not the best on the floor, out in the field or even on the bench, what it did do is give him confidence to try new things... He wasn't good at Baseball, Basketball, Football, Soccer, let see what else did he try... Karate, Swimming... you get the point... but his freshman year in highschool he tried wrestling... and by gosh, let's just say I don't pick on my little brother anymore... eventually you do find something active that you will excel in... by making them play for a season, you might be giving them the courage to try something new later down the road of life that they might not have even thought about doing because they were intimidated to even step out of their comfort zone and try. I love my little brother but for a while there I thought he and I were polar opposites when it came to competition and athletics... If Korey can find something athletic to enjoy and excel in... anyone can find something they enjoy and excel in!

Update on Mark and Jasmine:

I have been walking with the kids now for the past few weeks, It has been a great time to really listen to them. I am usually out of breath but they can just talk and talk and talk. Over Christmas We all went to the Galleria mall; in the mall they have a skating rink. Mark asked if he could go ice-skating. The boy has never been on ice before, but by the time he was done, he was going really fast. That gave me an idea! There is an indoor hockey rink about 20 minutes away from where we live. I went with Mark last Saturday to it to watch a kids hockey game, he liked it. We signed him up forthe spring league, we bought him his stick and pads. He has been eating dinner in his pads. Hopefully the excitement will last until March!

We enrolled Jasmine in tiny tots gymnastics. She loves it! It is kind of scary though. She is trying to roll all of the time now. I am having to "roll proof" the entire house.

Thank you guys for the support. I kind of knew what I needed to do, but hearing it from others helped solidify my decision.

I bought a little outdoor hockey goal online, because they do not have them in the Houston Wal Mart, go figure! Anyways Mark and I have been hitting the puck/ball thing around to each other and he is really getting into it! I am even thinking about going to get him some inline roller blades but the wife thinks they are too dangerous.

Meanwhile, Jazzy is still learning how to roll, that girl has no fear; and that scares me to death!

I can see such a difference in there activity levels, before Mark would just watch Tv and now he is outside even when it is 50 degrees out there! Brrrr!

I'm glad you have found activities for your children that they enjoy! That's great! I know when I was growing up, that's what kept me active... having a sport or two that I enjoyed to play!

What I really like is that you found a way to be active with you kids. Great job on finding the activities they like to do... but even better job on supporting them and showing interest in their activities!!! I think kids feed off of the interest that their parents show in the activities they do... that could make the difference in them liking it and making it a life long habit or just something they did for a season.

Great job Junior... keep it up!

Thanks guys. It was with your help that I started!

You're the man!

No you're the man!