Helping Your Family Find Balance (and a $100 Visa Gift Card Giveaway!)

The health and well-being of a family is all about balance. I’m sharing some of the tactics I’ve used to help our entire family find balance, and stay focused and on track over the years.

FITNESS

I’ve been involved in some sort of physical activity my entire adult life. Today, I run as often as possible but it doesn’t matter what you do. Just get moving. You can make this time social, or a time to be all by yourself. Because of the demands of motherhood, I’ve always considered working out to be my luxury time. It is a time to put my ear buds in, break a sweat, and let my mind wander and it is something I’ve always looked forward to. It’s not a drag, a chore, or a burden. It’s indulgent; a time to take care of myself. This perspective has helped me immensely with motivation and staying with it over time. Staying fit allows me to enjoy physical activities with my very athletic, strong kids that I might otherwise miss out on. When we go on a hike, I might get up the mountain a little slower then they do, but I’m not staying home!

My boys played a variety of sports while they were young, but settled into water polo and swimming in high school. If your kids learn fitness for themselves at a young age, they will return to it throughout life, even if they take a break from their activities now and then. My boys were incredibly fit through high school and then the demands of adult life hit. But, fitness has a memory and the way we feel when we are fit wins out over the alternative, any day. As a result, they continue to go to the gym and be involved in sports on their own. So, get them involved in something they enjoy while they are young so they will have a memory of fitness that will carry with them through their lives. Being a fitness role model for your children is vital. My husband was so impressed with the sport of water polo that he started playing at the masters level even though he had no prior experience other than watching his boys play. He’s been playing now for close to 10 years and absolutely loves it.

The balance challenge became even greater as the boys and their calorie requirements grew. Ask any mother of a water polo player – the food requirement of these boys is almost outrageous. I embraced the challenge of finding recipes that satisfied my athletes and that my husband and I could also feel good about. Which leads us to the next topic – food.

NUTRITION

Even before I became a food blogger, I spent a large percentage of my time dealing with food. Menu planning, grocery shopping, cooking, and serving meals to a family of six is a time consuming, demanding job. As much as I love the whole process, especially the part where we eat, I’ve always made a conscious effort to create balance in our diet. I was able to meet the challenge of returning to my pre-pregnancy weight after the birth of each of my four boys through a careful, balanced diet, portion control, and a fitness routine. As the boys grew, my focus shifted to helping them learn healthy eating habits. I accomplished this task by  putting a lot of variety on the dinner table over the years so they would learn to be open to trying new things. I found kid-friendly methods for cooking vegetables, like grillling, roasting, and “oven-frying,” that made these four little humans realize they liked veggies without ever having anything forced on them. Try blending fruit and dark, leafy greens into creamy, delicious smoothies. Educate your kids about food in fun ways, by trying new cuisines, pushing your boundaries, and letting them make their own choices.

And, from time to time, splurge! Remember, it’s all about balance.

Regardless of how vigilant we are about trying to eat a healthy, balanced diet, it’s nearly impossible to ensure the nominal intake of vitamins and minerals solely from food. That coupled with the fact that I am constantly harassed by both my doctor and my dentist to take my calcium means that I’ve come to depend on vitamins. There is just one problem. I cannot, for the life of me, choke down those white, chalky calcium pills and humongous multi-vitamins.

Quite some time ago, a friend recommended vitafusion™ Calcium Gummies and I’ve been using them ever since. My days of dealing with those obnoxious, giant pills is over! Their delicious, fruity, natural flavor and gummy texture makes taking my vitamins a pleasure. I get them at Target but they are also available at club stores, mass merchandisers, drug and grocery stores nationwide including: Costco, Walmart, and Walgreens. More information can be found at www.gummyvites.com. In addition, I recently started taking MultiVites Plus Hair, Skin, and Nails from their their brand new PLUS line of vitamins that support overall well-being while focusing on specific health areas*. This new line includes:

· Multivites Plus Fiber Support*

· Multivites Plus Hair, Skin, and Nails*

· Multivites Plus Heart Support*

· Multivites Plus Immune Support*

The vitafusion™ line offers a great selection of vitamins, minerals and other dietary supplements to meet your health needs through every stage of life – for men, women, pregnant women and those 50+ while L’il Critters™ vitamins are designed for the specific health needs of children.

GIVEAWAY CLOSED

*These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

I received free product and payment for this sponsored post. All opinions are 100% mine.