My kids are 9 1/2 and 7 1/2. They're at that age where I'm trying to teach them how to take care of themselves. Especially when it comes to food. They are very active kids. My daughter, who is going into 5th grade, is on a competitive dance team and has 4 hours of dance class a week. My son, going into 2nd grade, plays every seasonal sport, flag football, basketball, baseball. Both kids do Taekwondo and earned their black belts this past May.
As I'm constantly talking about healthy habits with my kids and helping them understand the 'everything in moderation' philosophy, I find that I'm motivating myself at the same time. How can I stress these lessons to my kids without following them myself? When we talk about healthy snacks with them and portion sizes - shouldn't I practice what I preach?
My kids go to their extra curricular activities almost every day. When I go to the gym, or take the dogs for a walk or do something else active, I make sure to tell them. They know that I try to fit something active into the day, they're learning how important that is.
About a year ago, my DH joined the healthy train. Yay! It was a combination of factors that led him to get motivated. One was seeing me get healthier, another was a lightbulb moment kind of like mine where his weight started creeping up, another was seeing the health decline in our parents' generation and wanting to avoid that. He started to plan his meals better and avoid the temptations at his work. This topic is worthy of it's own post, but it also goes to show how many different things can motivate us to be healthy.
My motivation is my kids. I want to feel good to be active with them and I want them to have healthy attitudes about themselves. I want them to enjoy life, be active and healthy. Everything in moderation.