I read this interesting article in USA Today about a family who is working together to lose weight by eating healthy and exercising more. The family is participating the USA Today’s Family Fitness Challenge, which provides them with expert advice.
Predictably, their fitness is improving and they are losing weight (over 100 pounds total so far). One family member even quit smoking!
What may be surprising is that they are saving money following their new healthier diet. By preparing most meals at home they are saving about $300 per week on food!
Another happy consequence is that they are spending more time together as a family by eating meals and exercising together. No doubt this is good support for them as they try to improve their health.
They are doing this as part of a TV show (The Doctors) and they have an exercise physiologist and a nutritionist working with them, so it would be easy to think that a typical family without this support wouldn’t be successful. I disagree.
I think that if most families started preparing dinners at home, eating as a family, and going for a walk (or doing some other activity) together after dinner they would get in better shape, lose weight, and benefit from more time together.
Dr Parr Says... 