Our busy lifestyles and long work hours don’t naturally lend to our keeping physically active, forcing many of us to allot a specific time for exercise or “working out”, or else it doesn’t happen at all.

As adults, we can set a great example to our children of how to take care of our physical health. Engaging in exercise is important for you personally but it can also serve as a positive model of self-care for your children to learn from. It will also be important for the messages about why you exercise to be healthy as well.

Why Exercise?
Some people exercise due to the intense social pressure to “look good” and to have a “perfect body” by today’s standards. Exercise should be first and foremost about caring for one’s health and body, and this is the message that kids need to hear. Of course, exercise can be about losing weight as part of increasing one’s overall health. But if we obsess over exercise in a quest to achieve and maintain physical “perfection”, we are doomed for disappointment and we’ll set up our children for the same. Young girls can feel so much pressure to look like young celebrities whose full-time jobs are to maintain the illusion of physical perfection. It’s important that girls recognize the individual strength and beauty of their own bodies.

Keeping A Positive Attitude
Whatever your level of excitement for exercise, try to keep a positive attitude towards it and try to make only statements that reflect this attitude. Instead of saying, “Ugggh… I have to work out now…!”, try, “I’m really glad when I make time to take of myself – I always feel good after I’ve gone for a run!” If you focus on what you give up or the struggles, you will have a hard time leaving negativity behind and your children will come to understand that exercise is a burden and a chore; if your comments focus on how strong your body will feel and how you are making a healthy choice for yourself, your children will come to understand exercise as a means to feeling healthy and empowered, and you’re likely to be more motivated, too!