by Lora Hassani

Created on: December 16, 2006   Last Updated: April 30, 2007

In a world of super-thin people, fat is easy to see. Post WW II American lifestyle changed. There was now surplus and excess.

There was a boom in electrical devices designed to make life easier, specifically for the housewife. Electric mixers, refrigerators and vacuum cleaners minimized work. There were other gadgets too, lawn mowers, sprinkler systems, chain saws and other power tools. All designed to save the homeowner from the back breaking labor of home maintenance.

While saving ourselves of this work we also eliminated indirect exercise. Now we have even more gagets that do even more for us. We don't have to vacuum at all now. We just have the little robot do it.

Meanwhile, we sit at our computers all day, using our cell phones to talk to family and friends that live a mile away. We drive for hours to our jobs where we sit at a desk most of the day. Then drive home again. We sit in front of our 52" flat screen televisions with 600 channels and watch the programs we TiVo'd last week. The kids are in their bedrooms with their television going into the forth hour of video game play. After the child spent recess at school sitting on a bench playing with their Nintendo DS.

We are concerned about our children becoming too fat so we sign them up for sports. Little league and soccer, dance class and swimming are specifically designed so kids can get exercise. We sit and watch their hour long practice from the sidelines or drop our child off and run to get dinner at McDonald's, back to pick up the child. Dinner is eaten in the car on the way home.

Once in a while we feel guilty about letting ourselves go. We'll sign up for a stint at the local gym. We'll go for about a week or so and then it slowly tapers off as we realize we don't have the time to dedicate to working out.

It is about balance. You don't have to join a gym or sign the kids up for sports to get fit. Include physical activities in your daily life. Daily chores for the kids such as taking out the trash, raking leaves, doing dishes are all forms of exercise that we have forgotten. Clean the garage, paint the house or mow the lawn to get physical.

Have a family physical day. Go for a hike in a local park or forest. This gives you exercise and time to interact with your children. Take a family walk each night after dinner. Plan active vacations with your family going to the beach, horseback riding, camping or a ski resort. Toss a ball in the yard with your child. Take the family dog for a walk or to the dog park. Take a walk to visit friends and family that are nearby.

It is a matter of balancing what you do everyday to what you eat everyday. Make fast food an occasional thing. Family dinners are not hard to do. Spend one weekend day cooking meals for the week together. Plan out several 20 minute meals that everyone would enjoy. Something as simple as chicken and rice or chef salads make quick and easy dinners.

Being healthy takes effort which is another form of physical activity. Effort is not a bad word. We all know that anything worthwhile takes effort. Make an effort to be healthy and teach your children to be healthy too.

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