Now is the time to get grounded in your fitness.  It’s time to stop procrastinating and get serious about your well-being and that of your family.  One in two men and one in three women will develop cancer in his or her lifetime.  Heart disease and cancer are still the biggest killers, claiming one life every 37 seconds.  These are preventable and even reversible diseases, but your habits NOW will either prevent or cause these problems later for you or your family members.

You can’t feel yourself getting cancer. You can’t feel your body developing hardening of the arteries, high blood pressure or developing chronic inflammation.  You can’t feel yourself losing muscle tissue either, which happens to the tune of 1-2 pounds each year if we don’t add weight-bearing exercise to our routines.

Poor nutrition, lack of physical activity and having a body mass index over 26 are the number one causes of preventable cancers.  But are you going to wait until you’re being wheeled into the emergency room before you do something about your fitness now?

Are you going to wait until the “time is right” for you to start an exercise program?  When is that time anyway?  Are your kids schedules, the housework or your job overshadowing your own wellness?

If mom or dad are unhealthy, the rest of the family suffers.  Good habits now will yield good fruit later.

Most of us spend more time focusing on the kids (yes, that’s important), saving for retirement and pinching pennies so we can retire.  But what good is all that if we become ill or are too weak or tired to enjoy our kids, grandkids or retirement?

Speaking of kids, did you know that 70% of American kids are already developing hardening of the arteries by age 12?  30% of kids have high blood pressure or high cholesterol.  Even if your child is active, the mad dash for convenience foods can still be clogging their insides, not to mention ingraining very poor habits for their future.

• Are you running on empty, eating easy-to-access white flour foods, juices, sweetened teas, power drinks, cereals, chips, bread, bakery and candy?
• Are you eating fewer than 7-13 servings of fresh, raw fruits and vegetables daily?
• Are you or your family making the majority of your meals and snacks for your family at home?
• Are you exercising 5-6 days weekly and including resistance workouts to improve your bone density and strength?
• Are you sleeping 7-9 hours a day?  How about your kids?  If they’re in high school, they might need as many as 11 hours of sleep for optimal brain health and tissue recovery, especially if they’re in sports.
• Are you putting the needs of your kids’ sports teams and practices ahead of those of your family’s and your own wellness?  I can’t tell you how many parents tell me that their kids enjoy this or that sport, which is wonderful; however, their child’s desires are ruining the family’s overall health and mom and dad are afraid to change that.

Why?  Even Olympic hopefuls have to radically alter their eating and sleeping to become high-level athletes.  Many hire tutors full time because the typical school schedule interferes with their training and sleep schedules.

If you are losing control of your own fitness, then eventually your body will control you with disease, frequent doctors visits, debilitation and death.  I know.  It’s bleak, right?  But it’s only bleak if you choose poor habits.

There’s good news: YOU have control.  YOU can put your foot down and anchor your household in a more simple, healthy life.  You’re going to have to do this so you can stop bad patterns of living that are rubbing off on your kids.

Besides, do you want your child instilling missed meals, dehydration, convenience foods and lack of plant food to your future grandchildren?

Do you like the idea of your teenager developing osteoporosis later in life because she was too busy, tired or not disciplined enough to eat all her meals and include green leafy vegetables to build bones every day?

You CAN start implementing family meal time.  You CAN plan meals in advance and purchase healthier options to bag up in advance for on-the-go moments.

YOU can choose good health and wellness now to prevent those rampant diseases that are killing our families.  YOU can choose to limit sports practices (too many can and will lead to over-training, fatigue and burn-out anyway).  A polite phone call to the coach expressing your concerns can be worth gold for family health.

It doesn’t take radical measures all at once.  Take the most important element, let’s say your family’s diet, and start making changes there.  One good habit every two weeks can lead to 26 good habits each year.

Put your foot down and require breakfast eating and longer sleep periods.  If something is getting in the way, guess what, it’s time to reduce or eliminate that.

If you need help with those 7-13 fruits and vegetables, then click on this link to learn more about Juice Plus for your family’s health.

Are there any bad habits are you willing to change?

Let’s take our power back as families.