Back on the Wagon - A Dieter's lament

Well, I'm trying out a new diet today. Since my son is playing football, my daughters are dancing and cheering, I'm feeling a little bit tired. The few extra "vacation" pounds, and lack of exercise are to blame.... sort of. As Jimmy Buffet wrote in his song "Margaritaville", it's my own damn fault.

With full-time work, three kids, a wife, and all the fixin's such as house, lawn, cars, driving, etc... I am just about out of time for exercise. By the time I wake up to the time I return home after sports and extracurricular school activities, I'm beat. With the little energy my wife and I have at the end of the day, it's a wonder the kids are in their pajamas, teeth brushed, and prayers said before I hit the sack myself about midnight.

So, why do I want to overload myself with "30 to 60 minutes" of exercise a day? For starters, my son has an opportunity to play defensive end, center, and kicker on his team. But, only if he remains below 101 lbs (yes, he is a 3rd grader) and retains a single-striper status. Now, what does that mean to everyone reading this? It means that if he exceeds a certain weight-class, then he will NOT be able to kick or play exciting blocking positions. He will instead be a human wall that is not give the opportunity so really smash other players in various ways.

In order to keep his weight down my son has stopped snacking, and stopped eating in general. While independently cutting back on sugary snacks has been a godsend for us, his "not eating in general" is a problem. So, I am searching for resources to help my wife and I configure an eating plan that is founded on common sense and reasonable authority.

Weightwatchers is a program that has helped my wife and I lose weight, but their plan isn't applicable to 8 year olds. Sure, we can probably adjust it so he can lose some weight, but I think the program is not conducive to this situation. So, in my search I found the Federal Government "My Pyramid" website. On this site there is a tool called "My Pyramid Menu Planner".

The "My Pyramid Menu Planner" (http://www.mypyramidtracker.gov) lets you create a profile for each member of the family based on their age or age and height. The menu planner is geared for children ages 2-8 and preteens, teenagers, and adults alike. The site contains a search field in which you build a menu. The menu shows a graph of the meats, veggies, fruits, milk, and grains associated with a particular daily meal plan. It also shows the amount of "extras" such as fats and salts. I think this is a wonderful tool.

This online tool makes it easy to build a meal plan for an entire family. It presents the data in a visual format that, for a computer savvy 6 and 8 year old, is easy to digest (pun intended) and understand. But, you might be wondering where my exercise plan comes in this story. As it turns out, the number of available calories is based on the amount of exercise you get. Since my son practices football for about two hours a day, and then plays games on the weekend, he burns a lot of calories. He also gets a lot of exercise and therefore needs to eat about 2000 calories a day (and cut back on fats/salts).

I figure if he is exercising, and eating right, I should set a good example too. So, by getting exercise and using this online tool to direct some of our food choices, I can set an example for my kids to follow. This is how a leader does it, and this is what I plan to teach my children. I'll keep you all updated as I can on the progress.