We’ve made changes like getting more exercise as a family and getting a pool membership. And we provide more activities for her after school to keep her busy so she doesn’t just watch TV. There are at least two sports she does, but we also chose one musical activity so she wouldn’t feel overwhelmed by all the sports that she had to do. We want to make sure she knows that she still has to live a balanced life. Helping her to be successful in other ways has been helpful, like with her voice and her musical ability.

 

Smaller meals and physical activity
Learning what makes you feel full was a really important concept for us to grasp. They also told us to eat frequent meals– about six small meals a day. We used to do three meals a day and really discourage snacking; we used to think snacking was bad because we would know that he had eaten a lot for lunch so we would not want him to snack. But now we encourage eating less at meals and snacking more. Now everywhere we go we bring snacks with us– even in the car. That way when he asks for something and he can’t have what he wants to have, we have an alternative. Also, they recommended that we get more physically active, so we got a family membership at the YMCA. He now goes to swimming lessons and karate lessons once a week, and we also try to get him in during the weekends.

 

Calendar
The clinic has helped us to set goals, primarily by giving us a calendar. She fills her calendar with the activities that she’s done, and if she did a good job between visits, her nurse practitioner gives her something from a goody bag. Also, occasionally I’ll notice how well she’s done making healthy choices during a dinner, and I’ll say, “Here’s a cereal you haven’t had in a month or two; you can go ahead and get that.” It’s only going to be for a few mornings, but if she misses a food, I’ll add it back in for a limited time period.

 

Food and exercise
The nice thing is that my son’s dietary needs and my dietary needs are largely similar. We got foods that were generally lower in carbs and we arranged meals that were lower in carbs, so instead of doing a meal with three carb dishes we arranged meals that only had one. For example, tonight for dinner we had macaroni and cheese, but we also had hot dogs. In the past we always used hot dog buns, but we don’t do that anymore– we just have the hot dogs. Greg is also involved in swimming and karate at the YMCA. My wife and I have a gotten a family membership at the YMCA and we try to work out on a regular basis, between two and three times a week.

 

More exercise
One of the changes my family and I have made is trying to buy the right foods. We all do it; I have two other children, and we’re all trying to eat healthily. I also try to motivate the kids to use the community center near our house as a place to exercise, but they don’t really use it as much as they should. I’m constantly reminding them after school, “Go to the community center!” They have all types of activities there to keep them busy, and exercise is the thing that I’m working on with the children. If I could motivate them to get more exercise, that would help out a lot.