Do it for your children

I am back and with a vengeance! My training is going well, I am happy, healthy and it is fantastic to see all the keen new mums ready to commit to an exercise program and healthy eating - well done.

But its not just about you and I. When you become a parent leading a healthy active life is not just about you and your well being. There is this little person who relies on you from day one. They rely on you for their every need, they learn to trust you and as they grow they want to do as you do. Mum (and dad) are their safety net, their anchor, their introduction to everything new in the world and so we owe it to them to give them the best possible start in life. To show them that healthy eating and exercise are a normal and very important part of their daily routine.

Reading the Daily Telegraph today I felt physically sick, my hands almost feel numb and my heart hurts for what we are doing to our children. How is it possible for children younger than four to be classed as obese? For children and young adults to be suffering from Diabetes, from joint problems due to weight strain and from sleep apnoea? Latest figures reveal one in four children are overweight or obese. What does that say about us? About how we are raising our children? The eduction we are giving them in how to look after themselves?

One pediatrician has even called for obese children to be removed from their parents. These parents need an eduction - removing children in this circumstance is treating the effect, not the problem. Surely we can improve the life of a family, of the parents also, this will then have a knock on effect to the children. If parents refuse to learn and to pass on knowledge to their children then we have a new problem.

I am guessing if you are reading this you have made a commitment or are at least looking for inspiration in regaining your Body Beyond Baby, I congratulate you for that. But as much as we want to look good and feel great it runs so much deeper than that, what you are doing for yourself today you are doing from your children tomorrow. We need to raise children who feel compelled to exercise and take care of themselves, tell them why they need to be active, tell them what happens if they don't. We need to raise children who only know a healthy diet, if they don't know any different they won't question it. If and when they get to an age where they do we treat them as intelligent human beings and tell them why they need to eat well and how good food is essential for their bodies.

If you feel now that you don't have the tools to teach these life skills to your children you need to take it upon yourself to go and get them. Search on the internet, buy yourself a good book on nutrition, go and join your local gym or outdoor fitness session. Take yourself for a walk, a swim, a bike ride and prepare healthy, nutritious foods for the whole family.

Take responsibility. What is happening in this country should not be happening and it is down to us, as adults, to guide our children and to give them the best possible beginning in life.