The kids will be out of school as well, so why not have healthy snacks around the house for them. Keep them moving with a new video game. Go ahead and let them open one game early so they can have some fun. I have been seeing so many cute Elf ideas on Pinterest and Facebook. One mom let the Elf bring the kids a gift and it was a video game. I thought it was perfect. All four of her kids could play it together. It gave them something to do and kept them off of the couch.

You can have that cheat day, but please don’t have two weeks of cheat days. Plan, plan, plan. I know you all get tired of hearing me talk about planning, but it really works. Saves money, saves time, and can save some of those Holiday pounds from adding to your waistline. Here in the South, we have been having a lot of warm days. So, we are still enjoying the parks and playing outside. Make the most of the weather, and have a wonderful Holiday season.

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With Thanksgiving break approaching, and kids home for the week, its time to have a little,  no a lot of, fun. With a little bit of planning, and searching for things around the house, you can set your kids up for one of the BEST Thanksgiving break ever.

I learned of this idea from a mother who has five children. She didn’t want her kids to sit at home and watch TV during their whole break. She set up games, task, and treasure hunts around the house. I loved her minute to win it night. After she got home and they ate dinner, she made a home version of minute to win it. Simple task like the pulling all the tissues out of the box in a minute, and picking up pasta with a piece of spaghetti pasta. She even took it a tad bit further, since she worked during the day, the kids had assignments to do. Points were giving for winning games, doing task, and completing assignments. I don’t remember what her prize was, but I know I wish my mother would have done this when I was a kids. Although it might not have been as fun since I am an only child.

It takes time to plan, but why not keep your kids thinking and moving on this school break. While keeping them moving, remember to teach them about portion control since Thanksgiving is one holiday where Americans consume the most food. It can be very hard with all of the thanksgiving trimmings, cakes and pies, turkeys and hams, sitting on the dinner table.

Have fun with them this Thanksgiving break and have a wonderful weekend gamers!

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Does your child aspire to look like the girls and guys in magazines and on TV? After hearing a disturbing statistic on eating disorders, I had to read into it a little bit more. Eating disorders affect up to 24 million Americans. This is a topic I didn’t know much about so that number along shocked me.

About 11% of high school students have been diagnosed with an eating disorder. While 51% of 9 and 10 year old girls would feel better about themselves if they were on a diet. Nine and ten year olds? This was a pretty high number in my book. Time magazine reports that 8-% of all children have been on a diet by the time they have reached the 4^th grade.

Those statistics shocked and scared me. Kids see the girls and guys on TV and want to be just like them. The fact of the matter is that most fashion models are thinner than 98% of American woman. After talking to a few girls during homecoming, last week, those stats became real to me. They thought there were fat and would skip meals just to lose weight. There are freshman in high school. One young lady was on a diet so that she could fit into her, size 4, homecoming dress.

As parents, it is important to teach your child about proper eating, and to also build them up and encourage them. This is something that is important to start doing at a very young age. The younger we start, the quicker we can help prevent anorexia and bulimia in teens and young adults. One stat says that 81% of 10 year old are afraid of being fat. That is a high number. So let’s start this at home, and eat right and encourage positive self-esteem.

Have a wonderful weekend gamers!

Source: http://www.ndsu.edu/

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Domestic Violence is another big issue. One out of every three women will be a victim of domestic violence. The age range for injuries from domestic violence hurts my heart. Most injuries between the age of 15 and 44 are from domestic violence. One in five teenage girls, who are in a relationship, has been threatened with violence if they breakup with the boyfriend. Those numbers killed me on the inside. I was very sheltered growing up, and didn’t know about this until I was older. Parents, we have to teach our children how to treat each other and respect each other.

Inform your children this October about breast cancer and domestic violence. Have a wonderful weekend gamers.

Source: http://domesticviolencestatistics.org/domestic-violence-statistics/

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There are so many benefits of having family around, you get to enjoy them. You get support from them, they help you out when nothing is going right. Beyond that, our family can be a very important part if you or your children get sick.

Knowing your family health history can and sometimes will help doctors to determine what is wrong with you or your family quicker. It’s important for me to know that my family has a history of breast cancer. Knowing this, I have to get checked for breast cancer before the age of 40. Sometimes we don’t like to face the facts of going to the doctor. I know I hate it, but it’s important.

Your children, when of age, should know about their family. A friend of mine has Crohn’s disease, and she is very young. Because of the disease, she knows about her family health history. It only helped the doctors figure out what was wrong with her as she was sick.  A history of diabetes or high blood pressure is important for them to know. We are family, and we should know all about them.

Have a wonderful weekend!

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Teaching our children about MyPlate is very important. The purpose of this is to get the right portions of food. This also includes have all of the food groups in your diet.

I was grocery shopping a couple of days ago, and a little boy was trying to find his mom. He was calling out “MOM!” until he found her. Once he found her, he threw something in the buggy. She said, “Get that out of my cart, it has carbs.” I died laughing, but she was so serious.

MyPlate allows us to see that we need every food group. It is all about portion control. So instead of cutting out all carbs, find the perfect balance for your family. Make food fun again, and have a wonderful week!

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Growing up, I remember learning about the food pyramid, and once I got older they revised the food pyramid. Now, the food pyramid is obsolete and there is MyPlate. It is a four-colored sectioned plate that represents fruits, grains, vegetables, and proteins with a small circle of dairy on the side.

I love the plate because it shows you what your plate should like. Whereas the food pyramid told you how much you should have. One important thing that I read as I was researching MyPlate was that it is important to be aware of the side of your plate. Recently, I went and bought a whole new set of plates for my family. People tend to think that they have to fill their plate up when they have a bigger plate. For some people that just means a second trip back to the kitchen for seconds, but it could also allow you to make your portions smaller.

If you would like to more about MyPlate go to http://www.choosemyplate.gov/ for everything from recipes and daily food plans to a how to eat healthy on a budget.

Leave your comments below and add to this discussion. Like what you saw, follow us on Twitter @GamerFitNation, like us on Facebook and follow us on Google+ GamerFitNation!

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Taking the dog for a walk as a family will allow everyone to get some exercise in while enjoying each other.  My neighbors enjoy night walks as a family. It’s much cooler at night, and they get to hear about everyone days. It’s the small things that keep everyone connected and moving. Be creative when thinking about things to keep your family moving.

• Just Dance Game Night
• DDR Game Night
• Bike Ride
• Swimming
• Skating
• Skateboarding
• Family fitness challenge
• Obstacle course
• Tennis
• Basketball
• Batmintion

Try new things, find new games, and have fun with your family. Life is too short, so enjoy them while you can! Have a wonderful weekend!

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One thing I hated as a child was when the end of summer came; I had to start getting back in the routine of school. My parents made me go to sleep at a certain time. I hated when it was still light outside, and I had to be in bed. The proper amount of sleep is vital for your children.  They may have gotten too use to summer, and we wouldn’t want them dozing off in class.

Vision and hearing test are also important. I remember going back to school and having these test done. My mother always made sure I had an eye test before school. So when I went back to school and they had me do it again, I would tell them my eyes were just checked. I still had to do it though. Not being able to see in class is very frustrating. Either because of your eyes or being too far from the blackboard. Headaches are a sign that your child may have vision problems. Also if they hold things closer or farther away. So make sure you get them checked out. I didn’t want to take a hearing test, because I didn’t want to hear my teacher talk all the time. Now I’m glad that they made me take them. I love, as children, we don’t see the purpose of things, but as adult, we appreciate our parents making us do them.

Keep your kids moving. This is very important, because once school starts they will be sitting at their desk for the majority of the day. You can’t always depend on recess giving them time to run around. I remember weather affected our recess a lot of times here in Louisiana. It was either too hot, too cold, or raining. As a kids, we hated any weather other than playing outside weather.  Get moving and get involved.

Last, but certainly not least, plan for healthy meals. Breakfast is important for everyone. So start your child’s day with a good, healthy breakfast. Starting the morning out right,  preps for the rest of the day.  I enjoyed my mom making me lunch as a child. Her little notes written on my napkins, and knowing that she knew what I liked was even better. Even though she didn’t let me have lunchables unless we were going on field trip. It’s just one of those things, you don’t understand until you’re an adult.

So get this school year started off right, and plan for a wonderful school year for you and your kids!

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July 2012, Benton, LA – This week wraps up my summer with the neighborhood kids. I have enjoyed their enthusiasm and their teamwork. Over this past summer, they have learned how to encourage each other and not break them down. This is was an issue at the begnning of the summer, but I have seen a tremendous change in them. Last week we played tennis. This is one of my favorite sports from middle school and high school, but apparently they had never seen tennis before.

My girls had no clue what they were doing. That made the tennis experience even better. Whatever team served, won! EVERY TIME! Finally, the boys show them how to swing at the right time, and it still didnt help much. I had those girls thinking they were pros! The next Serena Williams in their mind. We wrapped up our last week together getting them ready to get involved and get moving this past school year.

I can’t wait to attend sporting events to support the kids that I had this summer!

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