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Ways to Encourage Teens to Lead a More Balanced Lifestyle

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Ways to Encourage a More Balanced Lifestyle for Teens

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Be sure to read through to the bottom of the post to see the $100 Visa card sweepstakes.

When children are younger, it’s easier to make decisions for them to help them have a healthier lifestyle.  You can decide how many vegetables they need to eat, well, in theory.  You can tell them to go play with friends outside.  You make sure they get extra sleep with bedtimes and naps.  As children get into their teen years, however, they start having more chances for independence, and they can lose that sense of healthy balance.

It can be easy to just chalk that up to some independence and let them do what they want.  However, the teen years are a vital time for learning how to live as an adult later.  This is the perfect time to teach them about living a balanced, healthy lifestyle in regards to their food, beverage, and physical activity options.  With having teenage boys in my house, caloric intake and balancing that with physical activity just isn’t something they think about much.  Thanks to the American Beverage Associations and its Mixify™ effort, I’m looking at some things you can do to help encourage those habits.

Ways to Encourage Teens to Lead a More Balanced Lifestyle

Encourage active time outdoors.

I don’t know about your teens, but mine would often opt to hang out inside and play video games or on their iPhones.  It’s okay to do that sometimes, but not really all the time.  Teens need to learn how to balance those sedentary activities with some active ones.

We try to encourage outdoor activity in little ways, since our teens aren’t very athletically inclined.  If they’re hanging out, I’ll sometimes say something as simple as, “Hey – you guys should go take a walk while you’re talking.”  Often, they think it’s a pretty good idea.  It gives them more privacy as well as some activity, sunshine, and fresh air.

We’re also lucky enough to live in a neighborhood and some of the preteens and teens living near us will sometimes organize kickball games or go out and shoot hoops.  In addition to that, we live near bicycle trails, which encourages the whole family to go biking.

Of course, active time indoors is great too!  It’s just that it’s a fabulous idea to get that fresh air and sunshine that the outdoors has to offer, and teens may be less likely to want to do that on their own.

Encouraging Outdoor Activity for Teens

Work on a Balance Between Sodas and Water

We have always been a soda household.  That’s just the way we roll.  In an effort to help our kids find a good balance with soda drinking, however, we have always had limits on how much soda they can drink each day.

It’s actually such a habit for them that on a special occasion when we tell them they can have more than usual, most of our kids will decline, even though they enjoy it.  To find that good balance, we encourage them to drink water at other times, as well as either water or milk with meals.  I think that they’ve come to realize that they feel better when they balance sodas with plenty of water consumption.

A great site to have your kids check out is the Mixify site made just especially for teens.

Talk about and Model a Balanced Diet

It can be easy for teens to go to extremes when it comes to their diet.  They might take the chance to binge on unhealthy foods once they get a chance to make some of their own food choices.  Or, they might go the other way and try to completely cut out certain types of food because of fears for their appearance.  This is a great time in their lives to try to teach them that neither of those options is a great idea.  The best diet is a balanced one.

We have tried to encourage our teens (well, and the other kiddo too) that it’s okay to enjoy some not as healthy food choices in moderation, but that it’s also important to have meals that feature healthier food options.  We’ve been especially working on that in the last several months.  It’s my hope that by modeling what a good meal should look like, then when they are on their own, they’ll want to recreate those kinds of meals.

A Message about the Mixify Effort

Coke, Dr Pepper and Pepsi understand that getting a balanced mix of foods, drinks and physical activities for your family isn’t always easy. That’s why they’re coming together for the first time ever to talk to teens about balancing what they eat and drink with what they do. With tools to help teens get active and information to help them think about when they’ve had too much, or maybe when it’s time for a treat—America’s beverage companies are supporting our efforts to find a balanced mix that works for our families.

Your Chance to Win a $100 Visa Card Sweepstakes

To enter for a chance to win a $100 Visa gift card, just answer the following question:

When it comes to achieving a balanced lifestyle for your family, what do you struggle with most?

You can share not only what you struggle with, but maybe some things that you’re doing to help that struggle or just some things that you feel that you’re doing right to help your family have that balanced lifestyle.

To find out more about the Mixify campaign click here: Delivering Choices.

Have a teenager? Send them to the Mixify website just for teens by clicking here: My Mixify and have them check-out MyMixify on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

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This giveaway is open to US Residents age 18 or older. Winners will be selected via random draw, and will be notified by e-mail. The notification email will come directly from BlogHer via the [email protected] email address. You will have 72 hours to respond; otherwise a new winner will be selected.

The Official Rules are available here.

This sweepstakes runs from 11/12/14 – 12/24/14.

Be sure to visit the American Beverage Association brand page on BlogHer.com where you can read other bloggers’ posts!

Angie Angie, a domestically challenged nerd and mom of three very fun kids, is the founder of Real Life at Home.  Angie also listens to music every chance she gets, writes eBooks, podcasts, loves Pinterest, documents the little moments in life on Instagram, and occasionally sleeps.

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About Angie Kauffman

Angie, mom to three very fun kids, is the founder of Real Life at Home.  With degrees in elementary education (B.A.) and special education (M.S.Ed.), as well as being a former homeschooler, she is passionate about supporting both parents and teachers by providing printables, crafts, and activities to help children learn and grow.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. laurie says

    When my girls (now adults) were teens, I feel like life was a bit easier- less outside demands and not as much competition from social media and video games. With my boys (our three children still at home), it seems like a constant battle. We occasionally take a detox week (or longer) to refocus on just being together and finding other outlets.

    Reply

  2. heather says

    When it comes to achieving a balanced lifestyle for my family, I struggle with finding time in the day to do everything the most.

    Reply

  10. Nicole Dz says

    When it comes to achieving a balanced lifestyle for my family, we struggle with maintaining healthy meals through out the week. We order out more then we should since we are so busy.

    Reply

  14. Kelly D says

    I struggle finding ways to give my kids enough fruits and vegetables most days, especially because they have different tastes. I always make sure they get a fruit or veggie with every meal.

    Reply

  19. Elle says

    We sometimes struggle with having the time to properly prepare healthier meals and end up going for a less healthy, easier option. I try to prepare fresh cut veggies/fruits ahead of time for snacks but when it comes to the bigger meals, sometimes I just don’t have the time.

    Reply

  23. Julie Wood says

    We are so busy that we struggle the most with getting enough exercise as a family. Also we struggle with not eating a more healthy diet. These are two ways that I want to change to become more healthy.

    Reply

  28. Heather Hollands says

    My girls like pasta, so I include lots of veggies mixed in. For example, I make chicken pesto pasta with broccoli, carrots, and cauliflower. They also like stir fry with lots of veggies. They still enjoy the occasional pop, chips, etc.

    Reply

  29. D Schmidt says

    I think by making time daily to discuss everything and stay involved we are doing something right with our children.

    Reply

  37. Jessie C. says

    Not enough time which makes it difficult to coordinate with everyone’s schedule is the biggest issue when it comes to achieving a balanced lifestyle for my family,
    tcarolinep at gmail dot com

    Reply

  41. Anne says

    Finding balance is a struggle in many ways: The need to work many hours vs. family time; healthful foods vs. snacks; a good night’s sleep vs. The Tonight Show; and the hardest of all, computer time vs. real human interactions. It ain’t easy these days!

    Reply

  43. Madeline says

    We struggle with balancing how much time we spend online or watching TV. We try to limit this time, and we’ve gone without both for extended periods, but some weeks are better than others.

    Reply

  49. Tonya Elekes says

    You’ve got some really good info here. What we struggle with is him spending time outdoors with friends playing actively. Most all his friends are inside playing games and it makes it hard to motivate him to go out and play because of that. Usually I’ll just “make him” out out on a walk with me. He’s not too happy about it originally, but quickly warms up to the idea when we are out and about exploring the neighborhood. We’ve gotten him to enjoy drinking more water and iced tea. No sugar added. 🙂 thank you so much for posting these kind of issues. It’s nice to know we are not the only family who struggles. Thank you!
    http://Twitter.com/Tonnipooh https://twitter.com/tonnipooh/status/536760052531478528

    Reply

  50. Kristin Welch says

    The hardest balance I find with my girls is balancing screen time of any kind with more hands on activities. Some days are better than others but some days, they spend more time than I would like either watching TV or playing on the Ipad.

    Reply

  52. Gina M says

    We struggle with getting plenty of time outside, so we have made a point to take evening walks as a family for fresh air and exercise.

    Thanks for the chance to win!
    wildorchid985 AT gmail DOT com

    Reply

  55. Susan Smith says

    Our family eats dinner together every night. I try to keep healthy foods in the house. We also play games on go on walks to the park.

    Reply

  57. Margot C says

    Oh gosh, it’s hard. Bikes are a great addition to any lifestyle though. We have bikes for everyone and we use them too.

    Reply

  63. Rebecca says

    We try to make sure our kids get exercise when possible and eat healthy meals together as a family. It can be hard to find the time though.

    Reply

  68. Jill says

    I struggle with remembering my kids are just kids and not getting frustrated in the process of teaching them when they don’t respond to me the way I think they should.

    Reply

  74. Denise L says

    We always have healthy food on hand and usually eat healthy meals. We do like sweet and salty snacks. I find it hard to stop buying those things!

    Reply

  75. Kerry says

    Every where we go treats and terrible food are offered! I have always made sure my kids know that staying healthy means eating a balanced diet.

    Reply

  77. Georgia says

    I wish we could have dinner together every night but everyone comes home on Sunday with their family for dinner.

    gmissycat at yahoo dot com

    Reply

  79. Carmen N says

    Right now I’m struggling with finding the balance between family time and getting household chores done after working a full day.

    Reply

  80. angie says

    We struggle with many things, but one of the most difficult struggles is with our diet. Even though we are vegetarian and try to eat mostly organic/natural, we are both food addicts and extremely overweight. We just eat too much of the good stuff. It is a constant struggle not to do this.

    Reply

  87. Aurelie Red says

    We struggle with eating healthy meals ; we love chocolate.
    So we make homemade meals, try to stay active, and eat all our meals together !

    Reply

  91. Tabathia B says

    I struggle with making sure I can make a complete healthy dinner for my family and with enough time to make it

    tbarrettno1 at gmail dot com

    Reply

  93. Ellie Wright says

    My biggest struggle is finding the time for all of our family activities. So I do my best to manage our schedules so that the kids have enough down time and get enough rest.

    eswright18 at gmail dot com

    Reply

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