Are you making your kids fat?

The 5 people who you spend most of your time with are commonly referred to as your “Circle of Influence”. It is often said that our beliefs, actions and results are greatly influenced by these people. As previously outlined, clients only spend approximately 1-2% of their week with a trainer; hence the people who spend more time with them are going to have an influence on their habits. We find that those clients, who have the support of their “circle”, have a much better chance of leading long-term healthy lifestyles. Put simply, if you hang around great people with high standards, you too will develop high standards.

Included in many people’s “Circle of Influence” is their children. In fact, a child’s greatest influence generally is their parents. Over the years, many people have asked me whether or not we would consider helping children. As I am sure you are aware, childhood obesity is a major problem in our society. My simple answer to that is, “We already do help children – indirectly”. I believe the best way to combat childhood obesity is by helping their parents to lead healthy lifestyles. No matter how much time we spend exercising a child, our influence is negligible compared to the influence of their parents. Our efforts would be useless without the support, encouragement and role modeling of their parents serving them the correct foods at home. On countless occasions, clients have told me stories of how their children have also lost weight and are more active as a result of ‘getting their own act together’.