Their mission...if they choose to accept it!

Let me introduce my family...

Husband Trefry is a 54 year old burly guy. He weighs in at 269. He exercises religiously, but obviously..we need a new plan.

Michael is my 17 year old son, at 5'11" he is 220. He is an three sport athlete, but again, the food choices are more problematic rather than the amount of activity he gets.

Joy is 13 and 5'6" and swims 8 hours a week (she swims competitively)

Rose, is 14, and 5'3" She currently runs track.

The girls do not have a weight goal, but according to "mypyramid.gov" Their goal is to eat a diet appropriate for their age and height. If they follow the plan then they will eventually fall into appropriate weights for their age.

Me? I am 5'4", 167 lbs. yes I hit the gym about twice a week, but need to ramp it up. The Pilate's is just not working for me.

Again we are healthy in the exercise department, If we can tweak the food intake...we'll be great!

Their "mission" was presented to them in a individual folders. In it contained their diet goals, food group quantities, a diet log, and personal weight chart, if they choose to keep one. I did encourage them to keep a food log, because, if they were not happy with the results, then at least we could refer back to them. I also think that food logs keeps a person conscious of what goes in and honest with themselves.

I told them that it was not a competition, nor a diet, but a mission to a more healthful life.

They ALL accepted the challenge! We're off!!

My pyramid

Good Morning! I decided to approach this endeavor but utilizing free advice, rather than going down the "biggest loser", or "South Beach" avenues. I went to Mypyramid.gov, which is a free website by the US Department of Agriculture. There I established individual diet goals for all members of my family. By inputting age, height and weight for each member, I was able to determine calorie requirements, and recommended breakdown of quantities for all food groups. Each member of my family has different caloric needs based on the amount of exercise that they do each day. Now...to present them with the challenge!

A New Year... a New Promise

How does a family of five get healthy?

I am a 48 year old woman of Italian descent who has grown up in a family where food has been the center of of everything! Celebrating an accomplishment? "Lets feast!" Feeling blue? "Lets sit down and have a little something." Grieving a loss? "Let's cook and cook, and COOK!"

My challenge is to chart a course for my family (three children, husband and me) to lead a healthy life, while enjoying all that life has to offer. Come follow my journey which begins today Jan 1, 2010.