What is the one thing you'd change?

Forget New Years Resolutions, I make dramatic, life changing promises to myself every Sunday night. These include, in no particular order:

– I will begin each day with a 5km run before breakfast.

– That breakfast will be a single slice of mango enlivened with fresh lime.

– I will drink a litre of water a day.

– I will drink (considerably) less than a litre of wine.

– I will eat five serves of vegetables (recognising a packet of salt’n’vinegar potato chips does not count).

– I will eat two serves of fruit (while recognising a packet of fruit tingles does not count).

– My children will eat the sort of packed lunches you see in the ‘back to school’ liftouts.

– I will find out what Goji berries are and will consume at traffic lights in place of Smarties.

– Oily fish will become my friend (note: ‘oily,’ not ‘greasy,’ as in from the fish and chip shop up the road).

– I will eat more carrots, and not in cake form.

– Ditto bananas.

– Will engage in either kite flying, frisbee-throwing or rock-climbing with husband and children on twice-weekly basis.

Monday morning comes. I sleep in, so the run doesn’t happen. Neither does the zingy mango breakfast. The kids make their own lunches, complete with chocolate, energy-laden muesli bars. I drop them at school.  Then, exhausted and cranky, I stop at the Java Lounge for a cappuccino and muffin. Clearly, the entire plan is off the rails at 8.40am and it feels like there’s no point attempting to get it back on again until next Sunday night when I will write ‘set alarm’ at the top of my list.

So far, amazingly, I have had few problems with my health. And although I’d love to lose a few kilos so my jeans fit better, I know I can’t go on like this and not expect my health to start going downhill.

The Heart Foundation knows it too, so they’ve created a campaign especially for busy mums called  ‘Mums United’ . Its aim is to help Australian families to take small, easy steps towards a healthier lifestyle. See, the mistake I make, week after week, year after year, is thinking I have to make wholesale changes–and they need to be made all at once. Not so. According to Mums United, a small change can make a big difference. Water instead of a soft drink. Wholegrain instead of white. Stairs instead of the escalator.

If I say, ‘I will walk the kids to school this week,’ I can do that. And if I do it often enough it’ll become habit. Then, I might not want to spoil the feel-good effect with a packet of salt’n’vinegar chips. So healthier eating comes into play.

Over 60 percent of Aussie adults and about a quarter of Aussie children are overweight or obese. It is thought that our kids might be the first generation to have a lower life expectancy than our own. That has to change, and the change can start with small changes at home – not necessarily just on a Sunday night.

Find out more about Mums United here – you might want to join.

What is the ONE THING you’d like to change to improve your health? Or if you’re already glowing with good health, what’s the ONE THING you’d recommend to others?

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