Eating better, eating together

Eating together is an important part of relationship building in a family. It bridges gaps between generations through stories, cooking and recipes. Not too long ago, many families ate a nutritious, home-cooked meal together. Sometimes the food was homegrown- straight from the family garden. However times have changed.

Now people are on the go or on social media and have little time to eat with one another. Our jobs and academic obligations now have us eating at fast-food establishments by ourselves with no one to talk to. Nowadays, a family may eat together during national or religious holidays at most. The precious moments of spending time dining together are irreplaceable. At Littlest Tumor Foundation, we dedicate this month to eating better with those whom we call family and friends. So take the time to eat better and  eat together as a family this month.

A Little Goodbye

Three of our LTF interns are hanging up the purple and are going to spread the principles of hope, love and compassion to their next endeavors. Let’s learn a little more about what they did for the foundation.

Kim was part of our social work branch of LTF. She spread the message of LTF across the Fox Valley and beyond! Pierson spearheaded our web presence. Seneca spent countless, but very fruitful hours, helping coordinate many of our activities from April’s Kids-On-Chemo to our Sam-i-am race and finally our Family Wellness Retreat.

We wish them the best of luck in the future!

The Power of Family Fitness

The Power of Family Fitness

Often times, when we think about being active we think of it as something we have to “squeeze in” when our kids are sleeping, at a friend’s house, or at school. Have you ever thought about how great it would be to include your family in your pursuit to exercise more regularly? Exercising as a family will improve the health of your entire family, make exercise more fun, and at the same time help family members develop stronger connections.

Some simple tips to get you started.

You may start out by simply focusing on educating the entire family about the benefits of being active and leading a healthy lifestyle.

Put up a healthy living bulletin board in your kitchen, with resources about the benefits of leading a healthy lifestyle, this will help get your point across, without having to bombard your family with statistics and facts related to living healthy. Example: post a story about a young person who had trouble focusing at school but started exercising and saw an amazing difference. You are only limited by your creativity!

Here are a few other ideas to get your family focused on fitness:

• Have a family member pick an exercise at the beginning of the week and make that your family activity for the week. Then train throughout the week with the goal of improving by the weekend. Keep the focus on the fact that everyone is improving. Rotate who gets to pick the activity each week.




• Hold a family fitness night each week. Each week select a different family member to design the family workout that you will all do together. This ensures that everyone gets to do something they enjoy, and your workout will never become dull.




• Join a fitness facility. You will be surprised how motivated your entire family will become when you all head out for a workout after dinner each night or take a class together. You can also purchase small pieces of equipment to keep around the house (jump ropes, resistance bands, stability balls and dumbbells) to keep you from missing your workout on even the busiest of school nights.




• Never underestimate the power of going for a walk. It is a great mode of activity and also naturally encourages conversation.




• Set some family goals. Example: Set a target of being activity 3 nights per week, and build from there.

Most importantly, make the process fun. You’ll be teaching your children about discipline, goal setting, and the importance of not only health, but also family connection.