Eternal Habits of Well-Being

by Traci Brosman

I remember playing Frisbee and hide and seek as a kid.  I remember going for walks with my Mom and playing basketball and softball with my Dad. I would go hiking with Grandpa looking for rattlesnakes and sometimes catching sight of a Grizzly bear in the mountains of Montana. I will never forget Grandma’s kolachis, they were the best. There were many laughs and fun times spent in her kitchen as she baked for her family.

Looking back at these memories, I realize that they set the foundation for creating forever lifelong habits. It is nice to realize that I have been passing down these ways to stay healthy to the young people in my life. Soon I will be passing them down to my grandchildren.

I have tried to teach by example – that it is important to make sure that our bodies get enough movement throughout the day. We do a lot of walking; we walk the beach, to the store, and if we choose to eat out we walk to the restaurant. When my daughter was in school she would wake up early to do Wii Fit with me or to get sweaty with Jillian Michaels or Tony Horton. We had a lot of fun times and I always hoped that these memories would help her create her own eternal habits of well-being. Now that she is living on her own, I have to say that my heart smiles when I hear that she is walking to the store instead of driving.

Growing up I didn’t learn how to cook healthy. There was lots of sugar and butter in grandma’s recipes and of course they always tasted good. I love these memories though and have tried to create a new spin on things by trying healthier versions of her recipes. I like inviting the kids over for a day in the kitchen. As we experiment we usually make the recipe the normal way with some healthy food options such as organic ingredients and coconut sugar instead of cane sugar. We also make a second version of the recipe that is completely healthy. There are lots of laughs and sometimes some yucks.

In the end I hope I am helping contribute to a healthier lifestyle for those I love. To me this is my way of showing my eternal love to my family and friends. I would love to hear about the type of memories you are creating with your loved ones. I hope you will share them with us below.