Does your daughter need a Fitbit?

I understand your concerns.

Your daughter isn’t moving as much as you’d like her to. She’s eating dessert nightly. She enjoys sleeping in. She doesn’t think much about her weight, calorie intake or size of her clothing.

She’s an alien because she’s happy in the skin she’s in.

She hasn’t yet been taught to change herself. She hasn’t yet been taught discontentment. She doesn’t know about body shaming, food fears and the power of weight loss.

She is perfectly imperfect and feels awesome about it.

Regardless, you’re fearful about the weight gain. You try to get her to join a sports team, or play before dinner or maybe run around a little bit during school, but how do you get her to get motivated?

A Fitbit?

No.

A friend once asked me if getting a Fitbit for their daughter was a good idea. I almost pulled both my hair and their hair out at the same time, but instead, I simply collected my thoughts and stated, “That is not the way.”

Isn’t that what it comes down to? Finding the right way to do something instead of taking the wrong way?

Truth be told, the wrong way can often lead to years and years of damage and trying to find your way back to the right way. Not on you, but on your child.

If a child feels she is lacking something and can regain that something (like attention or control) by counting up points throughout the day, she will be point-obsessed throughout life. She cultivates the idea that stress can be dealt with through control…control over weight, more specifically.

If a child feels that she isn’t as smart or “good” as the other child, the one that just so happens to stay skinny by counting calories, then she will feed off of comparison in other areas of life and aim to be the best through weight control.

If a child feels that thin cheerleaders receive the most attention and admiration at school, she may go to lengths to reach that as well.

Perfection isn’t real. Perfection isn’t obtained through numbers or size. So why do we even think for a moment that introducing our children to modern day technology instead of using intuition is even remotely a good idea?

It’s not. There are so many awesome ways to get your children moving around and having fun while still loving their body and appreciating food to the fullest. It’s possible. It’s not only possible, it’s primal.

Here are my suggestions if you want you daughter to start moving WITHOUT a Fitbit.

1. Highlight the importance of team work. 

Part of growing up is learning how to be a team player and support other people. Whether it’s building a blueprint of a make believe house, scrapbooking, or playing on a soccer team, all of them require team effort. Teach your daughter how to support, give, take and value. Value the journey and process as much as the end result. She can then decide if we wants to channel this energy towards physical activity, or if instead she chooses intellectual activity.

 2. Limit television time.

This is a fantastic way to encourage your children to get up and play. Television should not be a staple in any household. There is absolutely nothing wrong with TV or movies, but it’s extremely easy to fall into the habit of choosing mindless show watching over creating, playing or thinking. Simply monitoring TV time can go a long way because once that is taken away, what else is there to do besides play!?

 3. Get out and move with her.

Every one experiences insecurities. Sometimes all we need is a little companionship to help get us moving. If you want her to be more active, join her in her activities and encourage her to have fun. Take a walk with her after dinner, not to “burn off those calories,” but instead do it to have alone time together, and talk about your day. Be weary about your language too. If you lead her to believe that walking = exercise, she may not be a huge fan. It’s play. It’s companionship. And it’s powerful.

4. Be the example you wish you had.

Some women were raised with mothers that told them to count calories, to never leave the house without makeup on, to eat less than your man did, to watch your weight, to eat low fat, to run an hour a day and so on. Don’t continue the cycle. Speak positively about your body and emphasize the beautiful things it can do. It can hike, swim, run, bike and play! How awesome is that? And then after you play, you can fuel up on nourishment! It’s as simple as that. We don’t need numbers to know how to eat. We don’t need a Fitbit to know how to move.

We need our intuition. And that’s it my friends.

Have you considered buying a #Fitbit for your daughter? Read here before making the move…