Dr. Oz and Chiquita have teamed together to create a Healthy Family Challenge on the Dr. Oz show to educate families on the importance of healthy living and why it’s important to start young and do it as a family.

Fact: The obesity epidemic facing our children is guaranteeing they will have a shorter lifespan than us as parents.

No mother wants that for her child, but the good news is YOU can do something about it. And you can do it as a family.

I will be assisting Chiquita and Dr. Oz in getting the word out among social media moms as a new Spokesperson for Chiquita. Dr. Oz has been doing a series that ends in June in hopes to educate families in the United States about the dangers of obesity in children. Make sure to catch these special episodes with one airing today. Check here for your listing.

If you are just getting familiar with healthy living, Dr. Oz has created an action plan for you to implement with your family and get you started.

Week One: Get Moving

It doesn’t mean purchasing a treadmill, you just need to set a goal of getting 30 minutes of activity daily or 10,000 steps in a day as a family. Here are some suggestions:

• Purchasing pedometers for each family member and create a challenge on who can get the most steps.
• Walk as a family after dinner and talk about your day together.
• Do a family dance party after dinner. You’ll get to know more about the music your kids listen to and have a great time with them doing it.
• Set one day a week aside as family workout night and take turns on who gets to choose the activity.
• Spend each weekend doing one outdoor activity as a family like biking, hiking, swimming, or create your own obstacle course in backyard.

Week Two: The Snack Swap

Snacks found at convenience stores are full of sugar and empty calories. Not only do they pack on the pounds, but they also drain your energy, leave you more hungry and no nutritional value. Here are some swaps for your family:

• Potato chips for whole grain pretzels
• Soda for flavored seltzer water or iced tea with no added sugar
• A bag of candy for a sweet piece of fruit (bananas, apples, pears) or a handful of nuts such almonds or walnuts mixed with dried fruit with no sugar added
• An ice cream bar for vanilla low-fat frozen yogurt
• A candy bar for a nutritious fiber bar
• Cheese and crackers for veggies and hummus

Week Three: Power Down

We’ve all heard that too much TV rots your brain. The studies show that decreasing the amount of media time your children have leads to less weight gain and a lower body mass index. The good news is that if you are implementing family fitness activities, your media time will decrease automatically. But here are some suggestions to setting a few limits:

• Get TVs out of bedrooms
• No TV during meals or homework time
• Limit TV watching to weekends. Record favorite shows to be enjoyed later and encourage more activity on weeknights
• Set a good example by cutting down on your own viewing
• Create a TV schedule so everyone can enjoy their favorite shows but reduce the hours spent flipping channels and vegging out

Week Four: Pantry Makeover & Breakfast

Toss the following items:

• Kick the trans fats to the curb. Check the labels of all your processed foods. Toss anything containing palm or coconut oil.
• Anything with first 5 ingredients containing simple sugars or syrup. This includes brown sugar, dextrose, corn sweetener, fructose (as in high-fructose corn syrup), glucose, corn syrup, honey, invert sugar, maltose, lactose, malt syrup, molasses, raw sugar, and sucrose. Keep a little table sugar, honey, and maple syrup handy.
• Bye Bye enriched flours. Any flour other than 100% whole grain or 100% whole wheat four should be tossed including enriched white flour, semolina, durum wheat, and any of the acronyms for flour that is not whole wheat.

Restock with these:

• Skim milk
• Reduced-fat cheeses
• Healthy nut butters such as almond to replace butter on toast
• High-fiber foods such as whole grains (whole wheat bread, brown rice, quinoa, barley, oatmeal), beans, peas, citrus fruits, cabbage, beets, carrots, turnips, and cauliflower
• A weekly selection of fruits washed and ready to eat in the fridge and on the counter
• Good-for-you fats: wild salmon, walnuts, sunflower seeds, olive oil, avocados
• Agave nectar for sweetening foods such as oatmeal

Breakfast: Skipping breakfast slows your metabolism. Also, children who eat breakfast preform 20% better on tests. Ah, ha! That got your attention, huh? Make sure everyone gets a healthy, protein-packed breakfast within 30 minutes of waking up. And here are some options for you:

• A bowl of quick-cooking steel cut oats with sliced walnuts and a light drizzle of sweetener such as agave nectar.
• 6 ounces of low-fat yogurt mixed with fruit and ¾ cup granola
• Multigrain pancakes topped with sliced fruit and applesauce
• Dr. Oz’s brain-boosting smoothie or a raspberry and flaxseed smoothie
• Whole wheat bread with natural peanut butter (no added sugar)
• A hard-boiled egg with side of fruit
• A bag of whole-grain cereal with nonfat yogurt.

Week Five: Pick Leaner Lunches & Family Menu Planning

Brown bagging it can be a great way to control a child’s nutrition. You can include the following items:

• Lean turkey or tuna on whole grain bread. Thin mayo or mustard and sliced tomatoes & lettuce.
• Whole wheat pita with hummus and packed with sliced cucumbers, red peppers, and a sprinkle of feta cheese.
• Whole wheat wrap spread thinly with pesto, rolled up with deli turkey, shredded carrots, and a slice of reduced-fat Swiss cheese.
• Ditch the sweets for a yogurt parfait.

Getting around the table to do some family menu planning can be a great way to get everyone on board. Get some healthy cookbooks and get everyone involved. While you are choosing meals, keep these simple suggestions in mind:

• Get 5 to 10 servings of fruits and vegetables daily
• Choose nutritious ingredients – especially colorful vegetables such as red pepper, yams, green or red kale and broccoli
• Cook with as many fresh, raw unprocessed foods as possible
• Replace corn oil with olive oil or flaxseed oil
• Use fresh herbs and garlic or onion to add flavor, rather than salt
• Get protein from lean cuts of meat, fish or beans
• Swap out creamy sauces for tomato-based ones
• Downsize your dishes: Use a 9-inch plate so that you don’t pile on too big a portion.
• Choose a seasonal fruit for dessert
• Take time to eat dinner with family members in a relaxed atmosphere, eating slowly so you don’t overeat (and so you have time to get up on all the family gossip!)

Week Six: SLEEP & Keep it Positive

Lack of sleep promotes weight gain and makes you cranky and unable to preform your best in school or at work. Consistent sleep is what counts, so here are some guidelines to help you understand how much sleep everyone in your family needs:

1 – 3 years: 12-14 hours per day (this includes naps)

3 – 6 years: 10-12 hours per day (gradually without a nap)

7 – 12 years: 10-11 hours per day

12 – 18 years: 8-9 hours per day

18 and over: 7-7.5 hours per day

Keeping things positive means to focus on family activity, NOT WEIGHT. The weight comes off with the positive lifestyle changes, so don’t worry about the scale as a family. What you don’t want to do is create an unhealthy relationship with your child and food. So as long as you focus on making healthy choices instead of weight loss, these changes will be very positive for your family.

Week Seven: Spread the Word

Now that you and your family have proven that you are healthy living ROCKSTARS, share what you have learned with others. Get other people involved and encourage them to join with you. Here are some suggestions:

• Plan a neighborhood game night with Wii Fit, XBOX Yourself Fitness, Dance Dance Revolution or your favorite video exercise game
• Invite friends over for a Saturday obstacle course party
• Rotate healthy family dinner nights at your neighbors’ houses
• Plan a kids’ dinner party where the children cook the adults a nutritious meal (Bonus: The adults can sit down, put their feet up, and enjoy a glass of heart-healthy wine!)
• Ask your school if you can come in for show and tell and talk about how your family tackled Dr. Oz’s Healthy Family Challenge!

I’m very excited to be part of this healthy challenge. I AM @bookieboo, so of course when Chiquita came to me and wanted help, I was jumping for joy. This is exactly the kind of program and challenge I live for. Keep your eyes on Bookieboo & Mamavation for updates and watch my tweets. And then later in May, I’ll be tweeting live from the Dr. Oz show. I’m very excited to be part of all this!