COMMANDMENT 9. Honor thy family by succeeding together.

FACT: You will feel like a superhero if you help your entire family become healthier.

What good is success if those dearest to you don’t also enjoy it?
Can you imagine looking and feeling great while the rest of your family is still sinking in the sticky, smelly fat swamp?

Be a better mother, father, sister, brother, daughter, or son by practicing the Golden Rule—treat them the same way you would want to be treated. If you knew your mom was boarding a bus that was headed over a cliff, I think you would warn her and do everything you could to stop her from boarding that bus. Why then would you not warn her of the dangers of being overweight?

Leaving your family with a rich nutritional heritage is more important than leaving them monetary riches! Families cherish generational traditions and common ties. Heritage, after all, is something to be celebrated—from hair and eye color to endearing mannerisms and timeless stories. Recent studies, however, have found that there is one behavior that, when passed down, can be extremely detrimental to your health—poor eating habits and lifestyle.

Children with an obese parent are three times as likely to be obese when they reach adulthood, and children with two obese parents are ten times (1000 percent!) as likely. Why not pass down good habits to your children instead? You have the power through your actions and tongue to create a positive haven of health for your family in a raging sea of societal dietary sins.

You can choose today to become the nutritional champion that fights for your family’s health and nutritional heritage. By helping others, you become stronger and more empowered.

Realize that you have the power to change your environment, the foods that surround you, and your family’s health. Try an after-dinner bonding walk with your spouse—where you talk, share the day, and unwind as you walk.

Let your kids and grandkids make critters out of fruit and veggies—using toothpicks to hold them together. Kids love making food sculptures, will cherish the memory, and enjoy eating them as much, or more, than homemade cookies.

As mom says, “This is real lovin’—with or without the oven.”