Setting Fun and Realistic Family Health Goals

Steps to setting realistic family health goals

1. Assess current health status

Before adding goals or creating an action plan, it’s important to assess your family's current health habits. This step helps you identify what’s working well and highlight areas that need improvement.

A great tool to begin with is Dr. Gary’s “Getting Honest Questionnaire (GHQ).” This 20-question assessment explores behaviours across four key areas, detailed in Stage One of his Ride to Life (RTL) book:

• Home
• Self: mind, body and spirit
• Community
• Work

Dr. Gary also provides a child-specific questionnaire in the RTL book, which you can guide your child through to ensure honest and thoughtful responses. (An extract of the GHQ is included at the end of this blog.)

As you reflect on your family’s habits, focus specifically on eating patterns, portion sizes, and nutrient balance. Consider questions like:

• Are you and your kids eating your daily recommended intake of fresh fruit and vegetables? (see Stage 5, “You are what you eat,” in the Ride to Life book)
• Are most meals prepared at home?
• Are sugary snacks and beverages a frequent part of their diet?

2. Define clear and achievable goals

After completing the Getting Honest Questionnaire you would have identified areas of your family’s life that may need improvement, the next step is to define realistic goals. Use the SMART framework — Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-bound — to set realistic goals. Avoid vague objectives and instead focus on actionable steps. Examples include:

• Introducing a new vegetable into meals each week.
• Scheduling regular family walks at least once a week, and active weekends and school holidays (see Stage 6, “Get Moving,”  in the Ride to Life book)
• Replacing sugary drinks with water or herbal tea for one meal daily.
• Planning healthy meals together every Sunday evening.

Encourage every family member to suggest a goal they are excited to work toward.

3. Involve all family members

Health is a collective effort. Include every family member in the health assessment and goal-setting process and the following action planning process. This includes parents, grandparents, and other caregivers, as it’s crucial for everyone to share the same health priorities and deliver a consistent message.

It’s not uncommon for parents to have differing views on health priorities, or for grandparents to express their “love” through indulgent treats for their grandchildren. These differences can create confusion and undermine your family’s health goals. Addressing these issues may require a challenging yet necessary conversation for the benefit of your children’s well-being.

Dr. Gary’s Ride to Life book offers guidance for navigating these situations. Stage 8, “Connection, Self-Care, and Support,” addresses family disconnection and provides actionable solutions to rebuild alignment. Stage 9, “The Power of No,” focuses on establishing healthy boundaries within the family.

By involving everyone, from grandparents to younger kids, you can foster commitment, relevance, and a well-rounded approach that meets the needs and preferences of the entire family. Even the youngest family members can contribute valuable insights, making health a shared and unified effort.

4. Create an action plan

While it’s essential to establish clear and measurable goals for your family’s overall health, it won’t be effective without an action plan. Here are some tips for developing an action plan that works:

• Large goals can be overwhelming, so break them down into smaller, actionable tasks.
• Assign responsibilities. Involve every family member, assigning responsibility based on their interests and strengths.
• Set realistic timelines for achieving each step of an assigned task or goal. This maintains momentum and prevents procrastination.

See Dr. Gary and his two Healthy Happy Children fellow podcasters, Ros Saunders and Louise Elliott, who talk about many health-related issues for families, but specifically Dr Gary’s Healthy And Physical Improvement (HAPI) plan in their podcast episode

For further guidance, listen to Dr. Gary and his co-hosts, Ros Saunders and Louise Elliott, on the Healthy Happy Children podcast. In one episode, they dive into Dr. Gary’s Healthy and Physical Improvement (HAPI) plan, which offers actionable insights for families striving to improve their health. You can check it out here: Healthy Happy Children – What is your HAPI plan?

5. Monitor progress and adjust as needed

To achieve your family health goals, monitor progress and make any necessary adjustments along the way. Your family will remain motivated and you can identify what’s working and what needs changing. Flexibility is key.

Everyone likes to see progress, so you could also use a family calendar or a digital app to track the progress of each goal. Mark off completed steps and celebrate small victories.

For additional support, Dr. Gary recommends two excellent resources:

• The Big Life Journal: A tool designed to encourage goal-setting and personal growth for all ages.
• Habit Nest Journals: Guides to help build and maintain healthy habits through structured journaling.

Overcoming common challenges

A. Time constraints

Lack of time is one of the most common barriers to adhering to a plan. Things like busy work schedules, school commitments, and other responsibilities make it challenging for any family to prioritise health and remain true to their goals and the action plan.

To overcome time constraints, introduce brief family-friendly workouts. Even ten to fifteen minutes of exercise per day as a family is still beneficial and keeps the momentum going. For inspiration, check out free workout videos by Joe Wicks, the Body Coach, on his YouTube Channel.

Planning and prepping meals together as a team also saves time and creates a more efficient kitchen environment. You could also combine activities, such as exercise with running errands. An example might be walking to the store instead of driving.

B. Maintaining motivation

Everyone in the family needs motivation to maintain healthy eating habits and indulge in regular exercise. Enthusiasm can wane over time, so it’s vital to implement strategies to foster encouragement, celebrate progress, and keep everything as enjoyable as possible.

If you do decide to celebrate small victories along the journey and want to offer kids a reward, ensure it’s a non-food reward.

Another good idea is to set short term goals as well as long term ones. It’s easier to target a short term goal, achieve it, and remain motivated to move onto the next goal.

C. Dealing with setbacks

There will always be setbacks along your journey toward healthier living as a family. Examples of setbacks might be succumbing to eating unhealthy food, missing a workout, and so on. The key lies in how you deal with these setbacks as a family, becoming resilient and adaptable rather than discouraged. Here are some quick tips to remain on track:

• Normalise setbacks, understanding that occasional setbacks will occur.
• Revisit your action plan and make adjustments if required.
• Focus on progress and not perfection.
• Create a strategy to bounce back.
• Refocus on the desired outcome of a more fulfilling and purposeful life for the entire family.