Meet The Healthiest Member in our Family.

Erika trying skating.

I would like to think that I am the healthiest member in our family - considering all the running and regular workouts that I do - combined with a balanced diet that I follow religiously.

But I have to grudgingly hand over the "Healthiest Member" crown to my 6-year old daughter Erika.

Does this mean that Erika eats only healthy food? Far from it. She enjoys eating Chicken Nuggets and French Fries from McDonalds and she drinks thick milk-shakes.

What about exercises?  Well, she doesn't run any Marathon distances.

So what keeps her healthy? I've been noting down all the things that Erika does, trying to understand what keeps her healthy and I thought I'll list them down so that we can try to incorporate some of her better habits in our day-to-day life.

1. She Sleeps...a Lot. Sleep is the most important thing for Erika. Once she goes to sleep, it is impossible to wake her up until she completes the full sleep cycle. This ensures that her body is well rested and she is full of energy when she gets up.

2. She eats variety of foods. Erika loves to eat different foods. She may love to eat McNuggets, but she eats strawberries and cucumbers with equal relish. This experimentation with different foods automatically results in a sort of a balanced diet plan for her.

3. She is always on her feet. It's very rare to see Erika sitting in one place. Even when she is watching TV, she is usually walking around or dancing or singing along with the characters. This means she is constantly burning calories - and staying fit.

4. She was born healthy. Ok, this is really an unfair advantage that she has over most of us and something we have no control over. When she was born, the first call that I got from my wife was to inform me that Erika just popped out without any trouble - and the very first thing she did was grab her and start sucking away. She came from the hospital the very next day and only visits the hospitals on very rare occasions. When she gets sick, we avoid taking her to the clinic unless it is necessary - because she can usually fight off most diseases on her own.

That's about it. Except for the last part, the key elements of staying healthy remain the same.

- Take plenty of rest.
- Eat variety of foods
- And workout regularly.

There really are no shortcuts in life. You want to stay healthy, you need to work for it.

Our job as parents is to ensure that Erika continues on this path and stays healthy as she grows from a young girl to a teenager (oh man, I am dreading that period), and then to a healthy adult.

After that, she is on her own!.