5 Tips To Make Healthy Habits More Doable As A Busy Mom To Look And Feel Your Best
When I was pregnant with my first born I remember thinking how “perfectly” I was going to fit in healthy habits. I was under the impression that I could put him down for naps and I would be able to meal prep, workout, meditate, journal and even wash my hair. I was under the impression I could go for walks while my baby slept in the stroller and life would be peaceful. I was wrong. I wasn’t able to put my son down for one nap his entire first year as he only wanted contact naps and he never wanted me to put him down which made prepping a meal almost impossible. When I was cleared to workout and was feeling ready to start a routine again, I knew I had to shift my perspective and create a new routine that involved my baby. Now that I am a mom of a toddler and a baby, I have had to make even more shifts to make fitting in healthy habits possible.
I know the struggle of trying to fit in healthy habits as a mom. I also know how important it is to complete healthy habits as a mom. Your health is so important. When you feel good you do even better. When I workout, eat healthy and complete my mindfulness practices I am a better mom for my kids. When you take care of yourself, you feel better and it radiates out into the world around you.
These are a few realistic tips that I have picked up over the years that help me take care of myself as a busy mom:
include your kids in your routine
Including your kids in your daily health and wellness routines is one of the simplest ways to fit it in. Things like working out and meal prepping are things that you can do with baby and kids. Yes, it will require more patience and you may not fit in as much as you would like but it makes completing healthy habits more doable. I recommend inviting your kids to workout with you and to join in on meal prep. This will also help build lasting habits for your children as well. When they watch you take care of yourself, they will learn to take care of themselves too.
keep things short and doable
What matters most in terms of reaching your goals is consistency. If you show up daily to your workout and only workout for 10-15 minutes, that is more effective than showing up to an hour workout only once a week. If you only have time to meal prep a few healthy items that is better than prepping nothing at all. Keeping your habits short but also doable will help you to maintain your routine long term. This is key to reaching your goals.
plan ahead of time
Planning out your meals and habits for the week ahead is one of the most helpful tools. This type of organization can help make your week smoother and hold you accountable for your goals. This also helps to take away the guess work which helps to eliminate stress during the week.
set up simple systems in your life
By creating simple systems in your life you can eliminate stress and make things more achievable. This can look like assigning daily tasks to certain people in your household. For example, I cook dinner for my family then my husband takes care of the kitchen clean up while I take care of bath and bedtime. Another example of systems I’ve implemented is creating the weekly meal plan for my family. On Sunday afternoons, I put in our grocery order, and my husband picks it up, unloads it, and washes the produce. These are such simple and easy systems that I have in place to take out any guess work and help make things more doable.
complete a Sunday reset
Completing a Sunday reset can set you up for a successful week. Just taking some time to get yourself organized for the week and help you achieve your weekly goals. A Sunday reset includes any tasks that can help make checking off your daily habits more doable.
When it comes to working on your health and wellness goals it is important to keep in mind that it is not about aiming for perfection. It is about staying consistent. In order to move the needle in the right direction it is important to focus on the things you can be consistent with.