How Taking Care Of Yourself Makes You A Better Mom

Mothering is hard work... a 24/7/365 job of continuous work. It's so easy to stop caring for yourself or get overwhelmed. But, when you stop caring for yourself, your ability to care for your child is impacted, and your ability to truly enjoy motherhood. If momma ain’t fit, ain’t nobody fit!

For a mom, the most important thing you can ever do for your kids is to take care of yourself.

This translates to eating a healthier diet that includes fish and vegetables. When I work with kids who don’t eat vegetables or fish, I know there is a mom who doesn’t like these foods, so I start by helping moms choose healthier foods as well as getting up and moving more. Most importantly, I convince the family to be open-minded to always trying new things like taste-testing fish and new types of veggies. In my house, we make a game of it. Each week we still try new things, and I allow them to spit it out if they don’t like it.

As a fitness and weight loss specialist, I spend lots of time in all kinds of settings —gyms, out of gyms, and even on the road in buses where musicians spend most of their time. Being a mom myself, the best advice I can give all moms is no matter how old your kids are, take care of yourself. Just like we're told when we fly on a plane, ”Parents, put your oxygen mask on first.”

It's something many women prioritize throughout their pregnancy but stop once they hear that baby's first cry. It's something that has a rippling effect for decades, not only for us but for our kids who watch every move we make. It costs nothing, but saves lives and is the #1 best way to make sure our kids live happier, healthier lives. It also saves you more time and money than any other action you can ever take, including perfect attendance to the pediatrician. 

For me, this was one of the hardest things to do. I was buffed, spent three hours at the gym, ate metabolically healthy, and had lost 40 pounds. But when I became a mom, I began to backslide. I struggled with food and began eating when I wasn’t hungry (aka emotional eating), which scared me. To make matters worse, my depression returned tenfold, making it almost impossible to meet my child’s needs. I either didn’t eat at all, or I ate whatever my daughter didn’t finish. 

That is until I learned the three life-changing health habits below that changed my life and my weight. I’m 51 now, and my kids are grown. Following these rules not only took the weight off and energized me, but they also curbed my cravings, and I've kept the weight off for the last 28 plus years! No more diets (not a good example for our kids), but a healthier way of living.

Health begins with healthier habits starting with four little words: Take Care of Yourself.

When you're pregnant or waiting for your baby (applies to adoptive moms too), you realize how critical this is. That little life growing inside of you is affected 100 percent by what you eat, drink, and think.

• If you don’t take your multivitamin, it not only affects your baby’s health but it also severely affects yours
• If you eat poorly, the baby is at risk for poor growth.
• If you are chronically stressed or depressed, your body's responsive hormones cause a cascade of negative effects on your baby that last a lifetime.
• If you smoke, the baby gets exposed and doesn't grow as well.

But once the baby is no longer a part of your body, you stop making self-care a top priority and it ends up on the bottom of your list, when it should be the first.
Remember this self-care is preventative well-care, so rather than making time to go to a doctor, make time to take better care of you!

It Isn't Selfish to Take Time to Exercise, Eat Right, and Get Adequate Sleep

A mom who is well rested, eats a healthy diet, gets plenty of exercise, gets adequate sleep, maintains a strong faith (happens when we have a close relationship with God), and asks for help when she realizes she needs it or isn't coping well, is far more equipped to be the best mother she can be versus the mom who doesn't do those things.

If you never drink water, how can you ask your children to drink eight glasses a day? If you never exercise, how can you tell them it's important to exercise your body in order to be healthy and prevent diseases? If you don’t go to bed early enough, how can you ask them to?

Each and every small decision you make to take care of yourself leads to a lifetime of health and happiness. You will never be sorry when you do these three things that every mom can do.

#1: Get up early and do your workout on an empty stomach 

You can get a tightening, toning, fat-burning workout in five minutes. The Fit in 5 Workout does that for you.

Every workout is less than five minutes. It’s not that you do less work but rather a strategy using giant sets, which is how most women should work out unless they want to bulk up. But remember, working out too intensely increases cravings versus squelching them

#2: Drink a Complete Protein Shake before you leave the house 

It helps you avoid the sugary mommy drinks you get going through drive-thrus, and tastes better and contains less sugar, carbs, and fat. It boosts weight loss while killing cravings and improving mood in the process (sugar makes you depressed, and most juices sold today are loaded with more sugar than soda).

#3: Take your Daily Power Shot

Daily Power Shot nourishes and protects your body, and because it's more absorbable than chewable or store-bought versions (gummy bear vitamins don’t come close), you’ll feel better and happier the same day you start.

So remember, your children are watching you and will develop the same habits you have... good and bad. Be healthy and be happy, and that starts with always taking care of yourself!