Living a healthy lifestyle when you have a busy family life can be a struggle. It is sometimes so much easier to have a takeaway than cook a healthy meal and finding time to exercise can be a real struggle, but this article will explore some of the ways you can have a healthy lifestyle, even for the busiest of mums!
Exercise
We all know exercise is good for us, but sometimes it can be truly difficult to fit it in if you have demanding children who are younger than school or nursery age and so always at home.
With this in mind, you have to attempt to adapt your practices to them in order to ensure you are getting that movement in.
Firstly, there are many exercise providers now who offer mum and baby classes where you can actually take your child along with you. If you can find one of these local to you, it’s a great way to get that exercise in, whilst keeping your child entertained and meeting other mums.
However, if you cannot find something like this local to you, then incorporate exercise into your daily routine by taking the pushchair out for a stroll or taking them for a swim with an inflatable where you will swim whilst pushing them in their inflatable vessel.
You can also use walking as transport where possible, leave your car at home where possible and walk to your destination.
Even dancing round to Bounce Patrol with your kids is a great way to get moving whilst keeping them busy, and actually, may even be more fun than you think.
Any movement you can get in during the day is going to count, and then when the kids go to bed at night, it’s a great time to get in some relaxing yoga to help you wind down from the day you have had, or if you prefer, get in a cardio workout in your living room!
Exercise has never been more accessible at home than it is now. With lots of providers offering classes streamed and loads of free content on YouTube, you will be able to find something suitable for you without having to venture out to the gym.
Healthy Eating
A little bit of planning goes a long way when it comes to healthy eating for busy mums.
If you are out and about, then it can sometimes be beneficial to use meal replacement shakes as opposed to grabbing a pasty from the nearest Greggs. And if you want to lose weight, weight loss shakes are a healthy meal replacement option. Shake that Weight has a collection of weight loss shakes that taste great, are very filling, and are full of additional nutrients such as vitamins. They can be used as a weight loss aid, or simply as a healthy meal replacement when you are too busy to prepare something in advance.
Preparing food the day before is also a good practice to ensure you don’t end up snacking on unhealthy items like biscuits and crisps.
Creating things like overnight oats for breakfast will mean your breakfast is ready to go, and it will keep you full for hours until lunch, which will help you avoid unnecessary snacking.
In addition, if you plan meals in advance and have a menu to stick to for the week ahead, this is going to make it less likely that you will reach for unhealthy meal options as you have a plan to stick to.
Know Your Triggers
Knowing your triggers is often the key to success when it comes to living a healthy lifestyle. For example, some people experience boredom on an evening when the kids are in bed and end up mindlessly snacking whilst watching TV.
By knowing your triggers, you can more easily avoid them. If you know you are an evening snacker, then create activities to do on an evening that will keep your mind entertained, so you are not lulled into that boredom state.
If you know sugary foods or alcohol is your trigger to eat or drink more, then try to avoid these triggers altogether rather than allowing yourself a ‘treat’, which may lead to a binge.
Mindset
Mindset is often the largest part of maintaining a healthy lifestyle.
Visualise yourself how you want to be, how you want your days to play out. By doing this, you are aligning your mindset with the life you want to lead and creating the desire to achieve it.
This desire will help keep you going on the difficult days when all you want to eat is chocolate!
Visualisation is also a great way to calm the mind and be in the present moment, which is proven to reduce stress. You don’t need long to do it, ten minutes before you go to sleep or when lying in the bath is more than enough!
Summary
Maintaining a healthy lifestyle with young children is difficult, but it isn’t impossible, with some planning and preparation you can maintain a balanced diet and exercise whilst spending quality time with the kids!