From One Busy Mom to Another: Quick Tips for Living a Healthy Lifestyle
My life is extremely busy, as I'm sure many of you can relate to. I have two young children, a more than full time job, a home to take care of, a relationship with my husband to nurture, connections with my family and friends to maintain￢ﾀﾦthe list goes on. And most of the time, it seems like there isn't enough time in the day to take care of it all. My own needs always end up coming last￢ﾀﾔjust taking a shower or peeing by myself is a luxury. So when I see exciting health and wellness trends, new classes at the gym, diets and recipes, I can't imagine when I'd find the time to actually give them a try.
And I￢ﾀﾙm not alone. 56% of employees at companies nationwide cite "not having enough time" as one of the top reasons they don't participate in the wellness program(s) offered to them. I do however have an advantage over other overworked mommies I know: I'm married to a health champion and come from a family of wellness professionals.
Living a life of health.
Over time, my husband and I have developed ways to simply just live a life of health. This has allowed us to weave healthy behaviors into our everyday lives without having to make an effort to add them in or go out of our way to find the time to devote to getting healthy. We live and breathe wellness; simple, stress-free, not all too exciting wellness that's all about doing the right things, realistic things, consistently over time.
I￢ﾀﾙd like to pass along my top 5 tips on how you can live wellness in your home. I promise you that no matter how busy your life is, you will be able to incorporate at least one or two of these into your life with minimal effort. Don't even try to make all of the changes I'm suggesting at once, as that would defeat the purpose. Instead, hang this list on your fridge, pick one healthy behavior to make a part of your life, and focus on only that one for 4 to 6 weeks. Once it becomes easy and second nature, you can add another and keep going until you've transformed your life into a healthy one!
5 Simple Steps:
1. Turn all your whites to brown. We know that eating whole grains is one of the keys to a healthy diet. White rice, white bread, white potatoes, white flour￢ﾀﾦit's all just empty calories that your body breaks down into sugar. On the other hand, brown rice, whole grain bread, sweet potatoes, and whole wheat flour are all foods rich in fiber and other necessary nutrients.
Suggestion: Swap out your white choices for more colorful healthy ones the next time you're at the grocery store.
2. Keep it natural. When we￢ﾀﾙre shopping for food, cleaning products, or personal care items, we look for things made with all natural ingredients. That doesn￢ﾀﾙt have to mean organic or expensive. In fact, cleaning with vinegar for example is much less expensive than buying products that contain bleach. It￢ﾀﾙs a nice easy rule to remember and an easy label to look for. You￢ﾀﾙll see big results in your diet too￢ﾀﾓno processed foods will have a big (or rather, small!) effect on your waist line.
Suggestion: Don￢ﾀﾙt go replacing everything in your home today. The next time you￢ﾀﾙre about to finish off that cleaning product or jar of peanut butter, take a look at the label before tossing it. If it doesn￢ﾀﾙt contain all natural ingredients, make a note to seek out a better alternative on your next shopping trip.
3. Move and drink more. All day long we try (or should be trying) to do two things: increase our movement and activity levels and drink lots of water. When we keep our bodies both active and hydrated, it makes us less hungry, more energetic, keeps skin looking young, helps to regulate bodily functions, and prevents a number of injuries and illnesses.
Suggestion: Struggle to fit more activity into your day? Check out our blog post ￢ﾀﾜAre American Moms Suffering from Increasing Physical Activity?￢ﾀﾝ for simple ways to get moving all day long.
4. Don￢ﾀﾙt be too hard on yourself. In my household, we don￢ﾀﾙt follow any rule to an extreme. We like to eat healthy, but I don￢ﾀﾙt deprive myself of Haagen-Dazs or a chicken nugget once in a while. I think allowing yourself a less than stellar food choice from time to time is not only okay, but human. The deodorant I love? It contains aluminum, which I know isn￢ﾀﾙt the greatest for me. Yet I put it on every day with awareness, because that￢ﾀﾙs my choice. Being an extremist at anything￢ﾀﾔreligion, diet, parenting style￢ﾀﾔit￢ﾀﾙs a full time job. And I already have 4 of those, so don￢ﾀﾙt be too hard on yourself. Just do your best, and it￢ﾀﾙll make your lifestyle both attainable and maintainable.
Suggestion: The next time you start to feel guilty for piling the kids in the car for Happy Meal dinners because you￢ﾀﾙre just too tired to cook, stop. Take a deep breath, and remember that you are only human and one fast food meal won￢ﾀﾙt shake your healthy lifestyle if you￢ﾀﾙre making health-conscious decisions at least 85% of the time.
5. Communicate and meditate. My husband and I strive to communicate when there￢ﾀﾙs an issue and meditate as a way of relieving the physical symptoms of stress. Everyone has to communicate and mediate in their own way. Maybe your communication is writing a letter, maybe it￢ﾀﾙs at a therapist￢ﾀﾙs office, or on Facebook. Perhaps your mediation is running on the treadmill or reading a good book. The point is, that no matter what your preference, be aware that you already have the tools in place to help facilitate a healthy relationship (communication) and to effectively deal with stress (mediation).
Suggestion: Stressed out but not sure how to seek relief? Think outside the box. Meditation doesn￢ﾀﾙt have to mean sitting with your legs crossed, in silence, thinking deeply. Be alert to how you feel when you are doing or have completed certain activities; you just might discover that those grocery store trips you think you hate or while pushing your kids on the swings is when you feel most at peace and do your best thinking.
What are your simple steps?
What simple steps have you adopted to promote a healthier life for you and your family? I love hearing about how other moms live well without spending too much time or going completely crazy, so I￢ﾀﾙd love if you￢ﾀﾙd share with me in the comments below your tips and tricks!
http://blog.voomwell.com/blog/bid/381551/5-Simple-Steps-for-a-Healthier-Life