Six Healthy Habits I'm Happy I Stuck With (Part One)

WARNING UNSOLICITED MOM ADVICE. I felt it important to start with that disclaimer because mom groups, social media and blogs are full of advice for you on how to be a mom and the choices you should make for your child. Now that may sound slightly cynical, but it’s not meant to. Because certainly there are times where that unsolicited advice is needed and welcomed because you learn that many of us moms are going through the same thing, that you’re not alone and that there are solutions. However the same advice can be overwhelming because similar to fitness, there is no one size fits all approach to parenting.

Camelback Mountain, Poconos

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So now that I’ve given my disclaimer, I’m going to share with you Six Healthy Habits (2 part post) that I believe has made a difference in my daughter's health and perspective of what healthy is. This all comes from a week of reflection as she turned six...hence the 6 tips. Hopefully you can find that one of these is helpful and makes sense for you and your family. And if you don’t agree with any of them, I hope you at least enjoy the perspective that no matter how hard it is to maintain the habits when your kids are toddlers/preschoolers, it can prove to be worth it when they’re a bit older.

1. Ditch the stroller early. I can remember how long it would take to get places by having her walk instead of ride in a stroller at the age of one and two, but in the long run it was worth the pain. She saw walks as something enjoyable as she got to explore the environment around her. She saw walks as a necessity to get somewhere. She saw walks as something we can do together. So now, at the age of six one of her favorite requests is if we can go “explore the city today”. And that’s usually good for a few miles of activity for the both of us.

2. No Treats or Snacks. Before you gasp, we eat snacks but I’ve always been very careful as to what I labeled as “snack foods” and try to stay away from the word “treat”. I’ll explain both. Marketing would like to have us think not only are there specific foods that should be eaten between meals, but that there are also specific snacks that kids should eat. I don’t love those concepts. Instead I’d often give her leftover salmon from dinner for her afternoon snack or ice cream before dinner because I didn’t want her to think of it as a reward, but rather a food we can enjoy once in a while. Where does that leave us now that she’s six? One, we get to enjoy the occasional cookie for breakfast and its no big deal, and two, we avoid too much processed foods because she doesn’t always expect goldfish or crackers between meals.

3. Make Fitness a Family Affair. This is one that I talk about often and somewhat the basis of my business name Active Mom Fitness. To be a mom that is physically active, fit and feels good moving, well...you have to be just that, an “active mom”. And we all know how time consuming kids are, so one solution is to make some of that active or exercise time a family event. This can mean working out together, it can mean walking together, it can mean you getting in a 10 minute workout while “watching” your kid’s gymnastics class. If I removed all of the time I’ve spent exercising with or around my daughter, the amount of activity I have gotten over the years would probably decrease by at least 50%. And where does that leave her and I now? She understands the importance of activity and enjoys participating with me. As an added bonus she is confident and comfortable with physical activity.

Thanks for reading. I’m sure there are some habits that are important to you, but that you’re feeling are difficult to stay consistent with (especially when it comes to nutrition and exercise with kids). My unsolicited advice is to keep trying because it will be worth it, mama. Make sure to check out habits 4-6 in the next post.

If you like my perspective and would like me to help you manage family and fitness, contact me.

One-Handed Eating for New Moms

How to Manage Healthy Eating When Baby is Priority

As a new mother it’s hard to believe that you can actually fill an entire 24 hours with feeding, changing, and trying to put baby to sleep. This leaves very little time to plan, prepare or even eat meals.

It is extremely important for a mother to keep her energy up and heal her body through good nutrition. For most of us, our priority isn’t and shouldn’t be cooking healthy meals so we need another strategy. My suggestion to new moms is to really rethink our traditional idea of food intake through the day and consider healthy snacking as sufficient for the first couple of months. This isn’t to say never have a meal. When you have time, make a healthy meal and make a ton of it so you can freeze it and have it again the following week. Focusing on snacks instead of meals just means you’re eating smaller, more frequent and more simple food throughout the day-which actually makes perfect sense if you time your eating with your babies.

Here's a two-day sample of healthy snacking based on a baby's feeding schedule. This doesn't include night feedings, but if you find yourself hungry then make extras of one of your daytime snacks and keep it by the bed at night.

Day 1

7:00 AM- Oatmeal Balls (made the night before) and piece of fruit

9:00 AM – Yogurt (buy big tubs and reusable pouches-you can use them for years with your kids)

11:00 AM – Low sodium lentil soup in a coffee mug, grape tomatoes

1:30 PM – Baby carrots and hummus

4:30 PM – Trail mix with your choice of nuts, dried fruit and seeds (chocolate chips or coconut flakes are great too!)

6:30 PM – Roasted chickpeas (made during nap time or night before), fruit

8:00 PM – Green smoothie (keep extra for another day)

Day 2

7:00 AM (made the night before)-hard boiled egg or breakfast muffins and fruit

9:00 AM – Avocado toast cut into squares or on petite toast

11:00 AM – Low sodium minestrone soup in a coffee mug, grape tomatoes

1:30 PM – Roasted kale chips and sliced cheese

4:30 PM – Edamame, berries

6:30 PM – Whole grain cereal, sliced apple dipped in nut butter

8:00 PM – Green smoothie (keep extra for another day-can add protein powder)

You’ll notice there is not any meat or fish in these samples. Meat and fish take more time to prepare so they were not included, but by all means I'm all for protein in those forms. To modify and include meat in your plan try time-saving ideas like buying a rotisserie chicken or prepare chicken or turkey cutlets (they come thinly sliced to make an easy finger food), or if you have a partner ask him or her to be in charge of the meat preparation for a month or two. You can do the same with fish. Try cooking it and flaking it to make patties or opt for canned tuna spread on crackers. Be careful not to get in the habit of buying too many pre-packaged or processed meats to avoid nitrates, sodium and saturated fats.

Note: These samples do not account for caloric or special dietary needs so should only be used to inspire healthy snacking.

You can get fit and healthy after baby without it being an added stressor.