Why it’s Hard for Busy Moms to Eat Well — And How to Make It Happen

Inside you’ll find tips on how busy moms can learn to eat well without the fuss. 

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Years ago I decided what my perfect weight was.

My perfect weight is the weight in which I don’t think about my weight. 

Sounds crazy, but it’s true. If we can be at a healthy weight and aren’t always staring in the mirror looking for imperfections, we’re doing well.

But it’s not always that simple to just drop baby weight and move on with life. When you are taking care of little ones and trying to keep house on top of that, it means that we end up doing what we don’t want to do.

And not doing what we want to do.

Why it’s Hard for Busy Moms to Eat Well

It’s certainly not impossible, but it is a lot harder than before kids. It requires more thought and organization as well.

They Don’t Make Eating Well Convenient

If you don’t have nutritious and natural food in the house you won’t eat it. You’ll eat whatever is there. If you are starving and out with the kids without a healthy snack option, you’ll end up going through drive through if things get dicey.

Or if you’re home and the kids are running here and there and you’re wiped out… your willpower will be depleted. And if it’s depleted that means you won’t make good food choices unless the nutritious options are already right there.

Having nutritious and healthy snacks with you (or knowing where you can get them quickly) will go a long way in helping you maintain the discipline to eat well. Hormel Foods has created a snack that both adults and children can eat. It has snack sized pieces of cheese and meat that are 100% natural and minimally processed with no artificial ingredients.

These snacks have protein, are filling but not overfilling, and are a good thing to tuck into your purse if you’re out running errands. Today while back to school shopping my mother, two older children, and myself all had a pack. Everyone ate every crumb.

They Go All or Nothing And Can’t Find a Balance

When can get so gung ho sometimes, us Type A women. We have these BIG goals, then feel disappointed and discouraged when we don’t maintain them.

The key is to not create unattainable goals, but smaller ones. Decide to do 15 minutes of aerobics each morning before the kids wake up, not 45. Once you’ve made 15 minutes a habit you can increase the time.

Don’t go on a strict intense diet without planning extensively and getting other family members on board. You’ll be unable to get past the wall if you don’t pave the way well. You don’t need to deprive yourself of every good thing, you just need to keep a good balance. Nutrition experts often suggest the 80 / 20 rule. 80% of what you eat is healthy and nutritious and the other 20% is whatever you end up eating.

This is a good balanced approach. 

They Go Without Then Crash and Binge

I have a bad habit of waiting until I’m hungry to eat. The trouble with this is, with lots of little kids, I can go hours and hours without feeling hungry. Eventually my blood sugar drops and I am ravenous. Then I’ll eat anything around me without a care in the world. I realized that for months I was filling my body with empty calories and not eating nearly enough protein.

Instead of having a nutritious snack around that I made an effort to eat, I just waited until I “felt” like it. This slowed down my metabolism and my energy levels. Having convenient nutritious options helps keep busy moms consistent. Keep a section of the fridge or pantry just for your specific protein filled snacks, you won’t be sorry.

They Don’t Set Themselves Up To Succeed

My friend Amber shared a tip once that helped her succeed with her healthy eating. Her temptation was to finish her 4 children’s plates as they were clearing lunch. The peanut butter and jelly crusts or the crackers, etc.  To combat this and set herself up to succeed she would take the dish soap with her to the table and squirt some of the soap on all the plates to erase her temptation.

How genius is that?!

Point being, set yourself up to succeed. Figure out what you do like. Figure out what you don’t like. Buy the types of foods you want to eat and don’t buy what isn’t good for you. If it isn’t in the house it isn’t nearly as tempting.

Buy nutritious foods.

Buy natural snack options.

Don’t overreach.