There is no reason why being a career woman and a mother can’t go hand in hand. Although you may have to juggle your job and your family, countless people have established successful careers while raising their children so you can too. You will certainly be rushed off your feet and occasionally stressed, but the sense of pride and satisfaction you’ll achieve will be monumental.
However, when you have all these commitments, it’s easy to neglect your own well-being. And a healthy diet is one of the first things to fly out of the window. Perhaps you fuel yourself with endless cups of coffee, or you grab junk food to alleviate the stress of your busy schedule. Combined with the inherently sedentary nature of working at a desk, this can lead to an incredibly unhealthy and unsustainable lifestyle.
So how can you take charge of your health and start eating better? To help on your journey, here are five tips for working moms to add more nutrition to their diets.
Keep your kitchen stocked
Always having nutritious food around you makes it a lot easier to stick to a healthy diet. Keep your fridge and cupboards well stocked with plenty of good, versatile food you can use to whip up a quick dinner in a pinch. Going grocery shopping can be time-consuming but you can always have your shopping delivered each week to save you the stress of deciding what to buy.
Stick to meal times
It’s easy to fall into bad habits when you work a busy job, and any sense of routine quickly fades. Rather than snacking all day, make sure you stick to eating regular meals at breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Pack a healthy snack like yogurt for those afternoon cravings.
Limit caffeine intake
A cup of coffee can be a great way to start the day, and if you do have to work late at night it can help you stay focused. But it’s important to limit your intake. Too much caffeine can heighten your stress and anxiety levels as well as wreak havoc on your sleep pattern and digestive system. And it can also stain your tooth enamel yellow, so if you don’t want to fork out for teeth whitening, then it would be wise to reduce your consumption to a cup a day. If that seems difficult, then you could always switch to decaf or, better yet, herbal teas.
Batch cook meals
If you can take the time to cook up a huge batch of food on a Sunday night, you then have healthy dinners to last you for the rest of the week. This can take a lot of the stress out of mealtimes as all you need to do is reheat it. Crockpot recipes are a great option for batch meals.
Choose the healthy options
There will be times when you need to order takeout for a late-night working session or take a client out for dinner, but that doesn’t mean you have to eat junk. Simply skip the alcohol and pick the healthier option on the menu.
What steps do you take to eat healthier as a busy working mom? We want to hear from you!
