This is a guest post by Renee from Belle Amie Mother of Three
As a mother of three little people I know just how hard it can be to remember to take care of yourself and to find time to eat healthy. It’s so important at this time of your life to make your health a priority because you will need to keep up with the kids with their endless energy and your lack of sleep! The best way to do this is with good nutrition and being active yourself. Today I am sharing some tips that get me through the day without eating Tiny Teddy’s or Two Minute Noodles.
Breakfast
The day starts and I am 100% sure you make breaky for the kids, and I am 70% sure you go without because you are too busy or just don’t ‘like breakfast’. Breakfast is really important in kick starting your metabolisms after it being on pause all night. Try to have something within the first half hour of being up. I have the same breaky everyday, a bowl of oats, it’s easy, it’s yummy and it’s healthy. You have to have breakfast to start your day off well, even if you have a coffee or a smoothie, that’s a start, ease in to a proper breakfast. Find something you like and make it your habit, your little bit of a healthy start in the morning.
- Cover Oats with Almond milk/Low Fat Cows milk, pop in microwave for 1min10sec. Add 1 table spoon of vanilla protein powder, LSA, Cinnamon, Slithered Almonds, Blueberries or Banana, yummo! Tastes like dessert.
- Avoid pre-packaged sachets of oats as they are full of sugars and preservatives, make them yourself for a healthy start to the day, everyday.
Lunch
Since it’s winter and we are feeling the cold, it’s the best time of year to have soup for lunch. You can make all different types of soups and you can eat it most days. I’m not talking go on a soup diet, I’m just saying a yummy bowl of home made soup for lunch is a great choice. It will leave you feeling warm, full and satisfied. A hot tip is to add lentils to your soup as they are tasteless and full of protein. So when you chop up your veggies of any kind add lentils and they just boil like the veg and once you have pureed it no one will even know just how much more healthier your soup now is.
- Soup is a no brainer, chop any veggies you like, boil, puree, salt n pepper to taste.
Dinner
Dinner has to be kid friendly, and it has to be pre-planned, if you don’t you will make a bad choice. If you haven’t given meal planning any thought maybe it’s time you did. You can then shop around your meal plan, saving money on impulse buying in the supermarket and saves spending money buying unhealthy take-a-way! Keep dinners simple, a lean meat and salad or vegetables, the easier the better. Keep the meat the size of your fist, avoid crumbing, frying or covering in sauces.
- Think grilled chicken/lamb/fish with salad or cooked vegetables, so simple, the less prep the healthier it will ultimately be.
- Try to have the pasta dishes once a week, also have a go at swapping to wholemeal pasta.
- Keep take-a-way to one night a week, find the ‘fright night’ the night were there is no time to cook tea because of after school stuff, make that take-a-way night only.
- If you want to have rice with dinner switch to brown rice, just white rice without all the nutrition bleached out and polished off.
SNACK whenever you need to, choose yogurt, nuts, fruit, raw vegetables, smoothies, grainy crackers and cheese, or air popped pop corn. Avoid muffins, chips, all the junk you know you shouldn’t be eating anyway. Think of it like you are eating cellulite!
TIPS Never leave home without a water bottle and a piece of fruit. Eat the fruit in the car and sip the water bottle now and again. If you eat out you now don’t have to buy a drink. When eating at a restaurant order the entree size, at a food court stick to sushi or a salad. Always try to eat some sort of protein with your meal, like cheese, meat or nuts. Take a multivitamin just for some insurance that you are getting everything you need.
Eat like this most days and you are on your way to losing your baby bump once and for all! Make healthy choices for a healthy life while you raise some healthy kids along the way. Your body with thank you for it with shinier hair, clearer skin and you will loose that bloated belly feeling that you hate. You have complete control of what you put in your mouth, you may just have to reprogram your taste buds in order to make better choices.
Renee is busy a mother of three who loves sharing the journey of her evolution from full time Soldier to a stay at home Mum. She blogs at www.belleamiemotherofthree.com about organisation, meals, family stuff, kid stuff, parenting, health and fitness just anything to do with channelling your inner Super Mum! You can also find Belle Amie Mother of Three on Facebook HERE
