Losing weight is hard enough for an average working person, as a mom it may feel impossible. Losing weight isn’t just for our physical appearance but for our health, self-confidence, and feeling better in general. The process of losing weight can also generate new, healthy habits such as exercise which can improve our quality of life. However, although there are benefits to lose weight remember that your weight does not define you. It is completely normal to put on pounds after carrying a human life in your belly for nine months! The process of losing weight healthily takes time but this is beneficial if you want to keep the pounds off and create a healthy lifestyle. If you are looking to create a healthy lifestyle for yourself, reading blogs is a great motivator and education tool. For now, here are a few weight loss habits you can weave into your busy lifestyle.
Eating a more plant-based diet
This is possibly one of the best and easiest tips for anyone trying to lose weight. Eating plant-based means cutting out all meat, fish, eggs, and lactose. The thing is, to lose weight you don’t need to completely cut meat out of your diet (although it is beneficial for creating lasting results). A plant-based diet will fill you up quickly on fiber overall this leads to fewer calories being consumed in a meal and therefore throughout the day. Greens are high in necessary nutrients that will increase your health. By removing or eating less meat, eggs, cream, you are also removing sources of high fat from your diet. Again, this reduces the number of calories you are consuming daily. As stated by Susan Levin, “As the weight comes off, you’ll start to see blood pressure, blood sugar, triglycerides, and cholesterol fall right along with it. ”
Follow the 80/20 method
The 80/20 method means attempting to eat 80% of healthy – unprocessed foods throughout the day and only 20% processed food. Letting yourself eat some processed food is helpful to a weight-loss journey because it will avoid binges. Restricting fewer foods means you are less likely to eat other foods to compensate for what you really want.
Start meal prepping
I am sure that, as moms, meal prepping is a well-known concept. Meal prepping for your child and meal prepping for you will be similar. In both cases, you need to make sure that each meal has a balance of carbs, fats, proteins. Meal prepping is a great tool for a busy life, it will also help control portion size and fulfill your satiety. Meal prep will make sure that you are eating a healthy range of food sources, it will save a lot of time and it is cheap. It will also aid you if you follow the 80/20 rule. With a busy lifestyle sometimes we end up eating fast food or packaged foods just so we can satiate our hunger, this leads to a quick build-up of calories. In general, eating natural foods and using natural products is a great way to improve your health.
Get outside more
Getting outside may be difficult if you have kids to look after at home the whole day. However, there are things you can do to get some exercise in. Walking to the park with the kids is a great option. If they are at that age with a lot of energy this will also be a great activity for the kids. With a toddler or a younger child, it is also possible to take them on a walk around the neighborhood with the stroller. As a mother you are moving around all day, cleaning the house plus looking after the kids, and if you have work to do that’s just another thing to worry about. Already a mother’s daily calorie expenditure is high so some constant exercise for 20-40 minutes a day is sufficient to lose weight. Another option, however, is to go on a quick morning walk while the children are still asleep or if they are taking a nap during the day.
Find time for some yoga
Yoga is a great tool to get some movement in and kickstart your digestive system. Yoga is a mental and physical practice, doing yoga will help the mind notice when it is full. A consistent yoga practice can also help you get to sleep easier and you will have a deeper sleep. Sleep is important for weight loss – it affects body composition, including fat loss. Slower yoga poses are good for the digestive system however you should also try to do fast-paced sessions at most 5 times a week. It is advised not to do yoga after eating. Sparing 20-30 minutes in the morning for a nice practice will do you good. It will make you less stressed, more energized and leave your body feeling better overall.
