Health & Work Out Tips For Moms, How to Get Started

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There’s better time than right now to start your aim for the most healthy version of yourself possible. I am certified in both adult and child nutrition and am an active mother of three. I am sharing some health & fitness tips here for any moms looking to get started.

Getting more fit is a great goal, but always remember to aim for healthy and the rest will follow. Here are some super simple things you can do to promote that a healthier you (these have helped me to lose weight as well)

Water

  • Drink a glass of water first thing in the morning: Your body needs hydration when you wake up!
  • Water first thing in the morning helps with digestion throughout the day.
  • Ideally, drink 2-4 cups (yes, this much!) before having your morning coffee. A large drinking glass can be almost 2 cups of water, so two large glasses is totally manageable – minimally, one cup when you wake up though
  • Drink a cup of water before every meal (one cup is only 8 oz) – remember: water helps with digestion! Your brain can send signals to you when you are thirsty that make you feel like you are hungry – and tell you to eat until the thirst is quenched, causing you to eat more than your body actually needed. Drinking water before/during a meal helps avoid over eating/snacking.
  • Increasing your water intake promotes healthier skin
  • Drink a minimum of 8 cups of water per day – but aim higher! Drinking 16 cups is even better (that is only 8oz per hour that you are awake) you can sip your water from a water bottle slowly during the day, or once an hour head over for your H20 & drink the entire cup right there at the sink – takes less than 15 seconds!

Sleep

A good sleep is essential for health. Adults need 7-9 hours of sleep a night. Poor sleep quality/quantity is associated with weight gain, moodiness, depression, lower immunity, memory issues, concentration, heart disease, poor balance, and can even affect your appearance. Parents don’t always have the option of a great sleep every night, but try to give yourself the right amount of time by giving yourself a bed time (I am serious!) or sneaking in a little nap during the day if you can.

Eating

  • Listen to your body – this is so important, guys! If you are hungry, eat! (Make sure you are drinking enough water, though) When you are full, it’s okay to leave the food you didn’t eat. Over eating for the sole purpose of finishing what is on the plate can cause you to feel unwell, become groggy and is not healthy for you.
  • Fad diets should be avoided at all costs. Aim for healthy choices and allow yourself indulgences like chocolate, cookies, candy, pie – all of your favorites – just balance it out with healthy food choices
  • Vegetables, vegetables, vegetables! Eat LOTS – I’m talking half of your lunch plate and half of your dinner plate should be veggies. They also make a great snack and there are so many yummy ways to eat them
  • 12 hour window: give your digestive track a little break. It should not be constantly working. Give your self a 12 hour window during the day to eat and 12 hours to rest (ie: if your first meal is at 8 am, then eat your last meal/snack of the night by 8 pm) *this does not include water – drink it anytime!*
  • A good rule of thumb during meals: your stomach should have 1/3 food and 1/3 water and avoid eating until you are so full that you do not feel well.

Getting Active

Remember: Aim for health!

Benefits of staying active: #1 – You feel better! Being active also helps with quality of sleep, weight control, better mood, gives you MORE energy (that’s right!), helps you feel more relaxed, helps you to have a quicker/easier recovery time from sickness/surgery, helps relieve stress, gives you stronger bones, muscles and joints and significantly reduces your risk for heart attack, type 2 diabetes, some cancers, osteoporosis and has many more health benefits.

How much exercise do adults need?

Adults need a minimum of 2-5 hours a week of medium intensity (ie: workouts, time at the gym, running) or moderate intensity activity (ie: brisk walking) – or a combination of both.

Half hour a day, 6 days of the week will put you right in the middle! Schedule the time for your body into your day. Good options are:

  • Getting up before the kids (this sounds crazy until you try it! It is so nice to be up with peace and quiet and have time for yourself before starting your hectic day – this is my personal choice as I get my work out over with and things rarely come up to change my plans this early)
  • Around lunch – while kids are sleeping or during lunch hour, etc, if your schedule allows
  • When the kids go to bed/after dinner

Planning Work Outs

Plan, plan, plan – I cannot stress this enough. It makes it easy to keep going with your routine and feeling great. Pre-plan:

  • Your work out times for the week – and do your best to stick to it
  • What you are going to wear to work out (Seriously, plan it.) Lay out clothes or shoes beforehand (or the night before), get your water bottle ready and any other things you may need (like weights or bands, for example) so when it is time to work out, everything is there and ready for you to just pick up and get started
  • Your actual work outs – see below

Work outs

Work outs can & should include cardio – this can be a 30 minute brisk walk! If you don’t have a treadmill or cannot get to the gym, take a walk around your neighbourhood or even around the block a few times. Tip: listen to music, a pod cast or a YouTube video while you walk and the time will fly by.

Pre-plan your week’s work outs. First, make sure the timing works with your schedule and motivation. Good examples of a schedule:

  • 6 days a week for 20-30 minutes each
  • 5 days a week for 30+ minutes each
  • 3 days a week for 1 hour each

Work out scheduling:

See how many days a week are in your plan & fill up the time. You can do a combo of walking & work outs, just walking or just work outs – whatever you like best. Pre-plan what you will be doing on your work out day so you just have to consult your list when it is time to get your body moving.

Work out videos:

I love to utilize YouTube! Videos are free and there are unlimited clips to choose from. Steps to picking them:

  • Choose the section(s) of your body/muscle group you’d like to concentrate on for this work out. (ie: abs/core, side abs/flanks, glutes/side glutes, legs, arms, back, etc)
  • Choose different body parts to work out for each work out day you have planned in a week to give the muscles you are targeting a chance to recover before working them out again the next week.
  • Look up videos for the muscle group you are planning to work out – note the length of the video, save the link for yourself + add more until the work-out time you have scheduled for yourself is full (so two 15 minute videos would be your 30 minutes for the day, or 15 min video + 15 min walk, etc)
  • Search for specifics like: Home work out, women’s ab work out, arm workout with (or without) weights, side glutes workout, beginner work out, pregnancy work out, postpartum work out, etc.

Tip: A low impact Pilates workout is always a go-to 🙂

Then at your work out time just grab your things/change and click the videos & follow along!

A couple work outs/people to follow I personally like:

Workout equipment I love to have in the house:

Most important: Give yourself TIME. Goals are encouraged if they give you motivation, but know that getting into a routine and achieving results take a lot of time. Give yourself grace, realistic goals and find something that works for YOU.

I hope this blog helps anyone wanting to aim for a more healthy you! If you have some health/fitness tips that worked for you that you’d like to share, feel free to comment with them!

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