Guest Post: Tips for Moms from Wife, Mom, and Friend

So today we have a special guest post from a friend of mine (Morgan) from high school. Keri is an awesome mom and is working hard to get her life back on track after having two sweet babies. Keri is going to give us some of her awesome tips to manage her health and nutrition while having small children. Lets jump in and get started.  

Keri says:

I thought I would share a little bit about how I changed my habits when I started to work on myself and lose weight while being a stay at home mom. I never really ate a "meal" when I first started staying home with the kids. I would grab bites of things I was giving them or eat handfuls of goldfish in between feedings or diaper changes. I would get so hungry that I would eat a poptart or two in the pantry while trying to find something to make for dinner. Have you ever seen that Snickers commercial where the mom is eating it super fast in the pantry so the kids don't ask for a bite? That was totally me!  

I finally decided to start counting calories and realized I would have to add in all of those extra bites and snacks I was having. It added up fast! I used this app called My Fitness Pal. This is a great tool for knowing exactly how many calories you are consuming. You can scan anything with a barcode on it or search for things. For example, if you are at Chickfila and wanted to get chicken nuggets you would type "Chickfila nuggets" and they'll pull up. It's really simple to use and it's free. 

Another big change I made was to start walking with the kids everyday. They knew everyday we were going and loved it. They actually kept me accountable on the days I didn't feel like going. It was a win-win. 

Sometimes it seems hard to make healthy choices when you have little kids. But the truth of the matter is, you need to take baby steps. One thing at a time. If you make spaghetti on a regular basis opt for whole wheat pasta and ground turkey. Also, measure out your portions. I can't stress this enough. Everything is ok in moderation. Another change you can make is to skip the bread. It's hard at first but eventually you will see how much better you feel because you didn't eat ALL-THE-BREAD. Give your kids fruit. All the time. My kids absolutely love fruit. Sometimes it seems like a pain to chop up and wash the fruit, but if you do it all at once and store them at eye level in your fridge it will be so easy to grab. Take the time to do some meal prep. As moms, whether you're working or not, you are extremely busy. Sometimes cooking gets so overwhelming because of the time and mess.

If you dedicate a day like Sunday to meal prep it will be so much easier during the week. Most of your meals will already be cooked. Grill all your meat on Sundays. Cut up all your veggies. Cut up all your fruit. Make a fruit salad. Make two meals that you can reheat for the week. Like I said before take baby steps. This may mean at first all you do to meal prep is grill or bake all your chicken for week and then wash and cut up fruit. That will still help tremendously and allow you to grab something healthy if you are in a hurry. 

One last and final tip: Drink mostly water. Have your cup of coffee in the morning, but then make it a habit to drink water. It's so important for you. It helps you lose weight. It helps flush out toxins. It helps your skin and hair. It is so important. Water also helps you stay full and to not snack as much. Most of the time when we feel hungry for a snack it's really our brain wanting water. I had chronic headaches for years until one day I started making myself drink water. You're supposed to have half of your body weight in ounces of water. If you weigh 200 lbs you're supposed to have 100 ounces of water a day. Try it. Every hour make yourself chug some water. I carry around a big jug that holds 72 ounces of water. I know that by looking at this jug I have to finish all the water in here before I go to bed. 

Remember to take baby steps when trying to implement habits and new changes. I believe this will help you stick to it and not get overwhelmed. Some days you may mess up but if you keep trying then you are staying consistent and doing good!

Wife,mom, and friend,Keri 

Keri's Bio:I'm a wife and stay at home mom of two kids! They are the biggest blessings in my life. I gained over 50 pounds between the two pregnancies and was at an all time high after having my son, Max. Slowly I starting making little changes and creating new habits to help me lose weight. I feel better than ever and have lost over 50 pounds. I have learned a lot about myself in the process and I believe taking the time to better myself has helped me become a better wife and mom as well.