Moms are usually so busy caring for other people that they forget to care for themselves. Unfortunately, Verywell Family’s article for new moms reveals that parents who don’t have adequate breaks and periods of rest end up experiencing parental burnout. This experience is more common among moms because they tend to juggle big responsibilities at home and work, leaving them with no room for breaks. Being a perfect parent is impossible though, and pushing oneself further can only lead to emotional exhaustion, parental neglect, and escape ideation.
So if you want to do a better job as a parent, start by taking care of yourself as a mom first. You can become a better version of yourself by following these health tips:
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Be mindful of your eating behaviors and practices
How often do you order take-out meals? A study on The Influence of Parental Dietary Behaviors and Practices on Children’s Eating Habits revealed that American parents love eating ready-to-eat meals from supermarkets or restaurants. While this is easy and convenient, the study shows that eating outside the home is associated with lower diet quality. On top of that, this diet also decreases your intake of micronutrients like vitamin C, iron, and calcium.
It can be tempting to order food all the time because you can enjoy tasty meals without sacrificing precious time for your baby or your work. However, this eating behavior can put you and your family at risk, so it’s important to learn how to prepare meals at home. You can start by looking for one-pot or quick recipes to save a bit of time from cooking without compromising your health.
Manage your physical health with a balanced diet
Let’s admit it: you can save more time and energy by eating less food or even skipping meals. Other moms even resort to these harmful practices because they want to lose the weight that they gained from pregnancy. Though this may seem convenient and advantageous, these harmful weight loss practices will only deplete your energy and harm your health.
On the other hand, you can boost your health and lose weight by learning how to prepare a well-balanced diet. To start, WeightWatchers recommends following weight loss plans that are developed by nutrition and behavioral science experts. Unlike yo-yo diets and other fads, these plans teach you how to manage your diet better to lose weight without harming your health or sacrificing your favorite foods. Expert-made plans are also much simple, making them easy to squeeze into your busy schedule.
Make sure that you’re getting enough sleep
Many mothers, especially the new ones, often complain about not getting enough sleep. It can be a big challenge to find times for rest when you have to feed your child or even relieve their crying in the middle of the night.
As such, it’s not surprising that the Sleep Foundation reports that new mothers lose more than an hour of sleep at night after their baby is born. This puts women at risk for insomnia, anxiety, depression, and fatigue, which is why sleep experts recommend that you create a good sleeping environment for both you and your baby. Make sure that the room is cool, quiet, and dark to ensure that you can get a high sleepy quality while your baby is resting comfortably through the night.
Work with a trusted accountability partner
If you’re struggling to do all these healthy habits by yourself, it may be time to find an accountability partner. These accountability partners motivate, encourage, and keep you focused on the health goals that you want to achieve. This person could be your spouse or best friend as long as they keep you consistent and dedicated to your nutrition plan or your new sleep habits.
But if you want to be more disciplined, our article about ‘Benefits of Having a Life Coach’ recommends working with one that can help you keep your eyes on your health goals. Life coaches can also help you with self-care, health, fitness, work-life balance, and even parenting to ensure that you can properly care for yourself while caring for your family.
It’s easy to fall into bad health habits when your schedule gets busy. However, it’s important to give yourself a bit of love and care to avoid health issues and parental burnout.
