9 Ways for Moms to Eat Healthier This Summer

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In my last post, I mentioned that I was inspired to keep writing in this blog partly due to a kale smoothie and my son’s snarky comments about it.

I mentioned that I haven’t been eating so healthy; I didn’t mention that when I got a routine blood test a few months ago, my doctor mentioned my cholesterol is high (the bad cholesterol) and encouraged me to eat better. And with a visit to the doctor last week, although he didn’t do a blood draw, they did the little finger poke to test hemoglobin and that was low, which meant my iron levels aren’t so great.

Those two factors back to back, and also the fact that most of my pants no longer fit me, conspired to inspire me to eat better.

So, I’m kind of embarking on it at the same time but I also want to share with you some things that I think will inspire not just healthy eating, but healthy living overall.

And these suggestions will enable not just you but others in your family to eat and live healthier lifestyles too. What do I mean by that?

Let’s start with the first point.

Eat Healthier by Focusing on Your Eating Habits

If you’re a mom with young kids or a working mom with older kids (or even a working mom with no kids at home), we know that life is busy. There’s always something more that we could be doing but often—especially for moms of young kids or children who are still at home—our tendency is to focus on the kids first. This means that we moms don’t always make our healthy eating a priority.

This is evidenced by a book I’m reading by Jane Rubietta called Quiet Places. She mentioned that she could only eat certain things, so much of the time she would end up making healthy food for her family members and end up with absolutely nothing for herself to eat.

Clearly, this is not sustainable or healthy, but it’s kind of natural. This woman is a speaker and found that when she said this to a group of women, it resonated with other mothers as well.

So, the first and most important way to eat healthier is to focus on yourself and your healthy eating.

And honestly, this will trickle down to your kids more easily than you might think. Case in point, when I was making that smoothie yesterday, my son came into the kitchen. And if the smoothie were any color other than green, he would have been glad for a glass of it. This is a boy who generally prefers burgers, hot dogs, and pizza for dinner. It’s a struggle to get him to eat a balanced diet but he will down a smoothie, no sugar added, without complaint.

So, if I did take the time to make myself a healthy smoothie, guess who else would be eating healthy? My son.

So, if you’re trying to eat healthier, focus on yourself and the positive effects will trickle down to your other family members. If nothing else, you will feel better and more energetic if you’re eating well and not skipping meals.

Plan Your Meals in Advance

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I might have mentioned that I enjoy making schedules and planning things. The problem is that I’m often too ambitious. When I try to make a plan and do my shopping for the whole month in advance, it turns out too big of a task, so I end up not doing it again for another year.

What I learned from that is that it’s good to plan ahead but do it in a way that works for you. Sometimes a loose plan or a flexible one, like a menu with several breakfast, lunch, and dinner options for a two-week period works well.

Then you can choose seasonal fruit or do some bulk shopping and get a bunch of produce that you can wash and freeze in advance for smoothies or something practical that saves times and enables you to eat healthier.

Do Some Meal Prep Ahead of Time

This will be more practical for some moms than others, but if it works for you, it can definitely help you moms eat more healthy.

For instance, if you work throughout the week and have a busy schedule, you might plan to do a bunch of washing and chopping and freezing of fresh fruits and veggies over the weekend, ahead of time. Then when it comes time to make your meals, you’re able to do it in a short period of time but you’re still working with healthier foods than if you’re just opening a can or tossing noodles with powder into a pot.

Eat Healthier by Not Being too Strict

Seriously, allow yourself some cheat days. (This might also be a cheat evening), the point being that you aren’t so strict with your healthy eating that you grow weary of it within a few days and go back to eating an entire bag of chips in a single sitting and then giving up all together.

Believe me, I have done that as well.

I love Anne Lamott’s quote about giving yourself grace. She probably says this several places throughout her books, but basically if you fall off the bandwagon (or if you never quite make it on the bandwagon of healthy eating to begin with), that’s not a reason to give up all together.

Just try the best you can.

But trying the best you can really does become easier if you allow yourself your special treats on your cheat days or cheat evenings. (Just make sure you don’t go overboard.)

For instance, I can do really well at eating healthy throughout the day, but when it comes to the evening, when I’m relaxing, that is when I can end up eating an entire box of sour patch kids and then start looking around for what else is crunchy and munchie in or on top of the fridge.

So, if I allow myself a little break, I also need to make sure that I am being moderate and allow myself to cheat a little or have a little treat but not overdo it.

Tell Your Family You’re Focusing on Healthy Eating.

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If you’re the mother of the household and you do most of the shopping, this might or might not have much bearing, but the reason to tell others that mommy is trying to eat healthier is twofold.

One, if others do bring home food, they are aware that you are trying to eat or healthy. For instance, I mentioned this to my husband a few times over the last couple of days and today he ended up bringing home bananas, cherries, strawberries, grapes, mushrooms, a basil plant, and only one bar of dark chocolate from the store.

In the past, the ratio of junk food to fresh and healthy food would have been inverse.

He knows I’m trying and he is trying to make it easier for me.

I said this one is twofold and the other reason is this: you tell your children that you’re bringing home nothing but healthy food for the entire family and they might mutiny. But if you let them know that you’re trying to eat healthy and that you’d appreciate their help with it, they will probably be easier to work with and not assume that you’re trying to completely change their lifestyle just because you’re trying to change yours.

Again, the ripple effect is a powerful one and can be effective.

Don’t Wait Until You’re Hungry to Start Foraging.

This is seriously the one thing that if I get it down will be a game changer for me.

I always wait until the last minute. I don’t exactly have blood sugar problems but I’ve always had a fast metabolism and sometimes from one moment to the next, I simply can’t think straight.

So I go to the quickest and easiest thing in the pantry which are always carbs and sugars—basically, the very worst things.

I’ve been trying to do better with us over the last couple of days and I’m finding that it really is working well if I’m not voraciously hungry to focus on making something higher in protein, iron, fiber, and all the good stuff.

Eat Healthier by Eating Mindfully.

This doesn’t necessarily mean you need to give thanks for every meal although an attitude of gratitude never hurt anyone. There are probably studies out there showing that eating with a grateful and content heart actually helps digestion.

But this is about slowing down and being more mindful when you eat.

Of course, you probably won’t be able to do this for every meal but try to have at least one meal in the day where you take it a little more slowly, where you focus on the presentation and the beauty of the dish itself or the colors.

Or even if you don’t have time for that, just slow down a little bit when you eat. Focus on the texture and the flavor of the food.

Slowing down also helps with digestion as well as with you feeling full; it gives your brain a change to catch up with your stomach and know when you’re full so you don’t end up overeating.

Mindless eating is probably responsible for a lot of the extra pounds that I’ll be trying to lose over the next little while.

Invest a Little in Healthy Eating.

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We all know inflation is a bear and things are more expensive than they ever have been.

It can be frustrating to live within a budget especially if income levels haven’t changed while expenses have only increased.

But if you’re a mom focusing on healthy eating, it makes it a lot easier if you invest a little bit into it.

This doesn’t mean a huge amount. Not everyone can afford to shop at those top-spots. But when I go shopping, I’ll allow myself an extra few dollars for something that I enjoy and that is healthy.

For instance, I have a favorite cereal that is healthy but not available in many stores and tends to be expensive. So I’m planning on finding that cereal next time I go shopping; that will be a little treat for myself.

Last time I went shopping, I picked up some onion and chives spreadable cream cheese, which isn’t like some amazing, expensive thing, but it’s something I’ve enjoyed several times recently on Triscuits and whole wheat toast.

(It’s healthier than the other readily available option on the kitchen table which is muffins from Costco. That was before I talked to my husband about eating healthier.)

Have Fun Eating Healthy

So, I hope these suggestions on ways for moms to eat healthier this summer are helpful—not just for you but for your family.

And I hope they are helpful not just for short-term binge dieting so you look better in a bikini. (Believe me when I say my bikini days are long gone.)

But I hope these suggestions help you live a more sustainably and long-term healthy lifestyle and have fun while doing it. Nobody wants to live healthy, but be miserable.

Reminds me of this little joke:

An 85-year-old couple were married almost 60 years before they both died. They had been in good health the last 10 years, mainly due to the wife’s interest in health food and exercise.

When they reached the pearly gates, St Peter took them to their mansion, which was decked out with a beautiful kitchen and master bedroom and spa. As they looked in awe, the old man asked St Peter how much all of this was going to cost.

“It’s free,” St Peter replied. “This is Heaven.”

They went to a club house and saw the lavish buffet lunch with the cuisines of the world laid out.

“How much to eat?” asked the old man.

“This is Heaven, it is free!” St Peter replied with some exasperation.

“Well, where are the low cholesterol tables?” the old man asked timidly.

St Peter lectured, “That’s the best part, you can eat as much as you like of whatever you like and you never get fat and you never get sick! This is Heaven.”

With that, the old man went into a fit of rage, throwing down his hat and stomping on it and shrieking wildly. His wife and St Peter both tried to calm him down, asking him what was wrong.

The old man looked at his wife and said, “This is all your fault. If it weren’t for your blasted bran muffins, I could have been here 10 years ago!”

So, here’s to healthy living and happy living.