How to Lose Weight when you are a Busy Mom
If you are a mom you know that life goes at lightning speed. Taking care of ourselves doesn’t often come first. If you have wondered how to lose weight when you are a busy mom, today I want to encourage you and say that it is possible!
So, first things first. I know that the very mention of losing weight can make people upset. I know that when I start taking care of myself and the pounds fall off I’m supposed to say, “I don’t care about weight loss, I just want to feel better.” And let’s get something straight – I DO exercise and eat better to feel better.
I wouldn’t be driven to lose weight if I still felt awful. But also, I’m human and I eat better and exercise to lose weight as well. I like to feel my best, and I feel better when I am at what I consider to be an ideal weight for myself.
I recently lost about 15 lbs. That 15 lbs was enough to put me into the healthy zone for my height. While it wasn’t a crazy amount of weight to lose, it still has taken a lot of effort because, well, I am a busy mom. All busy moms know that achieving our weight loss goals can be difficult. I have a busy schedule.
Either I’m driving kids to activities, teaching them (because we homeschool), making meals, entertaining extra kids at my house, or trying desperately hard to make family memories in the midst of it all. And though I don’t work outside of the home, if you are a busy working mom or a stay at home mom, the struggle is still very real.
I had been carrying the extra weight I didn’t want for a few years now. It all started when we moved 7 hours north. Our first 5 months of our move were spent living in a trailer as a family of 5, and then moving into our own home.
We were surrounded by a lovely community who loved to feed us with amazing food. We also took up fishing, and anyone who loves fishing knows the best way to make fish is deep fried.
That first summer consisted of so many fish fries.
While I was living in a place I absolutely adored, I wasn’t feeling the greatest anymore. The junk food had caught up with me and I was pretty tired, and my clothes were too tight. My favorite jeans no longer fit and sat in the drawer.
And then one day, about 6 months ago, during a particularly low time, ,I decided I needed to get serious and make a change.
So today I want to share with you some weight loss tips that I believe can help if you are a busy mom. Ones that are attainable, even if you don’t have a lot of time.
How to Lose Weight when you are a Busy Mom
Focus on portion size
For me, the thought of trying to change all the meals we make and convince my family that they should eat a completely different meal plan than they have been eating for years was overwhelming. You know what doesn’t help you lose weight?
The stress of dinner time battles with your kids. So, at the beginning I didn’t even make too many different foods. I just focused on eating LESS. I realized my biggest issue was portion size.
No, I wasn’t going to eat two chicken burgers at dinner anymore. I didn’t need half a plate of white rice. And while it’s totally okay to eat those potatoes, again, I needed to keep in mind what kind of portion I should be serving myself.
I attribute portion control to my biggest contributor to losing the weight.
Don’t snack while you are making meals
I am notorious for snacking as I cook. Making ceasar salad? I think I’ll snack on some croutons. Cutting cheese for a meal? I’ll snack on a few slices as I go. The problem is, this all adds up to calories you probably don’t need.
Small changes like not snacking while you cook make a difference. If you are worried you will still mindlessly snack as you cook without even thinking about it, consider chewing some gum. It’s hard to stuff food in your mouth when you are already munching on something.
Start meal planning
Meal planning is so important when you want to have a healthier lifestyle. I know that when I am meal prepping and meal planning I find it easier to stick to healthy meals.
If you don’t know what you are eating and it’s 4 p.m. and you are driving somewhere with your kids it’s very easy to find a fast food lineup and order foods you don’t want to be eating.
You are tired, everyone is hungry, and the thought of cleaning up dirty dishes after a long day is enough to throw the healthy food choices out the window.
However, if you have a meal plan you can make sure you have food on hand that are quick and easy on those busy days. If you know you are not going to have as much time for dinner prep that night (story of a mom’s life, am I right?) you can plan for a faster meal that is still healthy, or you can even do some food prep the night before.
One of my favorite meals is burrito bowls. I can make the rice ahead of time, and we can top the rice with vegetables, avocado, chicken, and salsa. My kids will eat the cheese on theirs and I’ll leave mine off to make it a little healthier.
Incorporate a fitness routine that works for you
As part of my weight loss journey I wanted to add in some physical activity. However, I find it very difficult to find time to fit that in, especially as a homeschool mom.
My kids are mostly always with me, and rarely are all three gone at the same time. That means there isn’t a lot of down time for myself.
However, I am a better mom and a better wife when I take care of myself, and so I made it my daily goal to move a little bit each day. I needed it to work for myself though.
So each day I go for a 25-30 minute walk in the morning while my children are working on independent work (my oldest is 16 and so I’m able to leave her in charge.)
At about 11:30 I’ll do a 20 minute weight lifting routine at home. I put on a Youtube video by one of my favorite channels, Hasfit, and my youngest child often joins in with me because he likes to do that sort of thing. This workout routine is what works for me right now.
Honestly, I’d like to be working out a little longer and a little harder so reach my fitness goals, but I also know that there are different seasons in life and so the important thing is that I am moving my body daily in some way.
One day my kids will no longer be at home and I’ll have more time to do what I want in this department. So, while I think it’s super important we make some time to take care of ourselves in every season, sometimes we won’t be able to do it exactly how we want. That’s okay. Positive lifestyle changes vary depending on what is going on in our life at the time.
Eat enough food
Losing weight requires a calorie deficit. You have to eat less calories than you used to if you are going to lose weight. However, you still need to make sure you are eating ENOUGH.
Especially as a busy mom, you need energy. if you are starving you are going to be tired, and cranky, and no use to anyone around you. So be sure to cut back on the calories just enough to lose weight slowly. They say a healthy weight lose is about 1-2 pounds a week.
I definitely was only losing at about a pound a week.
Make sure you are getting enough protein to energize yourself throughout the day. Being a mom requires A LOT of us, and that means we need to have healthy eating habits to keep our energy levels up. Eating too little is not healthy and may even set us back in our weight-loss goal. Healthy fats like avocadoes are an excellent choice too to keep you full!
Weight loss is possible when you are a mom
A healthy lifestyle can feel impossible when you have little time to yourself as a mother. Yet, even with a full schedule there are ways to incorporate healthy foods, and exercise to your daily routine.
Hopefully the above tips can help you in making positive changes for your own health.
Other things you will want to do to take care of your health is to drink enough water, manage your stress levels, and get enough sleep (when you can!) But to also be gentle with yourself when you don’t hit those goals. Sometimes a busy life with kids can get in the way of doing what you want to do to take care of your health, but just take it day by day.
If today you didn’t hit your health goals like you wanted – you maybe ate too many calories, or you didn’t participate in an active lifestyle due to challenges in your day, don’t pack it in. Just do the next thing – go for a walk as soon as you can.
Eat a healthy snack next time you are hungry. With young children, and even older children you just need to take it day by day and believe that you can hit your healthy living goals with time and perseverance.