Caring for You is a series aimed at helping you make caring for yourself a priority. After all, if you collapse because you didn’t take care of yourself, who’s going to take your place and care for the precious ones in your charge?

Click here to view all the Caring for You articles.

Mom’s Stress Is Not Like Others’ Stress

Everyone has some stress in their lives at one time or another. But for us moms, the type of stress we have is very different. Why? Because we wear so many hats all at the same time.

Nurse, teacher, psychologist, maid, Laundromat, chef, babysitter, taxi service, and more – all are wrapped into Mom. I often wondered how much we would get paid if we were actually paid for all the ‘jobs’ we do. Really, there is no price you can put on a mom because she is priceless!

But are we stressed? Yep! Some days more than others.

Our Eating Habits May Be Contributing to Our Stress

A lot of moms I chat with seem to have problems getting the right nutrition in general. They seem to find that they are so busy, they don’t have time to eat well. It’s a big problem amongst us moms, but it’s one that we can and should take the time to rectify. After all when our bodies are tired and rundown, we aren’t much good to anyone, so its very important to keep ourselves ‘maintained’ so we can be all we can be and enjoy our families.

In addition to meal planning, one of the first changes that should be made is scheduling meal times.

Actually, a schedule is something I couldn’t live without when my children were growing up. It took some getting used to, but in the end, keeping regular meal times, bed times, appointment, chores, etc. really helped me. So get out that white board and start getting your meal times straight first.

Most importantly, be sure to eat a good breakfast. This will give you (and your children) a good start to the day. You need the best fuel first thing in the morning to jumpstart your day.

Grabbing a quick gulp of coffee and a danish are going to pump you up fast and then give you a hefty crash by 9 a.m., causing irritability, tiredness, and possibly the shakes from low blood sugar levels. Not to mention lowering your immune system, allowing you to get sick faster. These side effects mean that caffeinated beverages do add to stress in a very unhealthy way.

Keep in mind that breakfast doesn’t mean “Trucker’s Special.” A grapefruit, banana, and/or protein shake are much better options. You can never go wrong if you eat an abundance of fruits, veggies and whole grains.

Honestly, eating your largest meal at the start of the day, instead of at dinner time, is a great way to de-stress your body. Trying to digest big meals at night can not only cause weight gain but also stresses the body since it has a hard time digesting food when our metabolism drops off at night.

Certain Foods Can Help Us De-Stress

I thought it would be fun to explore some foods that actually help to de-stress our bodies.

Foods with high protein content that aren’t loaded with sugar won’t cause a spike in blood sugar and will keep you satiated for a longer time. Try mixing cottage cheese with a fruit that is high in vitamin C, like oranges.

Vitamin C plays a role in fighting stress because it’s an antioxidant that fights the free radicals that get released when you’re stressed Your body can digest these easier, putting less stress on the body. And when there is less stress on the body, we can handle all of life’s little problems much easier. Try going meatless a couple times a week and instead amp up on Vitamin C producing foods.

Asparagus helps to stabilize your mood and is high in folic acid. Eating certain vitamins and minerals like folic acid and B vitamins can help keep your mood steady because they’re needed to make serotonin, which is a chemical that directly affects mood in a positive way.

Are you ever looking for something you can really dig your teeth into when you’re stressed? Try crunching on raw almonds to get some aggression out. A good source of Vitamin B2 and E, as well as magnesium and zinc, almonds are low in fats, and high in the unsaturated kind.

Like vitamin C, vitamin E has been shown to fight the free radicals associated with stress, and in particular, those free radicals that cause heart disease. Almonds have also been known to be cancer fighters.

A great lunch option, tuna is high in stress-fighting vitamins B6 and B12. Tuna is also a good low-fat protein source. Don’t load tuna down with fat by using a lot of mayonnaise however. Chose a light mayo instead, or use a vegetarian version. I’m always game to try new things, and I have found Vegenaise with grape seed extract amazing!. Tastes just like the real thing (actually better!), but the grape seed helps to build immunity.

Very rich in antioxidants, blueberries offer a high-fiber, low-calorie fruit option that is also rich in stress-fighting vitamin C. Try them with cottage cheese or as a snack on their own, over cereal and in pancakes or waffles.

Healthy Eating Shouldn’t Be Just for Mom

By the way, get the whole family on a healthy eating habit, adding wholesome fruits and veggies as snacks and as part of the meal. Cut down on anything processed and full of sugar. You will see amazing results and in the end, will deal with fewer headaches and less stress.

Every little change you make is always for the better…a better, less stressed you!

Wishing you abundant health!
Robin Brostovski, CWC

Robin Brostovski is a certified professional health and wellness consultant, and stay at home mom of 2 grown boys. She is a homeschool veteran (K-12) and loves sharing her expertise. She is also ‘mommy’ to her two smaller Maltese babies.

Most of our readers are women. And most of our readers are women who are responsible for caring for someone else. Perhaps you’re responsible for caring for many people.

Because so many people depend on us, taking care of ourselves should actually be one of our top priorities, but all too often, it’s the last item on our agenda. Caring for You is a new series aimed at helping you make caring for yourself a priority. After all, if you collapse because you didn’t take care of yourself, who’s going to take your place and care for the precious ones in your charge?

Click here to view all the Caring for You articles.

 Food – It Does a Body Good (If It’s the Right Kind of Food)

Think of food. What comes to mind?

For me, it’s Mexican food (I grew up in McAllen, TX on the border of Mexico) and sweets! Those are my comfort foods.

Side note: Have you noticed that comfort foods typically aren’t good for you?

You know that your body cannot live without the fuel you get from food. But you also know it can be challenging, even overwhelming, to provide your body with the best kind of fuel. Sometimes it’s a struggle to find time or energy to provide it with fuel at all! What’s a girl to do?

Change Your Habits

It’s obvious that you need to make changes. You probably even know what changes you need to make. But changing a habit is HARD. After all, it is a habit!

Once you’ve committed to making changes, don’t try to change all of your bad eating habits at one time. Making too many changes at once sets you up for failure. Instead, pick one bad habit and work on changing just that one habit. Once you’ve successfully replaced that bad habit with a good habit, start working on another bad habit. Meal planning is a good place to begin.

Failure to Plan Is Planning to Fail.

That old adage is true in every area of life, including our eating habits. Speaking from experience, if you do not have a meal plan, you will be more likely to eat at odd times, skip meals, and eat fewer healthy meals.

All of those actions (irregular meal times, skipped meals, and eating junk food) are destructive to your health. That’s not how you would care for someone else, and it’s not how you should care for yourself. Remember, our goal is to make caring for you a priority so that you can continue to care for others.

Meal Planning Doesn’t Have to Be a Complicated Chore

Although it can seem like a lot of work to plan your meals, it doesn’t have to be. Here are some ways I simplify the meal planning process.

1. Make breakfast and lunch easy.
   We have the same breakfast (sausage, scrambled eggs, and toast with jelly) Monday through Friday. Saturday is the day for special breakfasts – home made pancakes/waffles/French toast are favorites. Sunday is the day for fast breakfasts like frozen waffles or cold cereal. Weekday lunch usually consists of a sandwich or the occasional leftovers. Saturday lunch varies, and Sunday lunch is a nice meal – typically a meat and two or three vegetables.Because breakfast and lunch are purposely predictable, I don’t have to think about what we’re having.
2. Create a list of the meals your family enjoys.
   This is going to be the foundation for planning your meals. You can create this list over time. It will probably change with time, too, so plan to update it every so often.
3. Plan out your suppers for (a week, two weeks … you fill in the blank).
   My husband gets paid every two weeks so I plan suppers for two weeks at a time. I plan easy meals for Wednesday and Sunday nights because I know that preparing to go to church leaves me crunched for time to prepare supper. My husband likes “fun” foods on Friday and Saturday nights so I plan to make tacos, home made pizza, home made chicken tenders, and similar meals then. The big meal on Sunday is at lunch time.Make your meal plan flexible. Meals don’t have to be assigned to specific days. Just having planned meals helps eliminate the “What’s for dinner?” dilemma. And being able to pick and choose the meal you want to serve each day means that you can pick the best meal for the day’s stress level. Hard day? Pick an easy meal.

Still Sound Too Complicated? You’re Not Out of Options.

I know how you can have someone else plan your meals and corresponding grocery list for you for just $5 per month.

Ah! That got your attention, didn’t it?

A couple of months ago, my sister told me about e-mealz.com (aff. link), a business that provides you with a menu and shopping list for 7 meals per week, all for a cost of $5 per month.

Seriously?! $5 per month to have someone plan my meals and the grocery list for those meals? I waste more than $5 per month when I don’t plan my meals.

So I decided to give it a try, and I’ve been very pleased with the service. It saves me both time and money. The only cons I’ve found in the two months that I’ve been using the service are that some weeks use convenience foods more often than I’d like (usually for the side dishes) and there are a few (very few) dishes that we’ve tried and haven’t liked. But I’m completely willing to substitute my own sides for the ones I feel are too unhealthy, and I’m also willing to substitute a meal for one we find we don’t like.

If you’re interested in learning more, you can click the banner below. It is an affiliate link so if you’d rather not use it, just go directly to http://e-mealz.com.

Just Take Action

It doesn’t matter if you decide to plan your meals yourself or if you choose to have someone else do the planning for you. The important thing is that you have a plan to properly care for yourself by providing your body with good food at regular times.

What’s Your Plan?

We’d love to hear how you care for yourself by creating good eating habits. Leave a comment below to share your ideas and practices.

~Revka Stearns

P.S. Although new posts in this series normally appear monthly, a new post will appear next Friday talking about foods that help you de-stress. You won’t want to miss it!

The opinions expressed in this post are my own. I was not compensated for this post in any way. I’m just sharing with my readers something I found helpful myself.