Being a mother is a full-time job – but so is work. Juggling between work, parenting, relationships, and fitness daily can seem overwhelming even to the most hardworking woman.
Most women lead hectic lifestyles. With demands of school, profession, kids, home, spouse, and so on, it seems virtually impossible to prepare a healthy meal, leave alone spare some minutes for exercising.
But that doesn’t have to be your story. There are ways to stay in shape as a working mom, without having to stress over the little time you’ve got. In this article, we shall highlight six ways to stay in shape and future proof your body against obesity and other avoidable conditions.
Get regular exercise
You’ve probably heard about this over and over again, but that’s because it is critical to your health. Regular physical activities have proven to have incredible benefits to the body. From enhancing health and helping with sleep to relaxation and enhancing moods, to mention a few. As a working mom, you are bound to experience pressures from work and home. All these can leave you anxious and even stressed. Unfortunately, these two are leading causes of insomnia – and if you do not get enough sleep, you end up feeling agitated, tired, and more anxious & stressed. The best thing to do to ease your mind is to start exercising.
Maybe you are having a problem getting started. But don’t worry too much about it – starting is usually the hardest part. We recommend getting a gym membership trial just to gauge how it goes. Often, many people who do this end up liking the experience – so much so that they would never trade the gym time for anything.
Eat healthily
You are what you eat – so instead of eating fast food or processed meals, you may want to replace that with organic foods. Processed meals are packed with saturated oils and preservatives that aren’t good for your health. They are also full of empty calories that do not add any nutritional value to your diet. On top of that, fast foods leave you feeling hungry quicker, so you’ll end up eating more than you would if you had a real meal. This may result in weight gain and obesity. Going for healthier food choices can help you avoid weight problems as well as conditions like diabetes, stroke, and heart disease. It will also go a long way in helping you lower your cholesterol levels.
Don’t diet
Many working ladies diet in an attempt to maintain or achieve a smaller body. But this doesn’t help. If anything, skipping meals will not only make you tired and disgruntled, or even add weight. Weight gain (or trouble losing weight) happens because of slow metabolism. So, instead of dieting, you can just make healthy eating part of your lifestyle.
Look into a standing desk
If your work involves a lot of sitting throughout the day, you may try to find ways to carry on with the tasks without having to sit all day long. Prolonged sitting is not just bad for your blood circulation, but also your entire health. An analysis of 13 studies of activity levels and sitting time revealed that people who sat for more than eight hours without exercise had a risk of dying, more or less the same as smoking or obesity.
Get a stability ball in the place of your office chair
Well, this might not be a viable option at work – but it can be at home (and is an excellent alternative to the standing desk). An exercise ball allows you to keep your spine straight, which is essential for balancing as well as toning your core. Experts advice using this ball in place of an office chair for 20-30 minute increments because it places increased load on your lower spine.
Focus on your sleep
Many people underrate the impact of lack of sleep – yet it is immense. In addition to lowering your workout intensity, lack of exercise can make you crave sugary food the following day. If you are finding it hard to sleep, you may want to try doing some exercises to blow off some steam and stay away from your phone or computer at least 30 minutes before bed. Instead, you should get a comfortable eye mask to help improve the quality of your sleep.
