Six simple changes you can make to be a fit and healthy mum

Finding a balance between work, life and fitness can be a challenge once you have children. Read six simple changes you can make, to help you be a fit and healthy mum.

It’s easy to let your health and fitness fall down your list of priorities as a mother. But when you have children it’s more important than ever to take care of yourself and set a great example to your family.

Six ways you can be a fit and healthy mum

To help make it easier for you to get or stay fit, read six simple changes you can make to your lifestyle as a mum.

1) Introduce exercise gradually

According to research by Glamour health, “on average, women have 13 negative body thoughts daily”.

If you often feel frustrated with your body or fitness levels, use these feelings as motivation to make a change, rather than letting them get you down. And certainly go easy on yourself if you have a young baby.

The first 1.5 months after giving birth should be spent on recovering and bonding with you baby. During this time, it’s advised to introduce exercising gradually.

Start by taking walks, tensing your muscles, stretching and mild yoga. Some women won’t find it hard to get back into their fitness routine, whereas others will need more time. (You can read more information on post-natal fitness and personal training here.)

2) Buy new workout clothes

If your figure has changed since you became a mother, buy new workout gear. You’ll feel much more motivated to exercise if you actually fit your workout clothes and feel comfortable and confident in them.

And you can always use your pre-pregnancy workout clothes as an incentive to exercise – trying them on periodically to track your progress.

Another trick is to wear workout clothes as soon as you wake up, and keep them on until you get to your workout, if this is feasible. This will put you in the right mindset and make sure you don’t back out!

3) Look for (and make) opportunities to walk

Start thinking about every journey as an opportunity to walk. Walk to the shops, walk your kids to school, and get off the bus a few stops earlier.

If your partner is driving home from work, walk towards the direction of their office, and let them pick you up on the way. If they’re is traveling by public transport, meet them at the bus stop or the station. Find any excuse to be active and on the go.

4) Eat well

There are plenty of excellent reasons why a healthy diet is essential for a new mum. It affects the quality of your milk, gives you energy and gets you through the recovery process faster.

Your children also pick up on everything you do. So eating healthily helps to teach them good lifestyle habits from an early age. (Remember that your child will follow your example, not your advice.)

As a rule of thumb, cook most of your food at home, and eat less from a packet. Good foods for new mums include:

  • Salmon.
  • Eggs.
  • Beans.
  • Leafy greens.
  • Brown rice.
  • Blueberries.
  • Whole-grain cereal.
  • Low-fat dairy products.
  • Oranges.

5) Do shorter workouts

If you really struggle to devote 40-60 minutes at a time to fitness, try splitting it into smaller workout breaks.

You can have a 15 minutes abs session in the morning, 15 minutes of squats and lunges right before lunch, 15 minutes intense cardio session before dinner and a 15 minutes stretch before sleep.

6) Join in your kids’ activities

Children love fun and games, so why not join in on their activities? Organise kids’ parties for no real reason and get really involved. Or take them to the park and and run, jump, dance and splash about.

Before you know it, without even realising you’ll have got through a few hours worth of cardio!

Healthy mother means healthy family

Taking care of your own health doesn’t just mean that you’ll have more energy and feel better in yourself. It’s also likely to have a positive knock-on effect on the rest of your family too, and set your kids up with habits that will help them to live longer, healthier lives.

All brilliant reasons to start taking some of these tips on board today!

Anastasia Vozovik is a blogger at MotivatePT.