This won’t be your typical allergy Mom blog post. It’s something that, over the years, I’ve heard and seen play out with many Moms (and my Mom crew typically runs in allergy circles). In that respect, it’s kind of an allergy Mom post.
Heading into the new year, I see many people talking about resolutions (something I’m not into personally). A “New Year, New Me” sort of thing. I’m just fine with the old me in general, so that’s not my thing. I do become reflective about things I would like to work on or let go of. Some may say that’s the same thing as a resolution; perhaps I’m splitting hairs.
I’ve had weight issues pretty much forever. Partly it’s genetic, and partly it’s been making really poor choices leading me to where I am now. After the birth of our second kiddo, I started to try making a change. I was getting older, had two kids who I needed to be there for, and be active with. I started small. We had a machine that I used every day. I even kept it up while pregnant with our third baby. Six months after he was born, we got a treadmill. I did the Couch-to-5K thing. (Even though running REALLY isn’t my thing. At all.) After years of not taking the best care of myself, I was feeling stronger. The weight was not falling off, but it also wasn’t going the other way.
Injuries made the treadmill not a great option for me. A friend was starting an online workout program that she really enjoyed, so I figured I would check it out. As of today, I still do this program 6-7 days every week. Unless I’m traveling, I never miss a day. I try to “pre” work out too, to get ahead if I know I’ll be gone. People have asked how I do it, and I tell them the truth: I HATE it! I hate every minute of it. I say unkind things to the video instructor many days. BUT I hate how I feel more when I don’t work out. That’s the honest truth.
There’s a diet component to this program as well. When I was sticking to it, I was on fire! I actually lost a lot of weight and was feeling really good. Unfortunately, it didn’t stick. I was able to sustain the workout routine, but not the diet component.
There it is for you all. I make TERRIBLE choices for myself when eating.
Why? I’ve examined this a lot. Maybe it’s excuses, but I have a few thoughts on why the food part is so much more difficult for me.
- Food is all I think about – Managing multiple food allergies and Celiac disease in our family means really investigating everything we eat. We choose to have very little in our home that isn’t “safe for everyone.” TealHubs and I have a cabinet with crackers and other things that are off limits to the kids. But overall, the food here is safe for everyone. I spend SO MUCH TIME thinking about what to feed everyone else, I take very little time considering what I will eat.
- Time – Three times every day, I manage meals for at least three people. My priority when it comes to food is 1)TealKid, 2) The Other Kids, 3) TealHubs, and then myself. By the time I’m sure they are all good, I’m out of time. I have 300 other things to do, so I resort to “what’s quick?” which isn’t usually a very good choice. If my not eating dinner will prolong having leftovers for the kids, that saves me time too.
- Money – At the heart of things, I am cheap. We spend on food what many people spend on a mortgage. I get it, you are what you eat. Garbage in, garbage out. I know in the long run that being cheap with what I eat is most definitely not going to be good down the road.
Why am I telling you all this? I have seen so many of my allergy Mom friends face the same struggles. I have seen this in many (non-allergy) Mom friends as well. I know “self-care” is all the buzz, and I’ve even written about it, but we have got to get it together. We need to take care of US. WE need to be good to ourselves. We need to nourish ourselves so we can then do so for our families.
How? If it were easy, we would all be doing it already, right? I’m going to share how I’m attempting to change things for me.
- Start the day off with something. I’ve never been a breakfast person, so this has always been a struggle. I also know what the research says about breakfast being important. I found a protein drink that is allergy-friendly and that I’ve grown to enjoy. I admit, it wasn’t love-at-first-drink, but now I like it, and I’m comfortable having it in the house because it’s allergy friendly as well. The thought of a whey protein powder floating around my kitchen was enough to turn me away from them for a long time so this is perfect for me. Quick, easy and allergy friendly. Check, check and check.
- Devote time to meal prep. I’m very much a planner when it comes to others, but not so much for myself. I’m making it a priority to double up on the veggie prep, so I have lunches ready to go.
- Pass up the easy stuff. If it’s not around, you can’t eat it, right? Not having chips in the “parents only” cabinet means I can’t eat them. Believe me, the struggle is real, but I know I won’t go into the kids stash, because that’s how I am. Since I’m the one doing the shopping, that’s on me.
I’m starting 2019 off as the same me, doing the same things, for the most part. I need to tweak things and see what does and doesn’t work. Since there were already things that weren’t working, no better time to fix them, right? If you want to be my accountability partner in this, let me know. Share what has and hasn’t worked for you. What you need some help with, or what you are killing it at! Because you KNOW you are killing it at something! As they say, the struggle is real. Honor that, and see what you can do to make it less of one.
