5 Habits for a Healthy Motherhood

Taking care of our own physical health is such an important, though often overlooked, part of motherhood. It’s easy to get so caught up in taking care of our little ones that we forget our own basic needs! Here are 5 simple habits you can start today to help you have a healthy motherhood.

As a mom, it’s so important that we remember to take care of our own physical health. This can be a challenge for many reasons:

1. We’re chronically sleep deprived, which can cause a whole host of issues.
2. We feel like we have no time to take care of ourselves because we’re taking care of tiny humans that rely on us to fulfill their seemingly endless basic needs.
3. We may have hormonal imbalances due to pregnancy & postpartum.
4. We may have some extra weight from pregnancy that we just can’t seem to get rid of.
5. We’re stressed and always feel like there’s too much to do and not enough time, so we don’t care for ourselves the way we need (and deserve!).

All this combines and results in bad news for our health. Trust me. I know. But it’s important that we remember to take care of ourselves! If we want to have maximum energy to play with our kids and tackle our to-do lists, we’ve got to be operating at our best.

Here are 5 habits to help moms operate at their 100% best every day:

1. Eat a protein filled breakfast.

I mentioned this in my 5 Simple Habits to Boost Mom Productivity, but it’s so important that it’s getting double duty. EAT PROTEIN AT BREAKFAST. And for those of you who aren’t eating breakfast at all, please start eating it.

If we don’t give our brain and body fuel in the morning, how do we expect to operate at our best? And if we don’t fuel it with proper nutrition, how do we expect to feel great when the afternoon hits?

For me, if I don’t eat protein at breakfast, a few things happen:

1. I’m hungry less than an hour later.
2. I crave unhealthy foods alllll dayyyy long.
3. I eat more than usual the rest of the day.

And those things lead to me not making as healthy of choices the rest of the day, which leads to feeling sluggish and frustrated–none of which are things I want.

But if I fuel my body with protein (and ideally some healthy fat, like avocado or coconut oil and carbs in the form of fruits/veggies), I feel energized, stay full, and am able to keep my hunger and cravings in check.

So take the extra time to scramble yourself some eggs in the morning rather than eating half a Costco muffin or a bowl of cereal. Or if you need it to be quick, grab a protein shake. Your body will thank you!

2. Drink LOTS of water.

And I mean lots. It helps flush the toxins out of your system, keeps you full, and is great for your skin. I’m not seeing a downside here🤔.

Okay, I guess you have to pee a lot. But you get used to it, I promise!

Water is so good for us. After all, we’re basically made of it. So keep chugging the good stuff!

I like to get a big, reusable water bottle. My favorite is this one because it holds 40 ounces and is easy to carry around. It also keeps your water cold for a long time! (Note: I got mine in a two pack from Costco for less than the cost of one on their website, so check Costco to see if they have them.)

You can also label a water bottle with times to ensure you’re drinking enough. For example, put some lines on your water bottle for 9:00am, 12:00pm, 3:00pm, etc. and drink to that point by that time.

Figure out what works for you to help you get in adequate water each day.

3. Infuse exercise into your everyday life.

Yes, it’s good to have an exercise plan, like going for a run, lifting weights, or hitting a daily class at a yoga studio. But sometimes life happens. Sometimes you’re home with puking kids. Sometimes you’re up with a kid having night terrors every night for a month and can’t wake-up in time for your class at the gym. Sometimes you’re just too busy to work in your hour long workout.

So while it’s important to have an exercise plan in place–and I strongly encourage you to try to stick with it–I also think it’s important to infuse exercise inot your everyday mom life, so when stuff happens, you’re at least doing some exercise everyday.

What do I mean by “infuse exercise into your everyday life?” Here are some examples:

• Do squats while you brush your teeth
• Do calf raises in the shower
• Do jumping jacks while you wait for something in the microwave
• Do push-ups everytime you have to change a dipaer
• If your mailbox isn’t in your front yard, walk to the mailbox everyday
• Sprint everytime you have to go up the stairs

Make these things a habit. So if you’re kid has a cold and you can’t go to the gym that day, well, at least you did some jumping jacks while you heated up his chicken and stars and did some calf raises while you brushed your teeth.

Something is always better than nothing!

4. Plan and prep your meals ahead of time.

When a lot of people think of meal planning, they simply think of planning out your dinners. And that’s great! Every little bit of planning helps. But I also plan out my breakfasts, lunches, and snacks. This extra planning helps a ton because I don’t have to use any daily mental energy deciding what to eat. The decision has already been made.

And then, to ensure I stick with the plan, I try to prep the food right when I get home from the store. For instance, if I come home from the store with cucumbers and throw them in the fridge, when I get hungry for a snack, am I going to grab a cucumber, wash it, peel it, and slice it to eat it? Probably not. But if that cucumber is already washed, peeled, and sliced, then the odds go WAYYYYYYY up that I’ll munch on it. A little extra time when you get home from the store saves a whole lot of time and effort later.

This is especially helpful when I’m extra tired or stressed because I’m less likely to make healthy choices in those moments. But if it’s already planned and prepped, I have no excuses. I don’t have to think about it. It doesn’t take any effort. It’s not adding to my stress or fatigue. A healthy choice is ready and waiting for me. All I have to do is eat it!

5. Make daily kitchen dance parties “a thing” in your house.

I LOVE kitchen dance parties! They’re probably my favorite thing ever and my family loves them too. We have an Echo in our kitchen, and Alexa makes these dance parties so much easier and more fun! We simply ask her to play music and then dance around the kitchen, singing at the top of our lungs. It gets our blood pumping, releases some endorphins, usually makes us laugh, and is a great bonding experience. We do one at least once a day and it’s the best thing ever.

So there you have it: 5 habits for a healthy motherhood.

What do you do to keep yourself healthy?

For more ideas on how to live your best life, check out the other posts in the Mom Habit Series:

• 5 Simple Habits to Boost Mom Productivity
• 5 Simple Habits to Boost Self-Love
• 5 Habits to Boost Happiness in Motherhood

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Britney is a wife and mom with a passion for helping other women see the good inside of them. She loves podcasts, polka dots, and dancing around the kitchen with her family.