Whether you are a working mother or a stay-at-home mum, with school-aged kids or babies, being a mother is a lot of work. It is not always easy to make healthy food choices or have a healthy eating pattern. Sometimes, the busy schedule will mean that mothers are grabbing unhealthy choices. However, the reality is, you can shift focus and make healthy lifestyle a priority. If it is difficult, try to find a buddy (another working mum) who will help you stay on track while you both work and raise your kids. Here are some essential tips on how to maintain weight as busy working mums.

• Avoid Eating your Kids’ Leftover Food

We all know that finishing the leftovers from your child’s plate seems harmless. However, in clearing the plate, we forget to realise that those little pieces of cheese or the ham sandwich significantly add up to several calories in a short time. Being a mum, if you want to stay healthy or maintain weight, try to make some conscious efforts, and follow your food eating program.

Read: How to incorporate physical exercise to your daily routine

• Keep yourself away from sugary snacks

Biscuits are enriched with sugars and are high in calories. No doubt, these cookies are responsible for delivering quick energy, but your energy level will soon drop so suddenly and leaving you hungry again. For all breastfeeding or bottle-feeding mums, aim for a nutrient-dense food rather than the calorie-dense ones. Green leafy vegetables and whole grain cereals are some of the best options to help meet your daily essential nutrients.

• Stay hydrated

In recent years, there has been a significant need to ensure that people are drinking enough water. Staying hydrated comes with numerous health benefits. It is fascinating to know that staying hydrated keeps your skin fresh and makes it blemish-free.

It should be noted that there are times when our bodies cannot distinguish between hunger and thirst. This desire can lead us to get calorie-dense foods when the body was actually craving for fluids. Sipping on water frequently throughout the day aids to control hunger and keeps you away from overeating on unhealthy snacks. It will also help to fill you up. Try drinking some water just before your meal and it will help you to consume less food.

Always keep your water bottle with you. It is always a good idea if you can track your water intake. If you are fed up or bored with just plain water, add some cucumber, lime, or mint to make it a detox drink.

Read: Food high in Vitamin C

If you are a breastfeeding mother, there is a great need to maintain your overall fluid intake. Lactating mothers should take some extra fluid to meet the demands of the body. It is best to take a glad of water before each breastfeeding session.

Recommended: Self care ideas for busy mums

• Eat as a family

Some children are picky eaters. It is always so tempting to have some of their slices of pizza or whatever fast food they are eating rather than cooking a separate meal from scratch. There are numerous food choices to eat healthily. When eating some of the fast foods, it might be a good idea to combine the foods with some vegetables and/or salad to enhance its taste and nutritional value. For example, tomato ketchup has sugar, you can your make your sauce at home with some fresh tomatoes. Try Pinterest for some recipes.

• Multitask

Women are the most amazing multitaskers even known to mankind. This can be a gift and a curse at the same time lol. Multitasking will mean that a less mindful emphasis is given to any task. On the other hand, keeping yourself busy needs a lot of creativity. 

Read: Time Management Skills For Busy Mums

Hope this article on how to maintain weight for busy working mums was a good read. Remember that if you have only 10-15 minutes while waiting to pick up your kids from school, you can use that time to brisk walk as well. You can also try other light exercises during your daily routine because doing something is better than nothing.

Visit the NHS website for more fitness ideas.

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