How Busy Mama stays Fit & What's Cooking

This is a complaint I made for many years....I'm too "busy" to eat healthy!  Well, it's true, we are all busy I'm sure.  Whether we're working outside the home or stay at home parents, there is always a lot to get done in so little time.  But, I have been very determined this last year to show that no matter how busy you are, there is still time to eat healthy and get/stay fit.  I am a very busy person myself.  I have 4 little ones, 2 of which are home with me all day, 1 at school all day & 1 at school half-day.  I make 2 trips to the school every day, run errands, grocery shop, do laundry, change diapers (probably somewhere 10 per day), pick up the constant array of toys strewn about, cook, vacuum, do crafts with the kids, help with homework, and I could go on and on....  This does not include any efforts I make at being healthy.  If I really wanted to, it would be super easy to make this excuse that I'm too "busy" to get our family healthy and probably no one would ever question that.  But, it is extremely important to me that my kids, husband, and I are healthy.



Here are some tips I have for getting healthy, for you & your family:
1.  Come up with a routine that works for you.  Whether you are working or not, you more than likely have a routine every day.  I sure do!  I thrive off routine (and I know my kids do too).

• Every morning, I have to get my 8 y.o out to the bus stop and what do I do first?  Make her lunch and make her breakfast.  This is not easy.  I'm not really a morning person and I don't jump out of bed int he morning ready to face the day.  This is a slow process for me.  But, no matter how much I want to stay in bed for that 30 more minutes, I make it a point to get up because I know how important it is for Addy's health.  Have you ever looked at your Public School's lunch menu?  Or even worse the breakfast menu?  I was completely horrified when I looked at it one day.  It is all processed, chemical packed, sugar-loaded foods.  Plus, if you've ever watched Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution, he really put school lunch in the spotlight and I saw first hand how bad it was.  I will talk about lunch box ideas on some other blog post, as that is a whole blog in itself.   So, that's part of my routine to make her lunch and breakfast every morning.  Even better, maker the lunch box at night and stick it in the fridge so you don't have to worry about it in the morning. 
• Then, by the time I take her out to the bus stop all the other kiddos are up and ready for breakfast.  I have already posted on healthy breakfast options for kids so you pretty much know what they eat for breakfast.  
• In the morning, I also get out my recipes for the week and decide which dinner I'm going to be making that evening.  Does any meat need to be defrosted?  Do I need to kick on the crock pot?  
• Lunch comes 1 hour before I have to take Eli to pre-k and we always eat at home.  I don't want to be caught away from the house and in a time crunch so I would be forced to do fast food.  We usually do chicken with apples or other fruit.  Or, I make grilled cheese with whole wheat bread, organic cheddar, and non fat olive oil spray, served with fruits of the kiddos choice.  I always serve fruit with lunch.  And we drink water with lunch, no juice.  
• After I take Elijah to school and if I have no errands to run, I come home and lay the babies down for a nap.  That's when I go to work with my meal preparations, such as cutting veggies & fruits, doing veggie purees.  Many days during the week, I'll put something in the crock pot then.  And, I plan to work out at this time every day.  Even if it's just a 20 minute run on my treadmill, I try to do a workout every day. Ideally, I would work out early in the morning before my husband goes to work or the kids are up.  That way, I don't have to worry about it the rest of the day and it would get my metabolism jump started.  But,I haven't run in the early morning since I was training for my last half marathon 3 months ago...  But, that gives me something to work toward.
• After kids come home from school, it's homework time.  That gets done first and then they can play outside or play with neighbors.  I like for them to be active.  We do not turn on movies or TV during the school week.   

 This is me with my boys today after school (please excuse my no make up).  It was a nice day so we played outside after home work.

2.  Have fun crafts or things for kiddos to do to keep them busy if you have to food prep while they're home & awake. We have a table in our "dining room" that is multi-purpose.  When we don't have company, we use this table as our craft table.  Lucky for me, it's right off the kitchen so I can set the kiddos there with some coloring books, markers and they can go to town while I'm in the kitchen prepping dinner or what have you.  Here are a couple things I have on hand for easy crafts when I have things I need to get done in the kitchen or around the house:

• Coloring books - you can get these at the dollar store
• Lots of markers
• Lots of crayons
• Colored construction paper
• Little sticker books (give them a piece of construction paper and some stickers and they go to town)
• Play-Doh
• Kids scissors (for my older kiddos)
• Beads & string (for my older kiddos to make necklaces/jewelry)

You get the picture..

3.  Have the right equipment in the kitchen.  This is essential for quick food prepping.

• Food Processor:  Who has time to cut and dice veggies all day?  I sure don't!  I have my amazing food processor.  It is a cuisinart 7 cup food processor.  It is on sale on amazon right now for $99.  I do everything with this bad boy:  puree veggies, chop and dice veggies, grate cheese, and when baby Chris was smaller, I'd even puree dinner for him!  I highly recommend getting a food processor for faster food prepping.  

• Crock Pot:  One of my favorite things in my kitchen.  During the week, I plan on at least 2 of my meals being cooked in the crock pot.  Just put the food in there and set the timer and you're done!  The only other thing I have to worry about is a veggie side dish.  But, steaming some chopped veggies real quick is super easy if I don't have to worry about slaving in the kitchen.  

• Veggie Steamer:  I have a cheap little veggie steamer basket that I bought at walmart and I'd love a nicer one.  But, it does the trick!  
• Instant Hot Water Tap:  This was an awesome thing we added when we put in our new sink last year.  It is instant boiling hot water when you need it.  Cooking pasta, rice, or steaming veggies are super easy when you have this.  

4.  Be creative with fitness.  This is something I have had to do since I cancelled my gym membership.  If you have a gym you can go to, it's pretty easy to just drop the kiddos off at the gym day care and do your workout.  No problem.  There are lots of ways I can get my daily "workout" in.  I have done quite a bit of research on what types of activities you can do to burn calories.  Working out in the yard doing yard work while the kiddos play (or help in their little way) is an excellent way to burn calories.  How many calories do you burn doing laundry, doing dishes, cleaning, vacuuming, mopping, scrubbing the bathtubs and toilets?  A LOT.  If I have a cleaning day, I do not work out that day.  That becomes my work out.  If the weather is nice, get out the stroller and the bikes and go for a walk with your kiddos!  Carry your infant in his or her baby backpack and push a stroller.... trust me, you will feel the burn.  Dance with your daughter to the veggie tales theme song 4 times in a row... boom!  Heart rate is up and you are exercising without even thinking about it!  I could write a whole post just on how to be creative with fitness.  Oh and get some good fitness DVD's, such as Winsor Pilates, Piloxing, Zumba, yoga, whatever you might be interested in!  Fitness doesn't have to be a chore!
These are some DVD's I LOVE:

5.  Plan the food prep for 1 day when you have a couple hours free (like when babies are napping or kids are at school and you have no other errands to run)

• This is the time that I  chop my veggies and fruit, do veggie purees, make big batches of my homemade organic spaghetti/pizza sauce, grate and slice my blocks of cheese (freeze some for later), make my hummus and crackers, and make a big batch of homemade organic chicken nuggets (freeze them).    

6.  Have snacks planned out.

• Have fruits washed and cut for when the kids get off the bus.  
• Have crackers with laughing cow cheese or hummus ready.
• If I am getting low on snacks, I make sure to replenish & prepare more ASAP.  
• Do not be caught unprepared or the only option is a snack that has no nutrition.

With all these wonderful tips on how to get and keep your family healthy, there are going to be days that are harder than others.  Today was a very crazy day for me.  The babies were really fussy (crying and whining) and dinner was a complete bust.  Tonight, I made Slow Cooker Honey Chicken and I honestly don't even remember where I got the recipe

It was so bad that I will not even bother giving you the recipe.  I followed the recipe to a tee and it was disgusting.  Like, so gross that my husband couldn't finish his dinner (which he pretty much will eat anything) and my 4 year old gagged a couple times.  Ha!  Literally it will all go in the trash, about 4 organic chicken breasts.  Needless to say, I am not happy about it.  But, the kids did eat their broccoli, corn, brown rice, and about 2 helpings of pineapples.  So, not too bad I guess.

At least I did get my workout in today, my 60 minute long Piloxing DVD.  I am feeling quite stressed after today so I really hope tomorrow will be better.  I went to Walmart after my husband got home from work at 8:00 and it was a nice break...isn't that sad?  So, all I'm saying is that I'm not perfect either.  There are times that I have to run through McDonalds for my kiddos or order a pizza or what have you.  You do what you have to do!  The key is to be intentional about what you do for yourself and your family.  Try to make sure that you and your family eat healthy 80% of the time.  Thanks for reading!