Taking Care of Me: Forming Healthy Habits As A Mom #HerHealth #shop

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The year is halfway gone and I’m still the same, erratic, overworked, under-rested (is that a word) mom that I was in 2013. It’s a bad cycle. I try to form healthy habits and then fall off immediately. Whether it’s saying that I’m going to go to bed on time, or eat more fresh fruits and vegetables, or get a minimum of 10,00 steps, I always find myself failing miserably, or as I like to say, with gusto. However, there are things that I can do that don’t take a lot of effort, but still move towards creating healthy habits that stick with me for the rest of my life. For me, vitamins are a quick fix for things. Well, vitamins and water. Water always gives me so much great energy, but it can only do so much. I’ve become a shadow of myself in the last couple of years. Men and women have very different needs in regard to health, and it’s high time I started focusing on mine. 

Being able to go to my neighborhood Walgreens and check out the wide array of vitamins that they have can be a bit daunting, but being able to talk to a pharmacist on hand was a welcome convenience. I found a multivitamin that’s a gummie (SCORE) and that will help with things specific to my gender, and problems that we’re more prone to have problems with like bone health, etc. I was also informed that Walgreens rewards Balance Rewards points for logging your steps in daily. I’m not sure about you all, but I LOVE my Balance Rewards points and that was just the right thing to say to get me to get started. Having that information shared with Walgreens customers is pertinent in getting more of us into a healthier lifestyle. 

Seeing that my days are consisting of volunteering on a site build for at least seven hours three days out of the week, and then running after three kids under five, and keeping UP with my big kid who’s 14, it’s important that I take care of myself. Before having the twins, I was always tired, and my sleep schedule was way out of whack. Before having Nathaniel, I loved to sleep, but I didn’t get winded walking a block. In fact, if I remember correctly, I was in the best shape of my life AFTER having him. That’s because we walked everywhere. I was living on the college campus and it was small enough where I didn’t need a car. We walked to doctor’s appointments, we walked to school, we walked to the park, the library, the YWCA and other places. I took that time out for me and didn’t seem to think that having a child was reason not too. 

Now I have four, and the poor children have become my excuses far too much. Sure I do things that revolve around them. Homeschooling, hair, and they happen to love eating MORE than three times daily. It can become overwhelming, and I tend to shrink back into myself instead of being as happy and in the moment as they are. It’s time for that to stop. It’s time to stop and take notice of the beauty around me. The little moments that happen each and every day that I don’t remember because I’m always in a rush. Rush to get here, to the next appointment, so that I can start the next thing. Usually the next thing isn’t for me. Even Mr. Houseful has noticed that I’m wound too tightly, so we’re scheduling a time for me to take a mini staycation. No social media. No people. Just me, and whatever I want to do, which will probably consist of sleeping and sleeping some more, and maybe an extra long shower, facial and pedicure. All with items I pick up at Walgreens before my stay. Taking care of my outward body leads to wanting to be better to my inner body health, or vice versa. Either way, the both work in conjunction and if I’m making sure that what goes inside is great, why not get great products for my face, hair and body? I picked up my favorite face wash and body lotion (Cetaphil and Cerave) to complete my inner and outer body package, and plan to take at least one hour this week to just pamper me! 

 

Now, if I just learn to stop and appreciate long walks and living life how it’s meant to be lived like my children, I’m sure that those stress levels, and headaches and pains will go away. Kids know how to live life. It’s those of us who grow up who forget how to take care of ourselves. Here’s to stopping and smelling more roses, and jumping in more puddles, and checking out more ants. 

 

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