Stay at home moms

abbyph311

I'm sure there are other mom groups on here. I have a question for all of you moms. How do you control your eating when you are home most of the day?

When my children were babies I stayed so skinny because they kept me busy. Now they are getting older and require less attention. I know once i go back to work I will probably lose weight. But for now I need to keep myself out of the fridge! Plus the fact that I let my kids eat pizza, chicken nuggets, ice cream....things I shouldn't be eating right now. Any advice to have better will power is appreciated

juliapurpletoes

hi Abby,

yeah - totally get this, my kids now are older and we have all "their" foods around too because holy cow they won't touch some of my better ones!!

Anyway, what I have to do is just get busy doin' something else that I love.....I love to sew, craft (bead and make candles, flower arranging) I learned to play a simple wood flute, like to watch a movie, garden, and get on this website ...

My point is .......I guess sheer will to do something else besides eat bad things.

:flowerforyou:

shannonkk

pay that attention to yourself now that the babies dont need it. Paint your nails and toes, read a magazine or book, plant flowers or my favorite, sit outside with feet up and enjoy a nice relaxing cup of green tea for as long as you please and no one to interrupt. I still have babies so these are the things I dream of doing.

Panda86

A lot of determination. Also, I try to just stay busy. I homeschool my kids, so sometimes that is easy. When we have days off, its a little more difficult. But I find that if I keep myself busy with cleaning and such, I eat a lot less. Also, I take my kids for walks as often as I can. Burns some calories, gets me out of the house and away from the food, and gets them some fresh air as well. Also, I don't let my kids eat the things I don't eat, because those are generally unhealthy things. If I don't eat them because they are unhealthy, why would I let them? They do get the occasional treat of course, but for the most part I serve them the same things I eat (sometimes slightly modified for younger tastes). Hope that helps

natskedat

Hi Abby!

I'm a SAHM too, and I don't let my kids eat anything I wouldn't eat. If they don't like carrots, too bad. I want them to learn healthful eating habits. They fight you at the beginning, but it's for their own good.

If there's only healthy snacks and meals in the house, that's what everybody eats. Good luck! It's challenging!

jamie1888

How about using some of that time to learn to make those "kid's foods" healther for you AND them! There have been many posts on here about changing recipes to make them healthier! Pizza, chicken nuggets and ice cream (or frozen yogurt) can all be made into healthy, nutritious foods! Not only will you eat healthier, but you will teach your children about good nutrition as well. And it might even be fun for them to get into the kitchen and help make these recipes!

Tennessee2019

My "baby" is 17 & my oldest is 21.
Before my foot injury, I would stay busy by cleaning the house.
Once it is healed (6 weeks or more) I will also start exercising outisde since the weather is staying nice.
I also watch some daytime TV shows & do spend a lot of time on MFP.

Angela4Health

I'm a SAHM as well and struggle every day with this. Best advice I can give is just to keep yourself as busy as possible and keep your mind off what 's in the kitchen. Easier said than done, I know!

msproducer

This was me 2 weeks ago! To control my eating schedule I set the alarm on my cell phone, so I eat 6 small meals a day and drink water in between meals. I FINALLY realized that I couldn't eat everything my healthy, athletic, 12 year old son was eating. The pizza and other high calorie snack foods had to go. There are lower calorie pizzas that you can make. I don't totally deprive myself. Tonight we're having the Manwich Sloppy Joes with the full serving of veggies (1/4 c. 90 calories), whole wheat buns, and organic fries (8 pieces=90 calories). The whole meal is under 400 calories. Also, I buy the 100 calorie ice creams for dessert and I love the Slim Fast Chocolate Nuggat snack bars or Special K protein bars as my chocolate treat. Those are about 100 calories. Hope this helps!

Sharon

Angel1029

I stay on track by not buying a whole bunch of junk food and I prepare all of my meals ahead of time. I don't buy anything processed so I have to prepare everything for them anyway. My kids of course have snacks like chips and little debbie snacks but I don't want to ruin my results by eating junk food and they only eat 1 snack a day. I only have 1 at home during the day so she eats what I eat but on the weekends they eat what I eat.

schlubba

While I'm not a stay at home Mom, I am a stay at home Dad. My wife and I have really pushed hard to make our kids (ages 3 & 6) eat healthy, so I have them eat the same as I do. If you keep trying to get them to eat and show that you eat healthy too, they are more likely to follow suit. I also take mine outside a lot so we aren't near food. We play games, go for walks, go to the park, dig in the dirt.....etc. I find it's easiest not to eat bad foods if you don't have them around. While many kids' bodies and metabolism can handle the junk food, why not start them off right so they hopefully won't have to go through the dieting later on in life.

CallMeMamaBoo

I actually don't let 'junk' in the house as far as food goes. We all use the same snacks. Goldfish seems to be a safe bet since they come in so many flavors....they make everyone happy. I get veggies and fruits and yogurts and puddings...all that are 'safe' for me as well. I like to think I am teaching my children the healthy way to eat and for the most part they love it! I involve them in the recipes I find that are low calorie and teach them the importance of the food choices I make for us as a family. Including my family in the lifestyle change has been part of my success. They are all very supportive and willing to try just about anything. At times we have to compromise. My husband loves brownies so I found a recipe that we all can have and they are divine. My daughter loves pizza so we found english muffin or tortilla pizzas are a great substitute and fast to make. My other daughter, luckily, is 14 months old and has nothing but the 'good' stuff since day one. If this isn't something you want or feel the need to do...then it all just boils down to finding the willpower!

I get as active as I can get with my children. Play with them, read to them...generally keep myself occupied with crafts and outdoor activities. I involve them with my personal workouts. When I feel the need to snack, I drink water...lots of water. It also helps to schedule your meals and snacks. I hope this helps you some. I know it's not easy. G'luck!

young1726

Hi Abby!

I'm a SAHM too, and I don't let my kids eat anything I wouldn't eat. If they don't like carrots, too bad. I want them to learn healthful eating habits. They fight you at the beginning, but it's for their own good.

If there's only healthy snacks and meals in the house, that's what everybody eats. Good luck! It's challenging!

I'm in the same boat... My son is 20 months old and says "sala" when we have chicken salads. And he LOVES them. We have created a healthy menu for him since he was old enough to eat foods. We didn't/don't even give him too many of the Gerber puffs/goldfish/etc. I am not a SAHM (yet!!) and I know he gets more junk food than we would like at daycare. But when he's home he eats good and doesn't question it.

It's probably harder now that your kids are older to instill the healthy eating habits on them. But I also agree with schlubba that I think it's important to show them the right way to eat now (of course allowing occasional pizzas, etc.) so they don't have to go through what I went to as soon as my metabolism plummeted!

Momcharisma88

well mostly i get cravings, when i crave something ill exercise and usually i crave sweet so i make a smootie or something healthy but a tad of sweet like cerlery with a bit of pb but i always try to work out through the craving

MelissaL582

I'm a stay at home mom of 3 kids (6,3,2), so I know where you're coming from I actually have my snacks separated from my family's snacks. I stock up on healthy snacks and I have cases of water. If I get hungry and it's not when I usually eat, I'll drink water to see if that works. I read somewhere that when you think your hungry..it's your body telling you that you're actually thirsty. I try to chew gum through out the day too. I think I just want to chew something. Lol!