moms of babes

MommaPaz

Hello, my name is Amanda. I've been using this site for a month or so now and Love it! However, I do have a question for those of you trying to watch what you eat with little ones in the house. I have a 6 month old who takes up all of my time when I am home. I find it so difficult to eat well because I don't have too much time to prepare things.
I work 3 nights a week and am very good about eating well at work... but the other 4 days/nights are TROUBLE! It seems the easiest things to eat are the worst for you and I can only eat so many carrots and broccoli! What easy foods do you have around? My husband keeps bringing home chips from work and its hard to say no! HELP ME PLEASE!

MommaPaz

Hello, my name is Amanda. I've been using this site for a month or so now and Love it! However, I do have a question for those of you trying to watch what you eat with little ones in the house. I have a 6 month old who takes up all of my time when I am home. I find it so difficult to eat well because I don't have too much time to prepare things.
I work 3 nights a week and am very good about eating well at work... but the other 4 days/nights are TROUBLE! It seems the easiest things to eat are the worst for you and I can only eat so many carrots and broccoli! What easy foods do you have around? My husband keeps bringing home chips from work and its hard to say no! HELP ME PLEASE!

laughingdani

I have a 3 year old and I pre cook a lot of my meals and put them in the freezer. I try to portion them out so that I know exactly how many calories I am consuming. Some weeks i am really good about it then other weeks I just kinda have to do the grab and go thing. My thing is that if I don't find the time to plan out healthy meals thats even more time I have to find to work out to make up the difference for not eating so good on those days. On days where i don't have much time I keep Healthy Request or Lean Cuisine type meals on hand. Also I try to eat fruit, nuts, trail mix and other healthy snacks during the day so I never feel super hungry. But my favorite thing I keep on hand are the Tyson bags of frozen chicken breasts that i just throw in a skillet or on the George Foreman. My husband does not eat healthy at all and loves all kinds of junk food but he is also 150 pounds so its frustrating. ( he ate pizza tonight ) Anyway i just try to stay full on healthy stuff when he's eating around me so I am too full to eat the bad stuff. I hope this helps.

staceyw37

first of all, congratulations on your little one! and secondly, go easy on yourself. this first year is a lot of change and getting all the parts working together is not easy.
my go-to was whole wheat bread with lean turkey, pretzels, carrots; and pbj w/apple
i would suggest cutting up 1 or2 apples ahead of time (if you're ok with the browning) so you're not having to fuss later.
banana, walnuts, raisins, weight control oatmeal (b/c it has protein in it), kashi go lean for lots of fiber and protein, applesauce containers, mandarin oranges (drain and rinse first), soup

lots of people here do smoothies/shakes with protein powder (not my thing but ask around)

another thing my friend used to do was cook 4 or 5 boneless/skinless chicken breasts at one time and then have them for lunch and dinner over the week--toss in with bagged salad and dried cranberries and flax seed; with crackers and fruit, etc

or bake a turkey and carve it and freeze it in small packages to pull out for sandwiches, salads etc (that's what my mom did for me when i had my first baby)

of course there's yogurt and lots of people are liking the greek kind. and for a sweet tooth--pudding (one of my faves)

i had granola bars as a regular to go snack (lots of mfp'ers are praising the fiber one kind)

i use frozen veges b/c it's less work and faster for me.
and of course, there are the frozen meals--i prefer the smart ones, and watch sodium and sugar amts

and that first year, i mostly just walked walked walked and by the time baby turned 1 i had lost the 40 lbs from pregnancy.
i hope this is helpful to you, that there are at least a few things to take away. be well, and enjoy that baby!

staceyw37

oops 2 more things
there is a stay at home moms thread on here to be of support, it's in the motivation and support section of the boards

and ask hubby to please not bring the stuff in the house--that it makes it so much harder for you to get back to being the healthy woman now mom you want to be. at the very least, maybe he can hide/lock the stuff he must have.

good luck!

awinmac

Hi Amanda,
A few good things, unsalted raw nuts, almonds, walnuts. High in good fats and calories but also many good nutrients, you only need to eat a small handful at a time. Raisins, dates and figs good for iron and calcium also if you have a sweet tooth. I buy unsweetend Natura soy milk, add it to a good whole grain cereal that's fortified and you get a whole host of amazing nutrients including vit D, Vit B12, folate, calcium, iron etc.... Apples, oranges and bananas easy to find and full of good things. I try to make sure I have a salad with lunch and dinner, prepare enough for 2 or 3 days, just leave out the mushy stuff until just before you want to eat it (avocado, tomato) it's even better if you add some bitter greens like arugula or dandelion greens. Leave out the spinach as it contains oxalic acid which inhibits the bodys ability to uptake the vitamins and minerals it contains.
There are a lot of recipes out there for nutrient dense energy balls (kind of like no bake peanut butter balls but with lots more stuff in them and sans the white sugar and often the peanut butter too!), check out "Vegan A Go-go" by Sarah Kramer for Righteous Orbs and other energy bar like snacks that you can keep around for those times when you don't have anything good in the house to eat. So filling and good for you too.
Best of luck, I know how hard it can be not to finish those little bowls of applesauce, yogurt, cheese and spaghetti that your kids leave behind too!
cheers!
-Amber

Mom2SS

I have 2 little ones as well, so I totally understand. Enlist help from your husband. On nights when he is around, get him to watch the kids so you can cook up some meals. I second the suggest to pre-portion leftovers for the nights that you don't have time.

Also, I know my big issue is often mindless snacking. Sometimes, you do need the fruits, vegetables and such around, but sometimes, I know I need to just not snack. While it is better for me to substitute healthy things, it is even better to break the habit of eating just to eat.