Wife, Mother, Full-Time Job and in need to become healthy

[Nik07]

Hi,

I'm trying to find individuals whom live a similar life to mine and understand the demands of the roles I have but also know that self is very important and if we are not healthy and well we can't be a benefit to the other roles we have. I'm a wife, mother, and I work a full time job which half of the month I'm under deadlines which require more than 40 hrs a week. I'm a mother of 3 from toddler to teen whom are very active in sports and activities, as a wife I love spending quality time with my husband every day. But after you figure in household duties (cooking, cleaning, laundry) sometimes I'm not getting in bed until midnight but my mornings start rather early 4:30a-5a so that I can spend time with God before my day. So as you can see my rest is not well either. After my time with God I attempt at times to do a workout because technically I have until 6am to get myself ready as well as kids out the door by 7:15a.

This is a schedule I've been struggling with for at least 3 years and I must say I've had progress only to find myself back to trying to get my health better after failure to stick to the plan.

I like running, walking, body scuplting, aerobics and many other workouts.

My biggest struggle is eating healthy and that's because I'm trying to find out how do you feed a family of 5 healthy and also on a reasonable budget especially when half of the year you spend about 3-4 nights getting home after about 8p and still have homework and other daily duties to be done while all the while fitting in getting in bed at a descent time to get proper rest.

These are my struggles with trying to get healthy.

I would love to have supportive and encouraging individuals to help me on this journey.

I also would love your feedback.

Thanks!

Nikka

[spurz]

Hi Nikka,,, wow you are amazing.  Not sure how you do it.  For me the fact that you took the fitbit step is a great thing since you are taking care of yourself.  Will provide whatever support.  Best of luck, Lisa

[LucysGettinFit]

Nikka,  I completely understand where you are coming from.  I too have 3 children, work full-time, and up every work day morning at 4:30 am.  Please feel free to friend me.  We can be in this together.  Good luck with your journey  

[Collin1000]

Nikka,

Welcome to Fitbit!

Your comment on the cost of healthy food is one thing I wanted to talk about with you! Many people think that healthy food costs more than junk food but that isn't true! In terms of portion sizes, grains, fruits, and vegetables are much cheaper than processed and fatty junk foods. 

Think about it this way. Which of these is more filling? A $2 bag of potato chips, or $2 for a pound of apples? The potatoe chips contain far more calories than the apples, but both will leave you about the same level of satisfaction, hunger wise. And it isn't rocket science to know which one is healthier for you!

Here are some great resources to start eating healthy on a budget:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jj-virgin/diet-and-nutrition_b_4838625.html

http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/health/junk-food-expensive-healthy-food-study-dept-agriculture...

http://www.choosemyplate.gov/food-groups/downloads/TenTips/DGTipsheet9SmartShopping.pdf

http://www.webmd.com/food-recipes/features/cheap-healthy-15-nutritious-foods-about-2-dollars

By buying locally, in season, and frozen fruits and veggies, you'll save money and eat healthier! 

[Marlak]

I feel your pain!! I am a mother, a wife, and a nurse with 2 jobs- currently working 7 days a week. I am new to using the fitbit. I just wanted to address the question you asked concerning healthy meals. My secret is to make a bit of my dinner the night before. I love the crockpot and will often put my dry ingredients, i.e. lentils, spices,etc, in the crock pot or make and put everything in the night before and turn it on in the morning on low. I also make a salad too large for the next meal because I already have everything out and chopping- clean up once and have two meals worth or extra for lunch. My time then is not spent frantically throwing dinner together but coming home to something that just needs a few touches and is healthy. If I don't use the crockpot, I still prep my food for the next evening so it is a matter of just putting it in the oven/on the grill or on the stove top. This also has the added benefit of decreasing my just getting home time with my family. Blessings and keep up the efforts!!

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@Nik07 wrote:

Hi,

I'm trying to find individuals whom live a similar life to mine and understand the demands of the roles I have but also know that self is very important and if we are not healthy and well we can't be a benefit to the other roles we have. I'm a wife, mother, and I work a full time job which half of the month I'm under deadlines which require more than 40 hrs a week. I'm a mother of 3 from toddler to teen whom are very active in sports and activities, as a wife I love spending quality time with my husband every day. But after you figure in household duties (cooking, cleaning, laundry) sometimes I'm not getting in bed until midnight but my mornings start rather early 4:30a-5a so that I can spend time with God before my day. So as you can see my rest is not well either. After my time with God I attempt at times to do a workout because technically I have until 6am to get myself ready as well as kids out the door by 7:15a.

This is a schedule I've been struggling with for at least 3 years and I must say I've had progress only to find myself back to trying to get my health better after failure to stick to the plan.

I like running, walking, body scuplting, aerobics and many other workouts.

My biggest struggle is eating healthy and that's because I'm trying to find out how do you feed a family of 5 healthy and also on a reasonable budget especially when half of the year you spend about 3-4 nights getting home after about 8p and still have homework and other daily duties to be done while all the while fitting in getting in bed at a descent time to get proper rest.

These are my struggles with trying to get healthy.

I would love to have supportive and encouraging individuals to help me on this journey.

I also would love your feedback.

Thanks!

Nikka

---

[sk_0615]

Hi Nikka, I am none of the above (not a mother or a wife, and I used to work 50+ hours a week), but I struggle with eating healthy on a budget (I am a recent college grad living on my own).

One of the best websites I've found is Skinnytaste.com. This a wife and mother of two also working a full-time job (although her job is this blog, so take what you want from that). She makes filling, healthy meals for her family, and a lot of them are quick and easy, or make multiple portions. On Sunday night, I will take 2-3 of her meals and make enough portions of it for the week for both lunch and dinner for me to reheat. As I'm just starting out with a lot more home cooking, my costs have been a little bit higher (I've had to buy more basics that I just didn't have before), I see it probably evening out after 2-3 more weeks. I figure I will have tried and figured out which recipes and meals will work for me and which ones won't, so I can just repeat. I'll fill in my basics with a weekly trip to the store for fresh fruits, vegetables, and meats. She even has recipes where you can take leftovers from last night's dinner and make it into something new so you're not just eating the same thing over and over again.