…because a healthy mompreneur is a happy mompreneur!
- Eat the rainbow. There’s a lot of conflicting information about what to eat, what not to eat, and what all things diet and nutrition should look like. One way you can’t go wrong when trying to improve your nutrition is to focus on eating the rainbow. The phytochemicals that occur naturally in foods create benefits that each of us can enjoy, and when we pair the colors together the effects are even better! Here’s a quick reference for you:
- Red fruits and vegetables improve heart health, decrease prostate and breast cancer risk, and increase brain function. Sources include radishes, cherries, strawberries, red peppers.
- Orange and yellow fruits and vegetables reduce risk of heart disease and inflammation, strengthen the immune system and improve vision. Sources include apricots, carrots, bananas and pineapple.
- Green fruits and vegetables help prevent cancer. Sources include spinach, arugula, kiwis and asparagus.
- Blue and purple fruits and vegetables are associated with brain health and memory, help lower blood pressure and reduce the risk of stroke and heart disease. Sources include blueberries, blackberries, plums and eggplant.
- White and brown fruits and vegetables have anti-tumor properties, decrease risk of stomach cancer and improve bone strength. Sources include cauliflower, garlic, mushrooms and onions.
- Drink more water. The ISSA (International Sports Sciences Association) recommends a minimum of 91 oz a day for women. Water helps with digestion, prevents constipation, flushes toxins from the body, creates clearer, younger looking skin and helps regulate body temperature. With all these benefits and zero calories, it is the best hydration option for you!
- Vary your workouts. We’re all human and the busier we get, the more we tend to rely on routine to help us accomplish everything we need to get done. If you are going to change anything up, make it your workouts! Our bodies are smart and they adapt and plateau so the best thing you can do for your fitness is to create variety in your workouts. Focus on a mix of cardio, strength and flexibility to maximize results. The more muscle we have the more energy we burn, and since we lose 3-8% muscle every decade after 30 years of age, this is an very important aspect to focus on. With cardio, we are building our cardiovascular system, which helps our hearth health, mental health, mood, sleep and metabolism. Flexibility is the counterpoint to strength and cardio, which both shorten the muscles and contract them, whereas flexibility focuses on elongating our muscles to improve our posture, help our balance, decrease risk of injury and maintain muscle length.
Your current fitness level will determine your workout regimen but as a target, the American Heart Association recommends 150 minutes a week of moderate intensity or 75 minutes high intensity aerobic exercise a week, strength/resistance training at least 2 days a week and active stretching at least 2-3 days a week.
- Schedule alone time. As mompreneurs, we spend a lot of time doing for others, and sometimes neglect ourselves in the process. Benefits of alone time include more social energy, increased creativity and reduced stress levels. If you aren’t currently planning alone time, it can feel selfish at first, so be sure to give yourself permission to lean into that resistance! You can start with 5 minutes a day and work your way up. You can sit and drink a cup of coffee or tea in silence, go for a walk, read a book or stare at the wall – as long as you are alone and only tending to yourself you will start to realize the benefits! Block time in your calendar and treat it like an appointment with yourself. Many women find success getting up a few minutes earlier or going to bed a few minutes later so that they get their alone time at the start or end of their day. Some women like to schedule it during their lunch break and others use their gym time or personal care time (manicure, massage, facial) as their touchpoint for that day. Whatever works for you, spending time with yourself for yourself is never a waste!
- Focus on quality relationships. People who spend time and energy to build quality relationships with their spouse, kids and friends have lower rates of anxiety and depression, higher self-esteem, greater empathy and healthier overall lifestyle behaviors. Date nights, girls nights, family nights and mommy kiddo dates are all great ways to harness the power of your relationships. A good goal is to plan one of each every month.
- Create personal development goals. Studies show that people who have purpose are healthier and happier so by focusing on ways to improve yourself, you will set yourself up for success by giving yourself the gift of motivation, direction, empowerment, resilience, confidence and so much more! If you aren’t sure where to begin, there are five categories of personal development that you can assess yourself on, and wherever you feel not fully engaged, start there! The areas include mental, social, spiritual, physical and emotional. Reading books, listening to podcasts and attending events are all great ways to engage in the personal development realm!
- Moms, DO NOT try to balance it all! So often we hear about work-life balance and in all honesty, that is a total lie! Never ever will our lives be perfectly balanced. There will be days when work is so demanding that we are barely present for our families, and vice versa. I have discovered that if I focus on integration as opposed to balance I feel more fulfilled and less guilt. When I accept that some days my family life will take over and work will take the back burner, or the other way around, it allows me to focus on being more present and I am better able to adapt. If I focus on balance then I just feel let down, defeated and set up for failure. Integration of “all the things” we do on a daily basis is one of the healthiest mindsets you can adopt!
- Sleep 7+ hours a night. So many women struggle with sleep. Especially moms, business owners and hormonal women (post-natal, perimenopausal, menopausal). Which is basically all of us on any given day. We either don’t get enough sleep, or we sleep long hours but don’t wake up feeling rested, we toss and turn or we are kept awake by a family member (snoring husband, crying child, playful pet). Sleep is one of the health and wellness factors that impacts so many areas of life including our brains, weight management, energy levels, immunity, heart health and stress levels so it is a great place to start to focus your intentions and your actions for improved health. Quality and quantity are the key to better sleep habits so start by focusing on one or the other. Set a goal to sleep 7+ hours at least 1 more night a week than you currently are by going to bed earlier or sleeping a little later. Once you get that habit down, increase to 2 nights, then 3 nights, until you are consistently there nightly. You can also focus on your sleep environment – eliminating blue light, removing TVs, adjusting sleepwear and/or bedding, removing distractions and blocking any distracting sounds or lights that may impact your sleep routine.
- Close your day with wins. Before you go to bed each night, create a little ritual to mentally or physically note your three wins of the day before you drift off to sleep. People who routinely monitor their wins are more motivated, positive and productive. This simple habit can rewire your brain toward more of a growth mindset and that will impact every decision your make in your mompreneur life.
- Take what you need. Everything here doesn’t have to apply to you! If we took every piece of advice we were given, we’d be full time trying to implement, build and change our lifestyle with no time left for work, momming or ourselves. Self-improvement is knowing what you need, when you need it – and focusing on that. Don’t try to adopt all these healthy habits today; pick 1 or 2 to focus on and build on those as needed.
Debi Kinney is owner of Hello Coaching, a goals coaching business that services clients coast to coast. She guides clients to become the best version of themselves by helping them reverse engineer their health, fitness, lifestyle and business goals into actionable steps. Clients who have worked with Debi share that as a result they are healthier, happier, stronger, more confident and make more money! Learn more about Debi and her services at HelloCoaching.Info where you can also sign up for her monthly newsletter, download her free converted comfort foods recipe book and receive discounts and recommendations on her favorite products and services.