3 Nutrition Pitfalls for Moms

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Prior to having my son I felt like I had my nutrition down pretty good. As a dietitian I feel like it’s my job to practice what I preach, so I ate my vegetables, 3 meals per day and made home cooked meals. THEN…I became a mom and everything changed. I was now sleep deprived and trying get my little baby on a schedule to make life a little easier. My normal eating habits quickly disappeared! I know that nutrition struggles are something all moms deal with as our days are filled with work and childcare.

The 3 Pitfalls

1. Skipping Meals

This was the first area that I noticed start to go after my son was born. At times I was starving trying to keep up with the calories needed to breastfeed and other times I didn’t eat from breakfast till dinner.

2. Eating Kids Food/Leftovers

Once kids are at the age that they can start to have more than purees they go through spurts where they can eat everything or hardly anything. On the days that they are hardly eating there are leftovers, and if you have a tendency to skip meals then you start to look at their plates and instead of throwing out food, you decide to eat some.  Partly because you are hungry and also if you are are anything like me, you hate to waste food.

3. Eating Out More

The trip to the store is not as simple as it used to be. So running there for just a couple ingredients for tonight’s dinner is not going to happen. When we have not planned ahead the easy out can be Take-Out. For me this this ultimately takes me further away from health goals and also impacts that budget.

I ate my vegetables, 3 meals per day and made home cooked meals. THEN… I became a mom and everything changed.

How to Help

A few simple changes can help conquer the nutrition pitfall and get you back on track!

Portion out easy to eat or re-heat meals the day before. I pack meals for my husband to take to work and still continue to pack up a meal for myself so there is one less thing I need to think about the next day.

Cut up fruits and vegetables on the weekend and each morning set out small snack amounts to grab as you walk by to avoid going long periods of time without eating. Snacking can be healthy if you are intentionally choosing healthy whole foods. (Try most often to eat foods that have 5 ingredients or less.)

Menu plan each week and make grocery list based off of what you need and cross off any ingredients you already have.

Don’t feel like you have time for making a grocery list? Try meal planning or meal services like emealsBlue Apron, orHello Fresh

Ask for help! Enlist help from a spouse or significant other to help shop, clean and chop up healthy options.

Do you struggle with these three pitfalls in your daily nutrition? What other tips would you add to help with this?

Contributing Sister Site and Author

About {Jody}

Jody hails from Minnesota originally, but left the tundra-like weather for the bright Arizona sunshine 14 years ago. She now lives in Chandler with her wonderful husband, Kyle, and her amazing little son, Nolan. As a Registered Dietitian and Fitness Coach, living a healthy lifestyle is her full-time job.

Jody is a contributor for East Valley Moms Blog, one of our Sister Sites.