Prioritizing Your Health as a Mom

Hi friends! This past Sunday was Mother’s Day so in honor of that, this week’s #hfpodcast episode is focused on prioritizing your health as a mom. This can be such a struggle and takes intentional planning and effort that if we’re being honest, oftentimes we don’t feel that we have the energy for. Today I want to encourage and hopefully inspire you to think through some ways that you can support your health and care for your body so that you can continue to love and serve your family well for years to come!

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I reached out to my followers on Instagram and asked them what some of their obstacles were to prioritizing their health as a mom and here are the most common responses that I got:

• Time 

• Hectic schedules

• Exhaustion 

• Lack of motivation 

• Body image struggles 

• Guilt when taking time for yourself

I think all of us moms can relate to pretty much all of that!

The thing we need to remember is that we are all in this together. Most of us who are caretakers in any capacity, moms or not, but especially when you have tiny humans that you are responsible for 24/7 can relate to the struggle of knowing that it’s best for us to take care of ourselves and do things that support our health and figuring out how to actually do it. 

It’s also helpful to remember that this is just a season - not forever. We’re just not going to get to it all every day no matter how organized and planned we are and that’s okay. That doesn’t mean that we don’t try to do things that we know will help us, but we’re going to agree here together to stop beating ourselves up about it when it’s not all done, okay? Deal! 

Here are a few tips and ideas that I hope will encourage and inspire you to take the time and be intentional about caring for your body and supporting your health:

• Spend time with Jesus every day in any way that you can. This will look different in every season, maybe even from day today. The truth is that we just simply cannot care for other people well and pour out of a cup that’s empty. Mothering well requires amounts of patience, wisdom, and care that I just simply do not have without the help of the Holy Spirit. I literally need help with it and I can tangibly feel a difference in my parenting on the days that I don’t prioritize this. 

• Take a little time for yourself. This can be so incredibly difficult to do, but I truly believe that it makes a difference in our mental and emotional health. This may mean asking for help or trying to get up a little earlier before the kids do, or maybe choosing 10 minutes of time to decompress instead of doing the dishes {again}. Get creative - it’s worth it.

• Eat actual meals that are for you (protein+carb+fat, every 3-4 hours, including snacks). The key here is to have a plan but know that it doesn’t have to be elaborate. Stick to the basics and make it work for your season. For ideas or help with this, grab my Foods that Heal Guide and my Easy, Healthy Eats Recipe eBook.

• Try to have food before coffee - I know. 🙈 Here’s the deal - coffee (while amazing) spikes one of our stress hormones- Cortisol - and can make your blood sugar unstable as well as put stress on your adrenals and hormones. Essentially, it can make you have less energy and more irritable. Bad combo for a mom (well, anyone - but you get what I’m saying). So simply adding a small balanced meal or snack before your morning cup of coffee can help to stabilize your blood sugar and support your energy levels and mood.

• Prioritize your sleep. I’m well aware that our kids do not care about our sleep at all. However, a long-term lack of sleep can take such a toll on our health (if you want to hear my personal experience with this, make sure you listen to the whole episode). There is some lack of sleep that comes with parenthood, especially in the newborn days, but I want to encourage you that it’s worth the money, effort, time, whatever you need to do to help your kids to sleep well and independently so that you can too! Also, choose sleep over an extra hour of work or even scrolling. I know that it feels like you’ve earned some numb-out time (and you have) but if it’s a choice between staying up really late to “escape” or get more sleep, the sleep will serve you better every single time. 

• Have a plan for moving your body. This is one of those areas that really has to adapt after having kids but it’s still totally doable. We just need a plan and realistic expectations! Find ways to make it work for your schedule and season of life. You can include the kids by letting them join you in your workout if they’re old enough or let them have a little screen time will you fit in a workout at home. Go for a walk and take them in the stroller or let them ride their bikes or scooter along side you. If your budget allows, joing a gym that provides childcare - this will give you a little alone time and you can fit in a workout - win win! Just be realistic with your expecations of what it will look like. It won’t happen everyday, but if you make it part of your daily plan and shoot for it, you will at least hit it some days. 

• Give yourself some grace. Choose the priorities from this list and don’t try to do everything! Remember, living a healthy lifestyle is really about balance, it’s more like juggling. So choose a couple things that you can focus on and feel good about. Also, learn to let go of some things. Maybe the house isn’t perfectly clean all the time, maybe you have to ask for help, maybe you can’t go to every event you’re invited to. Spend some time thinking through what is most important and what you actually feel called to, and be okay saying no to other things. 

• Don’t give up when you have an off day (or week, even month). It’s not starting over, it’s not getting back on the wagon,  it’s just living your life and tomorrow is a brand new day!

Mama- friends, it’s okay to take care of you too. You will love and serve better if you aren’t trying to pour out without ever taking the time to refill. Think through what you know will help you the most a prioritize a few of these things we’ve talked about today.

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Book Review | Get Out of Your Head by Jennie Allen

Hi friends! Today’s episode is a little different than anything I’ve done before - I am reviewing a book that I just recently read with my small group and all of us loved it so much and found it so helpful, so I wanted to share it with you as well. 

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The book is called “Get Out of Your Head - Stop the Spiral of Toxic Thoughts” by Jennie Allen. It’s a book about how God designed our minds to work, how we form thoughts, and how those thoughts can then affect everything in our lives. It talks specifically about negative thought patterns and common triggers that tend to send us down into toxic thought spirals and how we can use truth from God’s word to fight these spirals and disrupt the consequences of our negative patterns of thinking. This book is full of science and scripture which I absolutely love! 

The book is so well laid out. It’s broken down into three parts different parts, so I’m going to share a few things that really stuck out to me from each part. 

In part one Jennie goes into detail about how our thoughts are formed and influenced by our environment or our own past experiences, and how those thoughts then go on to form what we believe and shape how we live. She explains the pattern like this “Our emotions were leading us to thoughts, and those thoughts were dictating our decisions, and our decisions were determining our behaviors, and then the behaviors were shaping our relationships, all of which would take us back to healthy or unhealthy thoughts.” 

In chapter two, she digs further into explaining how a lot of our thoughts can be based on lies we believe about ourselves, which are ultimately rooted in what we believe to be true about God. All of this information is leading the reader to the realization that our thoughts (especially the negative ones - 70%) can create strongholds in our lives that we need to fight back against, but before we can do that we have to learn how to recognize them and stop the spiral.

In the second part of the book, she walks us through exactly how to do that. Side note - I highly recommend getting the study guide to go along with the book. It provides prompts and space to dive deeper into the methods she shares for tearing down strongholds and regaining control of our thoughts. 

The entire process of fighting back hinges on this one truth - that we have a choice. We don’t have to stay stuck in these toxic spirals. We can disrupt them. As Jesus-followers, we have been given all the tools we need to be able to break free. Throughout the entire second part of the book, Jennie walks through common negative emotions and thoughts that we often find ourselves gravitating towards and then provides us with another option - a way to stop the spiral, using truths from God’s word. 

We can fight self-importance with humility

We can fight noise with silence

We can fight cynicism with delight

We can fight isolation with connection

We can fight complacency with intentionality

We can fight victimhood with gratefulness

We can fight anxiety with trust

Then in part three, Jennie wraps up the book reminding us of who Jesus is and as believers, who we are in Him. I just love the reminders that she gives in this section and want to read this part she wrote, specifically what God says about Himself and about you: (from pg 214-216)

I am who I am. (Exodus 3:14)

I am the beginning and the end. I am the first, and I am the last. (Revelation 22:13)

I am light; in Me, there is no darkness at all. (1 John 1:5)

My hand lay the foundation of the earth, and my right hand spread out the heavens; when I call to them, they stand forth. (Isaiah 48:13)

Before I formed you in the womb I knew you. (Jeremiah 1:5)

I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my Name, He may give it to you. (John 15:16)

I am He who blots out your transgressions. I will not remember your sins. (Isaiah 43:25)

To all who receive Me, who believe in My Name, I give the right to become children of God. (John 1:12)

 Do you not know that you are God‘s temple and that God‘s Spirit dwells in you? (1 Corinthians 3:16)

My spirit is within you. (Ezekiel 36:27)

I will not leave you. (Deuteronomy 31:8)

I will equip you for every good work I’ve planned. (Hebrews 13:21)

I gave you a spirit not of fear but of power and of love and self-control. (2 Timothy 1:7)

I will build my church through you, and the gates of hell will not overcome it. (Matthew 16:18)

I will comfort you as you wait. (Isaiah 66:13)

I will remind you this is all real. (John 14:26)

I am on my way. (Revelation 3:11)

My steadfast love endures forever. (Psalm 138:8)

In just a little while… I am coming and I will take you to the place where I am.  (Hebrews 10:27; John 14:3)

You will inherit the earth. (Psalm 25:13)

You will be with Me. I will wipe every tear from your eyes, and death will be no more. Behold, I am making all things new. (Revelation 21:3-5)

My kingdom is coming. My Will will be done on earth as it is in heaven. (Matthew 6:10)

“God has declared these truths about Himself and about me. All these things are true for you and for anyone who loves and follows Jesus. This is who we are because of Whose we are. We make our choices based on these truths. And our God doesn’t change and always delivers on His promises.”

This book was so helpful for me and I honestly believe that it would be helpful to anyone who reads it. Battling a negative mindset or getting caught up in toxic thought patterns isn’t something that only affects a few people - it affects everyone I know, and consequently, it can affect our entire lives. 

I have often talked about how important it is to take care of our mental and emotional health, but I don’t know that I’ve ever felt the true significance of that like I have this past year. As I’ve seen in my own life and in the lives of my clients, if we aren’t paying attention to and caring for our mental/emotional state, we will not be able to be physically healthy. We just won’t have the motivation, the will, or even the capacity to care about it. I truly believe that caring for our mental health and emotional wellbeing starts here - in understanding that we were created in God’s image, as spiritual beings and there is a war going on for our minds. Our mind and our thoughts are the deepest core of who we are and if we aren’t paying attention and being intentional about caring for that part of us, filling ourselves with truth, actively fighting against these lies that are so tempting to believe and often being pushed at us from every angle, it’s going to affect the rest of our lives, our relationships, our health. 

I really can’t recommend this book enough!  You can find both the book and the study guide at Target or most anywhere books are sold - be sure to grab one for yourself and maybe a friend too!

What Covid_19 Has Taught Me about a Healthy Lifestyle

Hi friends! I’m going to be super transparent with you today. I don’t really want to record this episode. I’m weary, I’ve been fighting anxiety more than I want to admit and honestly, I’ve struggled with if I even need to continue putting out content right now because just about everything feels trivial in comparison to this virus and the effect it’s having on people’s lives. 

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As I’m typing this my husband, who is supposed to be working from home, is out on an on-site trying to help another company be able to work remotely, so they can stay afloat. Businesses are closing, everyone has to stay away from each other, people are getting sick and losing their jobs and some even their lives. It almost seems silly to come on here and talk to you about a healthy lifestyle - about what you eat or if you’re exercising or how you’re coping with the stress, but as these thoughts have been turning over inside my head, I keep coming back to this idea: During this pandemic, what has been made very clear to me is that the things I did and cared about from a vanity standpoint didn’t matter to me much at all anymore, but the rhythms and habits that I have put into place that make a difference in my mental and emotional health have never been more important. 

Even the really good things that I still believe are good and are beneficial to your health in the long run - like buying organic and trying to reduce toxin exposure, for example, just took a back seat, because, for the first time in my whole life, I entertained the thought that there might not be enough (and just let me add how much of an eye-opener this has been for me around the idea of privilege and how some people deal with these fears and realities every day - pandemic or not). However, the things that stood out to me, that have become necessary in order to keep some kind of control over my thoughts and emotions became front and center of my idea of a healthy lifestyle. Things like: 

• Having a daily quiet time and drawing near to God. Letting Him speak to my heart and mind the truth of His word has kept my mind centered where it needs to be. It’s allowed me to filter all my feelings through a lens of truth knowing that God is still good and nothing about Him has changed. 

• Moving my body and getting my heart rate up every day. There is a noticeable shift in my mental state when I do this. Not that it’s all better and fixed but I am able to think more logically about things and not just emotionally. Exercise has many benefits to our health but I’m more convinced now than ever that it’s greatest benefit is to our mental health.

• Getting enough sleep. This one has probably been the most impactful because it’s the one I’ve struggled with the most. Anxious thoughts flood my mind at night and make me really not want to go to sleep some nights and I can tell such a difference the next day based on how much I slept - not just mentally but physically too! 

Obviously, I still believe that eating nutritious food is important and protecting your gut health and the immune system is crazy important, especially now, and both of those things also have an impact on your mental health as well. 

I think this has just been a really good reminder for me that so much of our daily struggles can start in our minds and during a time like this when there is so much uncertainty, anxiety, and stress if we don’t make protecting our mindsets a priority, we’re likely going to stop caring about a lot of other things that help keep us healthy. 

(**Disclaimer - I’m not really talking about mental illness or chemical imbalances here. While some of these things may be helpful if you or someone you know is struggling with those issues, these things in no way replace a need for medicines or therapy.) 

So if you’re really struggling with your mindset and you don’t feel like you’re in a good mental/emotional state, take the steps - do the things - that can help with that first. Move your body, connect with God, laugh, sleep, connect with other humans (in a safe way). I think sometimes we have to choose to do the thing, and then the feeling and motivation will come later.  

I hope this has helped encourage you and I hope that you and your families are doing well. We will get through this crazy time and my hope and prayer is that we all choose to come out of it a little better than we were before. 

Hang in there, friends! Talk soon!