Every mom is the queen of her home. Whether the family lives in a native cottage, a bungalow, a condominium unit, an apartment, or a mansion—she is still queen. More often than not, the mom neglects herself in favor of taking care of the family as well as the family budget. Here are some tips for creating better days for the queen of the home. A happier and healthier mom and wife will always be seen in her family.
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Creating Better Days Series
Last weekend, I attended The Plantita Project, a webinar that is part of the Creating Better Days series organized by the Forest Lake Memorial Parks. And I am happy I did.
They say that we can only share what we have. In order to be able to better love others, we must first love ourselves.
We must first be happy with ourselves.
In the session hosted by nutritionist and dietician Samantha Morales, I have five take-away lessons that I want to share with you.
Mommies, it’s all about taking care of ourselves so that we can better take care of our family.
Tips on Improving Our Health and Mental Well-being
If you are like me, you are the kind of mom who might be staying at home but not actually getting enough time for herself. The day seems just divided between homecooking, household chores, taking care of the kids, writing and working, gardening, homeschooling, and most importantly, being a wife.
Except for full baths twice a day that I cannot do without, I even shortcut my meals by not chewing properly. Sometimes, I am having breakfast while walking around so I am no longer mindful of what I put in my mouth. And oh, did I mention that I sometimes shampoo and soap my body twice because I forget?
That’s not exactly healthy because I end up stuffing my mouth and putting stress on my digestive system. I am not sure why I am stressing myself but that’s how I am—always in a rush. Such a workaholic mom!
Oh, I just want to mention that Mango Clinic named me one of their top Super Moms in one of their round-ups and they asked me for three tips on dealing with stress. Well, I am quite an expert in that now. haha
So here are the things that I was reminded of during the webinar.
Eat real food.
Our daily lives are bombarded with commercials of processed food as well as fast food on TV and social media.
I have to admit, we like them. No, we love them because they taste and smell good. Plus, the commercials have conditioned our minds that these are good — healthy even.
Samantha says that it is best to consume food items that are the closest to their original form as possible. This means to eat natural foods like fruits, vegetables, meats, grains, and the like as well as to avoid preservatives as much as possible.
Eat good fats and oils.
Many moms go on a diet to maintain their figure. A lot of times, they avoid fat altogether, checking labels for no-fat or less fat content.
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But we also need fats and oils in our diet, so Samantha recommends eating a balanced diet complete with good kinds of fats from natural foods.
Some of the foods that have good quality natural fat are avocado and nuts.
Choose your carbs wisely.
There are many kinds of diet crazes and a lot of them recommend omitting carbohydrates all throughout. That means losing pounds fast as well as keeping the weight off.
That helped to temporarily solve my PCOS problem and got me pregnant–twice.
However, there are also downsides to this, like having mood swings.
While many shun rice, Samantha recommends eating it rather than breads or other forms of processed carbs. However, she says that different colored rice would be much better than white rice. Not only are they nutritious, but they also have high fiber content, too.
Move your body.
You don’t need to hit the gym to get the physical activity that we need. Gardening and household chores can already help us burn calories.
But in order not to strain our muscles, we need to do some stretches. Since I suffer from back and neck pains, stretching in the morning and in the evening is already part of my day. These are recommended by my physical therapist.
And my back problems have considerably diminished because of stretching. Let’s face it, I am not getting any younger so joints are not as healthy anymore.
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Manage your stress.
The bad kind of stress is a total killer. These stresses stem from negative emotions in our lives. Let’s do everything that we can to relax.
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There are many ways to manage stress and it really depends upon what works for you. There are deep breathing exercises, yoga, or essential oils, which you can inhale or use as massage oils.
In the past, I used to get a regular body massage. But now, even though some spas are already open, I not very comfortable getting a massage because of the close contact with the masseuse in an enclosed area. With the threat of Covid-19, I would rather play it safe than infect the whole family.
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At home, I would ask the hubby to just press my back with some liniment from time to time in order to relieve tension.
Get a full night’s rest.
This one is actually mine. I have noticed that I am more likely to transform into a monster mom the next day if I don’t get enough sleep the night before.
It should be a full night’s sleep that’s uninterrupted. I am a light sleeper so a little noise can easily wake me up and I would have difficulty going back to sleep.
Anyway, I have employed a lot of means in order to be able to have good quality sleep at night, including essential oils, supplements, and the Himalayan salt lamp.
Contact Details
Forest Lake Memorial Parks is very concerned with the mental well-being of their clients as well as everybody else. That is the reason why they created this free webinar series that Filipina moms can take advantage of.
Follow their FB page for updates on future webinars: ForestLakeMemorialParks
Stories About Resilient Pinay Moms
Meanwhile, here are stories about resilient Pinay moms that will certainly inspire you to keep going despite the pandemic:
- From a successful event planning business, one mom is Coping with the Crisis with Soap-Making
- Aside from the Covid-19 pandemic, a Bacolod Mom Helps Battle Hubby’s Liver Cirrhosis During Covid-19 ECQ
- With their souvenir and clothes factory closing due to the lockdown, a mom started The Farmtory and Survived the Lockdown With Tauge
- When the lockdown happened last March, two Bacolod Mompreneurs Distribute the M2 Health Drink in NIR. It boosts immunity for their families and has given them extra income.
- Two moms teamed up with bartering in order to collect construction materials. Read: Mommy Power: The House that Barter Built
- Needing supplies during the lockdown, read How a Bacolod Mom Changed the Philippines with Barter
- Here’s a mom who left her lucrative career in finance in order to take care of her son. Read about Mommy Cleth and her Homemade Kare-Kare with Love
- Despite all the health and financial challenges, one mom pursued making homemade peanut butter. Read how this simple home-based business has upgraded their family’s lifestyle. Click here: Getting a Family Upgrade: Homemade Peanut Butter Makes it Possible
Note: Wrote this post for World Mental Health Day.
Thanks For the tips Mommy. How I wish I can apply these to myself.. Need maging busy at umextra ng madaming work para maka survive