As a mom, you want to make the best choices for yourself and your family, especially when it comes to health. Without you, who would your little ones have to read them bedtime stories? That’s only the beginning since practically for the rest of your life is now dedicated to ensuring that your kids have a good and happy life. Plus, it’s challenging to keep up with the pitter-patter of tiny feet when you don’t feel your best. Raising kids and an entire family is no easy task, so it’s important for you to stay on top of your health. Remember that when you’re unwell, it’s like the entire family suffers as well.
Good health is something that some people have, and others don’t. Especially when motherhood can eat up the best of you, it’s effortless to fall short of your health needs. The days can be so demanding that in the hierarchy of importance, you’re always last.
However, now’s the time to make a change. You can take proactive steps to safeguard your mental and physical well-being. Take the following ten steps to protect yourself and your loved ones today.
1. Purchasing Health Insurance
Hopefully, your family remains unaffected by the current pandemic. If someone does get sick and lacks coverage, you could end up with a hefty sticker price. One Seattle-area man recently received a $1.1 million hospital bill for his battle with the novel coronavirus. Fortunately, he had coverage but if your family doesn’t, it could mean destroyed credit, bankruptcy or both.
2. Investing in Life Insurance
If you work, your family relies on you for some of their income. If you are a stay-at-home mom, your partner will need to replace the value of your labor if something happens to you a costly proposition. How can you protect your family from the worst-case scenario? Cover yourself with life insurance.
Most policies do require you to take a medical exam. However, if you have concerns about pre-existing health conditions, you might opt for a simplified or guaranteed issue policy. While the latter only covers enough for final expenses, it’s better than leaving your loved ones to foot the bill for your funeral and make up for lost income while they mourn.
2. Seeing the Doctor for Routine Checkups
Can you see your blood pressure? How about your B-12 levels? Although people in our society sometimes play fast and loose with the advice to get an annual checkup, you shouldn’t postpone your trip to the doctor indefinitely.
Routine blood work and other tests can help you detect and manage chronic diseases you might not know you have, like Type 2 diabetes. While it’s scary to receive a diagnosis, it’s better than persisting in habits that exacerbate your condition unawares.
3. Investing in Self-Monitoring Technology
There’s an app for nearly everything these days, including monitoring atrial fibrillation (AFIB). If you have a history of heart disease, talk to your doctor about investing in one. You should also stock your first aid kit with a sphygmomanometer, a digital thermometer and a pulse oximeter. These devices empower you to take charge of your health at home and offer clues as to when you should seek treatment.
4. Eating More Vegetables
Most dietary advice tells you to cut things out of your lifestyle but feel free to add all the fresh fruits and vegetables you’d like to your menu. These natural products contain a wide array of vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients. All play critical roles in maintaining your overall health. Strive to eat the rainbow by including plant-based foods in various hues at every meal.
5. Cutting Back on Red and Processed Meats
The World Health Organization (WHO) classifies processed meats like bologna as carcinogens and red meat as a potential one. Consuming more than one or two servings weekly increases your risk of colorectal cancer significantly. If your family feels no meal is complete without meat, switch to leaner, healthier cuts like poultry and fish.
Since these canned goods can often be quite expensive, cutting back on processed meats can also drastically lower your grocery bill. When you’re on the hunt to live with lesser financial stress, this is a good change to make.
6. Getting Your Meal Prep Game on Point
When you pair a trying day at the office with a soccer match that goes into double overtime, you have a recipe for fast-food city. Who has the time or energy to cook after such grueling events? However, if you stock your freezer with healthy grab-and-go meals on your day off, you can feed your family nutritious fare in less time than it takes to make it through a crowded drive-thru line.
Meal prepping is also a good way to stay out of snacking on unhealthy, ready-made treats at your office canteen or when you’re out and about. For instance, with snacks, there are so many quick and healthy alternatives to chips and sweet cereals, such as fruit, nuts, and dates.
Don’t have the time to visit a specialty store? Fortunately, you can now buy dates online, along with other grocery items. Take advantage of this means as it takes one less chore of having to go to a physical store. That way, you’ve got more free time on your hands.
7. Moving Your Body
Exercise helps keep your body functioning at peak performance, and it protects mental wellness to boot. Research shows it reduces your risk of depression and helps maintain your mental health as you age. Try to get moving at least 30 minutes most days, although you can break the exertion up into shorter bursts.
8. Twisting Like a Pretzel
Yoga is one of the best mind-body exercise systems available. It reduces the pain of many chronic diseases, which indirectly improves your mental outlook. You can find hundreds, if not thousands, of videos on YouTube to start your journey if the thought of returning to a studio still gives you pause.
9. Brushing Your Teeth
You need to brush twice daily and floss once to avoid more than gaps in your grin. Researchers found the bacteria responsible for periodontal disease in Alzheimer’s patient’s brains, and they suspect a causative link exists. These bacteria can also infect other organs and your blood vessels, upping your heart disease risk. Keep on top of your oral hygiene.
10. Catching Adequate Zzz’s
While it might seem like an impossible dream to have adequate sleep, it’s actually doable. There’s a reason why other people will always tell moms to sleep when the baby sleeps, and leave some of the chores for later. When you’ve got young, messy children to tend to, you don’t have to feel pressured to have your house looking like it’s straight out of a showroom. Always prioritize your sleep above anything else.
If you don’t get enough sleep, you increase your chances of causing an auto accident, or any other accident, for that matter. Imagine if you have your kids with you in the car and meet an accident simply because you were getting too drowsy. Plus, your concentration begins to slip, which can lead to consequences at work and the potential loss of health insurance coverage with your job. Finally, your body produces cytokines, proteins that fight infection, while you sleep, and inadequate rest can weaken your immune response. When you have poor sleep quality, you can’t effectively function to complete all the demands of the day.
Moms, Make These Ten Wise Choices to Safeguard Your Health
As a mom, your family counts on you to take care of their physical, mental, and emotional needs. You can’t do that if you feel lousy, so take the above measures to safeguard your well-being today.
A healthy and well-rested mom is a happy one. Hence, it enables you to better trod on all the responsibilities that you have to handle in a day.
In the process of taking care of the needs of your family first, it can be so easy to forget your own. Don’t make that same mistake again. For some of the easiest way for busy moms to make healthier choices for their life, follow through with the tips enumerated above.
I’m a 20-something stay-at-home mother and wife. I have an amazing husband, a beautiful daughter, two loving dogs, and a lazy cat. I wouldn’t change my life for anything! I love to read, listen to music, cook and blog!
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