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When you are a mom it can be very easy to get stressed out and overwhelmed. Of course when we are stressed we are also vulnerable to looking for escapes and pick me up throughout the day, some of which can turn into unhealthy habits. Happily, there are some healthy alternatives that you can try instead that will still allow you to show love yourself and help you to manage your busy mom duties. Read on to find out what they are.
Get outdoors
One of the best things that you can do to de-stress is to get outside into nature. In fact, there are many reasons why this can work particularly well. The first is that if you leave the little ones with your SO at home, you are much less likely to be interrupted with a nappy changing or snack fixing task. After all, when you are out of the house, it is a much clearer boundary that you won’t have to put as much effort in to stick to.
Additionally, spending time outside can be stress relieving as you get exposed to the sun that can boost your vitamin D levels, and plenty of clean fresh air as well. Of course, you can choose to make it even healthier by doing physical activity while outside too like hiking, running, or riding your bike. Something that will boost your endorphins and further help you to de-stress, and be at your best!
Choose a quick & healthy coffee break.
Now, many mommas run on coffee, and when you are only getting a few brook hours of sleep at night, it is not surprising. However, sometimes as the kids get older and their sleep patterns improve the habit of taking a break with a cup o’ Joe stays.
Of course, one cup a day probably isn’t that bad for you, but if you discover that you are drinking more, or are suffering ill effects and added stress from all that caffeine that you are putting into your system, you may need to find a healthier alternative.
Happily, you can now get excellent tasting decaf coffee beans, which will allow you to continue to grind your own coffee and enjoy a cup while you take a de-stress break during your busy day. All without the worry of increased anxiety, and the negative impact that too much caffeine can have on your sleep!
Take a bath with your favorite show
While TV subscription services would have us believe that binging on our favorite shows is the best way to relax and de-stress, anything in excess can be problematic. In fact, if you are overdoing anything at all, it usually means that there is an imbalance somewhere in your life that needs to be addressed.
In particular, watching every episode you can lay your hands on, something that often means you end up going to bed later than you would like, and end up being even more exhausted the next day, just reinforces the cycle of stress. That is why it can be a lot healthier for your emotional and mental wellbeing to watch just a single episode if you show, but really make it something special.
One way that you can do this is to download that episode onto your mobile device and take some time out to have a luxurious bath. You can even lock the door, so you don’t get any unwanted visitors and can really chill out while you SO looks after the kids!
A sweet pick me up
Candy is sweet, comes in fun wrappers, and can seem like the perfect way for a tired and stressed mom to perk up when she still has a whole list of things left to do in the day. However, we are becoming more and more aware of the dangers of overeating sugar and relying on it as our primary source of energy. In fact, many people are swapping to diets where they actually use fat as the principal fuel rather than carbohydrates, of which sugar is one.
Of course, you don’t have to do anything so extreme if you don’t want. However, it is crucial to remember that the type of sugar in candy is very quickly released into the bloodstream, something that means you can easily suffer from high and lows that aren’t only unpleasant but can interfere with your ability to function and deal with stress during the day as well.
Additionally, overeating sugar can be habit forming in a psychological sense, and this is something that has been linked to weight gain as well as other physical problems. Something that means always going for a candy pick-me-up when what you actually need is to time to rest isn’t a wise idea.
Happily, there is an easy swap that you can make here, and it’s choosing a piece of fruit instead. In fact, a piece of fruit will give you not only slower release energy but vitamins and minerals as well that should help you keep going during the day.
Although, it is also wise to start getting better in touch with the needs of your mind and body, and take a break when you can. In fact, when we crave sugar, this is often the messages our bodies are trying to give us!
Just breathe
Sometimes when well-meaning people tell busy harassed moms just to stop and take a breath, it can come across as a little condescending. After all, how could they possibly know all the things that you are dealing with right now?
However, there is some wisdom in this advice. The reason being that when we get stressed out, our body tends to contract, and this can make us breathe in a more shallow way. This, in turn, can trigger an emergency response in our nervous system, making the problem worse.
To that end, if you do find yourself in a situation where you can’t take a healthy time out, try doing a few breathing exercises, like the one in the video above. In fact, just this simple activity may be enough to keep you calm and allow you to deal with the situation more effectively until you can take a proper break to recuperate from your many mom duties later on.
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