ENERGY: exercise, eating, and sleep

These areas — what we EAT, whether we EXERCISE, and if we (or our children) get any SLEEP — feel so personal, because they are indeed seats of personal power. Each of us individually determines what goes into our mouths, or if our limbs are used for cardio health, or if we go to bed at a reasonable hour. Our children are the same way. Momivate RESPECTS that sovereignty and encourages you to accept that respect and use it to buoy yourself in your efforts to treat yourself RIGHT. Extend that respect to yourself and also to your children. Love yourself into treating your body better! Here are some principles to guide your journey to getting more energy and teaching your children to also

• Steady & Gradual: Because our out-go is constant, our in-take must be consistent. Routine exercise, sleep, and meal times allow our bodies to work more efficiently and manage energy. Healthfulness is a gradual, long-term effect of regularity with good habits. Be patient and persistent as you make progress!

• Acknowledgement/“Meet you where you’re at”: In order to manage your body’s energy effectively, you must:
  1. honestly review where you are in terms of the standards you have, and 
  2. choose behaviors that create “lift” in your energy needs. 

Trying to be where you think you should be (instead of where you are) can lead to negative consequences such as injury, unsustainability/inconsistency, and malnourishment which in turn can lead to feelings of shame, discouragement, and frustration.

• Education & Reality: Being well-educated and balancing that with realities of life helps us have sleep, exercise, and good eating habits in healthy ways that avoid extremism and lend to cooperation and maintenance from all parties involved.

• Enthusiastic Example: We are models for our children and can harness that power if we conscientiously put effort into being an enthusiastic and encouraging example to them in each of the components of energy. They naturally absorb our habits and attitudes, so let’s make sure they’re worthy to pass along!

These are the six components of energy that the principles can be applied to!

A simple way to teach basic nutrition! Eat all three parts of a meal (protein, grain, and fruit/veggie). This can be taught rather easily through simple, joyful discussions while we eat! Having chicken over rice and a salad? Mention that rice is a grain, chicken is a protein, and salad is a veggie. Eating cereal with milk for breakfast? Explain that cereal is a grain, milk is a protein, and then offer a banana so breakfast is complete! Simplicity boosts cooperation, and can be built upon over time. Center meals on whole foods that mainly come from plants: beans, legumes, fruits, vegetables, and whole grains are proven to prevent diseases including diabetes, heart disease, and cancer. When choosing processed food products, avoid items with more than five ingredients or words in the ingredient list that you don’t recognize. Take the time to plan and prepare whole-food meals and snacks, aiming for about 80% of the time! Book suggestion: In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan.

Water is the best and only thing your body needs to drink to survive. There are individuals who have fasted from food for over a year (!!!) but after about three days your body will start shutting down if you don’t have water in some form. Skip the expensive sugary drinks or diet drinks full of chemicals, and head for your good old fashioned 64 oz (1/2 gallon or 8 cups) of water a day to look and feel your best self. Water is the body’s highway, transporting hormones, nutrients and blood cells where they need to go. Nothing prevents fatigue, constipation, and headaches better than being well-hydrated.

Sugar is so yummy — sadly, it also has detrimental effects on our health when we consume it too freely. If we have avoided the need for a sugar-drip in ourselves and prevented it in our children, amazing! If we or our children indulge in sugar to the extent that we can’t go a day without it, let’s actively strive to curb that “addiction.” Why? Discover reasons it’s worth the effort. Then, make the effort to slowly adjust your palette to enjoying the lower-sugar levels of a more nutrient-dense appetite. For instance, if you currently have dessert 7 days a week, choose two days when you’ll skip it — and plan a specific fun activity to do instead! Then after a month, narrow it down again by two more days, so you’re just dessert-ing 3 days a week. Then in another month, take out those last two days so you’re enjoying a little treat just once a week! Then you’re ready to start looking at labels and seeing where sugar sneaks into snacks and other packaged foods. Brainstorm how to minimize each of these by replacing them little by little with other foods or activities.

​With regards to caffeine, it’s generally contained in substances that have harmful effects on your system so getting your energy boosts in more natural ways is ideal. Once you’ve suffered the withdrawal symptoms for a few days, keep the caffeine away so you never have to feel them again! You’ll sleep better, be less irritable, experience fewer energy crashes, and be able to enjoy the day without being glued to a mug or aluminum can, and you’ll leave behind all those other negatives associated with coffee or colas as well.

You can do it, Mama! And your kids can too! As always, be gentle with them in their journey as well, and pledge to use positivity, never shaming (since shame does more damage than a sugar addiction ever can).

Decide to love to move! The best type of exercise is the one you will do. Research shows that individuals who live a consciously active lifestyle burn just as many calories or MORE than those individuals who exercise for 30 minutes a day. Consider walking the dog/baby to the park, biking to work, giving piggyback rides to the kids, parking in the back of the parking lot, or taking the stairs up to the doctor’s office.  As we go about normal life, we can conscientiously turn chores into exercise while getting other things done. Cleaning up the floor? Squat! Dusting? Stretch! Standing at the stove stirring the soup? Kegel! The most frequently recommended exercise by doctors is still good old-fashioned walking, but efforts to incorporate some sort of weight-bearing exercise into your routine will help prevent such diseases as osteoporosis later on in life. If you are a busy mom and can’t quite bring yourself to set aside the time to create an exercise routine, try at least to shoot for an active lifestyle. A combination of the two is probably best when possible. Your children will see your example and want to be active too. The best indicator of how our children will turn out is what we do (not what we say)!  Let’s encourage our families to build habits and hobbies that are less sedentary and more active. Say no to video games and yes to backyard baseball games. Instead of spending money on movies, let funds go to sports equipment. We need to conscientiously build a culture in our family that includes a variety of activities (key part of this word: ACTIVE!). We can be the catalyst in this change! It will also allow us to have more time together — so essential in building relationships.

All of us need the benefits that come when we include restful times of the day and week in our regular routines. Whether it is naptime scheduled after lunch (like the siesta common in other parts of the world) or a full day of rest (often termed a Sabbath in religious communities), let’s honor our body’s rhythms and avoid burning out. Meditation is gaining in popularity lately because it, too, gives us restful moments from the constant influx of media and noise demanding our brain’s attention. Being able to let our thoughts calm down momentarily can be so valuable, inviting more serenity and tranquility into each day. Some people combine prayer with their meditation to connect with divine power. If it sounds nearly impossible to get in some quiet time, study up on Quiet Time 101 from April Perry on Power of Moms!

Understanding facts about sleep will help us all get more of it! Sleep follows a pattern where we experience different levels of sleep (deep versus dream sleep). If we know about these patterns, we can help our children (and ourselves) sleep better. Certain things about life in general can help our families be more likely to sleep better (such as getting enough exercise, eating –or avoiding eating– certain foods or at certain times). We’ll all get a little more shut-eye when we open our eyes to truths about melatonin, cry-it-out methods, co-sleeping, and reasonable sleep expectations.
If you’re looking for books to help with sleep facts and Routines, check out these suggested books: “The Sleep Book” by Dr. William Sears and his wife, Martha Sears, R.N. — parents of 8. “The No-Cry Sleep Solution” by Elizabeth Pantley. If you purchase through our link, we earn a small commission even though your price remains the same.

Our bodies are designed to sleep best when sleep routines are followed consistently. Of course we’ll have off days, but we must put in the effort to keep those in the minority! Teaching our children habits that help them “wind down” at the end of the day is repetitive work. We invest time and energy into it now and it will reap rewards over the years. Sleep experts teach us to have a regular set of bedtime rituals, done in the same order at the same time each night, as much as possible. Rituals are adjusted as the child grows older — although some teens still like their special blankie!