How To Maintain A Smart Diet As a Busy Mom

Posted on September 22, 2017

This post is sponsored advertising content by Sargento Foods.

One thing I never expected to be so difficult, was to maintain a healthy diet as a busy mom. Many of us have been pregnant and can vouch for all the crazy pregnancy cravings. For me, with all three kids, I loved peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, for instance. Not only that, but food just tastes better when I’m pregnant. I think it’s common to throw caution to the wind and let the diet get a little out of control while pregnant. Plus, we need a few extra calories while growing a human, right? After the baby is born and is possibly breastfeeding, the cravings continue and life gets even busier. It’s easy to either forget to eat all day, or grab whatever junk we can find laying around.

It’s time to clean up my diet and make sure I am eating wisely again, especially since I just got the all clear to exercise again. This means zeroing in on nutritious choices and planning ahead. Here are my tips for sticking to a nutritious diet as a busy mom of three.

1 | PLAN

If I don’t plan, nothing works. I have learned that planning ahead to make it easier for “busy me” to not have to think too hard, is KEY. On Sundays, make a list of all meals and snacks for everyone that week.

2 | PREP

Food prep doesn’t have to be fancy! There are many ways to organize and EVERY meal doesn’t have to be prepped. For me, prepping snacks is the most important because it’s the main thing I usually fail at. Snacks are needed when I am hungry, short on time, and likely too busy to prepare anything. I need things I can grab. Unfortunately, most things that are easy to grab come out of the pantry, which isn’t optimal. Sargento® Natural String Cheese is one of my favorite options to prep with. Having a bag of prepackaged string cheese in the fridge at all times ensures that I always have a good choice to grab when I need a bite of something. Sargento® Natural String Cheese contains 8g of protein per serving. Any other variety contains up to 8g of protein per serving. This means it keeps me satisfied longer. Pinterest is full of wholesome snack prep ideas, too!

3 | Eat all day.

Forgetting to eat completely can be the worst possible thing for your metabolism and energy levels. Set a timer for every two hours and eat a nutritious snack, ESPECIALLY if you are breastfeeding. This also helps to prevent snack cravings and binging.