Keeping Our Family Healthy
Health has so many aspects, and everywhere you turn there is conflicting information on health. I identify as a semi-crunchy mama. Over the past few years I have worked to refine our diets so that we are fueling our bodies well. This journey has led me to many late night deep dives down rabbit holes. All of the information in this post is what is working for my family and is NOT intended to be medical advice.
Food
The typical American diet is termed SAD, and the name fits. Anyone who has read ingredient labels at the grocery store has seen the absolute garbage that many people are eating and feeding their families. In our house we prioritize single ingredient, real foods. Think fruits, veggies, and meats. This means most of my shopping takes place on the outer perimeter of the grocery store. I also tend to think that I can just make from scratch whatever our family needs. This is how I got into making my own bread and crackers. Totally a love-hate relationship. But fresh sourdough bread is pretty amazing.
Now, I try not to be an extremist and I do purchase a few things that are minimally processed. However, I look for the cleanest ingredients possible. Things I still buy in the center aisles include peanut butter, crackers, flavored soda water, and water flavorings. When shopping the center aisles I avoid products that have seed oils, and excessive preservatives.
One thing I noticed in my family is that my kids were turning into “snack monsters’. They wanted nothing but snacks all day and then struggled to eat their meals. This played a major role in cleaning up our pantry and food choices at home. I stopped buying traditional snack foods like chips, fruit snacks, and goldfish. Instead, I keep the kitchen stacked with apples, grapes, bananas, and oranges. The kids have full reign to eat as much fruit as they desire, and still eat their meals. The added benefit of not buying junk food, is that I have more room in our food budget for meats and organic produce.
Movement
As a 90’s kid who lived abroad, I remember spending hours and hours outdoors as a kid. Its so easy now to let kids (and myself) veg out in front of a screen instead of spending time in nature. That being said I try to be intentional with planning time for all of us to move our bodies. In my early twenties I became a certified personal trainer, and while I didn’t keep up the certification I did keep the love of exercise.
With everything I have going on in life, my goal is to strength train at least three days a week. I also try to prioritize 10k steps per day. In reality…my steps tend to max out around 7k. I’m still a work in progress. On gym days I focus on progressive overload. Basically meaning that I do more reps or a heavier weight week over week. My gym days are also a huge plus for my mental health. As a mama and wife, I pour so much into others that spending a few hours a week alone focusing on myself allows me to mentally reset. It's an added bonus that my kids enjoy the kid play area.
The kids both play spring and fall soccer and do Brazilian Jujitsu year round. They enjoy the physical activity and social aspects of sports. During gardening season the kids help outdoors quite a bit as well.
Extras
I tend to get caught up in the hype and love trying all the things health and wellness. Some are worth the hype, but for me, many are not. Currently, I am loving the Deep Hydration protocol from Pique Tea. These are clean electrolyte packets that I add to water. I am terrible about making sure I drink enough water throughout the day. But something about a pretty drink really helps me to actually drink it. Weird, I know. But for now, I love them and the night time calming magnesium is truly helping my busy brain quiet down.
I am chronically deficient in Vitamin D. Since I struggle with taking supplements daily, my doctor was kind enough to prescribed a high dose of prescription Vit D that I take once a week. And dang, did I notice a difference. My joints stopped hurting, my skin looked better, and my winter blues seemed less. Do I still forget to take it every week? YES. Even with alarms set in my phone? YEP. Once again, I’m a work in progress.
These are just some of the ways we prioritize our health in my home. Let me know in the comments what you do to keep your family healthy!