What is the safest way to lose weight for the stay at home mom?

One would think that a stay at home mom has an abundance of free time to workout and eat healthy.  One would think you would walk miles a day running after kids and babies taking care of them  I did not realize how untrue that statement is until I became a Stay at home mom!

I did a study myself.  I recruited 10 stay at home moms from my weight loss community group who also owned a Fitbit.  I wanted to measure 3 points of activity:

• Steps walked
• miles walked
• calories your body burns through out the day.

The study:  10 moms would NOT workout for 7 days straight, wear the Fitbit 24 hours a day and track all 3 measurements and report in daily.  (Stay tuned for the after study)

What I found:  The average mom only walked 3,336 steps, 1.39 miles and burned a total of 1899 calories per day.  Do these numbers surprise you? Since, this isn’t an official study but my own we can’t go off a mass amount of data. However, we can gather that a stay at home mom does not get much activity throughout the day.

I did a second study.  For the second study, I wanted to add in a daily fitness routine that was easy for them to carry out everyday.

The second study I took the same 10 women, had them sign up for a free 30 day workout trial at Daily burn.  I had them record the same stats but asked them to pick one workout each day from the On demand workout programs.  They had a ton to pick from and really enjoyed the fact they could workout from home and save time.

Here is what I found, using the Fitbit for tracking again: The average mom walked, 10, 368 steps, walked 4.54 miles and burned an average of 2,298 calories.  Honestly, that number impressed me a lot.  I wasn’t so sure that working out at home would make such a big impact on their activity levels.

This was such a fun study for me to do.  It should be noted that I kept in touch with all 10 women for a whole month after the study.  All of them stuck with the tracking and working out at home with daily burn and lost an average of 7 lbs each.

Check out my 21 day metabolic reboot plus diet plan to lose weight quick and keeping it off forever!

How you gain weight as a stay at home mom?

1.  You tend to eat any leftovers from dinners before.  the meal often consists of leftovers eaten right out of the container. This prevents portion control and takes the joy out of eating.

Solution: Commit to putting your lunch on a plate, putting the containers away and sitting down.

2.  You don’t like to waste food so you eat what is leftover on your kids plate and still eat a full meal later.  I am so guilty of this.  I hate to see food go to waste, so I eat some macaroni here and there

Solution: Put less on your kids’ plates and there won’t be any scraps. Or check out these awesome plates that help kids learn how to eat healthy above!

3. Sampling the food while prepping for lunches or dinners.  It is easy to take a bite here or there while making food for the family. I mean how many times have you dipped into the mashed potatoes?  GUILTY!  But every calorie adds up at the end of the day.

Solution:  Resist in sampling the food until dinner.  If you find you are starving for dinner time AND haven’t eating in over 4 hours then start adding a 200 calorie snack to keep you satisfied in the afternoon

4. Unpredictable schedules Stay-at-homes have no set schedule. Each day is different and presents different tasks needing to be accomplished. Lack of structure can be an enemy to healthy habits.

Solution: Establish one thing you do at the same time every day – meditate, exercise or sitting down to one healthy meal.  My Fitbit is the best investment I have ever made as a stay at home mom.  I had no idea how inactive I could be staying at home.  It has helped me get on track with my activity levels.  If at the end of the day, I have a lot of steps i need t

5.  Eat what your kids eat. Moms and dads will often eat what their kids are eating. Cheese, pasta and bread are fine for growing little bodies and sometimes, necessary for picky palates. But, this doesn’t mean everyone in the family needs to load up on carbs and dairy. mmmm grilled cheese 🙂

Solution: You have to eat for your metabolism, not the metabolism of a child. Even if your kids won’t eat foods, you should make them for the adults in the family.

6.  Bad snacks.  Parents are so busy, they eat on the run. This results in the consumption of packaged and fast foods, with empty calories with poor nutritional value.

Solution: Keep a bottle of water and a can of nuts in your car in case of emergency, but don’t get in the habit of munching behind the wheel.

7. “I Have to be Martha!”  Parents are suffering from the Martha Stewart complex. In our Pinterest-motivated society, we think good parenting is preparing beautiful after-school snacks and desserts. Unfortunately, a warm plate of homemade chocolate chip cookies waiting for little hands is too strong a temptation for most adults to ignore.

Solution: Save sugary snacks for special occasions and provide fresh fruits and veggies for snacking. Everyone will be better off.  Check out these healthy dinner ideas above I found for you!

8.  Boredom leads to snacking. Being busy doesn’t mean you aren’t bored. Lots of the daily tasks of parenting and housekeeping are mind numbing. It is easy to turn to food to add some flavor to the day.

 

Solution: Drink water flavored with fruit throughout the day, and eat only when you are hungry.

9. Not Motivated daily. Stay at home parents may suffer from a lack of motivation. If it is acceptable to stay in work-out clothes all day, and if you often have only your kids and the check-out clerk to impress, it is easy to let yourself go.

Solution: Rather than losing weight for your appearance, focus on a healthy lifestyle as your goal. Someday, you will want to have the energy and the strength to enjoy your empty nest.  Force yourself to workout even when you do not want to.  You will always feel better.  If you don’t like going to the gym, workout at home with Daily Burn, you get a 30 day free trial if you click here.

Don’t beat your self up.  Being a mom is SO HARD!  Focus on taking care of yourself best you can while keeping your sanity.  I find that if I don’t workout, I am not my best self, which means I can’t be the best mother for my daughter.  At the end of the day, I want to be healthy and happy as I watch my child grow up, That is why I take care of my body and that takes care of my mind as well.

Come join my weight loss community where other moms share their stories too!