Last week, CNN Health published an article called, “The moments that make us fat.” It stressed the importance of not relying on willpower alone but relying more on strategies to help people recognize and eliminate bad eating habits that we may not realize are harmful. Basically, there is no getting around moments of temptation. You need to have a real plan in place in order to overcome these fat-building moments so that all your hard work doesn’t go to waste.The five top moments CNN identified as the most fattening are:
1. On vacation
2. After a break-up
3. A party with fabulous food
4. Watching TV
5. At a buffet, or a restaurant with enormous portions.
You can read the CNN article in its entirety here. Of course, I agree most people can relate to these top moments. However, in my opinion, a busy
mother’s top fattening moments look a little different.
Here is my top 5 fattening moments as a mom and how I learned to outwit them:
1. Kids not finishing their meals. For some reason, I used to have the hardest time throwing food out. Every time my kids would get done eating, most of the time I would finish the leftovers. It actually became a joke that I was the kid’s scrap eater. I didn’t even think it was that big a deal until I started paying attention to food portions. It was then I realized that those few bites were costing me many extra calories. I still hate to throw food out but, instead of my husband or I being a human garbage disposable, I implemented a couple different strategies. First, I give them smaller portions. If they don’t finish the meal it’s not a large waste and they can always get more if they want it. Second, if there are leftovers I either pack up the meals if it’s worth saving or throw it out.
2. Empty refrigerator syndrome. Inevitably, a day or two before grocery shopping, the refrigerator is completely empty. We eat horrible whenever there isn’t healthy food readily available in our house. We will often order take out or just graze on whatever we can find. Most likely we order pizza and chicken fingers, which we all know is the worst. I triumphed over this fattening moment by planning a weekly menu. This way we know what we are having for dinner each night of the week. Also, it simplifies grocery shopping by forcing me to shop only for the items necessary for that week’s menu. An empty fridge isn’t so much of an issue now because I try to plan all of our meals right up until the next time I go grocery shopping. I know it seems kind of obsessive but, believe me this strategy has really simplified our life and supports us in eating much healthier.
3. Running errands and the kids are screaming for a snack. It never fails that when we would go out I would hear “Mommy! I’m hungry!” or “Mommy I want donuts” or worse “Mommy let’s get french fries”. If I had nothing else to give them, guess what I would do? Yep, stop and get them fast food. I shudder now at the thought of the numerous empty calories we were eating every time I gave. We no longer stop for snacks unless it is a special treat and planned out. Now I make sure they have a snack before we leave, carry healthy snacks with me, and always have their water bottles ready.
4. Grazing while making dinner. I think I could easily say this was one of my biggest fattening moments. In the past, I was picking on all kinds of snacks while I would make dinner. I estimate that I would eat about 300-400 calories just in snacks before I even sat down for dinner. The two things that help me to not nibble on food before dinner are water and gum. I try to drink water right when I get home from work and then pop a piece of gum in my mouth while making dinner. This strategy, while very simple, has assisted me tremendously in reducing my calories.
5. It’s the end of the night, kids are finally in bed and I have 1 hour till I pass out. Like most moms, I might get an hour to myself every night and even then that’s pushing it. Most nights all I want to do is sit on the couch with a big bowl of ice cream and/or popcorn! But, as we all know, the end of the night is the worst time to load up on calories. This is why I needed to find a way to unwind without food. If I must have something, I try to eat no more than 150 calories. For example, a 100 calorie bag of popcorn or a Skinny Cow ice cream treat, are tasty and very satisfying. I’ve found that it’s best for me to not even go into my living room and relax because I’m always tempted to eat. What I typically do is, brush my teeth, pick a book to read, relax, and go to bed.
All five of these fattening moments played a huge role in how I gained weight. Once I recognized these situations were road blocks to my weight loss, I was able to develop simple strategies and easily get them under control.
What fattening mom moments would you add to this list? Have you been able to overcome and ff so let us know how?
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The Girlfriend?
The moment you realise that your darling sweet son has suddenly developed the MAN LOOK his eye on some girl and he THINKS he can HIDE it from you.! Food where are you???!!! NOM NOM NOM ACK!!!!
The I DON’T GIVE a ROYAL STUFF Days.
Where I dont’ give a royal stuff about what I’m eating just so long as the kids are safe & happy. All is right with the world. Give me that tub of peanut butter!!!!
I love what I’ve read on your blog. Thanks for sharing
Stopping by from SITS. Love this little collection. I’m for sure guilty of #1 and #4. I’ve dealt with #1 in a similar way. I’m still working on #4 because I just keep tasting what I’m cooking
Hi Laura! Thanks for stopping by. Yes I agree I also like to taste as I cook. I try to allow myself one or two little tastes just to make sure everything is good. Have a great night!
I think the worst for me is when I’m so freaking busy with the kids that I miss a meal. Then, I’m STARVING and eat something really horrible for me or massive amounts of something to make up for that missed meal.
I TOTALLY understand mama!!! That was and sometimes still is the story of my life! Having snacks on hand has really helped me with that. Thanks so much for stopping by! Love your blog!!
It is like you are living with me! I totally do all those mom fattening moments. I can’t even pick out one that is the worst because they are all so bad. I also have to commute several days a week for work and find myself endlessly eating in the car. I try to chew gum or a cup of tea, but depending on the length of the commute I usually end up back to eating!
I am really looking forward to reading more of your tips.
I also work full time outside the home so I completely understand what you are going through. I always try to keep almonds, a cheese stick, or some other protein rich snack on me to get me through commuting to and from work. Thanks so much for stopping by. I stopped by your blog as well and agree we could be the same person
Even without kids I find it sooo hard to eat healthy. I always have night cravings.
I agree some of my worst eating was late nights in college
I’m only 15 months (today!) into this motherhood journey, but I was finding myself becoming seriously guilty of #1. I’ve been making a conscious effort over the last 2 weeks to fix less for my daughter at lunch time … if she’s still hungry I can always fix more! Thanks for the tips – I’ll try to keep myself in check.
Hi Angie! Don’t be to hard on yourself. It took me like 3 years to get the hang of things and I still screw up regularly. Thanks so much for stopping by!!
I am so guilty of #5 – I’d hate to think of how many extra calories I’ve consumed by late night munchies after the kids have gone to bed. I need to steer clear of the living room too!
Thank you for your blog. I am guilty of all the above been on the scale roller coaster for about three years i will get so close then I fall back on the fast and easy mamma diet instead of the the health conscious mom diet. Which leads the the ups on the roller coaster rather than the down. I really liked this posted because I now know I am not alone in my oops moments and go get the fries or sit at night with ice cream after kids are in bed.
I believe we will probably be on this roller coaster forever. It will always be work. But as long as we can recognize when we have our oops moments then make the changes as we need to in order to get back on track. We are all in this together.
I am definitely guilty of all of these…….it has been so hard to stop and think of myself because I am so busy raising four boys!! I have recently decided that enough is enough and I need to focus on myself a little bit…..eating healthy will not only benefit me, but our whole family! I love your blogs and recipes and feel inspired and ready to get started!! There is a lot of good information here and its nice to know I am not alone!!
Raising 4 boys is a work out in itself. I completely understand where you are coming from. It is hard. But I agree eating healthier and putting you first makes you a better wife and mother. It does benefit the whole family. It has for me. Keep in touch and let me know how you are doing.
Ahh guilty! Makes me feel better that I’m not the only one out there who eats what my kids dont. But Im working on it
Thanks for this!
All those and more, I eat to keep myself awake late at night to try to accomplish stuff, then have to keep myself awake in the morning because I went to sleep so late… vicious cycle…