I’m a big fan of the website FitSugar and the various fitness bits it shares. Recently, a post on 5 Ways Being A Mom Makes You Healthier came through my reader which sparked my interest. I’m here to say, there are some other reasons that having kids makes it easier to eat healthy, stay in shape, or even lose weight. Reasons beyond motherhood improving your relationship with food or inspiring you to set a good example.

13 CRAZY, BUT TRUE WAYS BEING A MOM HELPS ME STAY IN SHAPE AND LOSE THE BABY WEIGHT

1. Kids Steal Your Food. It’s like automatic portion control. Make a hefty plate of food…then suddenly half of it is gone thanks to a particular toddler deciding she wants “just oooonnnneee bite, Mommy”. One bite, my booty!

That would all be “bites” from my lunch yesterday…after she ate her own pbj with carrots

2. Playing Chase. Turn your back to do one thing and children can get into all sorts of messes. Even at 8 months old, baby B already has his sneaky ways down pat. I’m chasing that boy all the live long day. I don’t even want to think what it will be like once he starts walking! I could probably train for a half marathon without ever doing an official training run.

3. Kids are $$$$$! I’m too busy buying things like diapers to afford going out to eat all the time or to fund my daily cravings for Dairy Queen blizzards.

4. There’s Just No Time! Things are constantly go go go as a parent. And I’m constantly distracted by my children. Sometimes it even makes me forget to eat.

5. The Gym Is An Escape. You want to know why I have no problem going to the gym or on a run six days a week? Free childcare and the perfect excuse to get away for an hour.

6. It Feels Good To Say No. I don’t have the junky packages of Ding Dongs and Ho Hos going into my shopping cart at the store. And part of the reason is because I get a wee bit of satisfaction saying “NO”. After all, I have to get revenge on that hour of sleep lost last night.

7. Kids Can Make You Lose Your Appetite. Mid-dinner and I hear the biggest explosion of nasty imaginable? Then getting elbow deep in baby poo? Not really in the mood to go back to my plate of Almost Meatless Sloppy Joe after that. You get the picture.

8. Kids Have No Filter. I really don’t care to have Makenzie tell me I have a big, lumpy booty…again.

9. You Do Active Things So They Will NAP! Nap time is heavenly bliss every afternoon. And I will do my best to make sure they take good naps. Enter dancing in the living room, visits to the playground, and going on walks.

10. You Become A Pack Mule. The amount of baby stuff to keep up with everywhere you go blows my mind. I can easily leave the house to go somewhere for 15 minutes having to carry three bags, a 16 pound baby, and dragging a 25 pound toddler. Let’s not even get to the amount of squats I do in a day bending down to pick them up.

11. Burn 1000 Calories A Day Cleaning. Kids are messy. Really, really messy. There’s always something to clean or do. Teddy bears to run downstairs and grab to bring back upstairs for bedtime. Sweeping and mopping up spills. It. Never. Ends.

12. Tuning Out Superpowers. As a mom, I have gotten very good at tuning out the whining. Sometimes you just have to. And that only strengthens my ability to tune out unnecessary cravings for a second bowl of ice cream.

13. Wine, Coffee, and Chocolate. Those three things have been shown to be “good for you”. Or so I heard that somewhere and I like that idea, so I call it truth. Antioxidants and heart health…or something? Sure, why not. All I know is that I need a little lot of each as part of motherhood. Total health powerhouse!!

So, as you can see, motherhood is my top secret way to stay in shape Wait. Hold that thought. I have to go run up some stairs to squat down and curl up my little man. Then, I have a feeling M will want to play “jumping bean” (aka me jumping up and down holding her). Yea…motherhood. It’s a pretty good secret weapon if you ask me.

• What is a random part of your life that helps your fitness/health without trying?

Disclaimer: I wrote this post in a very sarcastic manner. While the above are all true parts of motherhood, they do not mean I rarely make time to eat or think of my children as a burden.

Dare I tell you the crazy thing that happened to me last night? The thing that I find so hard to fathom and still cannot understand. The thing that left my stomach in knots and made me question the very essence of my being?

I forgot to do something of utmost importance. Somehow…someway…I forgot to eat dinner!!!

THE HORROR!!!!

Okay. I know I’m acting totally over the top, but it’s Friday. Have a sense of humor!

I did seriously forget to eat dinner, though. Peter had some prior obligations, so I had to go dinner and kid bedtime routines solo. I frantically got the kids bathed, fed, and settled with the million step process of bedtime…then immediately came downstairs and plopped on my comfy chair with some NASM study materials out of habit.

We usually eat dinner as a family, but I went the easy route and prepped some Annie’s Mac N Cheese for M with plans to make an egg, spinach, and mushroom scramble with a sweet potato on the side for me after the kiddos went to bed. An easy, filling, and delicious dinner in solitude. But I honestly forgot as I got sucked into studying…and then Bachelor Pad.

I had a pretty filling snack in the afternoon (a large green smoothie and a mint chocolate Luna Protein bar). I also have been adjusting to my much lessened hunger levels after stopping nursing. It’s insane! I used to have a bottomless pit for a stomach while nursing and suddenly I find myself needing to remind myself to eat. It’s not that I don’t get hungry – I just don’t get as noticeably hungry as I did while nursing. Unless it’s a long run day, of course.  

I will just have to get used to my new hunger signals. Don’t worry. If there is one thing I don’t do…it’s skimp on food. I love eating too much!

Which is why when my stomach woke me up growling (duh!) at 5:30 am and I realized the error of my ways, I obliged and gave it breakfast much earlier than normal.

Oats with peanut butter, banana, raisins, and NuNaturals vanilla stevia liquid drops. Fill me up with happiness. I will likely be having lots of “fill me up” moments today. My hunger usually skyrockets if I don’t eat enough one day. I’m down with that!

• Have you ever forgotten to eat a meal?
• Be sure to enter the NuNaturals giveaway if you haven’t yet!