“SOME CALL IT LETTING YOURSELF GO, OTHERS CALL IT PUTTING YOUR KIDS NEEDS BEFORE YOUR OWN”…WAIT..? WHAT..?!?

What an admirable, selfless, encouraging, motivating, loving act it is to sacrifice your own needs and your body for your kids. You must really love them to engage in such a selfless act. I agree with ALWAYS putting your kids first, putting their needs and their safety before your own, and I will always support moms/parents who do more for their kids then they do for themselves. HOWEVER… I also support teaching your kids about health and exercise, feeding them healthy snacks and meals, leading by example, demonstrating good habits. Kids are like Santa.. THEY ARE ALWAYS WATCHING... That’s why when I saw the title of this post “SOME CALL IT LETTING YOURSELF GO, OTHERS CALL IT PUTTING YOUR KIDS NEEDS BEFORE YOUR OWN,” as a quote being “liked” and “shared” all over facebook and no offense to those who liked it because I get what it is trying to say but I just had to give it my two sense…(and yes I meant two “sense” not “cents” because I think there are “two” ways to look at this post that make “sense” haha get it?! I know it’s mind bottling right? Sometimes I think my creative/different thinking only makes sense to me…surely it must be because I’m advance and not slightly crazy..?!…Do I have tiger blood? “Focus Gwendolyn”)

Like I said before, YES you should put your kids’ needs before your own. So go ahead and give yourself a pat on the back for waking up in the middle of the night, cleaning up your child’s puke when they are sick, or being a crappy friend because you’ve been too busy being an awesome parent, be proud of yourself for the time, money, and stressful moments you’ve put into and overcome to be the best parent you know how. Literally pat yourself on the back right now because you deserve it…parenting isn’t always easy to do it does take sacrifices!! DO IT!! Have you done it yet?? Ok good.. Now I’m going to tell you why one of those sacrifices should NEVER be your body!

There are two main factors that cause you to “let yourself go”

1)       The food you put into your body.

2)       The amount of waste/weight that comes out/off your body.

3)       (I suppose you could say just completely giving up on body hygiene and ever trying to look somewhat nice could be one too, so you shouldn’t do that either!! Please shower…others appreciate it!! Well maybe the rest of you don’t have freakishly stinky pits like myself but my family at least appreciates it when I shower regularly.)

Forgive me for talking in math… I’m an accountant that’s what we do! But weight loss and gain is just a simple equation; what you put in minus what you take out = if it’s a negative number congrats you’ve lost weight or a positive number oops you gain weight. Simple right??? Ok I know it is more complicated than that. I know that though there are many things I ungratefully complain about my physical appearance… (I think that’s just what girls do… I once heard a model complain that a picture made her finger look fat! CRAZINESS!) BUT what I’m trying to get at is that I have been pretty blessed genetically that I don’t have a lot of health problems and don’t struggle with significant weight gain. So I know genetics can plan a part too. But for the sake of this blog and for the feeling of control and empowerment we are going to pretend you have COMPLETE control over your body! Ok now that I’ve gone on a food equation and genetics tangent, I’m going to try and rein it back in and get to my point. 

I do think we should put our kids needs before our own but I don’t think that should include our health. One reason for that being if you are eating unhealthy meals, chances are you are also feeding your kids unhealthy meals, therefore you are teaching them poor eating habits. Two if you aren’t working out ever, not only is it not good for your health, you aren’t teaching your kids about the importance of physical health. Studies have shown (I’m sure somewhere) how valuable fitness is to maintaining life-long health, it helps you sleep better, feel better, improves your mood and energy, ALL THINGS YOU NEED TO KEEP UP WITH A TODDLER!!! Studies have also shown that feeding your kids healthy meals, and working out with them will make them love you more. (Refer to Rule #3 and Rule #4 not fact, kind of a joke.. but I’m sure there is some truth to it!?)

I’m not saying it unacceptable to gain a little weight after having kids or just as we get older IT HAPPENS. I’ve definitely put on a few pounds, but I don't think we should just give up!! I still work out when I can!! (I actually found a new workout video called T25 that is super awesome because all the videos are only 25 minutes long so I can get up early and do them before the boys are up!! They are kind of spendy but if you amortize them over their life span the per month expense is WAY less than a gym membership!!) We are parents, we work, we have other responsibilities, WE ARE BUSY.. it isn’t as easy to work out now a days, and sometimes you have to resort to mickey nuggets but that doesn’t mean just give up and eat cheese balls all day and spend any extra time laying on the couch!! You owe it to your kids to demonstrate good habits, to teach them how to be healthy, AND you owe it to yourself... You only get ONE body in this life, so don't forget to take care of it!! So keep the sacrifices of your body to shielding your kids from a foul ball or breaking their fall and not from sacrificing your health.

As the holiday season is approaching and you thought your days of worrying about Santa making a list and checking it twice were over, think again… because as parents we have a lot scarier jury watching then Santa and his elves.... WE HAVE KIDS!! They are ALWAYS watching! And we teach them how to be naughty or nice!!!! 

Tune in next week for THE LIES I TELL MY KIDS (It only seems appropriate following my blogs about telling the truth and setting good examples for your kids!!