From the moment you become a parent you are catapulted into a world where you are responsible for every need of this small person you have created. From that moment on you spend time worrying if your children are eating and drinking enough of the ‘right’ things. You spend time trying to ensure they get the ‘right’ amount of sleep and the ‘right’ amount of exercise. When they are ill, you then expel every last bit of energy trying to nurse them back to full health.

That’s how it should be.

It’s a parents responsibility to do these things and we all want the best for our children.

Sometimes though, that does mean that we neglect our own health a bit too much.

Easily done

Neglecting ourselves is something that is easily done. It’s not that we want it to happen, it just sort of happens. Life is busy, it can be hard for parents to fit in a ton of exercise around the needs of their family and their work patterns. Sometimes, parents get into a trap of eating too many of the wrong things because it feels ‘easy’ and they just need a bit of easy. Sometimes, after a nightmare week on every level wine o’clock can’t come soon enough, and sometimes, sleep deprivation consumes us.

It happens. It happens to so many parents.

Being prepared

Being prepared for things can really help to ease the pressure. For example, batch cooking can mean that you always have a stock of healthy meals prepared in the freezer. You just need to remember to defrost them, but you’ve saved yourself all the daily preparation time and effort when you just don’t have the time or energy.

Being prepared for all those little niggles we can get can also help. Whether it’s the odd headache, achy knee or back, or you need allergy relief, it pays to have a few things in the cupboard, so you can nip these things in the bud early on.

Filling a large bottle of water in the morning and carrying it around with you can help ward of dehydration and any of the nasty consequences of this.

Staying organised

Staying organised as a parent is a must, otherwise things can quickly spiral out of control. It can feel like a bit of a treadmill at times, so it’s equally as important to relax a bit during holiday down time.

Remaining organised for the bulk of the time normally means you can fit more into your day and work out how to look after yourself as well as your children. Perhaps it’s squeezing in a home work out, perhaps it’s getting all the homework out of the way so you can all enjoy a run around at the park together, or perhaps it’s just having a bit of extra time to get on top of your nutritional needs and maybe research supplements to give you a boost in the right direction?

Remaining motivated

As hard as it can seem sometimes to take car of ourselves as well as our family, and of course get through the working week and tick off all those extra things we all have to do, we have to try and remain motivated.

We owe it to ourselves, but also to our children to be the best, healthiest version of ourselves we can be!