Monday, February 28, 2011

Woman, Nourish Yourself

Today is a busy, busy day for me. Our Saturday was filled with me running in the 10K, and then Mr. Strong fixing my sister's brakes. So today is catch up day on normal weekend cleaning and cooking.

Because I'm running around so much today, I thought I would repost a post from last year on my workout log.

But first, it is Menu Plan Monday!!

I am really tight on time this week, and I will be using the menu provided courtesy of of Money Saving Queen and Mommy Hates Cooking. This week's menu features a recipe for Baked Chicken Spaghetti! Yummo!

Check out Menu Plan Monday at Money Saving Queen for a dinner menu, complete with recipes and matching coupons as a bonus!

Woman, Nourish Yourself!

One of the most important aspects of taking care of yourself is making sure you eat right, or for starters make sure you eat at all.

We women fill many roles in life. And we keep ourselves so busy within these roles that we neglect ourselves, especially when it comes to eating for lunch or dinner.

In my personal experience, the largest role I fill is that of housewife and mom. As a mom I am normally so busy helping with school work, trying to keep up with laundry, chasing a toddler, continually filling the dishwasher, errands, volunteer work, school meetings, (notice I didn't say actually cleaning my house), etc.... that it's common for me to look up at the clock to realize it's already late afternoon, and my stomach is telling me it needs some attention! And not only my stomach, my brain is also a bit fuzzy because it too is in need of some fuel.

I make sure my kids get a decent lunch, but often neglect to stop and sit myself down to eat.

Whatever role you are filling today, there's a very good chance that you have neglected yourself once again by not eating a decent lunch. And most likely you'll have a not so good dinner.

Maybe your role is as an office worker, compelled to stay at your desk by a large pile of files in your inbox. Or your role is in the medical profession, kept busy by the constant demands of patients and their lack of time management. Or your role is caretaker, caring for a sick or elderly relative, and constantly putting their needs before your own.

Woman, you need to take care of yourself. You need to make sure you get a break in the day and eat some lunch.

No, a can of slim fast is not going to cut it. And no, a soda and a corn dog from the convenience store isn't going to cut it either.

Eating a good lunch or dinner will help make sure you have the fuel your body needs to make the necessary energy for the rest of the day. Without it, you most likely can't give he best you can give to whatever you are doing.

If you don't love yourself enough to take care of yourself, how can you truly love others in your life?

A good nutritious lunch doesn't have to be complicated. But it helps if you do a little planning and a little prep work ahead of time. This way you're not hitting your lunch break on Wednesday, wondering what you're going to eat, and end up grabbing something from the snack machine because it's close at hand.

For example...

A quick mid week salad is easy to toss together if you take a few minutes to wash, dice, and slice a variety of veggies early in the week.

Cook a whole turkey for dinner (or buy deli meat) and portion the leftover meat into zip lock baggies for a quick grab protein (freeze what you can't use within a few days, and just grab baggies out of the freezer as needed).

Hard boil a dozen or two eggs for snacks throughout the week. Steam and mash several pounds of sweet potatoes for an easy lunch heat and eat side dish .


A good nutritious lunch doesn't have to be complicated.

Taking just a little time to take care of yourself in this way will go a long way in your effort to help others in your life.

3 comments:

Rescued from the Deep said...

Wish I could forget to eat lunch! HAHA! I salute you weirdos who forget to eat! But that salad does look yummy!

AngieDSimplyMe said...

This is a reminder to me as much as encouragement to anybody. I didn't have a good lunch yesterday either... (sheepish grin)

Mommy Hates Cooking said...

I agree with nourishment!! This was something I forgot a lot about when my son was a baby which I'm sure is the same for most mom's. Smoothies have been a lifesaver too just to have a pick me up during the day!