The Starving Mom Solutions

 

The “Mom” diet – noun. 1.) When a mom loses weight because she forgets to eat or doesn’t manage to make food for herself because she is too busy feeding everyone else or taking care of things that interrupt the opportunity for eating. See my food ended up cold so I didn’t eat it, I was going to eat but the baby cried, or either I ate, or I showered today. 2.) When a mom gains weight because she forgets to eat all day and then in a desperate attempt to make the hunger stop, eats a ton of freezer food or fast food because she is HUNGRY.

I think it has taken me 3 years to figure out how to get off the “Mom Diet”.

Here is what has finally saved me.

Staples.

The things you always keep in your house and are always on the shopping list when you are low because you will need them.

These items need to be easy to prepare, easy to clean up, “real food”, and preferably not full of the kind of calories you don’t need and instead, full of calories that will give you energy and keep you healthy because GOODNESS KNOWS you don’t have time to get sick.

So here is what “staple” foods have worked for me.

Avocados are out of season so I’m still buying the cheap little 100 calorie guacamole packs and plain organic yogurt. I buy the tub of yogurt because I use it for everything from a sour cream substitute to a dip for just about everything to a snack by itself. I also love Triscuits and multigrain chips because they are a bit heartier and fill me up with fewer chips.

 

I keep whole grain tortillas for quick lunch wraps or quesadillas if I’m feeling fancy. I also love to keep granola around. I mix it with peanut butter and cut up apples or yogurt.

And then there is my “salad platter”. I always have apples, dried fruit, nuts, and oil and vinegar on the table. It’s easy to grab a quick snack or dress up some spinach. I also love nut butters. In my refrigerator I have sunflower butter, peanut butter with honey, regular peanut butter, and dark chocolate almond butter (my fruit smoothie fancy-up favorite).

 

And then deli meats, string cheese, fiber bars, dried fruit, and nuts are always around.

Most days, I can quickly grab an apple, fiber bar, nuts, dried fruit, or a cheese stick when I need to eat something fast.

BUT, I have three main things I eat that require a plate.

1.) Apple, granola, honey, peanut butter wrap

2.) 5 layer dip on days I have leftover black beans from dinner – black beans, cheese, salsa, guacamole, and yogurt. I do this with or without chips/triskets

3.) Wrap with deli meat and cheese

There isn’t much cooking, not even a microwave involved.

So hopefully, to anyone out there fighting the “mom diet” you have a few ideas that may work for you now. You can do it! Try to stay positive and celebrate when you do well with eating healthier options and eating enough and don’t be overly critical when you cave and go to taco bell. It’s a marathon not a sprint.