Moms Talk: Helping Moms Stay Healthy

Parents try to teach their kids to eat healthy and stay active. But what about the parents themselves? Is it difficult to practice what you preach? Or do you find exercise easy with the kids?

Karin Jackson
This is such an important question for moms today. I remember when my twins were born grabbing a chocolate chip cookie and calling it lunch because that's what I had time for, and let's face it, it tastes so much better than a tuna fish sandwich!

But as the kids kept coming and my weight see-sawed with their pregnancies, I faced a real need and a true desire to keep what I'd always had (at least something close to it)! I have always been someone who puts veggies and fruits on my plate at every meal (even in college)! I reverted to that healthy habit once the sleep deprivation subsided in those early years of motherhood. 

Then one year at Christmas my best friend told me she was starting to train for a half marathon on New Year's Day and asked if I wanted to run it with her. I vacillated back and forth, not being a runner or even one that really likes getting sweaty - or breathe hard - but on New Year's Eve 2007, I paid my fee online and began training for my first 13 miler on New Year's Day when our fourth baby was 7 months-old.

Since then, my husband and I have run several half marathons, a full marathon, and added a few 5Ks in the mix. Although I'd like to call myself a runner, I still struggle with getting out and getting the job done, especially in this St. Louis weather!

But the truth is, I do love the end result. I even remember the first time I pushed the cart full of kids in the Walmart parking lot and didn't huff and puff by the time I reached the door. I feel better. And finding an event in St. Louis is cake.

There's a 5K literally somewhere in the area every weekend. Running in races might not be the answer to a healthy lifestyle for every mom, but certainly wise food choices and doing something active is the right call. After all, we all want to be there to watch our kids grow up. And more is caught than is taught - even in the area of our health.  

Jenny Wescoat
I usually make pretty healthy choices when it comes to meals, whether my kids are around or not. I just notice that I always feel better when I eat well, and something inside me revolts if I try to sit down to a meal that doesn't include a good amount of fruits and/or veggies.

After meals, though, all bets are off, because chocolate is my favorite thing. I can polish off ridiculous quantities of chocolate and it never makes me feel sick, though I really wish it would. As far as exercise, I really enjoy doing outside things, like running or walking. I am feeling guilty as I write this, because I am expecting my fourth baby and exercise has not been very consistent!

But I have been pretty active with my kids this summer, so I'll try to give myself at least a slight break. My husband bought me a treadmill a few years ago for Christmas (it's an ancient one he bought on Craigslist for a few bucks) and it's been my favorite gift.

I love being outside, but when he travels, the treadmill is a great thing for me. He is also extremely supportive about making time for me to get out for a run or walk and that really helps. 

Samantha Goswami
I ensure my kids have a meat and vegetable almost always. We stay away from hard candy as much as possible and I have told my kids I would rather them eat chocolate than hard candy. We eat cuisines of all different countries and we make sure the kids try as much new food as possible. Also involving the kids in cooking makes a good reason for them to eat when they cook.

While I do have a sweet tooth, in the past few years I have become more serious about the food I eat. I try and eat everything in moderation and also work out 3-4 times a week. When the kids were younger, I used to not be too concerned about my meal times but now I do. I make sure I eat at reasonable time and don’t stay too long between meals. I also did start to run a little but I need to work on that some more. 

With the summer temperatures the way they are, I am sure we could all live off snow cones and ice cream!

Jennifer AuBuchon
Ahh...my lifestyle as a mom. Well, I will definitely say that as my kids have gotten older, I've been able to refocus my time and energy on my lifestyle choices more than when they were young. My exercise routine still suffers when the kids are home. I tend to do better when they are in school in terms of getting to the gym regularly. I have a turbo kickboxing class I love at the Workout Company. I also do step when I can. I trained to run a marathon relay last April, but have lagged in that kind of training ever since. I look forward to the start of school in terms of getting back on track in this area for sure.

As for meals away from kids, they're not significantly different than when we're together. My husband and I consider ourselves "foodies" to some degree. We love going out to nice places and trying new things. Our kids do really well when we take them out. We eat less fast food, but we still eat out quite a bit. My son's favorite is Subway and my daughter's is Jimmy Johns...both of which are pretty good choices considering everything else out there! My focus now is on getting my son to try more vegetables. He loves broccoli, but doesn't always want to try a lot of other things. He's getting there though!