Our Family’s 2015 Nutrition, Health and Well-being Overhaul – Tailored for a Busy Family of Six

Joanna Fowler January 1, 2015 Family, Parenting, Lifestyle, Wellness

2014When I look back at 2014 I am filled with feelings of shock (twins are on the way), lows (depression during my painful pregnancy), highs (the arrival of Mia and Everly), exhaustion (parenting four children) and triumph (parenting four children). In fact, out of all 32 years of my life, this past year has been the biggest roller coaster ride.  My heart is so full with love, responsibility and pride.  I am so proud that our family took our surprise of a lifetime head-on and conquered the pregnancy, birth and adjustment to life as a family of six so well.  I know that every member of this family has been tested and has stepped up to the plate in 2014.  Although we have had to put ourselves into “survival mode” for a lot of it, I believe we have come out a stronger and closer unit.

Often when talking to other parents one of the first questions they ask me is “how do you do it?”  “It” meaning parenting all four, managing our home, nurturing my relationship with my husband and all the other things.  Well, to be honest, there is one area that has truly taken a hit.  Our family’s nutrition and health.  In this past year especially, we have started to turn to more fast food, processed and easy but not nutritious meals than ever before.  I had stopped cooking very early on in my pregnancy due to nausea and constant braxton hicks contractions whenever on my feet and had to make due with substitutes.  Our family has not come out unscathed.  My husband Mike had to have his gallbladder removed in February and he also put on some sympathy weight with me while I was pregnant.  Holden and Beau grabbed every opportunity of getting special treats from visitors and family looking after them, resulting in the beginning stages of cavities and very picky eating habits.  Although I have made a lot of progress with losing my twin weight I am still not quite near my goal: to fit into my pre-pregnancy wardrobe.  I have also found myself becoming more and more sensitive to certain foods, especially sugar, triggering migraines and my IBS.

There is part of me that feels like I have been letting our family down.  As most other moms would agree, as much as your partner can help with meal prep there tends to be this ripple effect that starts with mom.  Meaning if I indulge, everyone else in our home hops onto the junk band wagon before I can chew and swallow down that instant regret!

Recently there has been a shift in our home.  Yes, we have started to eat a bit better and the kitchen is actually being used again.  I have also noticed a new awakening from each member of this family (who has the ability to vocalize this).  We are each longing for change.  Eating better foods, foods that provide fuel and leave you feeling energized instead of wanting to lay down for an hour!  I know that for Mike and I this spark has come from a special new friendship.

I believe that every once in a while you cross paths with people on this earth that you are meant to build a relationship with.  I have a handful of the most incredible mommy friends and luckily for us our husbands are also close friends.  Well, a couple years ago I joined the most incredible group, consisting of entrepreneurial women.  In that Group was Angela Liddon.  We hit it off immediately.  Then we each found out we were expecting girls within weeks of each other.  By the time our girls were born we were getting together regularly, and soon after our husbands Mike and Eric met and became fast friends.

Angela is the very well known vegan blogger and author of the wildly popular book  and blog Oh She Glows.  Angela creates the most delicious healthy plant based recipes.  Over the last few months Mike and I have been treated to tasting many of these recipes over meals and get togethers.  We were instantly sold!  We cannot believe how delicious plant based meals can taste.  I have even witnessed Mike branching out and trying foods I never thought he would go near.  There is also something about watching someone cook with so much joy that makes you want to whip something up yourself!  officialcover

I approached Mike about doing this life change and he was on board immediately!  Here are some of the areas that we are planning on overhauling:

Nutrition and Meals  We plan on approaching this area with a practical and realistic approach.  We want to focus on eating clean.  We will be incorporating some plant based meals into our diet. There will be no deception when it comes to feeding our kids healthier foods.  I have tried the whole puree the veggies and hide it and A. they taste the difference and B. I want Holden and Beau to build a positive relationship with healthy food and to do so they need to know what they are eating.  I will be using some recipes from Oh She Glows among other healthy recipes sources as well.  We will also be including Mia and Everly during meal time in a few weeks when we start Baby Lead Weaning.  Here are some of the ways we will be adapting healthier meals to our busy lifestyle:

-cooking large quantities and freezing extra portions to have on hand on hectic days

-creating a one or two week meal rotation to create predictability for our kids and make grocery shopping easier

creating healthier copy cat versions of our boxed staple foods

-having some fast ten minute meals on hand as a backup when an unexpected wrench is thrown into the day

Exercise – We want to move away from the couch potato screen-time loving family that we are and start moving more and get fresh air.  It can sometimes be tricky getting outside with babies but here are some ways that we plan on getting active.

-dusting off our home gym and working out inside

-getting Holden and Beau involved in more sports and activities

-going on active dates with Mike (we used to go indoor rock climbing, skiing and horseback riding)

-getting outdoors as a family: hiking, sledding, walking Holden to and from school

Creating a Stress Free Sanctuary – Mike and I have spent our first two years in our current home creating beautiful spaces for our children and have neglected the spaces that impact our own well-being.  Here are some of the areas in our home that we plan to makeover:

-kitchen cupboard ingredient storage, purging, replacing chipped dishes and dull knives etc…

-our master suite will be getting a big re-design to feel like a sanctuary we can retreat to at the end of the day

-home gym makeover

General Well-being – Remember when you were a kid and your parents didn’t let you watch TV or play video games all day?  Do you remember when they didn’t spend every hour of the day being your playmate?  You went outside in your backyard to play with your siblings.  You used your imagination.  When did we get into the habit of feeling the need to entertain our kids every second?  Over the years Mike has gotten into the habit that when he is home he has to be playing with the kids all of the time.  Often to kill time he will take them out shopping, get drive through for lunch and basically drift around.  This has become expensive and unhealthy.  I know he does this to help get them out of my hair but I watch as Mike falls by the wayside and doesn’t take care of himself.  We can kill two birds with one stone, nurture independence and open up more time for Mike and I to cook and exercise.  Here are some ways we plan to foster independent play and creative thinking with our kids:

-set limits on screen time and stick to it… even on weekends

-give choices of activities they can do and rooms they can play in.  Instead of letting them wander aimlessly around our house with fights erupting every five minutes

-encourage them to get creative.  Instead of spending a ton of time setting up an intricate craft that creates a huge mess and only occupies them for ten minutes, hand our kids paper and crayons and have them use their imagination

I am excited and a little nervous about this endeavour.  I plan to document our journey on my blog including the the days when I fall short, the kids throw temper tantrums and when my cooking bombs.  Hopefully I will stumble upon some practical approaches that can be applied to other busy families.  I hope you follow along on Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest as well!

 

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5 thoughts on “Our Family’s 2015 Nutrition, Health and Well-being Overhaul – Tailored for a Busy Family of Six”

  1. Joanna, I’m on the Multiples and Twins page with you and wanted to let you know I stopped by (sarahsmile79). Cool blog, I enjoyed reading it. My di-di boys will be 5 months on1/7. How old are your girls? Congrats again and keep up the good work!

  2. I love your realistic approach! I just have one little one (and one on the way) and find it hard to stay motivated to stay on top of clean, healthy eating, staying active, spending time with her and my husband (both together and separately) and taking time for myself. Working out took the biggest hit once I became a mom. I used to go to the gym regularly and now I almost feel guilty if I go when my daughter is awake. I need to realize that for me to be a happy, healthy mom, I need to take time for myself once in a while, too! Good luck!

    1. Thanks Malisa! It is so hard finding the time to exercise when you have little ones! When I do have time I am usually too tired to work out! I will be posting our update tomorrow.

  3. Good for you! Your ideas and efforts are to be admired. We are a family of 5 (4 year old daughter and twin (di-di) boys that will be 2 at the end of this month. We also picked up the Oh She Glows cookbook and dove into some of the recipes over the holidays. We are leaning our family towards a healthier lifestyle and feeling great about it. We are great at getting outside as a family or playing downstairs all together, but I definitely lack in doing anything for myself. My husband plays hockey once or twice a week, but since having my daughter, I have done nothing for myself. I know this is something I need to push myself to do… so hopefully I can muster of the courage to find time for myself this year.
    Congratulations on your beautiful twin girls and what a wonderful family you have. I wish your family the happiest and healthiest 2015. What an adventure large families and multiples can be 🙂

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