Somewhere in the weeds of motherhood, we tend to lose sense of what we were working toward and much of our daily function gets put on autopilot. We work out relentlessly because we know we’re “supposed to” and we rush to and from activities and commitments running on empty without ever stopping to think about why or if those things are important to us. It takes us a while, but the fog clears eventually, and we begin a journey to find ourselves again. 

It’s time to question why we eat what we eat, why we buy what we do or don’t, why we cook or don’t, why we choose the exercises we do, and whether we even like doing them. Our health choices as moms impact us, of course, but our happiness and approach to health impacts everyone around us, including those itty-bittys that look up to us so much.

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M’Kay Hall, this week’s guest on Reaching Abundance, says it best: What worked for you in your 20s won’t work for you in your 30s and what worked in your 30s is not working for you in your 40s. Our hormones adjust with age, and it’s important we learn enough about nutrition/exercise and what our bodies need at the different ages and stages of life to support the changes we seek. The cycle of self-sabotage is oh-so-real when it comes to restrictive diets, cheat days, drinking and eating to soothe stress, and working out as punishment for overeating. The pendulum swings the other way too when you binge on treats, indulge on massive burgers because you’ve starved all day, and overwork physically as a solution for stress, to get away, for endorphins, and to soothe anxiety.Mid-life gives us an opportunity to be in our prime, and no I don’t mean you should look like a supermodel. I mean it gives us a chance to challenge what we thought we knew – about fitness, nutrition, our bodies, and about everything we thought we “should” be doing or that we thought was healthy. 

What Are Your Health Values?

First, being purposeful about your health requires a sit-down come-to-Jesus with yourself about what you really value in life. Who do you want to be? How do you want to be known? What do you want people to say about you behind your back or at your funeral? What about your health is important to you and why?

From the answers to those tough questions, create a shortlist of values representative of your desired health picture and why those particular bullet points matter. Here’s the deal, I know that you know that I know you love your kids, from the very depths of your soul, but they don’t always have to be your why. It’s okay if you want to be healthy for other reasons. Don’t self-edit. Your why is YOURS. 

On this note, if you hate a certain style of workout, quit! There are SO many alternate options out there including Tabata, Yoga, Pilates, Zumba, HIIT, Running, Walking, and more. Once you’ve given one workout-type a solid shot (5-7 sessions) and you really hate it, don’t let your resistance to that activity derail your goals. Instead of defaulting to a certain workout style, explore a fresh option. Maybe you don’t hate working out at all, maybe you just hated that particular type. 

How To Tweak Your Spending Toward Nutrition

It is 100% true that health starts in the kitchen. Your best results will be achieved when you focus 80% on nutrition and 20% on exercise. You don’t have to go full-on organic, but you definitely want to stray away from packaged items sold on shelves. The more whole, earth-grown foods you buy fresh or frozen, the fewer sugars and preservatives you are bringing home to your family. 

In this episode, we talk briefly about the difference between a grocery cart full of produce versus a grocery cart full of shelf-goods, both costing $50. The shopping cart containing $50 of produce creates an entire week of meals and contains nutrients, fiber, and vitamins far beyond that of the cart-full of processed, bagged, and boxed foods. 

The average American spends $17-$22 per day on miscellaneous nonsense they can’t even remember buying. How much of that is on made-for-you or packaged drinks and snacks that work against your health goals?

One suggestion toward saving money on food so that you can spend in line with your values is to make tweaks to your weekly meal plans. If you typically eat out or order delivery, learning to make a simple, 5 ingredient meal just one night a week can save anywhere from $20-$100! 

If you’ve been wishing for a daily/weekly planner to help keep track of all your health habits, to-do’s, errands, spending, and kids’ activities, snag the FREE 2-week planner printable below.

Simple Changes To Support Your Values

The habits and micro habits we allow each day set us up for either success or failure. Consider moving your vitamins to a visible spot in the kitchen, cooking ahead on Sunday so the weeknights aren’t so rushed and you aren’t tempted to hit the drive-through, and set a bedtime alarm on your phone so you’re prompted to go to bed on time so you can wake up energized tomorrow. What other little queues can implement to support your health goals?For the moms who are already maxed out and can only handle ONE thing, I’ve been there too. Give it time, and for now, only focus on your water intake. Your brain function, energy, rest, and attentiveness are directly affected by how much water you have or have not consumed. You need to drink half your weight in ounces of water each day, starting with a minimum of 64 ounces. Here’s a simple formula to follow: Your Weight (lbs)  / 2 = Your daily water consumption (oz)

Catch Episode 30 of Reaching Abundance on YouTube

The second most effective micro-change you can make is in the things you say to and about yourself. As an example, the term “cheat day” signals your brain that you’re doing something bad or wrong, and immediately triggers guilt and blame for “cheating” on your goals. Any cheating in the health department is cheating on yourself and perpetuating a negative cycle of self-sabotage. So, adjusting your plan to avoid feelings or labels of cheating is best!

Purposeful Productivity Hacks For Your Health

Set yourself up for success by incorporating self-care into your daily and weekly routines, understanding what it really takes to make a lifestyle change, and instead of looking at your health from a “This year I’ll…” perspective, break your overall health goals down into 90-day increments instead. 

Implementing self-care doesn’t mean getting a mani/pedi each week! Instead, M’Kay suggests picking an activity each day to represent each of the following: Nourish Your Body, Nourish Your Mind, Enjoy Your Entertainment. 

With each activity, set a quantifiable measurement. For example, the entertainment and mind pieces require a time limit, and the body piece calls for measurement or number of instances. So, if you really love zoning out into some Netflix, don’t’ quit! Instead, allow yourself to veg out for one 30-minute increment midday as your entertainment piece of self-care. 

Nourishing your mind can mean learning something new, pursuing personal development, meditating, or watching a motivational video for 20 minutes while nourishing your body might mean eating greens 3x a day or swapping a packaged snack with a healthier, fresh produce option. 

We used to believe that you could create new habits after 21 days of practicing the activity, but that’s been debunked. It’s now been proven that it takes 66 days of practicing an activity for it to become a habit, 90 days of repetition for it to become subconscious, and 121 days for it to become a natural part of your lifestyle. 

This means for a health regimen, whether that be a specific way of eating or a particular workout routine, to become your lifestyle and truly create the integrated change you desire, you have to get to that 121-day mark, proving that when we quit after just 3 weeks of activity, we’re giving up on ourselves more than anything. 

Meet M’Kay Hall, Health Coach

Introducing M’Kay Cox Hall, Certified Health Coach through the Center for Obesity Prevention and Education (COPE), boy mom, and former teacher. She helps women create a healthy lifestyle and share it boldly through her practical nutrition tips, inspiring home workouts, and advice on how to involve the kids, eat healthy on the go, and set yourself up for success in your personal health journey.  Her number one tip for a healthy body, better-looking skin, a good mood, and optimal brain function is to drink half your body weight in ounces of water each day. (130 lb woman should drink 65 oz of water daily.) M’Kay encourages you to decide what you’re working toward for your health and why, and guess what? It doesn’t have to be for the kids, it can be for YOU. You have the permission to pursue the healthy body and mind you deserve to live with!

For healthy tips and insight on how they really work with #momlife, follow her on Instagram:  @mkay_hall08