Nutritional Health and Weight Loss Tips for Busy Mothers

Busy moms often have trouble eating right and losing weight. It’s so easy to skip breakfast and grab a fast food sandwich on the way to work or driving your kids to school. You pick while preparing meals and finish off the food left on your kids’ plates because you don’t want to waste it. Unfortunately, those behaviors can play havoc with your nutritional health and weight loss efforts.

And to make it worse, when you go looking for weight loss tips and help to improve your nutritional health, the glossy women’s mags suggest that you spend a fortune on foods no one in your house will eat and spend hours preparing gourmet meals from scratch. How is a busy working mom supposed to look great and lose weight with help like that?

Fortunately, there are more practical tips to help you with your nutritional health and weight loss goals. These suggestions prove that you don’t have to spend a lot of money and time to eat healthier foods and get control of your weight.

Get to Know the Calorie Counts

There’s nothing inherently wrong with eating at fast food restaurants. In fact, in a busy world, the ability to run through the drive through on your way to work can make your life easier. The two keys to eating fast food without damaging your nutritional health and weight loss efforts are:

-          Don’t make a habit of it.

-          Make your choices wisely.

The fact is that every fast food restaurant today offers healthier eating choices, but it’s not always easy to know which ones they are. Ignore the hyped claims in the television ads. Instead, do a quick survey of the nutrition facts on the websites of the restaurants you visit most often. Put together a mental list of menu choices that provide the most nutritional punch for the least calorie cost. Now when you don’t have time to pack a lunch, you won’t have to wonder what’s good to eat at the drive-through. You’ll already know.

Stock Up on Quick Staples

Convenience foods only seem easier to cook than fresh foods. Stock your cabinet with staples that are quick and easy to prepare: whole grains like couscous and brown rice, whole grain pasta and dried lentils are a good start. It only takes about 20 minutes to prepare a pot of brown rice or couscous, and lentils are a quick-cooking, tasty legume. Add fresh produce and frozen vegetables to your shopping list, and pick meats that can be browned quickly and added to soups, stews and stir fries.

Add a Nutritional Supplement to Your Daily Routine

No matter how careful you are with your diet, there will be days when you fall short of your nutritional health and weight loss goals. A nutrition supplement that contains the basics can ensure that your body has the nutrients it needs to operate at optimum levels. Choose one that’s based on proven natural remedies with natural ingredients for best absorption, and relax in the knowledge that your diet won’t be compromising your nutritional health.

Important Nutrients for Nutritional Health and Weight Loss

When you’re trying to lose weight, it can sometimes be difficult to take in all the nutrients your body needs for health. Let’s face it – nutritional health and weight loss can seem to be at odds. If you cut the number of calories that your body takes in, you’re also reducing the nutrients your body has available to provide for your health. The secret is to practice better nutrition, and, if necessary, to turn to natural remedies to make up for nutrients missing in your daily diet.

That’s why many weight loss doctors recommend a daily multivitamin for those on very low calorie diets. You don’t have to turn to synthetic chemicals and vitamins to maintain proper nutrition, though. There are many natural remedies and supplements that contain specific nutrients that can ensure you maintain your nutritional health and weight loss still happens. Not sure which nutrients your body needs? Here are some tips to help you make sure you’re taking in all the vitamins, minerals and micro-nutrients your body needs to keep you healthy while you lose weight.

Work with a Nutritionist

If you’re on a weight loss regimen, many health insurance plans will pay for a consultation with a nutritionist to help you create a meal plan that works for you. In preparing for your consultation, keep a food diary for 3-4 days or put together a sample menu for the same length of time. If you’re using meal replacement bars or drinks, bring the label with you so the nutrition counselor can see the ingredients. That will allow the counselor to get a full picture of the overall nutrition provided by your diet and make specific recommendations for ways to fill in any holes.

Add B Vitamins to Your Diet

Often, the first things to be cut from your diet when you embark on a weight loss regimen are carbohydrates, such as breads and pasta, and starchy legumes, such as beans and lentils. While those pack a lot of calories, they also tend to be the major sources of complex B vitamins in the modern diet – and those vitamins play a major role in your emotional and physical health. B vitamins help tame stress and seem to play a role in holding depression at bay, and also seem to have a stimulant effect on the body, helping to boost metabolism. If your diet has to eliminate whole grains and legumes, look for a natural dietary supplement with B vitamins, especially B12 and B6. These are especially important after weight loss surgery.

Increase Your Intake of EFA

When you reduce your intake of fats, you run the risk of depriving your body of essential fatty acids, which protect your brain, skin and other body tissues. Generally, our bodies derive these fatty acids from nuts and vegetable oils, but low calorie diets often restrict those high fat foods. One way to get make sure that you get those vital nutrients is to look for natural remedies that include linoleic acid and alpha linoleic acid, such as primrose seed oil, grapeseed oil and flaxseed oil, and to add cold water fish to your regular diet two or more times a week.

Nutritional health and weight loss are not mutually exclusive, but it can be harder to get all of the nutrients you need when you’re on a low calorie diet. Look to your diet and to natural remedies and dietary supplements to help you bolster your nutrition.