Weight Loss Tips for Moms During Back to School Season

By: Laura Marschel

So the title of this article says weight loss tips for moms but I hope it’s obvious that these tips could be useful for anyone. It just so happens that I am a mom and my kids just went back to school. In fact, I believe that back to school is the perfect season for everyone to commit to a healthy lifestyle.

Ahhh back to school season. That time of year when we get back into a routine. Whether you home school, go to public school or anywhere in between, you probably have some change in your daily routine at the end of summer, right?

For me it seems like the time when I am ready to focus on me again.  My fitness goals, my work.

But just around the corner are those pesky holidays, which always gets in the way of that fitness goal. Studies show that Americans gain most of their weight during the holidays and then spend the entire rest of the year trying to lose that weight.

BUT. What if this year was different?!

What if we didn’t let the holidays dictate our weight gain?

What if we could enjoy the actual holidays, but control ourselves all the other days and come out ahead of the weight loss game come new years?!

What if we start now rather than wait until the damage is done?!

That is what I’m here to talk about today. I’m forever done with the New Years Weight Loss Resolution, and I’m starting a Back to School Resolution.

I have this wish that one day Back to School will be more associated with weight loss than new years. I know it is far fetched but it really is the perfect trigger for committing to a healthy lifestyle in so many ways.

It would get us out of the annual winter weight gain cycle before it starts. It sets a great example for our kids. Starting now means it will be even easier to face a swimsuit come summer. If you battle seasonal affective disorder, exercise and a healthy diet are commonly shown to improve mood, so getting in the habit now could help beat those winter blues!

The list goes on and on!

So, please do read through these tips and explore the links that sound interesting to you. I hope you find several that help you make a Back to School Healthy Lifestyle Resolution!

1. Start NOW. Okay I covered this a little up top, but it really is the number one tip. Let’s all stop doing what we all do every year. Let’s stop using the holidays as a one-way ticket to yum-ville (and bigger-pants-ville).

Last September I was one pound away from being the heaviest I’ve ever been. I decided to start a new weight loss app to help me get my eating habits under control. I finished on January 4th, right at my goal weight. It’s end of August now and I am below that weight! People said I was crazy to try to lose weight during the holidays, but I decided it was more crazy to plow ahead to my heaviest weight ever. You CAN do it now. It makes SO much more sense.

2. Find an accountability partner or group. Maybe it’s another mom you see at school drop off, maybe its your best friend from college, maybe you can start a walking group of parents at your school, or maybe it’s the super active Facebook Community of a popular women’s weight loss app. Nutrition and fitness are always magnified when accountability is added.

3. Read and Listen to Positive Stories. Talk to friends or family who have lost weight, look up weight loss stories online, check out some Books and Podcasts to Motivate a Healthy Lifestyle.

4. Try Something New. Think about your top obstacle to losing weight in the past. Now is the time to tackle THAT. Maybe try an app that helps you fight stress eating, like I did, or if you find it hard to find the time to cook healthy meals, maybe try a healthy meal delivery service. If you change nothing, nothing changes so it pays to try something new today!

5. Do What is Most Convenient. Studies show that you are more likely to commit to a healthy lifestyle when you make it as convenient as possible. If you have kids at home, maybe that means you need to invest in some cool new At Home Exercise Equipment or if you always have your smartphone nearby try a New Diet or Fitness App.

6. Remember That You Deserve It. For so long during nap times, or the time when my kids were at an activity or school, I would think that I shouldn’t “waste” this time to myself. I needed to make the most of it, and that didn’t include exercise or planning a healthy meal for myself.

I had it all wrong.

That was the perfect time to invest in myself. I have more of that time now that my kids are in school but maybe you have younger bubs at home still, or maybe you homeschool. Whatever your current situation, I am guessing there are times of your day that you could commit to caring for yourself, but you think you can’t “waste” this time and so you continue to de-prioritize yourself.

Homeschoolers, could you challenge yourself to create a PE schedule where you are all doing physical activity at the same time? We love Go Noodle and Cosmic Kids Yoga, but maybe you have some fun ideas already! Or every day when your kids do a certain type of work, can you pop on a 20 minute workout on your smartphone?

I know- other tasks beckon. But like they always say, you can’t care for them until you care for yourself. And remember, you deserve it! You deserve to be healthy!

7. Think About Making School Year Habits. Whatever change you make, think about how you can go from not doing it, to making it as habitual as brushing your teeth or putting on shoes before you walk outside. If you think about it, you already have a lot of mandatory habits that you wouldn’t skip each day. Take advantage of that and add healthy habits into your routine.

If your kids go to school, then it’s the morning routine to get out the door. If you are home with young kids, it’s the get everyone up and fed routine. Homeschoolers, what is your morning routine?

What can we do within those routines to set up the day for success? Set out three pieces of fruit on the counter where you will see them and decide that you will eat them throughout the day, before bedtime. Get dressed into exercise clothes and decide you have to exercise before checking email.

I don’t know what will fit with your routine, but the more automatic you can make it, the better.

8. Give your Kitchen A Weight Loss Makeover. Did you know that there are aspects of your home and especially your kitchen that can contribute to weight gain or weight loss without you even realizing it? For example, one study showed that SAHMs who had breakfast cereal visible in the kitchen weighed more than SAHMs whose cereal was stored out of site in a cabinet. :-O I know! Consider the same thing true for soda and snacks. Whatever food you see most often will pop up on your MUST-EAT radar more. So why not stock up the fruit bowl rather than fruit loops?!