Wellness Doesn’t Need to Be Another Job: How I Actually Take Care of Myself as a Mom
There is so much wellness content online right now.
Morning routines. Supplement stacks. Wearables tracking every possible metric. Perfectly plated meals. Skincare routines with twelve steps. Two-hour workouts. Cold plunges. Red light. Protein goals. Sleep scores.
And listen, I love wellness. I love trying things that make me feel good. I love working out. I love my red light. I love eating well and taking care of my skin.
But somewhere along the way, I think we started making being healthy way too complicated.
Especially for moms.
Because when you have little kids, taking care of yourself can already feel hard enough. I don’t think we need to turn wellness into another job we’re failing at.
I Don’t Wake Up Early to Be More Productive
One of the things that makes the biggest difference for me is waking up before my kids.
But not because I’m trying to squeeze in three hours of productivity before 8 a.m.
Honestly, I usually make my coffee, sit in peace, do my red light therapy and do whatever I feel like doing.
That’s the point.
Nobody needs anything from me yet.
I’m not waking up groggy to kids immediately asking me a million questions. I’m not starting my day already feeling overstimulated.
I get a little bit of time to myself first.
Then when my kids wake up, I actually want to cuddle them. I’m awake. I’ve had my coffee. I’ve had a minute to just be.
That little bit of time changes the way the rest of my morning feels.
I think sometimes we see these perfect morning routines online and assume that if we’re waking up early, we should be accomplishing something.
You don’t have to.
Your morning routine doesn’t need to make you more productive.
It needs to make the rest of your day feel better.
Your Workout Still Counts If Your Kids Interrupt You
This was something I had to learn after becoming a mom.
Before kids, working out could mean uninterrupted sets and reps and having all the time I needed.
That isn’t always my reality anymore.
Sometimes my kids work out with me. Sometimes someone needs something in the middle of a set. Sometimes they’re climbing on me while I’m trying to plank. Sometimes I stop and then come back to it.
And guess what?
It still counts.
I think one of the easiest traps to fall into after having kids is believing that if you can’t do the workout perfectly, there’s no point in doing it at all.
Especially when you’re newly postpartum.
You’re exhausted. Your baby may not be sleeping. You’re looking at your body thinking, How am I ever going to get myself back?
And mentally, starting can feel huge.
So don’t start huge.
Do ten minutes.
Let your kids be around you.
Stop when someone cries.
Finish when you can.
An imperfect workout that you actually do is going to get you a lot further than waiting for the perfect uninterrupted hour that never seems to come.
For me, working out isn’t only about how I look either. A workout mentally resets me. I always feel better afterward.
That’s enough reason to do it.
Before You Buy Something Else, Look at What’s on Your Plate
I also think wellness has become very focused on what we can add.
What supplement should I take?
What powder should I buy?
What should I track?
What new device do I need?
I’m not against supplements. There are times when they absolutely have a place. I’ve had bloodwork done, and if I’m feeling low energy or something feels off, I want to understand why.
But I don’t believe I need to take everything just because someone online tells me it’s part of their wellness routine.
And as a mom who has gone through pregnancy and breastfeeding and wants more children, I’m also aware that every supplement isn’t automatically appropriate during every stage of life.
Most of the time, I want to start with something much less exciting:
What’s on my plate?
Am I eating real meals?
Am I eating enough quality food that I’m not getting absolutely starving and then craving whatever I can grab?
Am I eating mostly whole, not processed foods?
How do I actually feel after I eat?
Breakfast is my favorite meal of the day, and having a good breakfast is one of those little things that genuinely makes me happy. When I’m eating well consistently, I feel better. And when I can look back at my week and know I fueled myself with foods that made me feel good, I feel good about that too.
It doesn’t require a complicated protocol.
Maybe We Don’t Need to Track Everything
I know tracking is becoming a huge part of wellness.
Sleep scores. Recovery scores. Calories. Steps. Glucose. Heart rate. Macros. Protein. Stress. Everything.
Some of that information can be incredibly useful.
But I also think there’s a point where trying to optimize every single part of your health can start taking a toll on your mental health.
Sometimes you know when you feel good.
You know when you’ve slept enough.
You know when you’ve been eating terribly.
You know when you haven’t moved your body.
You know when you’re overwhelmed.
You know when you need a minute alone.
I don’t want taking care of myself to become another thing I’m constantly grading myself on.
Start With the Thing That’s Making You Not Feel Good
If another mom told me she wanted to start taking care of herself again but didn’t know where to begin, I wouldn’t hand her a list of ten habits.
I’d ask her:
What isn’t making you feel good right now?
That’s where I’d start.
Are you exhausted because you’re staying up way too late?
Maybe the first change is going to bed earlier.
Do you feel like you’ve completely lost your strength and don’t feel comfortable in your body?
Start with ten minutes of movement.
Are you overstimulated from the second you open your eyes?
Maybe you need twenty minutes to yourself before everyone wakes up.
Do you feel terrible after the way you’ve been eating?
Don’t overhaul your entire diet tomorrow. Start making real meals again.
Are you overwhelmed by trying to do all of it?
Then do less.
Figure out the one thing that would make you feel a little bit better and start there.
The Little Things That Make Me Feel Like Me
For me, wellness is really a collection of pretty ordinary things.
It’s getting enough sleep so I can wake up early.
It’s drinking my coffee in peace.
It’s sitting under my red light because I genuinely love what it does for my skin.
It’s moving my body, even when the workout isn’t perfect.
It’s eating a breakfast I actually look forward to.
It’s eating real meals before I get so hungry that I’m grabbing whatever is around.
It’s an everything shower, exfoliating, doing my skincare and feeling put together again.
It’s having my house clean because, personally, I cannot function when my surroundings feel chaotic.
None of those things individually are groundbreaking.
Together, they make me feel good.
And I think that’s what wellness is supposed to do.
Not give us another impossible standard to live up to.
Not make us feel guilty because someone else’s morning routine looks better.
Not convince us we need to buy one more thing.
Just help us feel good enough in our bodies and our lives that we can actually enjoy them.
You don’t need to do everything. Figure out what makes you feel like yourself, and start there.
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