Tag Archives: healthy eating

Top 10 Foods for Better skin for Moms

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Let’s face it, there’s only a handful of those who are able to inherit good genes and never need to worry much about their appearance and body after becoming a mom. Then there are also those who resort to relying on cosmetic surgery and technology to keep and bring back their youthful looks.

Then there’s the majority of us. A collective of those who resort to doing things the natural way by exercising to keep ourselves fit, mindfully eating, and simply trying our best to live our lives the best way possible, and of course, some others who have given up and don’t care much. I hope you aren’t one of those. Always have the spirit to be your best. We only have one life, they say, so live it the best as you can!

There are so many kinds of diets nowadays to choose from but being a Filipina, who was brought up loving rice and meat, I choose to eat mindfully instead of restricting myself in eating different kinds of food to follow a specific diet. This way, I still get to enjoy the food I love eating without compromising my health.

That being said, I always resort to choosing the right kinds of food for my body to be able to use to rejuvenate my body and be what it is today, especially after being a mother. Trust me, a lot has changed!

From my hips not going back to what they used to look at, to my pregnancy appetite which doesn’t seem to wear off even if the last time I’ve given birth was 8 years ago, and let’s not forget, perhaps, also a sign of aging, my metabolism has drastically slowed down!

Anyways, not here to complain. Just stating the facts which I know most of you can relate to. So here is the list of food I try to consume and include in each meal I make at home.

  1. Fatty fish, such as salmon and mackerel, contain omega-3 fatty acids that can help reduce inflammation and keep skin moisturized.
  2. Avocado is a great source of healthy fats and vitamin E, which helps protect skin from oxidative damage.
  3. Nuts and seeds, such as almonds, walnuts, and sunflower seeds, are rich in vitamin E and other antioxidants that can help protect and nourish the skin. My youngest is allergic to nuts, hence, our home has always been nut free since she had the prick test. I resort to having sunflower seeds instead!
  4. Sweet potatoes are high in beta-carotene, which can be converted to vitamin A in the body and is important for skin health. I’ve always loved sweet potatoes! Eating them as an unhealthy snack deep fried with coconut sugar in a skewer, or simply boiling/ baking them always makes my day!
  5. Leafy greens, such as spinach and kale, are packed with antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals that can help support overall skin health. Not much of a green-leafy person growing up but I’ve totally stepped up my game on this!
  6. Berries, such as blueberries and strawberries, are high in antioxidants that can help protect the skin from damage and aging. Strawberries may be quite pricey here in Singapore so when we often resort to buying blueberries. I love putting them on smoothies!
  7. Tomatoes are a good source of lycopene, an antioxidant that can help protect the skin from sun damage. I’ve always loved tomatoes but since having Urticaria 3 years ago, I try not to consume tomatoes.
  8. Green tea is high in polyphenols, which have been shown to have anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects that can benefit the skin. I used to be a coffee addict but due to its high histamine content, I needed to give that up. Tea has been my go-to nowadays!
  9. Dark chocolate is high in antioxidants and flavanols, which can help protect skin from damage and improve skin hydration and texture.
  10. Water is essential for healthy skin, as it helps to hydrate and flush out toxins from the body. Drinking plenty of water can help keep skin looking healthy and radiant.

Our skin is the largest organ in our body. Being human, we often include defining ourselves through our appearance. Taking care of our skin shouldn’t only be done by applying different creams on the outside. It’s always how we nourish it from the inside that we’ll be able to have that glowing skin we all want to achieve.

Are you unintentionally sabotaging your way to healthy lifestyle?

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First thing you might have noticed is the use of this phrase “way to healthy lifestyle” instead of just saying diet. Well, it’s because that’s what this blog wants you to have instead of just a fad diet you’ll do for a month or so and then go back to your old ways of adding more to your waist line.

Being a mother of 2 girls, currently 6 and 7 years old, I’ve struggled and still on my way to where I want my body to be. Having the girls also made me realise how I should change my way of doing things.

Backstory: I’ve always have this petite body growing up. My parents actually had a hard time putting some meat on me. My relatives would often joke them to feed me well. haha..I guess they felt offended in a way (especially my mom!) that’s why they would use that 2 months school vacation we spend in Japan every year to at least make me look plump. (yes, I love Japanese food and still do!) It was up until I was in college that I could do those one day no rice thing whenever I felt fat and got a “big” belly then the next morning, it would be flat again.

So that’s my backstory and if you could have any takeaways on it, I hope it could be not to force your child to eat. Let them grow at their own pace. As long as you know they’re getting the right nutrients in their body, they are good. A plump looking child doesn’t always mean healthy.

Most women struggle with weight issues after giving birth. No wonder there’s tons and tons of products you can buy to lose weight. Others ever resort to going under the knife just to bring back that youthful look.

But do we really need to struggle that much? Don’t we have enough struggles dealing with life responsibilities that we really need to add more to it instead of being contented with a functioning body that we already have? Answering as a human, the answer to that is a simple “NO!”

We all have the freedom to choose how we want to deal with our body issues but I hope you choose the one that could inspire the children you’re raising (and idolise you) and the one that could last in long term.

A healthy lifestyle is always the way to go! That means choosing the right food to eat and the way you life which we could talk about in another article.

For now, let’s talk about how you could potentially sabotage whatever diet/ way you’re doing to address your weight issues. Here are simple ways you could do to somehow make your way to losing weight a lifestyle that you could live on.

1. Do not watch cooking shows at night

Most of us grown this habit of watching TV at bed as a way to make us sleep. As unhealthy as it is to having a sound sleep that’s how it is (we do that too!haha). Anyways, don’t make our unhealthy habits worst by watching cooking shows. There’s tons of shows you could watch, pick anything aside from something that would make you crave and feel hungry.

The worst thing you want to do at 10pm is to grab your phone and have some food delivered in the middle of the night just because of sudden cravings. Not only is the food you for sure ordered (more or less from a fast food) not good for your body but you’re also not supposed to eat at least 4 hours before sleeping to have a sound sleep.

Then you complain you’re too tired when waking up?! Com’n! You are the only one in control of your body, whatever output it gives is because of the input that you do to it. Be mindful of your actions.

2.Not drinking enough water

This is one thing I still have a hard time doing till this day. Quite puzzling I know, especially if your know that I’ve lived my entire life in tropical countries, which is supposed to make me feel thirsty all the time. Well, not the case for me.

This bad habit even threatened my first pregnancy when my amniotic fluid was too low for the number of weeks I’m in my pregnancy. This could have been prevented by just drinking more water. (I tried, okay!)

Nowadays, I have my good and bad days. Good ones are when I’m able to refill my 1 L personal water bottle by mid-day. Bad days are when I only remember about my water bottle when the sun is about to set. 🤦‍♀️ Yes, I could be that bad in drinking water.

When it comes to losing weight, water intake has a big role. Not only would it help you feel hydrated throughout the day but it could also eliminate potential misleading hunger signals.

3.Doing grocery when hungry

This one is a common one and you might have heard of it already but let’s still add it here to set as a reminder.

Grocery shopping comes in hand with losing weight or making your way to a healthier lifestyle. Even if you don’t cook at home, you more or less still drop by a grocery store to buy food. Mindfully making the right food choices to support the lifestyle that you want to entail is crucial.

When you go grocery shopping with an empty stomach, you tend to pick up more food that your body don’t need. Grocery shops intentionally place their goods according to marketing strategies and if you aren’t mindful enough, you’ll fall to those traps easily.

Not only would the food you buy those that aren’t good for your body, you might end up buying too much as well than what you intended.

4. Starving yourself

Common misconception to weight issues is blamed on food. Poor food. All it wanted is to help your body have the energy it needs to function well.

Even if you buy the best car you could find in the planet won’t last long just because of gas. It needs maintenance in its interior and exterior. It needs its battery to be changed, oil to be refilled, wheels, clutch, etc. What I’m trying to say is nothing in the world functions at its best if you just focus in one thing. There’s much more that you need to consider for it to function to its full potential.

Same goes with weight issues. Society makes us believe that the main reason why we have this weight issues is because we eat too much. Is it really? Think well. Do you think with starving yourself, you’ll be able to function well mentally and physically?

If there’s something you should be thinking of food is gratification. With all the people who are hungry, you’re one of the blessed ones and here you are complaining about it. Am I lecturing that much already?haha

My point is, food is not to blame but the other factors in life that you “might” fail to do that causes your weight issues. Do you exercise? Even a 10 minute walk is a great habit. Yes! A 10 minute walk which passes by so quickly when you scroll in social media.

Another is mindful eating. Do you give much thought of the food you eat or you just gobble up your food to get full and get going with life? Treating food as a fuel for your body can be helpful.

I hope I get you thinking this 3 questions before you eat every meal:

a)Does it contain enough protein to keep my body able to carry my growing baby for hours?

b)Did I got too much carbohydrates which transforms to energy for the kind of day I’ll be having today (more of sit in front of computer)?

c)Do I have enough vegetable/ fruits in my plate that would provide my body the vitamins it needs for my activities today?

There you have it! Food is important, don’t skip it!

5. Having a cheat day

As a continuation of my long dialogue(haha earlier~moms are naturally a chatterbox indeed!), food is important for your body. But if you insist on indulging on those crazy/fad diets, then be my guest!

I’m sure the term cheat day isn’t new to you. It isn’t to me either. The problem with this is you starve and try to be at your best eating behaviour for 6 days a week only to sabotage it on your cheat day! How amazing!

Isn’t that ridiculous! I know most of you would react saying that 6 days worth of eating healthy would make-up for a day of unhealthy eating. Would it? Technically yes, but mentally, NO!

It’s like teasing yourself every healthy eating day until when could you do it. Would you really like that pressure every time you eat? Eating should be done with pleasure, not with stress.

Why not indulge on cheat meal instead? This way, you won’t crave for certain food and you’ll know that you still are able to replenish your body with healthy food “within the day” for the crap you ate earlier.

Having a healthy body is part of Self-Care. Whether it comes to food intake or exercising to keep your body fit, to the vitamins you should take to keep your body to its optimum level, all of those are important. Love the body that you have cause like life, you only got one. You need to keep up with it no matter what you do so do well to it, so it would do well to you.

I hope you share your takeaways in this article to inspire more moms! And if you happen to still not join our tribe, make sure to do so! You can also follow me in Instagram @themommywithagoal for daily inspirational message!