Now that the kids are back in school, I’ll finally have time to…

Does that sound familiar?  How would you finish that sentence?

It probably won’t surprise you that for many patients – and in my practice, it’s more mammies than daddies – put looking after their own or their family health on the list.  Here are my expert tips if you are making changes:

1. Start slow!  Pick one thing a week to add or change, and build on it for long term success.  Huge, sweeping changes to personal habits or household routines rarely last.

2. Most healthy eating changes start with how you eat rather than what you eat. If you don’t already menu plan, meal prep, and/or batch cook, try bringing that in as a first step. Check out the earlier post in this blog series on lunchbox planning.

3. Get social if you can:  parents are likely to have shrinking social circles, so if you have the option to join a weekly pilates class or buggy walking group, try it.

4. Add set sleep times to the household schedule.

5. When setting screen limits, try to make it consistent for everyone in the home.  If kids have screens off for mealtimes and not in bed (highly recommended), then so should parents (healthier for you, too!). A WiFi curfew (house is offline by a certain time each evening) and central charging point for devices may help.