Why Toddlers Make You Fat & How To Avoid Weight Gain
By admin
I always feel the need to preface any parental post with the following…
Okay, now that we got that out of the way…
Last week I did a post on Why Your Spouse Makes You Fat, this week I am going to follow it up with a part 2…
Why Toddlers Make You Fat
This past weekend, I watched my 3 year old niece. Seriuosly… I picked her up at daycare at 1:30pm Friday and dropped her off Sunday at 12.
Single parents… you get a round of applause. I don’t know how you do it. Dan had to leave us each evening to take care of our animals, leaving me to fend for myself.
How do kids have SO MUCH ENERGY?
Toddlers remind me of a crazy carb meal. You get jacked up off simple carbs with a crazy energy high, only to suddenly hit a wall and plummet.
They’re all happy and jumping around one minute and the next they look as if they might slap the crap out of you if you don’t give them a Cheddar Bunny right then and there.
Luckily, we didn’t have any meltdowns and I’m happy to report my niece was great. In fact, I don’t think I had to raise my voice one single time.
But I did make sure to keep that child moving ALL the time so that when it was bedtime, there were no attempts to fight it. Praise the lord.
A day of:
SkyZone, fountain playing, park time, pizza eating and more park time will have a toddler snuggling up on the couch asking if it’s time for bed.
Trust me, it’s the perfect recipe for a 12 hour night of sleep. <— Can I get a fist pump?
But this isn’t the only recipe I perfected this weekend. I also realized the recipe for parental weight gain.
I know a lot of time new moms (and dads) get criticized for not looking like their former selfs. But when something crazy happens, like having a kid in the house, I can understand how.
Did you know that dads actually gain more weight than moms once a child arrives? It’s true. However, women are more influenced by the number of children they have… the more children, the more weight they typically carry. Interested, right?
I’m not justifying it, but I do want to bring to light some of the issues I noticed from being with my niece that lead me to see how you have to be careful or you’re expand more now that your kid is a toddler, than you did during your pregnancy.
Find the issues, correct them, and move on.
Why Toddlers Lead To Weight Gain
Before the food hits the table, you have to make sure it’s a). Cool enough and b). Flavored to their liking. This doesn’t sound like much, just a nibble, but nibbling multiple times a day to test out food can add up.
How To Fix It
Instead of testing heat with your mouth, just do the finger test. When the baby was a baby, you didn’t drink out of the bottle, you tested the heat on the back of your hand. Let’s go back to this method.
I took my niece to the park 3 times over the course of 3 days, and at first I felt it was just my duty to follow her along, making sure she had a helping hand if she needed it.
She was getting a ton of exercise, I was feeling incredibly lazy.
Then when she finally did want to just relax on the couch, I had a hard time getting up to move myself. It would have been the perfect opportunity to knock out some push-ups, squats, and a mini workout right there, but I just felt weird.
So I didn’t. Kids are so much on the go, that parents feel the need to rest when they’re resting.
How To Fix It
A few things here… play and workout at the same time. We only drove to the park once. After that, if she wanted to swing, we would get the jogging stroller out and I would run to the park (holy moly Moms, running with a stroller is no joke!).
They weren’t the best runs, but it was an extra 3 miles by the end of the weakend that I had not planned on. Score.
As for down time, I know it’s easy to sit and relax too, but take this time for yourself. Even if it’s 10 minutes! Two 10 minute workouts are just as good as one 20 minute workout! Add some HIIT Training into the mix, and you’ll be able to keep a svelte body no matter how old the kids are!
“Here Aunt Kiki, you have some!”
My niece calls me Kiki, and it melts my heart every time. She’s at that stage in life where she wants to show that she can share and it’s easiest with food.
Just like food testing, those little snack shares can add up. Especially, if after the first bite you realize just how great Pirate’s Booty is and you grab a bag for yourself. It’s food for small kids, how many calories can it possible be? Enough to add up!
How To Fix It
If your kid offers little bites for you, show them how to be polite when turning down things you don’t want.
“No thank you, Mom isn’t hungry right now. That’s your food, you enjoy it.”
We don’t have to accept EVERYTHING they give us, right?
This one is probably the biggest issues, and the hardest for me. Eating what they don’t.
I hate wasting food, but I am also not into leftovers. That’s why I am pretty good about cooking just enough for Dan and myself.
But for a toddler? It’s rare they eat all the food of their plate. And what’s the easiest solution? To clean their plate after you’ve enjoyed your own dinner already.
This is where the calories add up, fast! It’s like going back for seconds. Who wants to toss out French toast? I did.
How To Fix It
If the kiddo is done eating but there is still plenty of food left on the plate you have two options: safe it for later or just shrug your shoulders and toss it out.
Some people may hate the idea of wasting food, but for me if I put it in the fridge for the following day, it will get tossed out eventually since I never eat my leftovers. Better just to do it then and safe a tub-a-ware bowl from getting dirty.
Just because your kid didn’t eat it, doesn’t mean you have to!
My niece has the mini blueberry muffins, that are amazing! For breakfast one more I grabbed a bag, cut them in half and ate them with cottage cheese and peanut butter. So good!