Recently I had the privilege of chatting with Lisa Byrne of The WellGrounded Life about life as a mom and how she supports and inspires busy moms to take care of themselves so they can be there for their families. She is an amazing lady with a ton of great expertise in how we can better care for ourselves – read on…..
The Confident Mom asks: What is the number one thing that you do for yourself everyday in order to take care of yourself.
Lisa: This is a great question. Sometimes it is as simple as having one thing you commit to doing each day that just sets the tone for the whole day.
For me, that one thing would be I try very hard to start my day with a solid, nourishing breakfast. Periodically I experiment with what kinds of foods I eat for breakfast, but I always prioritize that that meal not only gets eaten but that it is substantial.
This has made some major shifts in what I experience the rest of the day– it reduces my sugar cravings later in the day, I’m better able to handle the stresses of my day, I start my day off by giving my body a true source of energy so I don’t get hooked on energy crutches…and it allows me to still have my treasured cup of coffee in the morning without feeling jittery :)
The Confident Mom asks: What mistakes do you think are often made my busy moms in regard to their health and well being?
Lisa: Honestly, I’d have to say, the biggest mistake is taking on an all or nothing mindset.
We tend to think of eating well or caring for ourselves in these black and white terms…either I’m having a good day, or I fell off the wagon and the whole day’s gone to pot.
The truth is that we are likely going to be “off track” a majority of time– and that simply doesn’t matter. Yeah, life is messy and unpredictable…and as moms we have so much on our plate that requires constant shuffling and reorganizing. The striving for perfect is simply defeating and it keeps a lot of us resigned to not even try again because we set ourselves up to feel like a failure.
One of the most powerful shifts that happened in my life and that I help other women make is to let that mindset go and to focus completely on the idea that if you know where you want to be headed, your work is not to expect that you will always be perfectly centered on that path, but that you use the path as a way to keep veering back in the right direction.
So what you had a donut (or two) for breakfast– now what are you going to have for lunch once you recognize your body feels yuck? That matters way more.
The Confident Mom asks: When you have had a stressful day – what do you do in order to try to turn it around for you and your family.
Lisa: Susan, you totally hit on such an important point in that question. When we, as moms, turn around our negative spirals– we not only impact ourselves but also our families. It’s an awesome responsibility!
When it comes to stress and getting into a stress spiral, there are a couple things I tend to do. I almost always make sure I’m simply not hungry. It’s a big one for me, when I let myself get famished or poorly fed for too long, stress is one of the first things that take over. So I’ll grab some kind of substantial food– for me I’ve found that tends to be something that has healthy fats and some protein in it.
The next thing I do is check in with what thoughts are running through my mind. I often need to disarm negative thoughts patterns and replace them with more true and helpful thoughts.
Finally, the way I try and stop my stress from feeding into my kid’s stress is that I purposefully get down to their level, quiet my voice, soften my eyes when I speak to them and let them know I want our day to go differently. I may simply add some lightness to the situation with a tickle or a silly face– or I may need to ask them for a hug and apologize for how I’ve acted.
The Confident Mom asks: I loved being a part of your “Stress Cure for Busy Moms” series you just finished up – you have lots of practical advice and information to share with other moms. What did you love about teaching that series?
Lisa: I also had a blast with the course. Hands down, for me, I loved most the connection I made to the other moms in the course. I was floored by their level of involvement and honesty throughout the class. And the stories they shared about how even this short 4 week course completely changed how they experienced stress in their life was so incredibly meaningful to me.
I can’t tell you how many times, I’d read an email sharing some major breakthrough or how much better they were feeling as a result of the work we were doing and I’d just be tearing up absolutely grateful to be supporting moms in this way.
The Confident Mom asks: Tell my readers about your newest course, “Designed for Wellness–A Healthy Living Program for Busy Moms” and what moms will gain by participating in this series.
Lisa: Designed for Wellness is really my core program. Even though many of us are aware of the connection between the fundamentals of healthy nutrition and wellness practices and the health we were meant to enjoy, it is not always easy to turn our lifestyle and diet around on a dime.
And especially if you’re a busy mom- the challenge of shifting habits, bringing in new ways of eating and making space in your life for self care can feel huge.
I know that as moms, we tend to get really good at caring for others, and somehow in the mix our own care gets lost. The problem is that not only are we hurting ourselves, we are sabotaging our relationship with our families when we live life unhealthy, exhausted and stressed.
And this is why I created the Designed for Wellness course. It is a process that lets you discover your personal needs and personal solutions by getting to know your body and it’s needs…and then, step by step, exploring strategies and tools that work for you in the life you lead.
We go through issues like: What foods make your body feel its best. What is causing your exhaustion and energy lulls and how to increase your true energy. Why your body craves the food it does and how to dismantle the craving and begin to feed your body what it needs. How to understand and manage your emotional ups and downs and get a handle on the stress in your life.
It’s about bringing healthy systems into your life that work for you because they are designed for you. So, you can get back to doing great things with your life and loving your family from a much calmer, grounded, energized state.
Lisa Byrne just opened registration for her Designed for Wellness, healthy living course for busy moms, which is set to begin Sept 18.
It is for moms who have their plates full and feel drained and exhausted at the end of the day, but want to feel the freshness of true energy again and so much more!
Designed for Wellness takes a completely holistic approach to nutrition and wellness, which means you’ll focus on how all the areas of your life are connected.
You’ll get the fundamentals of excellent health down by learning skills to understand what you body needs and how to best feed it and take care of it. And most of all, you’ll learn the strategies you need to do this in the context of a busy, others-focused life.
The course runs for 12 weeks and is through an online, multimedia format. Through weekly videos, teleclasses, forums, open coaching calls and course materials moms take themselves to a whole new level of health. The ripple effect impacts their families as well, because when mom is feeling at the top of her game, her husband and children benefit tenfold.
To learn more details about the course and hear what other women are saying about Lisa’s courses, check out the Designed for Wellness page here.
Registration will be rolling until Sept 17 or until class is filled.
