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The Importance of Keeping Yourself Healthy as a Single Parent

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A single parent takes on the dual role as father and mother, and oftentimes, might be the only source of comfort for their children. As such, you mean the world to your children. Taking good care of your health and body is the best investment that you can give to your children. In fact, when you are healthy, you create a healthy and loving environment for your children to grow. It also encourages your children to mirror your healthy habits.

Keeping healthy does not only mean eating well and exercising. It also means getting enough rest and ensuring that you are mentally strong to do what it takes as a single parent. Nonetheless, eating well and exercising are a good way to start keeping yourself healthy.

1) Healthy eating
Food gives you energy to do the things that you need to do. However, there are healthy food and food which are not so good. Keep yourself on a healthy diet to ensure that you do not fall sick often. Eat a variety of food every day but stick to the 5 main food groups: grains, vegetables, meat, fruits and dairy.

2) Exercise regularly
As a busy single parent, it might be almost impossible for you to fit in regular exercise regime. Therefore, the best way to go around that is the fit the exercises into your daily routine. You can even involve your children in these exercises. For example, you can fit a daily schedule of taking your children to the nearby park for a walk and perhaps a twice weekly swimming session. Household chores such as vacuuming the floor is also considered exercise if you do it regularly. The key is to get yourself active for at least 30 minutes a day to lift up your energy.

3) Rest well
Rest could be a luxury that few single parents can afford especially if they have very young children to care for. You might not have help to care for your children and it does get really tempting to ignore your own needs for the needs of your children. Remember that this is a bad habit and in the long term, it will cause harm to your children if you are not healthy. Try to catch some rest whenever you can. It could be your 10 minutes shower or a 5 minutes toilet breaks. The bottom line is to do whatever it takes to rest whenever you can.

4) Be mentally strong
Your mental health matters as much, if not more, than your physical health. As a single parent, it takes a lot of mental strength to do the things that you do every day. Keep yourself strong mentally means being positive and happy in everything that you do. This does not come by easily, especially if you have a tough day at work and go home to a difficult child. A practical way to keep positive is to meditate every day. Meditation helps to calm your mind and instil positivity, thereby helping you to remain positive even in the most trying situations.
Remember that your health is the greatest gift to your children every day. Start to pay attention to your health today, if you have been neglecting it.