30: A Mom's Wish List + How To Nourish Yourself Through the Holidays

In this episode, Sarah shares a very relatable wish list in terms of things moms actually want, and ideal feeding scenarios with kids. 

She also discusses tips to nourish yourself as a mom during holiday stress, encompassing physical, emotional, and nutritional well-being. 

Recipes mentioned:

Overnight Oats

Sheet Pan Eggs

Puori Protein Powder (use code BUCKETLISTTUMMY)

Transcript

Sarah Schlichter (00:01)
Welcome back to the Managing Mealtime Madness podcast. Today, we are going to talk all about nourishing yourself as a mom during this holiday season. I'm trying to not say the word stressful too much in this episode, but as we know, this can be a joyous but stressful season of life. So we're gonna talk about how to nourish yourself among that stress. And we're gonna talk about physically, nutritionally, emotionally.

hopefully you'll leave this episode feeling a little bit better about how to nourish yourself through the holiday season. First and foremost, I wanted to remind you to rate the show. Thank you so much for all of those listeners who have already provided a rating on Apple Podcasts or your podcast listening app of choice. It really helps the show.

It helps new people find the show. It helps the show rank higher. And as a new show that's still establishing credibility, I very much appreciate all of the support I can get. Secondly, I hope you're having a wonderful holiday season. I have tried to sit down and record this episode, but as I'm sure is the case for you, time seems to be flying and with multiple kids and

different holiday activities, I just have not been able to do it. So I'm sure life is the same for you. Hopefully this is something you can listen to on a morning walk, when you're cleaning the dishes, maybe if you get a little alone time and let's just dive right in. Okay, so first I also thought it would be helpful and kind of neat to just share a mom's holiday wish list. And I got this from...

gauging some Facebook groups, some people on social media sharing their holiday wishlist. So let's go over some of these things and maybe we can make them happen. So to drink my coffee while it's still warm, I think a lot of moms wish for that. The only way I can do that is if I get up earlier before my kids. Otherwise it's putting it in the microwave often. To nourish my body even when life feels chaotic, we are definitely gonna talk about that today.

to enjoy holiday food without guilt. I wish that for everyone. I used to work a lot in this space with intuitive eating. So we'll some ways to reduce that guilt, feel, to rest without needing a reason. Yes. Can we all just give ourselves permission to rest? Why does there have to be a reason? Right? I mean, just the fact that you're thinking about rest should be a big enough reason.

model balance, not perfection for kids, to feel supported, seen, and appreciated. I think we all want that and to remember that we matter. And then when we bring it to the table in terms of feeding kids, here are some common holiday wishes from moms, right? So less pressure to make kids eat enough, more trust that they'll get what they need over time, less mealtime battles, whatever that looks like in your house, whether it's

getting kids to sit down at the table, finish their plate, try a new food, stop throwing food, stop whining, simple meals that still count. Big fan of that over here, not over-complicating things. We try to keep food simple, especially in the most stressful seasons. Permission to not repeat foods without guilt. You shouldn't feel guilt for serving your kids the same foods or meals week after week.

Neutral talk around sweets and sugar. This is a big one and I'm probably gonna do a separate episode about this. I wanted to do it before the holidays, but I just don't know if it's gonna happen. But talking to kids about sweets and sugar, how do you moderate that in your house? And then I think all moms wanna reminder that one meal doesn't make or break anyone's nutrition, not yours as a mom, not your child's.

Nutrition is an accumulation over time. It's patterns, it's consistency. It's not one meal here or there. It's not one snack here or there. It's not one holiday party where you binge all the holiday cookies. That doesn't mean you are unhealthy. That doesn't mean you're bad. That doesn't mean you have no willpower. Okay, all of these things happen. A lot of other things play into our food decisions such as stress, the last time we ate, if we're eating enough.

medications right so it's not just a simple choice all of the time so okay now that we've acknowledged some of that let's talk about ways that we can nourish ourselves so i think as busy moms it's pretty common unfortunately that many of us skip meals sometimes

We don't even make a full meal for ourselves. Maybe we subsist on our child's leftovers. I've definitely been there. I do not like throwing leftover half waffles or oatmeal away. So oftentimes I will finish my kids leftovers, but maybe it's not a full meal. Maybe mom's in the frenzy of going from one event to another or all the holiday shopping or forgetting to drink water. And that's just a simple nutrition fix we can add right there to have more energy.

And lot of moms drink coffee but don't actually eat breakfast. This is a no-no and one thing that we definitely need to cover. So coffee, big fan, it's great, but it's not a meal. Even if you're adding collagen or protein powder or whatever you're adding to your coffee, it's not a meal. We need to actually eat food and nourish our body, especially if we want our body to perform for us. And by perform, I mean just live in an enjoyable way. So...

be able to work out, sleep well, be able to fight off colds and immunity, be able to run after your kids. All of that happens based on how we're treating our bodies and what we're putting in. So when we're not putting in enough or we're inadequately fueling ourselves, it affects our mood, obviously, our patience with our kids, our energy, our ability to respond calmly, our sleep.

Our labs, mean, so much is affected, but if we're talking mostly on the family things, it really can affect that dynamic between kids, right? If we're not eating enough, I mean, we can start to lose muscle. Our blood sugar goes crazy. So blood sugar dips are really, when you have the highs and the lows throughout the day, there's no steady blood sugar level. And part of that could be inadequate fueling. Part of it could be not eating enough protein. Part of it could be just like munching on simple carbs.

but that really doesn't lead to us feeling good. So it is worth taking a little bit more time to prep a more filling meal. So maybe that looks like making some overnight oats the night before to just pull out of the morning and eat or a baked oatmeal or some baked eggs. We have a great egg sheet pan recipe that we love and it's full of protein. If I don't have time to sit down and make something, all I have to do is reheat it.

It's great for a snack too. So when I'm talking about nourishing ourselves, I'm not talking about weight. I'm not talking about willpower. I'm just talking about fueling mostly your brain and your body to have energy during this busy season. So I want to start off this episode by reminding you that taking care of your nutrition is not selfish.

You have to put on your life protector first, right? That's what they tell you on the plane. If you're not taking care of yourself, you're not gonna take care of your kids. And I have learned this time and time again in these busy seasons where my patience is short, I don't feel like myself. I know that if I'm not taking that time to put myself first, it's really gonna show off on the rest of the family. So we've talked a little bit about...

adding that protein, eating consistently. Another way to think about it is just anchor those meals. So aim for meals that are varied. Make sure you have a source of protein that you can eat. Make sure you have a source of fiber, fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, sweet potatoes, and make sure you have some fat. Fat is flavor. Fat is also very important for hormones, especially women's hormones. So make sure you're getting some fat, nuts, seeds, olives, full fat dairy.

avocados, olive oil, stuff like that. Doesn't have to be fancy, but we need to check off those basics. We do yogurt with fruit and granola. I do that often if I'm not doing like an overnight oats. If you are someone who doesn't like making your own overnight oats, will suggest mush. It's a brand that you can find at the grocery store. My kids love them. Costco has them too, so you can buy them in bulk.

⁓ and they have no added sugars and close to like eight to 10 grams of protein per little cup, which is great for a kid and adult might need a little bit more, but it's a great start, right? Eggs and toast, a sandwich that you actually like. Having a good protein powder has actually been a lifesaver for me because I've been iffy about protein powders.

I'll suffer through them for lack of a better term. If they're chalky, I'll still put them in my post-workout shake, but I might not enjoy them. I finally found the protein powder I love. It's Puri, Puri, P-U-O-R-I. They only have a vanilla and a chocolate. They also have like collagen and other supplements, but their protein powder is so good. And if you use my code bucket list tummy, you'll save 30%. So

totally worth it. have it I think every three months I get a new subscription and I love the taste but most of all there's no heavy metals. It's a very clean project certified. I think that's the actual certification that they have so they test for all of these heavy metals and impurities and they're very transparent. They share the results on their website.

⁓ They are not hiding anything from you. There's no artificial sweeteners. That's one thing I don't like in a protein powder. Personally, I don't love the taste of stevia. This has two grams of coconut sugar. So two grams of sugar. I'm totally fine with that. It has your whey protein and cocoa powder for the chocolate. So it's very minimal ingredient, but it's great taste, great quality. And if that's going to help you get more protein, you can add it to your oatmeal. You can add it to your shakes, yogurt parfaits.

Whatever.

All right, while we're still on the eating thing, let's talk about snacks because obviously you start your day with breakfast, but sometimes it can be hard to make it till lunch five hours later, especially if you're active or you have a lot to do on your to-do list. So making sure that you have snacks with protein and fiber are gonna be very important, but not snacks that you think you should eat. Let's talk about snacks that actually satisfy you.

So I've been on a huge pistachio kick because wonderful pistachio sent me a bunch of their new flavors. They have like a barbecue one. They have a dill pickle one. I personally just like salted a lot. They have a vinegar flavor. Those are great. And I pair that with like some cheese and crackers, huge cheese and crackers fan over here. Huge string cheese fan over here. I often do the yogurt with granola. Again, I do that often as a snack.

trail mix, fruit. I often make like a varied plate, like a snack plate. So I'll put some apple slices. I'll put some nuts. I'll put some cheese. I'll put some crackers. Sometimes I'll put some charcuterie meat. something like that is very satisfying to me. And to know that I'm getting multiple flavors and textures in my snack, it just kind of checks off a bell in my brain that, okay, you don't have to keep munching. Like this is great. So I would urge you to

Eat something you like as a snack. Buy a protein bar that you like if you know you're not going to make anything. Don't just skip it. Third basic pillar of nutrition, hydration, right? It doesn't have to mean carrying a giant bottle everywhere. Just try to remember to drink water when you refill your coffee or reheat your coffee, right? So that's like one check right there. Pretty easy. Drink water before you drink your coffee. There's two cups right there. So we can do little tips like this to add up

Throughout the week, I often in the winter months do herbal tea in the afternoon. I can't drink caffeine afternoon. So I'll switch to like an herbal tea that counts as hydrating. Remember soups, smoothies, and watery fruits also count towards your hydration. I'm also a huge fan of the road trip liquid. So usually it's like an iced coffee, but it could also be kombucha.

or like a poppy or one of those prebiotic probiotic waters. Sometimes I like to splurge on those. It's just some flavor, a seltzer, right? All of those count towards your hydration status. And we're heading into the dry season. It already is dry. So it's extra important that you're hydrating because we're not sweating as much and we're not recognizing that we're losing that. So that would be another basic need. And all of these

They sound like, yes, I already know that, but I'm reminding you that all of this can help you manage your stress. If we are meeting those foundational principles of nutrition and hydration and fiber, it's gonna help with our stress management. We're gonna have the nutrients we need in our bodies. We're gonna be able to fight off colds better. We're gonna have more energy. We're gonna have more ATP for systems in our bodies to be working.

Properly, so don't skimp on fueling yourself as a mom. I promise you it will come back to bite you All right, let's talk about enjoying those holiday foods without guilt because This is something and I think social media, especially if you're following certain influencers or macro crowds It's like don't eat anything. That's not organic. Don't eat any processed things and all of these statements

can lead us to feeling a lot of guilt around food choices that we do feel. So I'm here to normalize holiday cookies, Christmas cookies. What an amazing invention, right? Like, who ever thought about making all of these fun flavored cookies with sprinkles and peppermints and candy canes and sugar cookies? They're so fun. They're so delicious. Yes, they can get old after eating them day after day for weeks, but...

They're also really memorable. Like as a kid, you probably remember eating Christmas cookies or putting cookies out for Santa, right? Making cookies with your kids is a great way to actually turn those feelings of guilt more so into an experience. eat it with your kids. Let them see you enjoying it. Put your fruits of labor to work. When you can, I want you to practice sitting down, eating the food you want.

enjoying it and moving on. Because if you're sitting down and feeling guilt as soon as you bite into that cookie, it's not going to be a pleasurable experience. The experience is already ruined for you. Whereas if you're sitting down and you're giving yourself permission to enjoy that cookie that you just baked with your two-year-old and you're enjoying the taste, you're enjoying the texture, you're remembering what went into it, you're savoring it.

you are more likely to keep your stress levels low coming out of that situation versus if you sit down, feel stress. Think about how much sugar you're eating. Think about what a bad food that is, et cetera, right? The cortisol is already just going off in my body, just naming these things off. Don't let yourself get into that habit. Let's just sit down. Let's normalize eating a sweet. It's a normal thing to do. It tastes good.

We can enjoy it and then we can move on. The big thing is moving on. If we're fixating on it too much, we're not allowing ourselves to just move on with our day. A treat, a cookie does not require, it does not deserve that much brain space in your head. Believe me, let's move on. Focus on the memories. I will say guilt around food adds more stress to your life.

than eating that food ever could. I'll say that again, feeling guilty about eating a food is more stressful to your body than just eating the food and moving on.

Okay, let's talk about nourishing our bodies beyond food, right? So again, stressful season, busy moms, trying to take care of ourselves, trying to take care of our families. How else can we be nourishing ourselves? And food is a huge pillar of that, but it's not the only part, right? Sometimes nourishment might look like putting your phone away. Maybe that is stressing you out.

Maybe all the notifications or the comparison on social media or all of the negative things happening in the world, just being so tuned into the news. Maybe all of that is adding a huge amount of stress. What would it look like to not look at the news for a few days? Maybe you set limits. Maybe you look at the news like every other day. Maybe it's every few days. Maybe it's turning social media off. I know there's a lot of apps that can monitor your time and block.

logging in. So maybe you're really only logging in before work and after work. Or maybe it's just once a day. Maybe you're just limiting that scrolling. Maybe you're getting outside more. Even in the cold, there are so many benefits to getting fresh air outside. Believe me, my kids, we're bundle up, but we're trying to get fresh air every day. It's so good for so many things. But immune system, mental health, physical health,

Thankfully I have a dog, so I'm pretty much walking her outside every day anyway, but get outside for some fresh air. Maybe it's taking deep breaths before a meal or before you go to bed, getting your body into the parasympathetic state. Sometimes we forget to do that when we're just going rush, rush, rush here to there. Maybe it really does need to look like slowing down, taking those deep breaths. Maybe it's lowering our expectations. So maybe it's just like,

One thing be good enough today, not perfect. Maybe it's making our to-do list smaller. I know that's so hard to say when I'm thinking about my to-do list, but I am trying to break it into manageable parts, days. I'm not gonna do it all on one day. I already know that. Mentally, I can't even fathom that. We have to break it into smaller chunks. Maybe it's spending a night away by yourself. This is like my favorite form of self-care.

If you can swing it, if you have a supportive partner or if you have grandparents or childcare that's willing to step in and a night away by yourself is what you need to rejuvenate, I really urge you to do it. That is one of the best gifts you can give yourself is just time away, a break, a good night's sleep, binge watching your favorite show without any need to do bedtime.

brush your kid's teeth or take the dog out, right? It's just you. But small actions matter. So maybe just reminding yourself these tiny resets, these tiny actions add up. And when we're thinking about the nutrition, when we're thinking about the base, slowing down, all of that can really reduce the stress in our body. It can reduce the hormones and the adrenaline and that high that we're always chasing, right?

So why does this matter? mean, how does this even impact your kids? here's a powerful reminder. Kids notice when you skip meals, or you talk negatively about food. Mommy can't eat that because X, Z. You know, she's eating keto, or it's too high in sugar, or it's too high in calories. It's processed. It's frozen. know, fill in the blank. There are so many reasons why we might talk negative about food. But kids hear that.

What do you think kids are starting to think when they hear those kind of phrases? Right? We want to set our kids up for a positive relationship with food. So the way we talk about food matters. And I know this sounds like woo woo, but honestly, if you're talking about food in a negative way, you're probably stressing yourself out more than you need to be.

So some simple modeling shifts. Eat the same meals as your kids. Eat when your kids eat. Don't say, I'll eat later. Don't put yourself last. Put yourself first. Sit down with your kids and eat with them. If they are eating, you know, a kid's meal that you don't prefer, that's fine. Make your meal, but sit down and eat it with them.

So if you take anything from today's episode, let it be, you don't need to do everything. You can't do everything, right? That's not gonna fix your stress. That's gonna overload you. That's gonna lead to a mental breakdown. Enlist help, talk to your partner, use chat GPT. If you have things coming up, mean, for example, we're hosting a holiday party this weekend and I'm using chat GPT to help me plan out the menu and figure out the...

the flow, what to serve, just the environment, right? It can help, use it to help you make your grocery list. If you're hosting for the holidays, use it to help you figure out what to make, what recipes you need. It can help simplify all of this. That's why it's there. Eat breakfast every day. Don't have coffee for breakfast, right? Pack snacks. Don't skip those snacks. Protein.

and fiber ideally. Drink enough fluids. Sit down for your meals. Try not to just graze and stand throughout the day. Okay? All of these things really will help nourish yourself for the holiday season. And your body's gonna take care of itself. When it is nourished, it will perform for you. So it's really important that we get these baseline things figured out.

who can feel our best and our kids can have the best experience too. So this will be the likely the last episode of the podcast for 2025. So I thank you so much for being a listener and I really, really hope you found a few episodes helpful. I would really appreciate sharing with me, leaving a review, leaving a comment, reaching out to me.

it all helps so I can know what resonates most and what you want to hear in 2026. So with that being said, I will be sending out a survey. I'll be asking for more topics and guest recommendations for 2026. And I wish you the best, a happy holiday season, and we'll see you next year.