Closing the Gap Between Knowing and Doing

Two weeks before the birth of my second child, we sold our home. With a toddler and an infant in tow, we packed up a house, moved into a rental and began a search for purchasing our new home.

It was an intense time and I learned a thing or two about that gap between knowing and doing the hard way.

I had pushed my body to its physical limits. After 4 months of packing and unpacking, organizing, cleaning, no-sleep nights, breastfeeding, and chasing after a toddler…my exhaustion and unchecked stress level wore my body down and I got sick.

I ignored the early signs of illness and took a stoic stance. I’d simply push through. I couldn’t afford to slow down, I thought.

A cold settled in and got worse and worse until I was in tremendous pain and suffering from double serious ear infections and vertigo that left me vomiting every time I moved an inch. I went on heavy duty antibiotics and narcotics for the pain which dried up my breast milk.

I was completely out of commission.

I was of no help to my family for about 2 weeks.

I no longer could breastfeed my daughter.

When I reflect on that time in my life, it still shocks me that I let myself get so worn down. I knew better.

I know how essential it is to keep your body well fed and rested and your stress managed– especially during challenging, stressful or overly busy times.

It was a personal lesson in how hard it is to bridge the chasm between knowing and doing.

This time around (I’m in infant land again!) I reflected on that earlier experience and set out to close the gap between the knowing and doing and came up with simple concrete strategies to keep my body strong, and nourished during the newborn months…and they have really been working!

I can’t emphasize enough how different I feel when my days are fueled with energizing, health giving foods.

I have more patience with my kids.

My body feels cleaner and lighter.

My energy is steadier and calmer even with broken and little sleep.

My emotions are more in check.

I’m more likely to give grace to myself and take it slow when I need to because I “hear” my body’s messages clearer.

Food is really that effective.

But I know from experience that it won’t work right now in my life unless the foods that feed me well are easy to grab and available throughout the day.

If you’re a mom who leads a life that is high on busy and low on extra time…I’ve put together some tips to make eating healthy fit into your lifestyle right now.