Greer Whitman soon discovered that looking for herself would need just as much preparation as looking after her family when she returned to full-time employment following maternity leave.
She says she was eating on the go, grabbing whatever was close by, and crashed mid-afternoon from all the sugar and carbohydrates. “It wouldn’t be sustainable.”
Driven to recover her vitality and sense of control over her food, Greer switched to a low-carb diet. Unlike many fad diets that depended on rigid restrictions or costly meal kits, she modified low-carb eating to fit her schedule and way of life as a busy working parent.
The secret, she discovered, was to make food prep reasonable. She would batch-cook some basics— grilled chicken, sautéed veggies, boiled eggs—that she could mix and match during the week on Sundays. Protein-packed smoothies helped to smooth mornings, and lunch was usually a fast bowl of leftovers or a salad topped with anything she had on hand. Greer notes, “I stopped thinking of it as a diet and started thinking of it as fuel.”
She did not exclude whole food categories or criticize herself on days when convenience took front stage. She let herself instead to be flexible. A slice of birthday cake at the office had no effect on her advancement; it was only a celebration moment. She says, ” Balance is everything.” I am not striving for perfection. I am striving to feel well.
The most noticeable difference Greer observed was not the scale number but rather her increased level of concentration and energy during the day. Her head fog cleared. Her attitude became better. Most shockingly, though, her children began requesting “mom’s food” at supper.
Greer reminds busy mothers like as her not to try everything at once. Begin with one lunch per day. Keep it basic. And let your vitality talk for itself.
