Last week we talked about the importance of eating right in order to fuel our bodies and have more energy. This week I wanted to talk about the first four of the seven principles to healthy eating for moms.

1. Eat Smaller Portions
Our stomachs are approximately the size of a large fist. Stop right now and make a fist. Take a good, long look at it. Now keep that size in mind as you eat! You don’t have to limit yourself to fist-sized portions, but use your fist to gauge the amount of food you eat in order to satisfy yourself. Recognizing that you only need small quantities to fill your stomach will prevent binge eating and help you eat smaller meals more frequently. Eating small quantities of healthy food every few hours will not only fire up your metabolism, it will keep your blood sugar elevated, so you experience fewer mood swings and energy dips.1
Let me give you two hints that will increase your chances for success with this principle. First, only place smaller portions on your plate to begin with. This is relatively easy to do at home. At a restaurant, where giant portions are the norm, it’s a little harder. When your waiter brings you a large quantity, take your knife and cut the portion down. Scoot the excess over to the side or onto another plate, or immediately put it in a doggie bag to take home later.
Second, eat slowly. If you take more time to chew your food, your small portion will last longer, and you’ll assist in the digestion process. Also, the slower you eat, the more time you will give your stomach to signal your brain that you are satisfied. When we wolf down our food, we often ignore or miss that feeling of fullness and end up eating too much.
2. Drink More Water
Sometimes we think we are hungry when we are actually dehydrated. Drink a glass of water before eating and allow it to hydrate your system. I have found that if I drink water throughout the day, I don’t feel quite as hungry. Soft drinks don’t have the same effect; they tend to dehydrate our systems and increase our desire for other foods. I know that when I have a diet Coke, I want chips or pop corn to go with it. When I choose water, however, I tend to eat healthier snacks. I’m not telling you to restrict your beverage intake to water only. But I am saying the more water you drink, the more satisfied your body will be. There are numerous health benefits to drinking water as it helps flush toxins out of your system.
3. Don’t Eat Late At Night
Nocturnal eating is tempting, but it isn’t good for us weight-wise. Debra Waterhouse, a registered dietician and author of Outsmarting the Female Fat Cell, says, “Your metabolism and caloric needs are lower at night than at any other time during the day. Your metabolism is fastest in the morning and afternoon, then begins to slow down, with the lowest level at night. When your metabolism is low, your fat cells are most active. So, at night, when your metabolism is low and your caloric intake is high, you are more likely to turn fat cells on for storage and gain weight.”2
If you must eat dinner late, eat less. When that nighttime urge to snack arises, replace the urge with an activity such as calling a friend, writing a note to someone, or walking the dog. Too much late-night eating will not only pack on the pounds, it will make you less hungry in the morning and perhaps lead you to skip breakfast—which, as we’ll learn in the next principle, isn’t a good idea.
4. Eat Breakfast
Charles Stuart Platkin, author of Breaking the Pattern, writes that “throughout countless interviews with experts, they all agree on one strategy for keeping your mood in tip-top form: Eat breakfast!”When we skip breakfast, we are running our bodies on empty—or on the sludge left over from the day before. No wonder our moods are affected! We need good fuel to start our day: protein to make us alert and healthy carbohydrates to satisfy our hunger and help us keep our cool.
Skipping breakfast has another disadvantage. When we don’t start taking in our day’s calories until noon, we are starving by lunchtime and tempted to overeat. You may be thinking, But I’m simply not hungry in the morning. Well, if you’re eating at night, you may not feel hungry, because very little digestion occurs while you are sleeping. “As soon as you start matching your eating to your metabolism and eat less at night, you’ll find that you are hungry in the morning and want to eat,” explains Debra Waterhouse.

Next week we will deal with the other three principles to eating well as a mom. These can be found in my book A Positive Plan for Creating Less Stress and More Calm.

Our relationships with each other as family members are top priority, second only to our relationship with the Lord. It’s easy in the hustle bustle of our lives to become complacent about celebrating each other and the blessing of each family member. In the month of February as we think about love, let’s consider ways that we can deliberately show our love and appreciation to our kids. Here are a few ideas to consider:
• Dates with Dad or Mom: Each birthday my dad took me out for a special dinner date, just him and me. I chose the restaurant. It was a great time to talk, practice manners, and feel special. Moms can take their sons out for a special evening as well. It doesn’t have to be expensive, even a picnic will do. Now and then we just need a date with our child to hear them and find out what’s really going on in their hearts.
• Welcome Home: Whenever my kids went to camp or on a mission trip, I would decorate their room and door with signs to celebrate their return. They were simple and just said phrases like, “We missed you! We love you! Glad you are home.” Why not make your kids feel special now and then when they come home from a long day of school and extra activities? Now and then, make them their favorite dessert, smile and hug them when they walk in the door.
• Notes and Emails: Write your kids often, even when they are young. Write them little notes and put them under their pillow, send them an email to let them know you are praying for them, put a note on their mirror with temporary wipe-off marker. Use wipe off boards and bulletin boards to convey messages as well as encouragement.
• Surprise visits: When your kids are in elementary school, surprise them with a visit during their school lunch, bringing one of their favorite meals. Look for other opportunities they would enjoy a little surprise visit from you. If they usually ride the bus, surprise them and pick them up on occasion. As your kids are older you can do a surprise visit to their work just for a moment to say hello and let them know you are thinking about them.
• Quality Play Time: Make sure your husband gets special time with the kids. Perhaps after dinner can be declared “Daddy Play time.” In my family growing up, we used to rough house and jump all over my dad. He’d pick us up and put us on his shoulders (watch out for ceiling fans) or hold our hands and swing us around. He would get on his hands and knees and allow us to climb all over him.
These ideas are from A Positive Plan for Creating More Fun, Less Whining.

“The Lord directs the steps of the godly. He delights in every detail of their lives.” Psalm 37:23

If God truly delights in the details of our lives, then He is thrilled for us to come to Him for direction on those details. In fact, throughout the Bible God encourages us, even implores us, to come to Him in prayer to ask for His help, His wisdom, and His guidance. In the New Testament we read, “But if any of you [overwhelmed moms] need wisdom, you should ask God for it. He is generous and enjoys giving to all people, so he will give you wisdom.”1 (Of course, I added the part in brackets.)
Considering God’s willingness to help us and direct us, perhaps we should try making decisions a new way: Before we say yes to an added activity or responsibility, let’s first lay it before the Lord.
Have you ever thought about asking God whether your six-year-old daughter should play on the basketball team? I know I didn’t. I just went ahead and signed her up, because everyone else was doing it. It seems crazy as I look back now. I did so many things just like a cow in a herd, aimlessly following all the other cows. (No offense to cows intended.) Oh, the frustrations I could have avoided if I had asked for God’s direction in my family’s life rather than following the crowd!
We should never hesitate to ask God for guidance. David understood this. The Psalms include many of David’s prayers seeking God’s direction for his life. Perhaps his prayer in Psalm 5:8 can be our prayer: “Lord, since I have many enemies, show me the right thing to do. Show me clearly how you want me to live.”
We can personalize David’s prayer by changing the word enemies to words that specify some of our own enemies—for example, distractions, activities, opportunities, good things. Good things? That’s right. Perhaps you’ve heard the axiom, “Good is the enemy of best.” Even good things can be the wrong things if they keep us from doing the right things. Let’s be diligent to seek God’s guidance at every turn as we travel down this path called “motherhood.”

Read more about giving your cares to the Lord in my book, “A Positive Plan for Creating More Calm and Less Stress.”

Do you feel alone sometimes? I believe as moms we all go through times when we think no one understands what our life is like. The good news is that God does know what our life is like. He is the God who sees all, and He is with us.
It may feel like God is far away when things go wrong and we become discouraged. But these can be the very times when our faith grows as we trust God and pour out our hearts toward him even when we don’t understand. I like what Sinclair Ferguson said, “Appearances can be deceptive. The fact that we cannot see what God is doing does not mean that he is doing nothing.”
One time when I was taking my mastiff to the vet, we met up with a beagle wearing a lamp shade. It wasn’t a real lampshade of course; it was one of those silly plastic collars that dogs have to wear so they won’t scratch something on their head. The beagle was miserable and I wasn’t sure how it was going to make it through the day, much less a week of wearing the lamp shade. The owner said to me, “If only my dog knew this is here to help her and protect her.” I thought to myself, how easy it is to doubt our master because we can’t understand why He is allowing something in our lives. Like the beagle, we can either fight against what God is doing in our lives, or trust the love of the master even when we can’t understand the process.
In the same way, I want to encourage you today, trust God’s care for you. You may not be able to see all the reasons why, but you can trust a God who loves you and sees your situation. He is with you. He has a good purpose and a kind intention for your life.