You probably spend a lot of time working out nutritional solutions for your senior, but are you paying the same attention to your nutritional needs? Most caregivers aren’t, and that’s a recipe for disaster. You have to feed yourself properly or you’re going to wind up with problems fulfilling your caregiving duties.
Processed Foods Are Your Entire Diet
Processed foods, also considered convenience foods, are actually really convenient. You can usually grab them and go or at least heat them up quickly and knock them back fast. But they’re usually not all that healthy for you. They may have empty calories or a lot of sugar or salt. If they’re a part of your regular diet, you’re not getting what you need and your body is probably not happy about it.
Skipped Meals Are the Norm
The other side of the processed food coin is that you might be too busy even for convenience foods. You might tell yourself multiple times per day that you’ll grab something later, only later never really comes around. Skipping meals, especially on the regular, deprives your body of what it needs to keep itself running so you’re constantly running on fumes. That can’t last long.
You’re Going to Fix it All, All at Once
Maybe you know that what you’re doing isn’t doing you any favors. Lots of caregivers do come to that realization, especially when they’re evaluating how their seniors eat. But if your answer to that is that you’re going to change everything about your eating habits overnight, you’re probably dooming yourself to failure. This is something you need to plan ahead to correct and that means adjusting bad habits and putting solutions in place.
Keep the Changes You Make Small and Doable
As you make the changes you need to make, keep them small and manageable. As you start to experience success and consistent results, that’s going to make a big difference overall. Improving your approach to one meal per day, like having a healthy breakfast, gives you a reasonable goal. Once you nail that one, you can make other changes that have a better chance of sticking.
It can be really difficult to juggle your nutritional needs with your senior’s. If you’re running into issues, it might be a good idea to hire elderly care providers to deal with your senior’s meals so you can concentrate on eating healthy meals yourself. As you get a handle on nutritious meals, you’re going to feel better and stronger.
