Marathon Training and Taking My Vitamins: How I Will Be a Healthier Me

This is a sponsored post in partnership with The Motherhood on behalf of Nature’s Bounty.

The last few months have been somewhat of a struggle for me, and with the arrival of the new year, I have been focused on bettering myself. In the last four months, I gave birth to my second baby and I turned 30.

To be completely honest, it is kicking my butt.

Trying to care for two kids under 4, work, and getting this baby weight off has felt nearly impossible. With my twenties in the rearview mirror, I have also become painfully aware of all the health risk factors in my life.

Heart disease, diabetes, depression, and breast cancer all run in my family. With two kids to care for and my youthful naivety gone, I have had to start looking at my lifestyle and truly assess my habits.

I have committed myself to getting healthy so I can lose the rest of my baby weight and enjoy life with my family for years to come. Here are five things I have committed to in order to get healthy this year and be the best version of myself.   

Train for a Marathon

I ran two marathons before having kids, but like many moms, my exercise routine fell by the wayside while caring for my kiddos. It has been a lifelong goal to qualify for the Boston Marathon, and this year, I have started working towards it.

If I had to describe my training experience in one word, it would be – stressful. I have to plan my running schedule at least a week in advance. Between the kids, the weather, making sure my sports bras are clean, the miles and the effort to train myself to run faster, I usually want to cry while I am putting on my running shoes.

However, after a month of training, that baby weight is beginning to budge, and I feel better than I have in years. I keep telling myself, nothing worth doing is easy.

Eat Less Sugar

Diabetes runs in my family, and my mom has had to recently start taking insulin. It has been a wake up call for me.

I have a terrible sweet tooth, and I have been known to spend an entire day eating candy. Not only is this bad for my health, but my three old has started picking up my habits.

I have cut out my daily sugar fix, and for the first time, I am actually checking the sugar content in packaged foods.

The American Heart Association recommends that most women should not have more than 20 grams of sugar per day.

I spent one day counting my grams of sugar, and I was shocked to learn that I typically eat three times the recommended serving size per day! All that sugar is terrible for my teeth and my body, plus it is a bad example for my sons.

I am making a concentrated effort to eat more veggies and cook with fresh ingredients. It doesn’t mean I don’t have a stash of gummy bears hidden in the cupboard, but it is a start.     

Less Screen Time

I have been cutting out a lot of my unnecessary screen time in order to have more time for my kids, running, and actually cooking meals. It is also to help preserve my eyesight.

In recent years, I have noticed that my vision is beginning to get blurry at long distances. While I have cut back on my screen time, it is impossible to completely cut it out, and digital devices emit high energy blue light that can create oxidative stress to the eyes. This is probably part of the reason my eyesight has started to blur.

Nature’s Bounty® Lutein Blue is an eye supplement that helps filter that damaging blue light and protect our eyes from its effects and support eye health. Now I can help preserve my eyesight to make sure I’ll be able to read to my kiddos and eventually my grandkids.*    

Take A Multivitamin

In order to achieve my health goals and to obtain the energy I need to train for a marathon, I need to nourish my body. Sometimes our diets don’t provide everything we need to stay healthy. Taking a daily multivitamin has become an important part of my daily routine especially after having a baby.

Nature Bounty has an Adult Multi Gummy (no more oversized pills!) that has 100% of my daily value of four important B Vitamins as well as Vitamin C and D. Not only does it allow me to get the necessary vitamins my body needs, it helps keep my immune system going and keeps my bones healthy. As I get older, it is even more important to take care of my bones, and Nature’s Bounty helps me keep everything in check.  

Get More Sleep

With a three year old and a four month old, sleep is the thing I want the most and the thing I get the least. Now that the baby is a little older, he has fallen into a sleep routine, but it still doesn’t mean I get much sleep.

I toss and turn all night and wake up at every little noise, and that is if I can fall asleep at all. I am exhausted pretty much all day everyday, but as soon as I get into bed, my mind starts spinning with everything I need to get done the next day.

In order to help me get a better night’s sleep, I have decided to use Nature’s Bounty® Melatonin. As a hormone that naturally occurs in the body to regulate sleep cycles, Melatonin helps improve quality of sleep. It also helps people fall asleep faster and stay asleep longer, which is exactly what I need to help me be able to tackle my mountain of daily tasks.*   

It has also become a staple in my travel carry-on for long or red-eye flights or any time I’m in a different time zone – perfect for jetlag!

Our goals in life are constantly evolving, and we each have our own reasons to be the healthiest versions of ourselves. We all seek a version of healthy in our own way whether it is spiritually, socially, emotionally, physically or mentally. Yet, it is important to be proactive about our health to reach those goals we strive for each day. When we fall short in our habits, supplements are a great way to help us stay on track.

Nature’s Bounty has almost fifty years of experience providing health aides to people from all walks of life. Their constant dedication to scientific research, quality ingredients, and consistency has made their nutritional supplements and vitamins the best available on the market. They understand that at the end of the day, we all just want to be healthy. Sign up now for Nature’s Bounty’s mailing list to receive news, offers and more.

What is holding you back from being your healthiest version of you?

*These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.