The Ruth Project

 A very simple thought for this week to help with low motivation, that is to get your body moving. When you are a parent struggling with depression or anxiety as well as the responsibilities of parent life, regular work outs and exercising can be overwhelming. Something I have learnt to help challenge low motivation with depression is to take smaller bites. Making the decision to exercise can be the first hurdle. This is really your first bite, challenging all the negative thoughts and insecurities that can hold you back from making a decision.  The next bite is getting someone else on board to help you. Simply talking to someone about wanting to do some exercise or simple movement helps to shift the thoughts in your mind that can hold you back, your person is able to encourage you and potentially give some helpful suggestions. Bringing other people in on the journey means you can share what some of the challenging thoughts are and allows them to help you process and move forward. Deci

What we put into our bodies can impact the level of energy or motivation we have each day. The science and research in our world also shows the connection between food and our mental wellbeing as well as our physical wellbeing. As parents it can be easy to fall into unhealthy food habits whether it be emotional eating or not eating enough. There can be many influences towards these habits being created - mental distress/illness, sleep deprivation, busyness of the day, snacking on kids food, lack of planning, snacking on processed snack food are a few of these influences. When we as parents are depleted of the good nutrients we need to keep going we slip into low motivation, unhealthy cycles, bad habits or negative thinking. Todays tip - Stop and review.  Review your mind and your eating habits. Are there perceptions and thoughts that are unhealthy that need to be broken? Is there emotional eating happening? This is the time to reach out to someone in your community who can help you to