FREEBIE!
I want to let you know that I made you a freebie I really selfishly needed it for myself, I want to organize my thoughts about things that I know that when I do them, they increase my productivity. They keep me focused, they keep me on track, but I don’t always remember about them, or I’m not consistent with them. So I want to put them in one place, and use it visually, which is what I recommend you do, whether you’re gonna screenshot it or download it and print it out, put it somewhere. So I created a list of 10 productivity hacks for stay at home moms. I reviewed this list even though I titled it that and I really think that every mom could benefit from it. And especially just if you’re not staying at home during the week, these are tips you could employ on the weekends as well. So you can check that out by visiting the description of this podcast episode. If you’re listening on Apple podcast, or you can just go over to the link in my Instagram bio. It also is a pop up on my website this month over at healthycatholicmoms.com
So again, you can go just grab that little download 10 productivity hacks for the stay at home mom.
Intro:
Welcome to The Healthy Catholic moms podcast where we make moving and nourishing our bodies the priority so that we not only fulfill our vocations, but excel in our callings. I’m Brittany Pearson, a Catholic white mom, personal trainer, and I’m here to help you build healthy habits that actually fit your life. I am here to teach you how to get the results that you want and maintain the results that you want without spending hours at the gym, or meal prepping all weekend long. I understand I am right here with you getting my workouts done in the nooks and crannies of time, looking up recipes, while nursing babies and trying to prioritize my own health amidst everything else going on. But I have really good news for you, you can get the results you want. In less time without doing hours of cardio and restrictive dieting. I’m going to teach you how to use strength training and eating in a macro balanced way to get you feeling so good in your skin full of energy, and strong to carry out your life. Okay, on this podcast, we’ll delve into how to lose fat in a simple, sustainable way. What your workouts and nutrition should look like during different seasons of life like during pregnancy and postpartum times. We’ll also discuss healthy quick meals and how to get them on the table make foods that kids will actually want to eat. Mom hacks for making your day run more smoothly and so much more. All the while with continuous encouragement to stay the course and live with discipline. This is a place where we’re striving to steward our bodies well in order to joyfully serve. I am so happy you’re here. Let’s dive in.
Main Episode:
Hey, friends, I hope you are loving today’s episode. And I just want to interrupt quickly to let you know if you are not satisfied in your current workouts. If you are kind of just pulling up random YouTube videos to do them or you’re not really seeing progress or you’re not in a great groove. Currently, I want to invite you to come try out our chasing greatness group. This you can try it out totally free. So get that out there first you can come check out everything about it, it’s going to take care of you’re not really following a plan problem. Okay, you’ll get a whole plan every single month a brand new plan that focuses a little bit on a different area of fitness. So some months we’re more focused on getting stronger. Some months, we’re focused on getting lean, some months, we’re more focused on getting flexible, okay, so every single month we prioritize strength training, there’s hit usually involved, you have all these pre recorded videos, you just press play and go or you can do the PDS if that’s more your style, but it’s more than that. So together because it is a community of women, we communicate on Slack we communicate on Facebook, we I have little challenges here and there where I you know pose something to you like hitting your water targets and then having a winter having drawing. So we really try to keep it fresh and keep you motivated all year long. And not just focusing on one thing all your long or pulling up the same video we’ve got all the exercise modalities represented. So you’ll get your full body work, you’ll get your single sided work, all of that and more and the best part is it’s all like minded women. So we also have a religious component every single month. This month we’re focusing on the Holy Family, talking about ways that we can enhance that in our own homes and sharing the litany of the Holy Family, those kinds of things. There’s recipe inspiration, just so much that I can’t even really do it justice in this little clip so if you’d like to try it out, again it’s the chasing greatness group over unhealthy Catholic moms.com You can go to with the work with me page or you can use the link in my Instagram bio, try it absolutely free for two weeks.
Now one caveat I want to let you know about is if you are looking for really in depth nutrition
and coaching, save that for the simple, sustainable fat loss program. All right, you’re gonna want to start there. If you’re needing a little bit more hand holding through the nutrition piece in the Chasing Greatness group, we assume that you have already gone through that, and or just have a really great background in nutrition already. Alright, ladies, I would love to see you in there.
Hello, beautiful. Ladies. Welcome to this episode. Welcome to the podcast. Thank you so much for being here. Especially welcome if it’s your first time and welcome back. If you’re here all the time. I hope you’re having a wonderful February so far, I know that can sometimes be an oxymoron. Just wonderful in February, because February is usually the month that gets a bad rap. But I hope it’s a good one so far. And we are right here on the fringe of Lent beginning I just realized as I went to record this, like, whoa, we are turning around into lunch. And maybe we’re already intelligent when you are listening to this. So I think it’s really nicely timed, which I didn’t do on purpose, to take some time to reflect on where we’re at currently, and then not look inward for answers. But bring that to prayer. And you know, have some conversations with God, especially ones where we’re listening, I have to remind myself that it’s not just talking all the time.
But to listen to Him, and to try to listen to what he wants for us. Maybe we set some lofty goals in the beginning of the year, or maybe in the beginning of the year, we’re a little too focused on what we wanted to achieve, like my goals, my goals, my goals. And I think this is a nice time, hopefully I talked about it back in the goal setting episode. But sometimes I forget to include steps that I just kind of do naturally. So I do do that disclaimer before setting goals. I try to really go to prayer first and say like, Lord, what do you want this year to look like for me, and all of that. But if you didn’t, or if maybe setting goals isn’t your thing and the meaning of the year? There’s not a big checklist, but rather just go in a prayer and saying like, Lord, what do you want me to do? Put in front of me what you want me to the people you want me to serve? Help me to have eyes to see, help me to, you know, whatever here already go talking, listening, need to try to listen. But I and that actually is kind of exactly what we’re talking about today is asking the Lord you know who He created us to be, and then rising to the occasion and doing it and we’re going to fail, obviously, and we can do absolutely nothing apart from his grace. So a lot of times again, I just assume that but I don’t want to forget to say that, that, you know, obviously we are going to fail, we are going to sin, we’re going to fall short. But today, I hope to encourage you and just share some inspiration that I’ve gotten from other people, their their words, their quotes, scriptures, etc. That do inspire me to strive for excellence. Right? That’s everywhere in the Bible, in the Bible. It is so much saying strive for excellence Be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect. All these things that it does not mean, throw your kid the perfect Pintrest birthday party. But it does mean you know, we’re striving for perfection. And again, we’re gonna fall short of that. But that’s what we’re striving for. In a very stark contrast to this culture that is very, you know, if you woke up today, you’re doing great. And
I’m sorry, I thought I was gonna get a baby delivery for a second. But I think my husband is going to try to give him a bottle.
You might have heard the cry.
Anyways, a train of thought, bring it back. Bring it back. Yeah, that the culture I know that I know, the pendulum swings. And this is not a self care episode. But I know that there might have been generations or pockets of women or whatever the case was, that you know, never made time for themselves and were super burnt out and just weren’t taking care of themselves at all. And it’s basic form. And I think the pendulum is super far swung to the side of you deserve an $8 coffee for doing the laundry and I’m saying that from an actual example. There was a meme that I saw the other day that was supposed to be funny and I get it because a lot of times we’re trying to be relatable. And I don’t know who posted I don’t remember but it said like what is it with this generation thinking you need an $8 coffee just because you did the laundry or you need to treat yourself the wording was something about like you need a little treat of an $8 coffee for doing laundry and somebody commented and was like sounds like somebody needs a little treat. And again, I know all in fun and whatever. But I think that that is a big you know theme in our culture is like good job you did this reorder ordered word AND or OR just you know, you’re enough. You yelled at the kids today you’re an off you took them through the drive thru because you didn’t cook for the 27th day in a row. You’re enough and if you guys know me at all and if
bend around here at all. I don’t subscribe to that way of thinking they’re, you know, there are days where you know, we’re gonna yell at our kids, then we need to repent of that and get investors in and move on. Dig into the Lord and then ask her his grace and then try to do better. Not just you’re enough, you’re enough. Okay? So this quote, I love, it was very funny. Because the reason it came top of mind is it came up on my Facebook memories, which if you guys were facebooker, and if you’re moving around my age group, that you have that Facebook, like when you were end of high school, beginning of college, whatever, I remember when I signed up for it, you’re supposed to be in college, but I was in high school, so I’m sure I like you know fudged my birthdate. But I know there’s so many of us that are in this camp where when your memories come up, you’re like, what was I doing? Why was that my status, some of them have been pretty ridiculous. I’ll show my husband and like this is I’m glad you didn’t meet me at this time. But a lot of them are very spot on with things that I still believe in, still share. So something that came up, I think it was 2009, or 2013 was a Lou Holtz quote, he was he’s a coach, and he said, you get one shot at this exact season time scenario.
I love that because whatever season you’re in, if you have little kids, if your kids are grown, if you’re a first time grandma if you’re not so first time grandma like, whatever phase of life, whatever season of life, this is your one chance at it. And no, we can’t put too much shock. They have like, oh my gosh, I have to do everything perfectly, then I’m gonna blow it. But to live with a sense of urgency, you know, to live with knowing we have a purpose, we already have a purpose to get to heaven to bring as many people as we can with us, but shrink that down into like your daily vocation. You know, if you are, again, I’ll apply this to my own life. I know that I have a variety and a big diversity in listenership here. But I am a working stay at home mom, who homeschools blah, blah, blah, all that stuff. That’s me. So for me in my vocation, I’m not just trying to survive, right? I should not be just the bare minimum of feeding my kids, teaching my kids answering client emails running a program, you know, what is the difference between thriving, living joyfully living with excellence living to the fullest, like, like, this is actually your last chance. There was another man who I just loved this line. And I’ve been thinking about it ever since I was listening. He has a podcast seems Dan Martell, I just started listening to his podcasts like two episodes, truly. But I’d heard him on somebody else’s podcast. And he says every day to himself, like he said, When you lay in bed at night, would today be a good day to die? And I love that because that I think you know that we have a lot of different ways. We could say this memento mori and I’m gonna mess it up. Remember your death? You know, we say as Catholics like that, we should be thinking that this time is fleeting, that we are going to return back to dust all of that. I just liked the way he said it of that I just really struck a chord with me thinking, would I be okay, going out on this note right now? You know, and, again, we’re gonna have not so great days that we’re gonna be like, no, no, I hope this was not my last day because I just argued with my husband about little stupid things. I didn’t even spend that much time with my kids because I was on my phone, whatever it is, you know, we’re gonna have slip ups we’re gonna fail. But that is not the standard. Hopefully that we are striving for, to raise the standard level it up. So I love that I’ve been trying to think of that everyday. I should put it somewhere visual, but I really have been marinating on a lot would today be a good day to die? It would be what I’d be okay with. Another thing that’s helped me I’ve shared this one on the podcast before I don’t remember who I heard this from or sought from where it was like a parenting tip. They were saying when they are having a hard parenting day, they will try to imagine that they like got a chance back in this day from whatever time later so say like, right now I have four kids and my oldest is six. Say I’m looking at this day as an eight year old, a six year old, even a 40 year old whatever, like as an empty nester. Say I’m looking back at like a picture of this day and thinking like, Oh, I wish I could just go back and hug them one more time like that. Just have that day with them. Have one more day with them like that. Try to think of that on your tough days. And I really liked that and that’s come into my mind a lot to have like, Okay, if you were gifted back this one day, how would you live it? I think it just pulls us to live in a different way. There’s so many different ways you could think about this. So you know, find what works for you and what resonates with you my actually my six year old and I were just talking about the other day how we should live like Jesus is in our living room. idea of like, Okay, would you talk to your brother like that Jesus was in the living room would mom you know, be standing there on her phone?
Jesus was live here, like just different things, whatever works for you. You know, I think it keeps us in check, and we need these reminders.
Another thing that I was thinking about the other day while reading the Psalms was this, this verse that we’ve heard 900 times I didn’t even write down the exact words, but it’s from Psalm 118. This is the day the Lord has made. And I was thinking about like this this day, it does not say this perfect day where you had a picture perfect time and everyone got along. And you can really tell what season of life I’m in. Because, you know, veteran moms are listening to this being like, yeah, she’s a little kid bicker season because she’s talking a lot about that. Whatever it is, say you are dealing with a sick parent or something like that, or an injury, that’s something to like cross. All the age groups of everybody who listens to this we all lead you might have an injury or spouse might have an injury, someone in your family might these kinds of things that do you realize, this is the day the Lord has made. So we have to rejoice in what it is, even when the kids are sick. Even when your newborn didn’t sleep at all last night, you’re super tired. It’s not now I’m gonna muddle through this day, but I’ll rejoice another day, you know,
we’re called to find the joy in it and to do our best with the day we’re given. I also deviating here a bit from Believe it or not actually did have a rough outline for this. It seems all strung together. Hopefully you’re still with me, but deviating from it. But Grace also acts upon nature where we need to, we need to cooperate with grace, and we need to act we cannot just sit back like say it is a hard day, a hard season or whatever and think like it’ll be better, I’ll be joyful once this or once that are all be more active mom, or more active daughter, spouse, whatever, when I feel better when I’ve whatever, fill in the blank. It’s right now like act like you have this day, this is the day the Lord has made right.
Some practical tips I wrote down just three, just three that came to mind with this of how I personally and maybe this will apply to you can be more joyful in this very day, not 10 days from now, not when my newborn sleeps, not when I’m not pregnant, not whatever, is to put down the phone. That is definitely something that if I had somebody video me, you know, a little hidden camera in the house, and I looked back, I think I’d be surprised at how many times I’d take a quick swipe just to check in last year. I think this is very humbling for me to admit here. Because I think that last I think maybe in my tips even so recently, from 2023, I talked about how maybe something that worked well for me was putting down my phone except certain intervals. And maybe that’s 2022. But right now, just coming off the fresh as I record this, but husband still home on paternity leave. And there’s a lot more pockets where I can like take the baby go nurse, and I’ll be flipping on my phone and things like that. So for me, I know I need to get back to like designated check in times. Usually for me that’s in the morning, like either like kind of during my workout or after America before the kids wake up. And then quiet time slash nap time. And then one more time at night is usually when I check in with email, Instagram, Facebook, those kinds of things. But it’s definitely bleeding all over the place right now. So that for me, I do not feel like I’m enjoying life, I do not feel present. I feel very distracted all the things well, I’m not here to pontificate on this because you can Google all the detriments to being on your phone too much or being on social media too much. And then they’re very real. And I’ve you know, we all can get sucked in. And that is definitely if we’re thinking like, when I think back to the times that I have felt most alive most present, that I was seizing the day that I would be okay with that being my last day ever. It’s all times I was away from my phone. There was a time that I was in Austria for a semester. And that was one of the best times of community and presence of that just there’s a lot of factors to that. But the fact that I didn’t have a phone the entire time so I wasn’t you know, I was journaling I was out in nature all those things.
And other you know, examples that I could share to where I’ve been on like a week, you know, a week away where there was very minimal reception and all that but I see the common theme is I didn’t have my phone so put your phone down, maybe have a phone basket maybe if doesn’t mean to check in times, don’t waste your year. Looking at other people’s lives is almost say about that. Okay, the next thing that I think helps me too, that is so funny.
Okay, I have to share with you guys this is the Holy Spirit because I made this list. weeks ago, I intended to record this like early December. It is January, right now, almost January. It’s actually out of December, but I made this list weeks ago, okay, I intended to record February and March, before I had the baby, that did not happen. But here I am. It’s okay. We’re still on schedule. But I made this list. Okay. And then recently, I was thinking more about my word of the year. And I think I probably talked about that a little bit on the goals episode, that I usually in prayer, a word of the year will kind of come to me, and it hadn’t one eye, and maybe there I’d had one or two that I was thinking about when I recorded that episode. But recently, I’ve been praying about this more and more, it was like, All right, Lord, like what do you want me to do this year, and one word that kept coming to mind is notice that I took this to mean like to notice my kids more to notice the beautiful sunset to notice like, just be more I don’t really love the word intentional, because I feel like it’s so overused. But yes, aware is another word to like aware of what’s going on, to pay attention, to be in awe, to be in wonder, like to find things to wonder at every day, to not just be desensitized to what is all really small miracles, you know, these are all the postpartum
bots that I’ve had looking down a little baby thinking like you are such a miracle. And that I cannot appreciate if I am number one on my phone, because I’m not going to see it. And number two, if I’m not paying attention, if I’m just whipping through life, stressing out going super fast through things multitasking, with my earbuds in you know all that stuff.
Pay attention, notice things you’ll like it brings color into your life it brings. Even though things like color, like good smells, we just don’t even notice them. Sometimes we’re not getting that full human sensory experience, because we’re just whipping around. So I know I’ve shared that recently, maybe you have listened to the episode where I’ve been kind of on a quest of like beautifying the simple things of like, if I’m going to pray in the morning, I could pray and I could light a nice candle too. So I am engaging my senses, taking the time to do that kind of stuff. That helps me I think, as silly as that seems like, well, how is that going to make you a better wife, mom, or better in your vocation. Because
how we do things matters more than just what we’re doing. So if like, we could go through our checklist and do the laundry and do this and do that, but if we’re doing it joyfully, you know, it’s it’s elevated, it elevates the act of what we’re doing, obviously, all the more when we are offering it up to God, that should be first and foremost, whether it’s beautiful or not, whether it’s with a scented candle, or it’s you know, not exactly, it’s Instagram worthy. But a lot of these things too, are just very human where they affect, you know, our mood, and we can very easily put ourselves in a good mood from using these kinds of things to Alright, my last little practical tip, and then a couple more examples is to stop numbing yourself with food, drink, etc, or whatever you’re numbing yourself with. And this goes back to the phone, this goes back to all different things. If we’re honest with ourselves, a lot of things that we do are probably to distract ourselves, to numb to check out to feel something different or feel nothing, you know, even worse, whatever. So it might be something a little more intense, like alcohol, but I think a lot of us do this with food. Without realizing it. Again, with our phones that we are looking to check out. We’re looking to step like out and away from our lives instead of leaning into our lives and trying to live more deeply and more intentionally more aware, noticing more, I think because I’m not a psychologist here. But when we notice things sometimes when we see things that need to change, or that upset us like it makes us have to wrestle with things and deal with things and that kind of thing. That’s my two cents to that. But in all of these things that have inspired me that this is the day the Lord has made Dan Martel’s quote, would today be a good day to day Lou Holtz is quote, you get one shot at this, I don’t want to look back and see that my one shot was squandered by me, just like indulging in these really low level pleasures to to get my mind off of something or to get away from something. And then a couple more things to support this here. Matthew, chapter five actually didn’t take the time to look up this verse. So I did say so we’re in Matthew, Matthew five, verse 16. Let your light shine for others so that it may glorify God. That’s what we’re supposed to be doing. This is an ad again so that others can look at us and say, Brittany, you’re doing such a great job. That’s not the goal. But the goal is to bring like I said, ourselves and others to Christ
And if how we’re living is not appealing, we’re not bringing anybody there. So just let that one be there to have your thoughts I had on this, and I did not write down
locations of this. But hopefully you all know the parable, the parable of talents. This was a at the time of recording this, this was just a couple of weeks ago at church. And then we had a big old family discussion about it on the way home in the car, about the, you know, servants, and there’s different I think there’s at least two different versions of this where it’s the tail ends, or it’s the gold coins belt, where the master has given it to His servants and you know, one’s buried, it one’s invested at whatnot.
How I don’t want to look, I pray that I don’t look at God at the end of my life and say, and him say, were like, What do you have to show for all these things I gave you a gift to do with, you know, look down from everything he like, I hope she does this, and I’m standing there still holding them in my hands. And I haven’t done anything with them or buried them, or I’ve just not lived up to my potential. And I think that a lot of us can stifle our potential. Without even realizing we are, I think that we need to look to examples of people like the saints, like other people, we look up to maybe ladies who have gone before us a couple of steps ahead of us, that we can rise up to, not their level of law, I’m not talking about like accomplishments, I’m not saying you know, you need to
go work or do any of these, like, you know, earthly things that to get accolades. That’s not what I’m saying. I’m saying that how we are doing things, it’s still a how, whatever your vocation is, whatever you’re called to, trying to do that, to a degree to a standard of excellence, rather than just bare minimum getting by. And I, I just think that, because the culture has brought the standard so low, that if we fit in with the cultural standard, it seems like we’re doing okay, that’s at least how I feel about a lot of things that if I, you know, kind of checked in with the temperature of what the world expects of today’s mom,
I would probably be like, Yep, I’m doing fine. And fine is not what we’re supposed to be striving for. So, again, role models. I talked about this a little bit ago, I know on maybe it was like the leveling up podcast or something like that, about how we should look to people like the saints, the Navy Seal, things like that, like that, rather than you know, just accept the bare minimum. All right, we can say that a while. But lastly, the last. I bring this passage up all the time, because it’s so applicable to our vocations is the Proverbs 31 Woman is just such a wonderful example of being
I don’t want to say productive, using her talents, well, right, not burying her talents. God is not going to rate us on our productivity, but he is going to rate us not rate that’s not the proper word is going to judge us based on you know, he knows, he knows our hearts, He knows, I know that every person has different thresholds of what they are able to handle, you know, capable of etcetera. So that’s why Yes, look up to people but we can’t nothing’s a direct comparison. No to women, or men or anyone have the exact same circumstances, the exact same set of gifts, the exact you know, whatever, fill in the blank. But I think the Proverbs 31 woman gives a very
good standard to shoot for like she is being productive. She is being
of service to others reaching out her hands to the poor, making sure she’s taking care of things for her household like she’s on the ball, she is not wasting a single day. It sounds like her day, if she asked herself would be there would today be a good day to die? It would be yes that she has
used everything she had in that day that she’s using her talents and glorifying God and that she’s clearly doing it cheerfully her husband and her children, you know, our call her something because I don’t have a passage in front of me. That’s gonna say bless it, but I’m like, oh, no, they said that. So I totally butcher the Holy Scripture here. But, you know, go and read that passage. Maybe for inspiration, there was a period of my life and morning and my morning time where I would read that chapter every single day. And I think that’d be something that would be worth getting back to. I tried to memorize it before and some of you might have memorized it because I had a client once who shared that in like the devotional she was doing or the program she was doing. They were as a group or trying to memorize that by the end of it. I did not I was not successful in my endeavors, but reading it would be a good start. So I hope this is helpful. I hope this did kind of light a fire for
Are you I know I need a fire lit for myself all the time because again, we’re sinful people that are going to slip into habits and slip in slip out of good habits. And it’s easy to slide it’s it’s a double edged sword here where we every day can be growing a little bit growing in holiness growing in our skills for our vocation. And, and for me that’s in like homeschooling, homemaking, that kind of thing. Those are skills I’m hoping to grow in. But he’d either be growing in them and have a slight edge. That’s the book from Jeff Olson, or it’s a slippery slope, where we’re backsliding and we’re not even realizing it. So we want to go with the growth option. All right. Thank you so much for listening. I am so happy that you tuned in today. Again, I hope you’re blessed by this and then our next episode, we are going to talk all about the super foods for postpartum and this may or may not apply to everybody. So I might catch you in two episodes. But until next time, I hope you have a great rest of your day. And I’ll talk to you soon
