When we become parents we gain an immense amount of love, strength, and resilience from our beautiful children, however, if we don’t look after ourselves, we also lose a ridiculous amount of sanity.
I love them but sometimes kids can drive us crazy!
If you’re like me, you’ll spend most of your day tending to every need of your children and completely forget to eat dinner, drink water or sometimes take that five seconds that your brain needs to cry because you’ve reached your emotional capacity for the day.
I learnt the hard way that I should just cook whatever we’re having for dinner instead of asking everyone what they want – because NO ONE EVER AGREES!
I think after a busy day with work, school drop-offs and pick-ups, after-school sports and general parenting duties unless we’re prepared (which I try so hard to be!) dinner is sometimes the last thing we want to do. Making sure we’ve been to the supermarket, coming up with what we’re going to make – as little as it sounds, can seem like a massive task some days, especially if not prepared.
So when the idea came to me, the answer was clear.
I was going to have a no-cooking week with Deliveroo and cut myself some slack. I was looking forward to trying out my new found theory and thought Deliveroo would be the best choice. I wanted to see if you can really be just as healthy with a takeaway and freeing up some cuddle time with the kids was a bonus!
I think if people know what to look for, it gets so much easier to pick the healthiest options on the menu. When I use Deliveroo, I generally approach it the same way I would if I were to go out to dinner or the supermarket. I take the kids grocery shopping, I get them to help me cook dinner and it always pops up during dinner conversations. They’re pretty switched on, so they know that asking me for something filled with sugar is generally going to get a “no” out of me and when we go to the supermarket, we stick to the outside aisles – start at the fresh products, meats and try to avoid the middle aisles unless we need some extra staples.
Madi especially pays attention as she’s 6 now, and questions EVERYTHING, so if she asks, I give her the best answer I can so she learns from it. I will always look for the healthiest option, not because I’m restricting myself but because good food makes me feel good. It’s all about educating yourself and knowing what to look for, then the word “takeaway” doesn’t seem so unhealthy after all!
During our first night, it was a little tricky to get used to having a takeaway, after being so used to cooking every night and finding foods that everyone will agree on. After all, my kids question everything! I was a little nervous about whether the food would actually be as fresh or healthy compared to ingredients from the supermarket. However, after night number 3, ordering takeaway just made everything so much easier, especially with Deliveroo’s large range of restaurants and options available. We ordered a Teriyaki chicken and avocado sushi plate which was fresh and delightfully delicious. I’m lucky enough to live in an area where there are many different options, but it was so easy to pick and choose the best foods for my family. The beginning it was a bit of a fun challenge to get used to a no-cooking week but by the end, I realised it really gave me so much more time for myself and with my kids. There really is a lot to offer when it comes to healthy takeaway options.
About Lauren Kate from the website MadMaxMum
I’m 29 years old and a single mother to the most amazing children named Madi and Max. I first started blogging when I became pregnant with Max and never realised how connected I would become to women all over the world and being able to share our experiences as mothers and parents. Not long after Max was born, I went through a separation and being able to write and share the good and hard times has been incredibly helpful through the entire experience. I was suffering from Post-Natal Depression, a separation and needing to start a new life with my two children from scratch. Once we had settled in, I decided to make my passion for health and fitness my career. I have since become a personal trainer, a balanced lifestyle coach and help women through some of the toughest times of the lives every single day.
The Carousel thanks Lauren Kate for sharing her story.
