Tips for Improving Your Diet in Your Caregiver Journey

By Marlene Diaz | June 29, 2017 |

Eating a healthy diet is one of the most important things that you can do to ensure that you are as healthy as possible. If you are a family caregiver for an elderly adult, however, it is likely something that you overlook so that you can focus more of your energy and attention on your aging parent’s needs.

Caregiver Issaquah WA – Tips for Improving Your Diet in Your Caregiver Journey

While you might feel like trimming time by going through the drive-thru, calling for delivery, or using convenience foods can help you to fit more into your schedule every day, it can have negative effects that actually reduce your effectiveness as a caregiver. Improving your diet can support better health, more energy, and a better outlook so that you can give your loved one the level of care, assistance, and support that they desire and deserve on a daily basis.

Use these tips to help you improve your diet in your caregiver journey:

Eat breakfast. No matter how busy you are in the morning, make it a point to eat breakfast each day. Breakfast is the first opportunity for your body to get energy and nutrients after the long fast of the night. If you skip this meal you are setting yourself up for sluggishness, hunger, and lack of dietary control throughout the day. Eat a breakfast with lean protein, fiber, and healthy fat for sustainable energy, fulfillment, and fewer cravings.
Cook ahead. Take one afternoon each week or every two weeks to prepare meals and snacks that you can then heat and serve. This ensures that even on the busiest days of the week, you can quickly and easily get a healthy and delicious meal on the table. Preparing extra takes very little more time or effort but can then allow you to stock your parent’s refrigerator as well, cutting further down on your stress and busyness.
Pack snacks. During those afternoon slumps when you have no energy and are feeling hunger pangs, you are likely to make unhealthy choices like packaged snack foods or drive-thru meals that are high in sugar, fat, calories, and additives and low in true food value. Brace yourself against these temptations and give your body a valuable boost during the day by packing snacks to bring along with you. Fruit, cheese, individual packs of hummus with vegetables or whole grain crackers, vegetables and cheese or hummus in whole grain hummus, or nuts are great choices for highly nutritious snacks that will keep you on track and keep you going.

If your caregiver efforts have become too much for you to feel that you can handle them successfully, you are dealing with extensive stress, or you simply feel that your aging parent would benefit from more diversification in the care that they receive, now may be the ideal time for you to consider starting home care for them. A home care provider can be with your parent on a schedule that works for their needs as well as your care efforts.

This enables the care provider to give your loved one a highly personalized set of services designed to ensure that they receive the care, assistance, support, and encouragement necessary to keep them as safe, healthy, comfortable, happy, and independent as possible throughout their later years.

When it comes to helping you care for yourself in your role as a family caregiver, having a care provider can make a tremendous difference. Knowing this care provider is with your senior can enable you to take a step back and focus more energy and attention on your own needs and the other obligations and challenges in your life, reducing your stress and improving your health and well-being.

If you or an aging loved one are considering Caregiver Services in Issaquah WA, contact the caring staff at Hospitality Home Care today. Call us at (206) 966-6552.

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Marlene Diaz

Care Supervisor at Hospitality Home Care

Marlene brings to Hospitality Home Care's Care Supervisor Team an unprecedented level of passion for caring for others and a wealth of knowledge and understanding in the care services field. Marlene has worked in the healthcare field for more than 15 years in a variety of settings including, adult family home administration, home care HR supervising and working with specialty populations including dementia, mental health and developmental disabilities. Throughout this time Marlene has also maintained her caregiver credentials that she obtained as a teenager because, while her knowledge is best served helping to train caregivers and assist families to get the care they need, her heart is most fulfilled when she is providing care to others. When she is not in the office, you will most likely find Marlene caring for her family, or spending time with her friends.