Mother’s Day is just around the corner!
If the women in your life want to be healthy, this blog is just for you. We’ve compiled a list of ways to celebrate Mother’s Day the healthy way, from healthy cooking to healthy gifts.
1. Cook a Healthy Brunch
Perhaps one of the most obvious things to do on Mother’s Day is to have brunch, lunch, or dinner with the family. But this year, take control of the menu and do some home-cooking yourself using healthy recipes — make a kale frittata, for example — an easy way to make eggs combined with antioxidant-filled veggies. Use egg whites, a bit of Parmesan cheese, and throw in some kale, tomatoes, spinach, or even broccoli. Add some salt and pepper, and you have a delicious and utterly healthy meal. With a side salad, strawberries, some freshly-squeezed juice, and some whole-wheat toast, you’ll have a simple yet delicious brunch.
2. Set Mum Up With Some Health Appointments
Keep track of your mum’s doctor and check-up appointments by making sure she’s on top of all her necessary screenings. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Mother’s Day is a good time to remember all the important preventive services for your mum: breast cancer screenings (mammographies), Pap tests, and osteoporosis screenings.
Another way to help your mum take the right health steps is to set her up with a nutritionist or dietitian. Having a nutritionist can be a luxury, and may also be one of the most valuable Mother’s Day gifts — she’ll certainly appreciate the chance to have someone guide her with her day-to-day eating habits. Having a nutritionist can help her lose weight or simply feel healthier and better about herself, and it can have a long-lasting impact on her energy, weight, and happiness.
3. Give Mum a Chance to Relax: Massage!
After spending most of her days working, taking care of the family, and running errands, she’ll be sure to appreciate the chance to get a massage. Our Massage Therapists are experts in remedial massage, sports massage, deep tissue massage, lymphatic drainage massage, pregnancy massage, relaxation massage and seated massage.
Your mum can even learn how to massage herself with our Learn Self Massage classes. Our 3 hour course teaches you effective self massage techniques.
4. Have a Picnic
There’s no better way to spend a Sunday in May than being outside, especially when it involves a picnic. Whether in your backyard or in the park, setting up a sweet little breakfast or lunch for your mum outside is a nice way to give her a chance to relax and enjoy nature. Being outside has been shown to improve mental health, so the more you let your mum get some fresh air, the better. Research has also shown that taking walks in the park improves both mental and physical health.
5. Gift Your Mum with Dark Chocolate
Instead of buying your mum a lot of regular, sugary, sweet chocolates, turn to dark chocolate. Dark chocolate has been shown to have anti-inflammatory antioxidants. Cocoa and chocolate (especially the bitterer, dark chocolate, which isn’t as processed) are filled with a healthy type of flavonoid called flavanols — they’re good for heart health. In addition to having antioxidant qualities, research shows that flavanols have other potential influences on vascular health, such as lowering blood pressure, improving blood flow to the brain and heart, and making blood platelets less sticky and able to clot. Other flavonoid-rich foods you can add to your mother’s gift list include apples, red wine, tea, and cranberries. But stick to dark chocolate, and you can’t go wrong.