Tips for managing meals and energy when starting full-time work

[Honeysucklelane]

I’m starting a 40hr a week job soon. This is the first time I’ve worked that many hours since I had kids. I’ve been incredibly lucky to have been able to be a SAHM or work PT.

Youngest is 16 now so childcare isn’t an issue

Please can any of you amazing FT working mums drop your top tips in the chat for how to manage food shops, meal prep etc I don’t want to end up buying lots of take aways due to being more busy.

Anything else you can suggest on how to maintain energy would be fab too. As a vegi suffering from low iron, I’ll need to be far more on it with supplements and generally taking care of myself.

Thanks!

You go shopping after work. Do housework at weekends.

Single parent or two parents?

Well yeah… was looking more for tips about how others manage / routine etc meal preps

The kids help with housework, responsible for their laundry making the basket for example and adding to the shopping list

i would do a half hour blast , all hand to deck , on a Friday evening for housework. Different person does the bathroom each week. Drop your standards now.

shop once a week on way home ( or online shop )

strict meal plan with a menu of quick cook dinners - egg and chips and baked beans takes no effort.

macaroni cheese ditto - stir in extra spinach ( frozen veggies are your weekday friend )

halomi and mushroom burgers with salad

jacket potatoes with cheese savory

veggie curry ( large pot lasts 2 days )

Two luckily. I have been a single parent and I have no idea how I managed it, but you just do because you have to.

Just after practical ideas on how people manage. I’m a lot older, more knackered, and menopausal now than the last time I worked FT.

Ok, so there are at least 4 adults in the house. So, chores are divided 25% each.

What exactly are you worried about ?

i never took more than 30 mins to cook dinner
someone else cleared up
that’s all I had to do most evenings?

Thank you.

At the moment I have a ‘proper’ part time job and three other casual part time jobs. Feel pulled in all directions as the casual jobs keep asking for more hours than I have.

Hopeful one FT job in one location, answering to one employer will be simpler.

The context switching between 4 roles would drive me mad!

and go to bed early

Probably my energy levels. I’ve been doing four different part time jobs and it all got too much for me a few weeks ago. I was exhausted from a weekend away, going between different locations to work and I was burnt out.

I’d say the physical and emotional side is harder to manage than the practical bits.

I didn’t do any meal prep. Cooked when I got in from work each night. They did homework as I cooked. As they got older they did chores as well.

It really has! My main job is at one place, but the others are several different households and it’s too much, but I was trying to boost my income.

Online shopping helps. I draw up the menu for the week, check what’s in the cupboards/fridge and make a list. Try to use ingredients in different ways so your basic list stays the same. I have a variety of recipes using similar bases. If I’m doing a curry or casserole I make enough for two nights and stick half in the freezer - it serves as a quick no cook meal when I can’t be bothered and avoids reaching for takeaways.

When the shopping is delivered I take the opportunity to wipe down the fridge while I restock - it gets a proper empty and clean at the start of each month and then a weekly wipe down.

All hands on deck for housework, my kids have specific things they’re responsible for - it takes a bit of prompting but they do get in the swing of things. That might be them making a simple pasta meal one night a week, doing their own laundry or running the hoover around. Don’t worry about them not doing it perfectly, the idea is to get them into a routine of being involved in the household.

I’d also advocate for having a point at which you stop for the day. For me if it’s not done by 8.30 then it’ll wait til tomorrow. It means laundry might not be folded, or the bathroom might need a wipe round but running yourself into the ground won’t help anyone. As long as it’s done the following day, it’s fine.

A 40hr week in one job will probably be easier than 4 different jobs and the mental load that brings

In terms of iron, I use Better You spray supplement. It absorbs better because it doesn’t go through your gut, so no digestive issues either. That and a B complex supplement have honestly helped my energy levels no end.

get a strong sleep routine going - and make sure you have plenty

so bed at 10, ready a book, lights out at 11 and up at 7 ( ok bed at 9 sometimes for me). Try to get some exercise in early evening. Counter intuitive perhaps but essential for good sleep

Black out blinds

you have a weekend away , schedule down time before and after - do yoga and a walk perhaps.

yoga for exercise, relaxation and sleep seems a good thing for you to try - Adrienne videos perhaps ?

with the new job - try to have boundaries. Give and take is fine but give give give isn’t.

Full disclosure I am part time but I prefer loosely following The Organised Mum Method and cleaning one room/type of room per day for up to 30 mins and then relaxing more at weekends, rather than doing housework in bulk. If Monday is living room day, you just do that room...hoover, dust, wipe windows basically. And one of your kids could have the responsibility of doing one of those things and it would take 5 mins.

She also cleans one item in her bathroom per day.

A cleaner is an obvious option, as is an online food shop.

I'm not that into full on batch cooking but The batch lady is quite good because she will use cheat ingredients while still being quite healthy and will just double up portions as batches rather than make 10 weeks worth of bolognese in one go, which just isn't something that works for me.

There will be people on here who do bulk housework in one go and multiple-batch cooking. That's fine too...it depends what works for you...we are all different.

At least some planning is needed for meal times. Have at least one day where its always really, really easy meal and make sure your partner does their fair share.

Your health is important so do prioritise that...don't put yourself last. I'm no dietician but I'll be honest I'd probably be reflecting on whether vegetarianism is for me if I had low iron...at least in short term. Pls don't take that as judgement...just a comment.

I’ve been shopping on Monday mornings before work, but we quickly end up with an empty fridge by the weekend. Going to start ordering food to be delivered as I won’t be able to go before work.

Thank you. I haven’t heard of The Organised Mum method, I’ll look into that.

I’ve been a vegetarian for 40 years, I never particularly liked meat before that. I’ve had time where I’m fine, but the busier I am the more depleted I get. I need to be really mindful of getting enough iron and protein.

Ooh thank you! Great tip, I haven’t heard of that one. I go through periods of taking better care of myself - supplements, collagen and healthy meals, but life gets in the way or I forget.

Prehaps if I build these things into what I take for lunch at least I’d be following through with them 5 days a week.

As mums, wives, relatives, friends and employees we often put ourselves at the bottom of the priority list.

I’m hopeful it’ll be easier working 1 FT job.

The others I’ve been doing are for lovely people, but because I don’t want to let anyone down or have awkward conversations, I’m feeling trapped doing them.

All household stuff needs to be split between the 4 adults in your house. I tend to make double of a recipe and freeze the other half so there’s a meal ready. Online groceries.

Not all mums put ourselves last. Many of us have learnt to say no, and expect equal relationships. You are even doing it by starting this thread about how can ‘you’ feed the rest of the family. Are the other adults starting threads about how to feed you?

Online shopping. Take it in turns to cook.

Bulk cook/prep at the weekend and use/get a slow cooker so food is ready when you get home. Delegate housework so that it’s shared equally between everyone, you, spouse and kids, don’t just do it all yourself at weekends and evenings. Get a cleaner, even if it’s only every other week, someone else doing a full house-clean will make a huge difference.