By Sarah Kulchar for TheBump.com

Photo: Getty / The BumpBeing a mom. There is a lot of change that comes along with becoming a mom but there are some parts of it that are simply great. I've got to admit that there are a lot of (unexpected) things that "being a mom" has helped me out with. Not that being a mom should be used as an excuse on purpose, but let's be honest - sometimes it is the best excuse. Whether its intended or not, let's enjoy the perks of it while they are there.

Here's some that I thought of:

1. You all of a sudden have a great excuse to look a bit ragged. Another plus - if you even look semi-presentable, people always comment on how great you look for having a little one to care for. Score!

Unbelievable new mom confessions!

2. You can sneak out of those pesky friend and family events. Whoops, baby has an early bedtime!" to jet out of a place sooner. Am I right or am I right?

3. You finally have something to bond over with that super cool mom that you see at various social events. Nothing beats

Monster SprayOne spray keeps the monsters away! When my son was little I was proud, patting myself on the back that he wasn't afraid of the dark. He would play in a dark room without even thinking. He would walk into a dark room like it was broad day light. I thought for sure it was my perfect parenting. Then it happened. He was 3 and suddenly my perfect parenting world fell into pieces. My son decided that there were monsters under the bed, in his closet and any dark room. This was before the introduction of Sully and Mike in Monsters, Inc. which would have really helped. I was on my own.

His imagination went from building train tracks to monsters running the world. After a short derailment......I found my perfect parenting hat again after talking to a girlfriend of mine who was ahead of me in this parenting gig. She simply said I needed Magic Monster Spray.

I quickly wrote down everything I needed and made some up that day. After mixing up this special potion, I let my son spray the

Source: Timing Is Everything: When to Eat to Lose Weight

When trying to slim down, we're bombarded with what foods to eat and how much, but it's not the only thing you need to think about. Timing is important, too. If you've had issues slimming down, check out the info below to see when to eat each meal and snack to optimize your weight-loss results.

Breakfast: Don't skip breakfast, and be sure to eat your morning meal within an hour of waking to jump-start your metabolism, consuming 25 percent of your daily calories. Example: 7 a.m.

Morning snack: Eat two to three hours after breakfast. This will keep blood sugar levels stable to avoid the low-energy sluggishness that makes you reach for high-calorie treats. Snacking also prevents the famished feeling that makes you inhale way more calories at your next meal than you would if you weren't plagued by hunger pains. Stick to 150 calories or less, about five percent of your daily calories. Example: 9:30 a.m.


More from POPSUGAR Fitness:

Word lovers, check out these four apps for your phone or computer.1. Word A Day Pictures & Audio ($1.99). The title of this app tells its story. Every day, the app presents you with a new word. Most of the words are common-like mine today, "nirvana"-making the app perfect for refreshing you on words you've read dozens of times but whose definitions, for whatever reason are kind of hazy. A brightly colored cartoon gives life to each definition, a handy memento that's likely to give you an edge in remembering the word. For "nirvana," a beaming man is kicked back in a hammock suspended from the only two palm trees growing on a desert island, and you can almost hear the tunes playing from his bedside radio. On this app, you can take a quiz of past words of the day. Also, bookmark favorite words in an alphabetized list.

Related: Best Internet-Connected TVs

2. 7 Little Words (Free). If you're a fan of thinking word games like crosswords, Scrabble, and Scattergories, you'll love 7 Little Words. After playing a first game, you'll quickly play ten more. The

Kids love making their own after-school snacks, and they're a healthy alternative.

Every day, without fail, my 11-year-old son trudges through the front door, theatrically tosses his backpack onto the nearest chair, and asks weakly, "Mom, do we have any food?"

While I'm tempted to tease him, "No, sweetheart, I'm planning to forage in the back yard for dinner," I instead ask him to wash his hands so we can make an after-school snack together. Bonus: I get to spend quality time with my favorite person. Total win!

Here's a few tried-and-true winners that will keep your kids happy and healthy.

Yogurt Parfait

There is absolutely no way to mess this up, and it's incredibly good for you. You'll need a cup of plain yogurt, fresh seasonal fruit (stay away from anything in syrup), and, if you wish, your favorite granola or dry oatmeal.

Have your child scoop some yogurt into a clear juice glass -- part of the fun is seeing all the yummy layers. Add a handful of fruit, and then top with more yogurt. We like to alternate blueberries and strawberries for extra

No Shame in My A younger, possibly more stylish and non-parenting friend of mine recently made a comment to me basically calling me out for wearing what she referred to as a "mom uniform". In a nutshell, she thinks I virtually wear the same thing every single day, with slight modifications and rotations within my closet.

She went on to claim that every time she runs into me and the kids, I'm basically wearing exactly what she saw me in last time we met, just in a different color or style. The four same wardrobe pieces, OVER AND OVER AGAIN.

And the thing is, she's totally right, and I didn't even really notice the trend until she mentioned it. Aside from dressy occasions like church, date nights, and special events, I do wear mostly the same type of outfit almost every day.

And you want to know what? I like they way I dress and I'm not ashamed to admit it.

My "mom uniform":

- ponytail and light make-up.

- fitted t-shirt with zip-up hoodie on top

- skinny jeans on the bottom

- flats on my

Unlike other vacations, exercise breaks generally last longer than you'd like--and the mementos they come with are ones you'd rather not hang on to. You know how it goes: Two missed workouts snowball into two months of zero fitness motivation, and suddenly you can't button your jeans or do a pushup to save your life. In fact, research shows that body fat, weight, and waist size can rise--and fitness levels can dip--after just a five-week hiatus.

We know it's not just physical roadblocks; there are psychological and logistical challenges, as well. That's why we asked experts how to tackle tricky setbacks. No matter where you are now, this plan will help you shape up to a hotter, healthier body.

RELATED: 21 Ways to Make Fitness Fun

You Recently Had a Baby
Intense exercise is usually off-limits for six weeks postpartum. After that, sheer exhaustion can keep moms couched.

Training Tip: Even if you're wiped, pop in a DVD or slip your baby in the stroller for a brisk

It's been confirmed…sadly, sugar is the devil say recent, incontrovertible findings. Clear out these sneaky, every day sources in favor of the occasional really-worth-it splurge, says Dr. Robert Lustig, author of Fat Chance: Beating the Odds Against Sugar, Processed Food, Obesity, and Disease. By Ava Feuer, REDBOOK.

When you eat an entire bag of gummy bears, or down a large soda the movies, you're aware of what you're getting yourself into. But more than half of the sugar in our diets is strewn across the entire range of what we eat, put there by the food industry to make things taste, well, sweeter. And even if you're a careful reader of nutrition labels, you might never know it. "There are 56 names for sugar," says Dr. Lustig. "If you can figure out a way to have five or six different kinds of sugar in one product, then you can make some type of sugar fall further down the list. When you add them up, they add up to number one."

Tomato sauce
Tomatoes are full of citric acid,