How to Eat Healthy Postpartum

Becoming a mom is an amazing experience, it can come with a wide range of challenges. One challenge for many moms is eating healthy while feeling overwhelmed with mom tasks (caring for a baby all day, cleaning the house, cooking food, groceries etc). Here are some of the habits and tips I implemented postpartum to help stay on track with healthy eating:

1. Plan ahead as much as you can: The old saying of "failing to plan is planning to fail", is somewhat true here. If you don't plan any healthy food options, you will most likely default to take out, fast food or junk options. So what does planning look like? It can be slightly different for everyone but it might include: writing out a grocery list, picking simple recipes you want to try, grabbing premade meals, ordering a food box (ex. goodfood or hellofresh), setting a time to grab groceries or order them online for pick up, asking for help from your spouse to cook and more. Each family will have their own methods and it can develop and change over time. I personally like to use my Sundays for grabbing groceries, preparing some meals and feeling on track for the week. My husband is able to watch our son while I do these tasks each week, working a team can help you stay focused on those tasks and get things done!

2. Always have Protein & Vegetables: Your body needs a high amount of protein each day and micronutrients from a wide range of vegetables. Always having options ready to go in the fridge is the best option. A simple way to do this is to bulk cook protein ahead of time (chicken, beef, eggs etc.) and prepare other options like Tuna or Greek Yogurt so you can grab a good source of protein no matter how demanding your baby is being on a day. Vegetables can be prepped ahead of time too, peel and cut carrots, cucumber, peppers or whatever vegetables you like to eat during the week. Need it to be even easier? Grab pre-cooked chicken and a veggie tray at the grocery store. There are lots of ways to conquer this skill but the first step is being aware that you need high protein and vegetables every meal, everyday! Make sure you know what is high in protein, a common mistake is people think cheese and peanut butter are protein when they are in fact a healthy fat source with secondary protein. Some of my favourite protein and veggie combos are: Tuna with cucumber and carrots, Chicken stir fry, Taco salad (ground beef, peppers, onion, celery on spinach), egg bites (spinach, mushroom & zuchinni), turkey pepperettes with celery and peppers.

3. Eat 3 main meals and add snacks as needed: This might seem simple but it is often done incorrectly by women, especially postpartum. You need to eat 3 balanced meals (protein, vegetables, healthy fats and complex carbs) with the proper serving sizes of each and have snacks (at least 2 macros) in between or as needed with your hunger and demands (breastfeeding & exercise). Here is an example day for myself: B: Over easy eggs, turkey bacon, avocado, spaghetti squash, cucumber and tomato

   S: Chia seed pudding with blueberries and granola (sometimes) L: Leftover homemade chicken soup and almond crackers

   D: Roast beef, potatoes, carrots and brussels sprouts S: Fresh fruit, almonds and dark chocolate When I was breastfeeding throughout the night I would also add a snack of a protein bar and fruit or have a protein shake made ahead of time to drink. If you do not fuel your body enough it will impact your milk supply, decrease your energy levels, burn off your muscle and other negative impacts. Finding the right balance of healthy foods to eat without overeating or gaining weight could be tricky for you at first but coaching might be a good option to help you learn and implement the right skills.

4. Remove junk food or unhealthy options: If you have foods in your environment, you will eventually eat them. So keeping junk food out of the house or to a bare minimum is helpful. There are so many amazing healthy alternatives now, you like just need to look into them or start making your own healthier snacks. For example, if you always have bags of chips like Doritos, Lays or other main brands, you should venture into the health aisle and see some better chip options like plantain chips, sweet potato, mixed veggie chips etc. Check the ingredients and it should be all things you can read/understand and under 10 ingredients. Or make your own chips by thinly slicing potato and baking them in the oven with salt and oil. If you eat cookies or sweets try to find options that use natural sweeteners like dates, honey or maple syrup instead of sugar or fake sweeteners. Find dark chocolate covered almonds or coconut clusters. You could also make your own healthy muffins or cookies, send me a message and I can give you my superfood 'cookie' recipe!

5. Use the 80/20 Rule: You don't need to be perfect with nutrition, but you do need to be on track around 80% of the time, which leaves you 20% of leeway. So what does that actually look like? Well if you eat 5x a day (3 meals and 2 snacks) that would be 35 'meals' a week and we would want to be on track with the healthy rules above for at least 28, which allows you 7x of leeway. That could be one snack or meal per day is not balanced or includes something you know is unhealthy or you could eat well 6 days a week and have one indulgence day. It can look different for each person, but finding a good balance for you is important to keeping long term success and avoiding a negative relationship with food.

   
   

   If you would like more information about anything I talked about above please reach out to me! You can email me kbhealthcoach1@gmail.com or book a free call to see how I could help you reach your goals www.kbhealthcoach.ca/booking