Did you eat well and look after your body whilst pregnant? Did it all go out of the window when baby turned up?
Nutrition plays a vital role in your recovery during the postpartum period (and not just if you're breastfeeding!) Nutrient -rich foods can assist your journey back to full fitness, vitality & for successful weight loss.
So here's what's in:
- Good Fats e.g oils,oily fish, nuts & seeds
- Superfoods/Veg e.g berries, broccoli, kale, turkey, tomatoes & cauliflower
- Hydration - 2 litres of water per day
- Low GI Foods/starchy carbs such as sweet potatoes, brown rice or quinoa
- Protein foods e.g eggs, lean meats, fish, nuts, seeds & pulses
- Supplementation (if needed)
What's out or very limited:
• Alcohol (or limit!!) - Apart from the obvious de-hydration alcohol also has 7kcals per gram
(almost twice that of carbohydrates or protein)
• Processed/packaged/refined foods – Look at the ingredients list. If you can't buy the
ingredients in the supermarket try to avoid it. Anything ending is “ose” such as dextrose is
SUGAR and sugar is not helpful to a healing body!!! Try to make your own sauces,
marinades and meals from scratch. To save time & energy make larger batches and freeze
them!
• Sugar - Watch out for added sugar in “low fat” foods!! The fat is quite often replaced by sugar for flavour! Instead consider eating smaller amounts of the foods you enjoy. SUGAR WILL NOT GIVE YOU ENERGY! Sugar will leave you feeling depleted and wanting more!!
• Excess caffeine (1 coffee per day max!) Caffeine can irritate the pelvic floor and is not
helpful for pelvic floor recovery.
To add to the list of what to avoid - Stress/overdoing it (especially early postnatal
months). Take a little time out when possible, get support and say “yes” to help offered.
Cortisol is a stress hormone known for it's ability to prevent weight loss!!
Hope you have gained a little insight from today's blog. Of course being a new mums does make eating healthy more tricky so planning is key and of course you can still enjoy those on the "what's out" list occasionally. Perhaps the way forward is to question everything that you put in your body by asking yourself "is this food going to nourish and heal my body?" then enjoy the benefits!
Bon appetite!
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