Cathy Foreman MS, RD
“Nourishment” is a pretty interesting word for the food containing nutrients that we need to grow and to stay healthy. And it’s important to remember that through the food we eat, we nourish ourselves not just physically, but mentally and emotionally too. The bottom line is that eating and nutritional status does have an impact on our total health and wellbeing.
If you think about it though, the reverse is also true! Our health status and wellbeing can affect our eating behaviors and our nutrition status. So yes, what we eat is important. But how do we, as moms, balance the importance of what we eat with not becoming overly fixated? Maybe we aren’t actually what we eat, despite that overused statement: perhaps we are HOW we eat. How we take care of ourselves, how we nourish and nurture ourselves, absolutely includes how we approach eating and our mindset about food. And a healthy mindset, as it relates to food and eating, can be tough to develop.
Think about nutrition during pregnancy. We are all completely in tune to the importance of healthy eating and its contribution to a healthy pregnancy. Monitoring the health of a pregnancy includes weigh-ins at every prenatal visit. Our weight gain is a key piece of information to assess our baby’s growth and development. The pounds are plotted and evaluated at every single visit. It is, for sure, important.
“Nourish Expectations”
Then comes the post-delivery time, and it seems the focus on our weight immediately switches to weight loss. But wait. Let’s be gentle with ourselves and understand what’s actually next for our health. The weight gain during pregnancy wasn’t just the weight of the baby; part of the weight included maternal fat stores.
This extra body fat is very important, because it’s needed for the energy our body uses to produce breast milk and support breastfeeding. Calorie needs after delivering a baby, if breastfeeding, are HIGHER than during pregnancy, and part of those calorie requirements are met with those maternal fat stores. That surprises most people.
Whether or not you are breastfeeding, remember to give yourself and the scale a break. Nourish yourself. Focus on good, balanced nutrition and proper hydration to support your own physical and mental health.
“Keep Nutrition Simple”
We spoke to a registered dietitian about her thoughts on maternal nutrition as it relates to wellbeing and mental health. She was quick to comment, “Keep nutrition simple. Follow common sense when it comes to nutrition. Give your body time to heal and your mind time to adjust.
“You are going to be hungry. Feed yourself. Eat. There are no magical foods, no miracle beverages, no extraordinary powders, no quick fixes. Focus your meals and snacks on including fruits, vegetables, legumes, whole grains, low-fat dairy, and lean protein. Stay hydrated. And yes, check yourself on how much low-nutrient, high-calorie food and beverages you are consuming. A little is fine. A lot? Not so much.”
“Action Plan. Have A Set of Go-To Meals”
How do you translate that advice into everyday action? Having a basic plan for meal structure is a huge help. What does this mean? Creating a set of nutritionally balanced meals that you and your family enjoy.
Start with ten pre-designed meals. You could begin with, for example, 2 breakfasts, 3 lunches, and 5 dinners. Write these meals down like it’s your own personal cookbook. Include some that are easy and quick. Also include some healthy “convenience” foods or ingredients, such as frozen vegetables, canned beans, and bagged pre-washed greens. They can be extremely helpful when time is short or energy levels are low.
Tweak meals and add new ones to your list as you and your family gain preparation experience. Discover what works and doesn’t work, taste- and cost-wise.
Setting up a few standard, favorite meals makes it easy to have a standard grocery list. This makes grocery shopping easier, saving time and money. It also helps with reducing impulse buying and for using weekly specials and coupons. And it’s easy to have your lists saved on grocery store websites or shopping apps, for faster online shopping with home delivery or curbside pickup options.
“Community Helping – Still Communicate Needs”
If there is a “meal train” set up for your family and friends to deliver meals to your home in the early new-baby days, do share your food and nutrition needs. It may feel nit-picky to do this, but remember, anyone signing up to bring you a meal wants to help. They want to make sure they are bringing food that you and your family will like and will eat. It’s very easy to include a couple sentences of this information on any meal train sign-up website or email list.
Recently, one of our BridgingApps clients, who had a group of friends bringing food to her family, handled her household’s food specifics (vegan diet and a significant list of food allergies) with humor. She wrote “Buckle up everyone, we have some food allergies. Here are the foods we have to avoid in our house.” She also included a few local restaurant meals with pre-selected menu items, as an option for anyone not comfortable cooking for their special dietary needs.
“Tech as A Mother’s Helper”
Since technology can be helpful for general healthy eating and grocery shopping for new parents and busy parents, BridgingApps has a few favorite suggestions for meal planning, cooking, and grocery apps. Each app suggestion includes a link to more detailed information and a BridgingApps review.
Our first favorite suggestion is, just your neighborhood grocery store website. Often grocery stores have an online shopping option with curbside pickup. There isn’t typically a specific charge for this service, though sometimes there is a slight increase in the cost of the groceries themselves. This option may be helpful in stressful times, especially when a friend or family member can run the errand of picking up the groceries to help out.
Walmart is another grocery and general shopping option for delivery, curbside pickup, or third-party delivery. Walmart stores are available all over the United States, and anyone can order from either their website or mobile app and have a very convenient, flexible way to shop.
Instacart: Many folks are familiar with Instacart, which can deliver from many stores around your town, including grocery stores. (There is a charge for the delivery service.) Consider creating and storing grocery lists that you can tap and use whenever you need.
Mealime is an app designed to help with meal planning and cooking. Again, menu planning is one of those tasks that, with a little investment of time in the beginning, produces mighty benefits. Having an established plan for a week or more worth of meals helps keep grocery expenses down, allows for a healthier overall diet relying less on restaurant and fast food meals, improves time efficiency, and helps those who are feeding someone with special dietary needs. Mealime has several other features that also make it a helpful meal preparation tool for people with disabilities.
Eat This Much – Meal Planner helps with meal planning while using some general nutrition goals, budgets, and preferences. There is a free version of the app that you can use for some basic functions and for planning a day’s menu. It may be enough just to use it a few times and establish a few favorite meals to include in your regular rotation.
Cooking Matters is a non-profit organization that sponsors local cooking classes in communities across the United States. The website houses healthy recipes, cooking tips, and ideas for how to shop on a budget. Available in five languages.
This blog is part of our 4-part series on maternal health, technology, and access. Check out the full series:
• Part 1: You Are Not Alone: National Maternal Mental Health Hotline Number
• Part 2: TLC for Moms: Making Sleep A Priority by Recruiting Help
• Part 3: Is Sleep Time Tech Time?
• Part 4: You’re Not What You Eat