I don’t usually watch the show The Revolution, not because I don’t like it but because well, I don’t need a show to make me feel worse than I already do about myself lol!! However I saw previews for this episode and wanted to check it out because it was on postpartum. I went on-line to see if they had what was discussed on the show afterwards but of course they didn’t, just another reason for me to not like the show! One of the parts I found most interesting was the part when they discussed what are examples of good foods a new mom should eat. But first let’s talk about the beginning….
The weeks following the birth of a child your body is recovering from labor and delivery, some baby blues, and of course the lack of sleep while you’re adjusting to by far the most demanding but wonderful new addition to your family. All of this can leave you feeling exhausted, cranky, even anxious. I remember sitting in my daughters rock and chair the first night we were home, bawling my eyes out while I rocked her, well-tried to rock her to sleep that is, I just sat they’re looking at the pictures of my pregnant belly hanging on her walls….longing to be pregnant again, wishing I was at that stage again, she was by far way easier to care for in the womb than outside the womb. After that melt down I remember thinking, wow I had no control over those emotions….Luckily for me my husband took three weeks off following the birth of our daughter. THANK GOD, I had no idea physically how much my body was going to feel. I needed sleep to regain my strength, I went over 24 hours with no sleep and the trauma on my body had just about broken me. So that leads me to, what’s the best gift you can give a new mom??? Two things I would suggest: One being a nice home cooked meal, something easy, stick the instructions on the casserole dish and drop it off. The best gift I could have ever received was a baked ziti dish from my husband’s best friend and his wife, complete with bread and dessert!!! We ate it for 3 nights!! Crap that reminds me I still have the dish!!! AHH! So going forward that will be a gift I’d love to give for the next friend of mine that has a baby, hmmm an old co-worker of mine just had her 2nd, maybe I should get cooking!!
The second Idea I heard on this episode of The Revolution. Food Shopping!! I remember the week we came home we ordered out every other night and I ate like crap. Now I was lucky enough to be able to eat whatever I wanted when I was pregnant and barely gained any weight, also I didn’t get that bloated, I feel like poop feeling after consuming a large bacon burger and a massive amount of french fries! However I knew if I continued to eat like that when I got home it would catch up with me. Only it was even worse, it didn’t catch up with me until months later!! UGH Still sighing at myself for allowing that to happen, for getting the blessing of loosing all my baby weight and then some and realizing I took advantage of it. It’s not all my fault. unfortunately most people gain weight with the medications used to treat post partum……..LUCKY ME! OK….I’m rambeling, how about food shopping for your friend, buy fresh fruits and veggies, maybe even peel and cut some things up so it’s easier for them to cook a meal??
And may I also suggest, LET PEOPLE HELP. unfortunately we have a very small condo so I couldn’t afford the space to have anyone spend a few days with us, however I surly took my husband up on the offer of taking the night shifts for the first 3 weeks while he was home since I needed to catch up and he is king of napping during the day and I suck at it! Luckily by week 3 I was refreshed! As refreshed as any new mom can be I guess!
And now the interesting part……..what foods and why should we be eating following the birth of a child. I didn’t know you could actually use certain foods to help boost your hormone levels. Omega-3 I guess is a big one. This can be found in Sammon, any kind of seeds like flax seeds, almonds or walnuts or even avocado’s! These are actually healthy fats, so don’t freak when you look at the amount of fats that are in a handful of almonds, don’t hesitate because they are the good fats! During your last trimester of pregnancy your baby is stealing all of those essential vitamins from you, the baby always comes first remember! By eating foods with Omega-3 and the correct complex carbs it can actually decrease the symptoms of depression and help stabilize your blood sugar levels. It will give you a boost of serotonin (we all know what that is teehee) the feel good hormone! We get that sence of high without the crashing feeling we get when consuming sugar. Whole fiber will help any woman get that serotonin boost without the crash, it can be found in, certain cereals, beans, quinoa, how about celery dipped in a bean dip?? I eat A LOT of fiber, I’ve always used it to control my IBS since I was 22 years old, however I eat all of these foods, I did before I was pregnant, I did throughout my whole pregnancy (in between the slices of cakes and pieces of pizza!) and I do now and it doesn’t help my weight issue, however I do notice the change in my mood, who doesn’t feel good when they eat healthy and stay active???!!!! When I workout in the morning, it makes me eat healthy all day long! When I eat pizza or anything fried I feel like a fat lazy blob!! We are what we eat ladies! The last thing we should try to consume is Calcium & Magnesium it can actually help stabilize stress hormones which is related directly to the weight in your mid-section. Some foods you can eat for that is well obviously Calcium is found in dairy but spinach is a good one, heat germ, broccoli, kidney beans. I’ve seen wheat germ in the store and had no clue when to use it but I guess you can put some on your morning oatmeal (I eat oatmeal almost everyday!) Good to know!
Well I hope these tid-bits of information can help any new momma, or momma’s friend, or for momma the next time around, I’ll be thinking of this post my next time around. Hoping their is a next time of course 😉
