As a new mum I know how tough it can be to get any food in your mouth when you're hungry let alone good food. Between poor sleeping, navigating a new routine (heck, life change!!), breastfeeding, changing nappies and simply keeping the little one happy (which on days can be a full time job + overtime in and of itself)... its likely that a handful of nuts has equated a to 'meal', coffee has been breakfast, or you've realised its been half a day and you've barely had a bite of anything.
There are simple ways to avoid this and start to eat epic nourishing foods all week long though. It just takes knowing how. And that's what I'm here to help you with.
1. Do a weekly shop
Make a list. And get it all at one time. Then you've got an abundance of fresh and pantry food staples to work with so you don't feel like "there's nothing to eat". And you don't have to think about trying to get to the shops again for another 7 days. Also grabbing things like cherry tomatoes, zucchini noodles, or pre-washed salad greens can make a quick lunch easier to create than having to chop tomatoes and wash your greens. Just a thought.
2. Meal prep
I'm yet to do a post on this (heck I wanna do a whole ebook on this) but it seriously is the Holy Grail if you want to eat well all week. If you've never done meal prep before, it doesn't have to be 21 plastic containers filled with brekkie, lunch and dinner for the week (body builder style). Start small and with a few things that can really help you out. For me, that's roasting a truck load of veggies (for lunches), making chia pudding in a large container (for a quick brekkie or snack I simply add berries and yoghurt), making one big kale salad for lunches or dinners (other greens wilt and go blurgh but kale is better then next day), cooking quinoa (to go with said kale salad or roast veggies), making a bone broth or slow cooked meaty stew, and maybe muffins or bliss balls. Then when I need something at a pinch, I'm good to go.
3. Cook extra at dinner
As making lunch is my least favourite thing to do, I always always make extra dinner so the following day I can open the fridge and lunch is staring me in the face. I LOVE leftovers! Cold sausages, roast veg, slow cooked lamb... add some avocado and fermented veg and I'm good to go! This is also my most challenging time with Taj so keeping my lunch prep down to 2 mins is life saving!
4. Have snacks ready to eat
This comes down to your shopping and your meal prep. You could buy a few protein / nut / raw food bars as back up in the pantry (I don't like to rely on these). Have your favourite trail mix combined in mini containers or in one large glass jar (nuts, seeds, dried berries, coconut flakes, cinnamon...). Chia pudding is great - add a few spoonfuls into a bowl, add berries and walnuts, done! Or that muffin or bliss ball you made and stashed in the freezer (so hubby wouldn't eat them all in two days ~ am I right or am I right?). As a breastfeeding mama, snacks can be the difference between a Happy Christie and a Devil Christie ;) So if you're the same, make sure your snack game is on point!
5. Fill up water bottles each morning
This might sound a little odd but depending on the age of your little one, if you're still at the stage where sitting on the lounge, breast feeding and getting stuck underneath them once they fall asleep sounds familiar, you'll know how annoying it is when you're dying of thirst and your glass or bottle next to you is empty (and no-one else is home to help a sister out). By filling up a few bottles in the morning and having them right next to where you sit down to feed is, you'll never get caught short. And as a breast feeding mama, you lose a lot of fluids feeding so staying hydrated is super important.
There you go! I hope this will help you in your epic eating each day. If you have any other great tips please let me know in the comments below!
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