Moms Need Nutrition, Too!

Our Mission: We ignite the movement that empowers parents to protect children from harmful chemicals. Donate »

Blog

Tara DelloIacono Thies

Saturday, May 30, 2009

Rightfully, moms-to-be are motivated to eat with care and attention to good nutrition and exercise before and during their pregnancies. But what happens when our joyful arrival "arrives"? Well, they simply rock our worlds to say the least. Right?! As if suddenly, our babies are born and we are thrown right into "baby boot camp" and we lose hold of what it means to take care of ourselves. With less sleep and more responsibilities it is easy to forget to adapt a routine for our care.

Maybe you, like some of the moms I've met, have let your good nutrition habits go. Skipping meals, feeding hunger with quick trips to the drive-thru window, and grabbing handfuls of potato chips for snacks can be easy habits to fall into when short on time and energy.

Improve your nutrition and keep the healthy glow you had during pregnancy with this simple reminder telling you to take care of yourself, too. You can't care for your family if you are sick, tired, and malnourished.

Meeting your nutrition needs is challenging when you have the added demands of a family. Are you skipping breakfast and reaching for caffeine to keep up? Does lunch get by you only to later send you to the drive-thru? Missing meals means missing nutrients, and missing nutrients can leave you tired and hungry.

Get back on track with three meals and healthy snacks as your guide. Not only will a good daily meal plan improve your health, but you will also have more energy and feel better about yourself.

Boost Energy with Breakfast

In your morning race to get the baby to daycare and yourself to work, or the rest of the family out the door, your breakfast may slip your mind. Skipping out on breakfast can rob you of so much energy that you feel it into the next day. Consider actually sitting down for even five minutes to eat a piece of fruit and have a glass of milk.

Studies have suggested that women who consumed more calcium from dairy were also more successful at weight loss. So, if those extra baby pounds are still taunting you, you may find that 3-4 servings daily of dairy foods such as yogurt, cottage cheese, or milk is just the kick-start your body needs to lose the extra weight.

Do whatever it takes to make sure you are getting something for breakfast that includes a source of calcium. You need 1000-1200 mg of calcium each day and you are more likely to meet that Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA) if you start in the morning. Calcium is necessary for building and maintaining bone strength. With your busy schedule you're probably getting less than half the calcium you need.

You can't get by on yogurt and milk alone so instead of grabbing that pastry at the coffee shop on your way to work or while running errands, reach for whole grain foods such as instant oatmeal, LUNA bars, or slice of peanut butter on whole grain toast to compliment your morning dairy selection.

Mastering the Mid-Day Meal

As you continue to build an energizing nutrition plan be sure to include a mid-day meal. The key to healthy lunching is planning ahead. Have lunches in mind during your weekend grocery store trip. If mid-day finds you at work, lunches brought from home can not only energize you, but can also save you time and money. The night before, make yourself a delicious sandwich. Treat yourself to some gourmet touches such as a sun dried tomato spread, hummus, or flavored mustards. Diversify the texture with roasted bell peppers, cucumbers, leaf lettuce, or vine ripened organic tomatoes. You can prepare a turkey-cheese sandwich at home, packing crunchy veggies separately. Right before lunch, zap the sandwich in the toaster oven until the cheese is slightly melted. Then add the cool crisp extras.

Smart Snacking

Smart snacking means being mindful of your portions. It doesn't take a lot of food to satisfy hunger or perk up your energy between meals. Keep it simple by having 2-3 items per snack such as 1 apple, 1 thin slice of cheese, and 6 crackers.

Fruits and veggies are a fabulous portable snack that will help you to meet your daily vitamin and mineral needs. If you are heading out for the day be sure to pack two to three pieces of fresh fruit and some cut-up veggies for healthy snacking. Ants On a Log isn't just for kids; it's a good snack for you too. So spread some peanut butter on that celery stick and top it with a few raisins!

Dried fruits and nuts are also handy snacks to have around. Along with fruits, vegetables and whole grains, adding ¼ cup dried fruit and nut mix can help you reach the 20-35 grams of fiber recommended for each day and is a healthy source of non-animal protein.

Look to the Future with Dinner

When making dinner, why not make twice as much - keeping the extra for lunches the next day. If you are cooking two chicken breasts, you might as well cook four. If you are making salad, pull out a to-go container and throw an extra serving in it for your lunch tomorrow. Voila! You have the makings of a grilled chicken salad.

Water to Glow

The amount of fluid you need to stay hydrated has been the subject of great debate. The validity of the "eight glasses" of water per day recommendation is being scrutinized. Also, hydration needs vary person to person so no health agency wants to put a stake in the ground and say, "you need X ounces of water each day." The National Institute of Health, however, provides a general guideline that equates to about eight, 8-ounce glasses per day of fluid. This may be too much or too little for you depending on your activity level, environment, diet, and body size. The eight-glasses-a-day guideline is a good jumping off point, but you should adapt how much you drink each day based on where you are, what you're doing, and how you feel.

You can hydrate by consuming a variety of fluids, from plain water to iced tea. Food such as fruit, soup, and yogurt also contribute to your water tank. In fact, water alone isn't the best hydrator for all occasions. While water should always be part of your daily mix, a flavor- enhanced water such those infused with mint or citrus are or a sports drink may provide you with better hydrating power if you are losing a lot of sweat.

A well-hydrated body can better disperse nutrients to where they need to go, leaving you feeling less hungry and satisfied longer. If you are hungry and it is not mealtime, all it might take is a glass of water to satisfy you.

Living Happily Ever After

Once you begin planning meals, making healthier food choices and snacking smarter, you will find that you have more energy to meet your daily demands, more stamina at the end of the day, and being sick less often.

Keeping your baby or toddler well fed and cared for is important, but you need to be healthy yourself in order to be able to keep up with him or her. By paying attention to your nutrition needs - not skipping meals and choosing healthier foods - you too can feel better about yourself and have more energy to attend to your little one.

Our guest blogger is Tara DelloIacono Thies, RD, LUNA Nutrition Strategist at Clif Bar & Company.

The opinions expressed here are solely those of the author and not necessarily those of Healthy Child Healthy World.