NUTRITION FOR NEW PARENTS

Heather Zeman, MS RDN LDN

Caring for a newborn makes it even more difficult to care for yourself. You likely anticipated the shift in your routines, sleep habits, and responsibilities, but new parents are often caught off-guard by the challenge of supporting their own needs… including those that surround eating.

When this accompanies societal pressures and an often-premature priority to lose the baby weight - from “dad bod” to “mummy tummy” – you’re left with unrealistic expectations, self-sabotaging behaviors, and stalled physical progress. It’s easy to blame lack of sleep, but eating habits should not be overlooked for the role they play in your energy levels, mental state, or postpartum recovery.

THE NEED FOR FUEL

Under-fueling - aka not consuming enough calories – can lead to a range of consequences including hair loss, GI upset, and hindrance of fat loss long-term. For breastfeeding moms, consuming <1200 calories per day is not safe, and consuming <1800 calories per day may reduce overall milk production. Plus, your bodies are still working hard! Adequate intake is crucial.

Under-nourishing - aka not getting enough of the nutrients your body needs - can reduce wound-healing (from C-sections!), weaken your immune system (against daycare colds), leave you irritable (on top of poor sleep), and reduce your body’s ability to build muscle (when you do get back to your fitness routine). Plus, maternal deficiencies of fat- and water-soluble vitamins will reduce their availability in breastmilk. Thus, eating a variety of foods is ideal.

Losing weight and reaching physique-based goals should be a slow process, and not one that needs to begin immediately. Whether you gave birth or supported your partner through 9 months of physiological changes, your body has been through a lot. These changes won’t reverse overnight, and breastfeeding moms will even hold onto 5-10lbs in order to protect their milk supply in case of calorie restriction. This is a time to fuel and recover.

PRIORITIZE EATING

Shifting your mindset from “getting your body back” to “nourishing yourself” is a powerful way to move from patterns of harmful deprivation to those that support nutritional abundance. Before you focus on nuanced intake and longer-term goals, make it a priority to eat, period! Here are tried-and-true tips to help remove the barriers that make it difficult to do so:

1. Rely on convenience: Frozen fruit, pre-chopped vegetables, and canned goods are excellent ways to save time and include nutritious foods in your day.

2. Use the crockpot: You’ll reduce active cooking time, ending up with a balanced meal and freezable leftovers.

3. Avoid doing the dishes: Look for recyclable or biodegradable disposables, and give yourself a break from cleaning up.

4. Store water and handheld snacks: Leave a bottle of water and easy-to-eat snacks where you feed the baby. Items like LÄRABAR, 88 Acres, RXBAR, apples, or peanut butter crackers are easy to eat with one hand.

5. Accept help: Baby registries will even let you add a section for meal deliveries from friends or gift certificates to meal prep services. It takes a village.

Above all else, giving yourself this time to recover and reorient after bringing home your newborn will set you up for success when it is time to pursue your personal goals. When that time comes, ask for help! Especially if weight loss or body composition change is your goal, working with a dietitian has been shown to result in greater change long-term.

Wondering what this might look like for you, or ready to move into the next phase of your postpartum journey? Stay tuned for next month’s newsletter, and schedule a discovery call to begin!