I was struggling with PPD and one of the things that my therapist was really big on was taking time for myself. It has made a huge difference for me, and I think that a lot of moms would be a lot happier if they could take some time for themselves!
Step 1: Food!
Losing weight is ultimately about calories in vs calories burned. Be smart about the calories you're consuming! Eating things that are nutrient rich is very important. It's hard to not just make hot dogs and mac n' cheese when you've had a long day, I get that. SO learn to make the slow cooker your friend!!! Allrecipes.com is free and has a ton of good slow cooker recipes. Use this whole chicken recipe in the slow cooker, just put it on low for about 4 hours and you can put a couple of cups of chicken broth in there as well if you like. I like to use the leftovers for pot pie (I cheat and use store bought crusts) using cream of chicken soup, milk, frozen veggies, and 2ish cups of chicken. I have also made Orange chicken, Tikka Masala, and more in the slow cooker. I add about 1/2 cup of water to the sauce and cook frozen chicken breast/thighs/drumsticks for 4 hours on low or thawed chicken for 3 hours on low. I use wild rice with salish salt and veggies as a side (Salish salt is smoked so it offers a very campfire-like flavor!). Pinterest.com also has a lot of healthy eating suggestions and recipes! Breakfast smoothies are a great way to get more healthy fruit/veggies/proteins into your diet. Food Network is a great resource for healthy recipes as well! Find a resource you like, work up a quick menu for healthy items you know you're going to include with your meals, and stick to it.
My weekly menu looks like this:
Bananas/pineapple/potatoes/squash(Seasonal fresh fruit veggies)
bread tortillas
flour: white wheat corn
raw sugar/agave/honey
sunflower seeds/chia seeds/peanuts/almonds
Oats/quinoa
cereal
peanut butter/almond butter
dried fruit/chocolate chips
Jam
canned fruit (out of season)
canned tomato (for homemade sauce)
dry pasta/white rice/wild rice/brown rice
asian or middle eastern sauces in jars (not brave enough to make from scratch yet)
frozen veggies frozen fruit
ground meat: turkey beef
Chicken: whole breasts thighs drumsticks
Turkey bacon; turkey hot dogs
Cheese: Mozz. cheddar colby jack parm.
ricotta prov. cream
eggs
Orange juice
plain yogurt cottage cheese
milk cream butter
Obviously I don't buy all of these things every week, but these are things I use throughout the month. I make our own granola bites (which double as lactation cookies), I just make them without the brewer's yeast when they're for the whole family. I also make fresh pasta, bread, and other items from scratch and often freeze them. For example, I make ravioli and pierogis from fresh pasta. The recipe the pierogis link to has a traditional pierogi dough, but I just use the same pasta dough for ravioli and pierogis. I make a big batch of marinara at a time and marinara frozen in an ice cube tray is super convenient and reheats quickly! I like to puree veggies like carrots and zucchini and add them to the marinara to make it healthier. I also usually make spinach and cheese ravioli and sometimes pumpkin ravioli. Yum! I recognize that we don't eat as healthfully as possible, but we do eat a balanced diet and I try to avoid processed foods. We occasionally make the corn dog muffins I've posted about previously.
How much you're eating is just as important as what you're eating so learn how to correctly portion your food. This WebMD guide is helpful for showing adults correct portions. Build healthy kids is a wonderful web resource for parents and has a great detailed breakdown of what kids should be eating!
Here is a guide to help you:
For both kids and adults, about half of your plate should be fruits and veggies, 1/4 should be meats/proteins and 1/4 should be starches/grains. Try to cut down on butter, salt, sauces and condiments, as these are mostly empty calories.
Eat a variety of colors in your fruits/veggies.
Choose lean meats like chicken and lean fish several times a week.
Cut down on sweets, you don't need dessert after every meal. I don't even buy candy, cookies, cake, etc. so I can't be tempted.
Look for the hidden calories in things like flavored yogurt, which sound good but are full of artificial sweeteners. Choose plain yogurt and add your own fruit and a dash of honey instead.
Both websites linked above, WebMD and Build Healthy Kids, have specific amounts and examples of portion sizes a better alternatives to popular foods that may not be great for you.
Last I'll share this recipe with you from Girl Plus Food! Seriously, go check out her blog. She's awesome!!!
Banana oat chocolate chip cookies!
Ingredients:
2 brown bananas
1 cup rolled oats
1/4 cup chocolate chips
Preaheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Mash up bananas and mix oats in well. Add chocolate chips.
Roll into 1" balls and place on cookie sheet. Bake 10-15 minutes.
Cool before eating! I suppose they'll keep for a few days in an airtight container, but my family eats them too quickly for us to find out ;)
Enjoy! Come back for Step 2: Exercise!
