Several years ago a co-worker told me she didn't think she wanted to have kids because of what pregnancy would do to her body. Recently another friend said she was inspired by my ability to eat healthy and exercise, and essentially get back to being "pre baby Brenna" all with a newborn! Well....here's the thing, I'm not "pre baby Brenna" and I never will be. This friend said I gave her hope that she will be able to maintain her healthy lifestyle and body someday after she has kids. This didn't sit well with me. I've seen things on the web about this postpartum 'get your body back' BS, as well as women struggling with accepting their changing body during pregnancy. I just didn't know I would have to tackle it myself. I sent her the kindest e-mail response I could with a few of my thoughts regarding this topic; and I want to share some of what I have learned the past 10 months with all you.

​1. Whenever you are ready to have a baby just know your body will never be the same.  
I have a scar from my c-section, and up until about 7month postpartum it still felt weird and a little numb. No one will see it when I'm in a swimming suit, but if they could, I don't care. I worked my butt off for that scar.
2. Yes I lost the "baby weight" within the first month, but my tummy doesn't look like it used to. How could it? That picture is me at 40 weeks. The skin is still kinda loose, and my belly button is different. I didn't  lose the line down the middle of my abdomen called a linea nigra until about 8mo pp.  The only pants that currently fit are leggings and my workout shorts. Everything else is loose because I lost a lot of muscle mass in my booty and legs from not working out like I used to. It's super frustrating because it limits what outfits I can wear. This is not the problem most women complain of when it comes to their postpartum body. I haven't told many people this because I'm afraid they will judge me, and just give me a dirty look. About 3-4 months ago I finally get the courage to purchase a YMCA membership where I get 2hr of "free" child care so I can workout more consistently and hopefully rebuild some muscle.

Why haven't I bought new pants? I hated clothes shopping before baby, so now it's even less fun with the pressure of trying to fit it in between naps, feedings, snow storms, and now wanting to be outside in the sunshine. So I'm sticking with a couple of new stretchy skirts and gym shorts and a pair of yoga pants for the summer.

3. Sleepless nights = sugar cravings.  I thought I was done with the midnight eating, but it still hit at times when I was breast feeding. My "will power" to say no to sugary treats is much less than it used to be. However, after munching on 5-7 chocolate covered pretzels at church several months ago and then testing my blood glucose and seeing it at 155; I'm slightly more inclined to pass these treats up. Unless I deem it 100% worth it (brownies are typically worth it). Ryan and I have made it a priority to continue eating as much real food as possible, but there are weeks when the Byerlys taco bar and Thai take-out make more appearances than hoped for. I use more pre-cut and frozen veggies in our meals, and 'recipes' need to be 3 steps or less. There's a lot of instant pot shredded chicken in our lives at the moment.

This is just to say, that no matter what your diet and exercise is before and after baby, your body will be different.  Not better, not worse, just different. There's a good chance it may not look how you want it to. Get rid of the expectations to 'get your body back.'  You don't have the body you did when you were 16, 20, or 30, why would you have the same one after a baby. The old you has died; you are reborn a mom. 

I love their dressing, the spicy ketchup is delicious, and the chocolate collagen fuel is amazing stirred into coffee. If you aren't familiar with Primal Kitchen, let me introduce you! Mark Sisson has been a leader in the paleo/primal movement for years; his knowledge helped him create some of the tastiest and healthiest condiments on the market. No added sugar, no processed oils, no artificial anything. Just real ingredients that make your food taste even better. 
While in high school and college, all my friends put ranch dressing on just about everything they ate, I did not. I DO NOT LIKE RANCH! However, I would put Primal Kitchen ranch on just about anything! But not ice cream... that would be gross. Believe it or not, it's even dairy free.
Ryan wasn't a huge fan of the Classic BBQ sauce (not sweet enough for him), but the Golden BBQ sauce is great on pulled pork. The spicy ketchup has found its way onto eggs, burgers, and even into stir-fry sauce. The steak sauce I bought at Christmas was incorporated into marinades and beef roasts; it was too cold and icy to grill steak this winter. 
Enough about condiments, Primal Kitchen also sells whey protein powder, collagen, and protein bars. Ryan and I have started taking the protein bars with us for afternoon snacks. They are very low carb and even fit into a Keto diet. Since they aren't full of added prebiotic fiber, we can also eat an entire one each and not experience the 'windy' after effects. We also like that they aren't overly sweet and verging on glorified candy bar territory. I'll chat more about their products in the future but know that if you follow the pretty link on the side bar, you'll get 10% off your first online order when you use the promo-code EAT SIMPLE.  

How many clients do you think have asked me to write them a meal plan? Not as many as you might think. Instead I teach them how to write their own weekly meal plan that fits their health goals and preferences. Some people want lots of variety and thrive on coming up with new recipes from cookbooks and pinterest. Other people just want to eat similar foods most days and do the bare minimum when it comes to cooking. Some families do well with theme nights for suppers, this is especially helpful for families with young kids or kids on the Autism Spectrum since it creates structure. It also helps take the thinking out of planning and grocery shopping. Maybe the "theme" is a type of meat or a type of cooking style. This allows for enough flexibility that taco night can be made with chicken, beef, or shrimp! Or chicken night could mean that it's grilled but it might also mean that it is roasted. Many families like to leave weekends open ended and use them as a time to eat up leftovers, eat out, or make a slightly more time intensive meal.
Monday - Burgers / Grill
Tuesday-Tacos
Wednesday-Pasta
Thursday- Stir Fry
Friday- Fish
Saturday - Leftovers
Meal planning helps us make a complete grocery list sometimes prevents me from buying things we don't need, or making more than one extra trip to the store during the week. Ultimately, it saves timed money. Despite buying a lot of the same things, we actually end up with a wide range of flavors thanks to different seasonings and dressings/sauces.
Since having Fredrik, our meal planning has changed several times over. Now that the weather is nice, we are trying to grill more, but also have to take into account the fact that he wants to eat too. While I'm all for serving him the same things we eat, not every food is appropriate for this.
ex: shoshito peppers, cabbage slaw, broccoli salad. Currently Fredrik has decided to boycott most meat and fish and eggs, must be a texture thing... I'm having get a bit creative with what I serve him. Anything mushy or crunch seems to be ok. Pickles, bananas, muffins, and teething crackers are favorites.
To stream line Ryan and I's lunches we have adopted the Mark Sisson 'Big Ass Salad'. I prep a giant bowl of salad stuff on Sunday, cook a couple packages of chicken thighs in the instant pot or now on the grill, and then divvy it all out for lunches Monday to Wednesday. I'm having a lot of fun creating homemade dressings or trying different Primal Kitchen flavors. Come Thursday we switch it up. Ryan usually ends up with a can of chicken mixed into a Trader Joes Indian Fare pouch and Fredrik and I eat various leftovers or make salmon/sardine/tuna salad. I know that Monday and Wednesdays need to be leftover nights since Ryan and I both work those days and get home too late to cook.  A recent week of planning looked like this:
Weekly Salad - Asian (sesame dressing, bok choy, cilantro, sunflower seeds)
Sunday - bun-less burgers + 1000 island slaw (sweet potato for F)
Monday-Leftovers
Tuesday - sloppy joe meat (in freezer) + cauliflower rice (cauliflower patties for F) 
Wednesday - Leftovers
Thursday - turkey sausage skillet meal
Friday - pork loin + broccoli salad (steam broccoli for F)
​
Hope this helps you dear reader, now go forth and meal plan! Then grocery shop...
How does your family do meal planning? What works best for you?

For supper the other night Ryan grilled up some yummy grass fed beef burgers. I thought it might be fun to turn them into "big macs" with 1000 island dressing aka 'special sauce'. Instead the dressing ended up going on a bag of T.J. cruciferous crunch salad mix along with some sliced cherry tomatoes. IT WAS FANTASTIC! The dressing is adapted from Primal Cravings Cookbook.  If  you don't feel like making your own check out these dressing brands that don't use canola or soybean oil.  
Primal Kitchen
Drews Organic
​Cindy's Kitchen
Why no canola oil? A recent study showed that canola oil increases our risk for Alzheimer's dementia, and we have known for a while now that soybean one of the common 'vegetable oils' is really not good for any cell in our body.  Stick with monounsaturated oils like olive oil or avocado oil. Small amounts of polyunsaturated oils such as unrefined sunflower oil or unrefined safflower oil are fine too. Also, I'm not a zealot, so if all you can find is mayo made with unrefined canola oil....just buy it. It's certainly a better choice than using a brand made with soybean oil. 
Now, onto the salad!
Ingredients
1/3 cup Mayonnaise or sour cream if you are like my sister and hate mayo.
2 tsp horseradish
2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 Tbs Ketchup
1/4-1/2 cup diced dill pickles or pickle relish
Salt/pepper to taste
1 bag cruciferous crunch salad or about 10oz of shredded cabbage/kale

1. Combine all ingredients except salad mix in a small bowl.
2. Toss dressing with salad mix/shredded cabbage. 
3. Serve immediately or cover and refrigerate.
Makes a great side dish, and then top with leftover meat/fish/shrimp....for lunch leftovers the next day

It feels like Fredrik has had a stuffy and runny nose since January. We affectionately call it the Kinder Crud since it came on soon after he started day care.  For the most part it doesn't bother him too much at this point, and some of his symptoms could also be due to the high spring pollen here in MN, and also from teething. Either way, I've done what I can to support his immune system by feeding him real foods including coconut milk and almond milk yogurt, and recently sauerkraut to help get in some probiotics. AKA-Good Gut Bugs! Regular cows milk products can increase mucus production in many people, so avoiding it during a cold or allergy season can be beneficial.  Besides this, I have also used several supplements by Orthomolecular. (FYI: we do sell Orthomolecular at Stepping Stone Clinic, however I do not make money on any sales, I just trust their products)  
1. To continue supporting Fredrik's immune system and gut health, we started adding 1/2 scoop of Flora Boost ​to Fredrik's nighttime bottle. The only problem was it didn't dissolve 100% and would sometimes clog the nipple. Once he started solids/purees I simply stirred it into whatever he was eating that day.  Now that he can chew softer foods I break up a Flora Bite into 2-3 pieces and he happily eats it down. I have noticed that when he gets it daily he tends to poop more. So if your little one is struggling with constipation (especially after a round of antibiotics), definitely consider starting these. The orange flavor (just like the old Flintstone push-pop) makes it a treat most kids will enjoy.
2. At the height of his night time coughing fits I started giving Fredrik Natranix, a natural cough syrup. It definitely seemed to help and he was able to get back to sleep much faster.  My only regret was not starting it sooner. It tastes good and doesn't have any artificial colors/flavors so any kids with sensitivities to those would be fine taking it. Actually none of Ortho Molecular's products contain those.
3. Now that he is coughing less, I have started Fredrik on Immu Max to really help support his immune system. It's a nice blend of echinacea and propolis. I'm not sure if it is just that he is finally getting over the nasty winter Kinder Crud virus, or if the Immu Max is really helping, but recently he really seemed to be on the up swing. He also gets excited when he sees me pull out the bottle and syringe in the morning to give it to him, so that's a plus.
4. Since we live in Minnesota, and we know that babies do not get enough vitamin D from their mother's milk to prevent deficiency, I have also started Fredrik on 1-2 drop (1000iu) of Vitamin D +K each week. Our immune system needs vitamin D to work properly, and a deficiency has been linked to increased risk for infections and autoimmune disease. Ortho Molecular does make a kids liquid Vitamin D which is a much lower dose of 400iu​. I just give him the higher dose less often, and take 2-3 drops daily myself.

I AM NOT A DOCTOR, please consult with yours before starting a new supplement. And, These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.​

​ Ryan's mom likes to say that Fredrik is going to be a genius. That may or may not come true, but we do know that eating certain foods does appear to confer specific benefits to the brain. Max Lugavere, health & science journalist, wrote a book all about it, and aptly titled it "Genius Foods." I'm not going to do a lengthy review of the book, I'm just going to say that I really enjoyed it! Tons of well researched information, and presented in a way anyone can understand. Essentially it comes down to reducing inflammation, and providing the body with adequate vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. So what are the top brain foods according to Max; and how can you and your family eat more of these foods?
Check out some of these recipes for inspiration:
Cruciferous Vegetables (Broccoli)- Steamed with butter for infants, broccoli salad for adults (use Swerve instead of sugar in the dressing). 
Dark Leafy Greens - Ryan and I's current favorite way to eat these are in salads.  A bag of cruciferous crunch salad mix from Trader Joe's added to chopped romaine and spinach makes it easy to get in a nice combination of greens. If you prefer your greens cooked, a quick sauté is nice, but after living in Georgia, southern collard greens is a real treat for us.
Avocado - While I happily eat avocados with just a dash of salt, Fredrik will not. He actually cries when I try to feed it to him plain. However, mashing it with frozen/thawed raspberries is favorite  breakfast. Making chocolate avocado pudding will get you bonus points with your family.
Fatty Fish - Fredrik likes smoked salmon and canned oysters. For budget conscious families, make a salmon salad using wild caught canned salmon. We always buy the big can from Trader Joe's.
Nuts (almonds) - Try this yummy yummy almond banana coconut muffin.
Eggs - scrambled/egg bake/frittata/quiche/soufflé are a favorites around here. 
Berries (blueberries) - Just eat them up plain, or top with whipped cream. Fredrik has recently discovered that freeze dried strawberries are a great snack. They are also part of this Strawberry Fluff.
Grass Fed Beef - Fredrik likes ground beef with a little marinara sauce, mild salsa, or creamy stroganoff sauce on it. Meatloaf is also easy for him eat. But a slow cooked roast, shredded or cut into chunks also works well as a meal all three of us enjoy. 
Dark Chocolate (80%) - Make a chia pudding with cocoa powder and cocoa nibs. Personally I just grab a couple squares of the Montezuma dark 100% chocolate, and top it with whatever nut butter I have in the fridge. It's a brain boosting Reese's.
Olive Oil - After listening to Max and and his guest Nicholas in this podcast, I definitely believe in buying a better quality olive oil now. As Nicholas says, just POUR the oil onto your food. Or make a sauce like pesto or chimichurri to eat with your grass fed bee.
Coffee - Drink it black, or with cream, with collagen, or bulletproof with coconut and MCT oil. Just please please please find a replacement for fake creamers that are made with processed oils and high fructose syrup.

Yummy Yummy gluten and dairy free, no sugar added muffins!  Seriously...these taste good. Fredrik is a fan of grabbing big chunks and shoving them into his mouth. Ryan likes to toast and top his with peanut butter, but that's how eats all flavors of muffins. I like mine with a big smear of butter on top.
Ingredients
1.5 cups almond flour or almond meal
1/4 cup flax seed meal
1/4 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
2 Eggs
 1/2 cup milk (dairy or non-dairy)
1 cup mashed banana (2 large) or mashed sweet potato
2 Tbs room temp butter or olive/avocado oil 
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup shredded, unsweetened coconut. (or use raisins, chocolate chips, chopped pecans...)

Steps
1. Preheat oven 350 degrees F.  Prep muffin pan with either paper or silicone liners. I still give my silicone liners a little spritz of oil, just to prevent ANY sticking.  It's probably overkill.
2. Combine the almond flour, flax seed meal, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and ginger in a medium bowl.
3. In a blender, or a large bowl beat together eggs, milk, butter, and vanilla.
4. Stir/blend the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients.  Then fold in the coconut.
5. Divide between the 12 muffin cups.  Bake 20-30 minutes, until browned. (Mine needed about 23 minutes) Allow to cool completely before storing in a air tight container on your counter for a few days, or several months in a freezer.

ENJOY!
1 muffin: 185 kcal, 15g fat, 9g carb, 3g fiber, 5g protein

 Ryan's mom likes to say that Fredrik is going to be a genius. That may or may not come true, but we do know that eating certain foods does appear to confer specific benefits to the brain. Max Lugavere, health & science journalist, wrote a book all about it, and aptly titled it "Genius Foods." I'm not going to do a lengthy review of the book, I'm just going to say that I really enjoyed it! Tons of well researched information, and presented in a way anyone can understand. Essentially it comes down to reducing inflammation, and providing the body with adequate vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. So what are the top brain foods according to Max; and how can you and your family eat more of these foods?
Check out some of these recipes for inspiration:
Cruciferous Vegetables (Broccoli)- Steamed with butter for infants, broccoli salad for adults (use Swerve instead of sugar in the dressing). Braised cabbage is another great option for the whole family.
Dark Leafy Greens - Ryan and I's current favorite way to eat these are in salads.  A bag of cruciferous crunch salad mix from Trader Joe's added to chopped romaine and spinach makes it easy to get in a nice combination of greens. If you prefer your greens cooked, a quick sauté is nice, but after living in Georgia, southern collard greens is a real treat for us.
Avocado - While I happily eat avocados with just a dash of salt, Fredrik will not. He actually cries when I try to feed it to him plain. However, mashing it with frozen/thawed raspberries is favorite  breakfast. Making chocolate avocado pudding will get you bonus points with your family.
Fatty Fish - Fredrik likes smoked salmon and canned oysters. For budget conscious families, make a salmon salad using wild caught canned salmon. We always buy the big can from Trader Joe's.
Nuts (almonds) - Try this yummy yummy almond banana coconut muffin.
Eggs - scrambled/egg bake/frittata/quiche/soufflé are a favorites around here. 
Berries (blueberries) - Just eat them up plain, or top with whipped cream. Fredrik has recently discovered that freeze dried strawberries are a great snack. They are also part of this Strawberry Fluff.
Grass Fed Beef - Fredrik likes ground beef with a little marinara sauce, mild salsa, or creamy stroganoff sauce on it. Meatloaf is also easy for him eat. But a slow cooked roast, shredded or cut into chunks also works well as a meal all three of us enjoy. 
Dark Chocolate (80%) - Make a chia pudding with cocoa powder and cocoa nibs. Personally I just grab a couple squares of the Montezuma dark 100% chocolate from...you guessed it Trader Joes, and top it with whatever nut butter I have in the fridge. It's a brain boosting Reese's.
Olive Oil - After listening to Max and and his guest Nicholas in this podcast, I definitely believe in buying a better quality olive oil now. As Nicholas says, just POUR the oil onto your food. Or make a sauce like pesto or chimichurri to eat with your grass fed bee.
Coffee - Drink it black, or with cream, with collagen, or bulletproof with coconut and MCT oil. Just please please please find a replacement for fake creamers that are made with processed oils and high fructose syrup.

I'm fascinated with blood sugar. Partly because I worked in a diabetes clinic for a couple years. As I have learned more about diet and nutrition my passion for helping people regulate their blood sugar has only grown stronger. Personally I also know that it's very important for me to keep my blood sugar steady all day long so I experience less anxiety (or racing thoughts), better moods, good energy, and less hunger. Recently I've started to really dial things in and have started following a ketogenic diet. While I don't recommend everyone do this, I do believe that many people would benefit from it some of the time. Wondering if you would benefit from a low(er) carb or ketogenic diet?  If you start checking yes to any of these signs/symptoms the answer is most likely yes: PCOS, endometriosis, PMS, infertility, overweight, anxiety, ADHD, depression, bi-polar, cataracts, macular degeneration, acne, insomnia, constant hunger and/or cravings, fatigue, brain fog, chronic infections or always sick, high LDL cholesterol, high triglycerides, unexplained swelling or edema, heartburn/acid reflux, family or personal history of: Alzheimers, Parkinson's, Lou Gehrigs(ALS), M.S., arthritis, heart disease, and diabetes/pre-diabetes.
​Hmmmm....so that's just about everyone.
Why are so many disease states related to blood sugar?
When we eat carbs/sugar our blood sugar goes up, and this triggers an insulin release by our pancreases. This is normal, when it happens 1-3x day, not all day, every day. Unfortunately most people continue to subscribe to the 4-6 small meals/day mentality or if they have not adopted a healthier eating style continue to drink sodas and eat candy (like gummi worms or fruit snacks) and other snack foods (chips, pretzels, trail mix) all day. This causes their body to continually have elevated blood sugars and insulin which over time is extremely inflammatory to EVERY cell in your body.  
What do I mean by inflammation?
Think about a sprained ankle, the swelling and bruising are visible signs of inflammation, the pain is inflammation the can be felt. Inflammation also occurs in our blood vessels and until we experience chest pain, we don't feel it. Inflammation in the brain shows up as ADHD, anxiety, migraines, and down the road dementia. Inflammation of the skin may not always be felt, but it can be seen in the form of acne and rosacea or psoriasis and eczema. By lowering carbohydrate intake and allowing time between meals for blood sugar to actually come back down, people lower their inflammation, and reduce/eliminate their symptoms. 
How many grams of carb do I need?
Most people probably only need 30-50g of carbohydrate per day.
Very active individuals and women who are breastfeeding may need 50-100g.
Very Very Very active people may need 100-200g.
And some people may eat only 30g most days, but increase and eat 100g 1-2x week or a couple times per month.  Nutrition is highly individualized; what works for me, may not work for you.
Find out what your personal carb tolerance is by ordering yourself a glucometer and checking your blood sugar. If 1 hour after you eat, your blood sugar is >130 mg/dl, whatever you ate was too much carbohydrate/sugar for you. Or it was too much carb without enough protein and fat to help prevent a big sugar surge. If 2 hours after you eat, your blood sugar is still >100 mg/dl, whatever you ate was again too much carbohydrate/sugar. IE: Don't eat this food on the regular. I realize these numbers are different from what the ADA recommends, but their ranges are not tight enough to prevent/reverse blood sugar related inflammation and disease.  Robb Wolf does a great job of explaining this in his book Wired To Eat as well as in his videos describing the 7 day carb tolerance test. 
Now, go forth, eat real foods, decrease your blood sugar, and reduce your inflammation.

It's not that I hate cookies, or the Girl Scouts; I was one for many years, and actually worked as a camp counselor for two summers.  I also sold and ate plenty of Thin Mints, Samoas (caramel delights), and Tagalongs The real reason for this post was to highlight sugar and it's addictive nature. Some people will argue that sugar is not addictive in the same sense that tobacco, alcohol, or cocaine are addictive. However, after working with well over 1000 clients, I can tell you for many people, sugar has addictive properties. Have you noticed that Thin Mints don't actually taste that good? Seriously, if have some laying around go get one, sit down, close your eyes and eat it slowly.  Hmmm...is that a faint taste of plastic? I bet you can't stop with just one. Soon that whole sleeve is gone, and you are left wanting more, but also feeling kinda awful with a weird coating in your mouth. That weird mouth feel, by the way, is from the processed vegetable oils. And that sleeve of cookies contains 10 tsp (3.33Tbs) of added sugar. What about another favorite cookie, the Somoa. As you can see from the picture, 2 cookies seem fine with only 2.75tsp of added sugar, but again....who eats just 2? Many people I know tell me they sit down and within a day or two eat up the entire box; which contains as much added sugar as a 20oz soda (19.25tsp).

FYI: The American Heart and American Diabetes associations recommend no more than 6-9 tsp of added sugar per day. Personally I think 9 is way too high; that's 3 Tbs.

​Let's chat about another spring favorite, the Shamrock Shake.  Recently someone told me about their daughter who they took out for lunch to McDonalds and decided to let them have a small Shamrock Shake (18.5tsp sugar). All afternoon and evening the little girl kept asking for treats.  Mom has since made the connection that when her daughter eats something sugary, she craves sugar for the next 24hr. When she doesn't have it, she is fine with fruit for snacks and no treats.

Does this sound like you? Can you relate to feeling like all you do is think about sugar?
When we eat high carb/high sugar foods our brains spit out a bunch of serotonin and dopamine, and this makes us feel "good." This is the true sugar high.  Sure some people get a burst of energy, but I have found that as my blood sugar passes about 150mg/dl I actually get very tired.  This happens about 1hr after eating the offending food. By two hours when it's back to normal, I'm more alert, but I want to eat sugar, AGAIN! 
What to do?
Some people are moderators and can eat a little sugary treat now and then and not be bothered by it. But many people cant. Some people need to abstain from sugar, and if that's you, that's ok.  Sugar creates chronic inflammation in EVERY cell in the body.  For some people it shows up as acne, for others joint/muscle pain, for others brain fog/ADHD and later on dementia, for others cancer.  If you want to reduce your inflammation, reduce your risk of chronic diseases, and get rid of sugar cravings then maybe it's time to become an abstainer.  Sound scary?  What would happen if you tried it for 2 weeks or a month? 
​
Ready to take the leap but want some support, come see me at Stepping Stone Clinic. Your life doesn't have to be run by cravings.