Macros for Momma
Macros. No, not counting them. We’re talking about what macronutrients are and how your needs might change during pregnancy. Remember, while you might like to think of it as “eating for two”, the reality is that your actual calorie needs increase very little throughout pregnancy, just by about 200-300 calories per day in the 2nd and 3rd trimesters, respectively. And where do calories come from? Macronutrients!
Food First, then Supplements
I get it. It’s appealing to think that you can just take a prenatal or some other supplement and be good to go. Who wouldn’t want to be able to pop a few pills and then focus on basically anything/everything else knowing nutrition was completely taken care of? Yea, me too. And I get so many clients who seem to think that I’m holding out some miracle supplement or silver bullet that will just solve all their problems. Unfortunately, that’s just not the way it works. Believe me, so many days I wish it did! Good news is, Mother Nature is pretty stellar at offering us all we need, if we know how to look (and I can help you with that!). But, sometimes, supplements can help bridge the gaps or offer us a nice safety net, especially in critical times like trying to conceive and pregnancy!
SLEEP. STRESS. SWEAT. FOR YOUR FERTILITY
Beyond diet, we know there are a lot of other things that can affect your fertility. Inflammation is a massive factor and is influenced by diet, stress, sleep, and more. When I work with clients, I take a holistic, functional approach to their health and their plan. This means we don’t look at anything in isolation, but as part of the entire picture. The body doesn’t work in isolation, so why should our approaches to support it? My clients know that their plan is going to include working on more than just the food they eat (or don’t eat), with a huge focus on re-establishing balance through movement, breath, and more. It’s so tempting to think there’s this one, magical change you can make that will be the ticket to success, but the reality is, your body requires so many things to functional optimally, and while it may be able to compensate for some deficits or imbalances, that’s certainly not the ideal way to try to conceive or go into a pregnancy. So, let’s explore some other contributors to imbalance and obstacles to conceiving.