Eat Like You Have a Newborn

Little Jack is 5 weeks old, and I feel like I’m slowly fitting more things into my day. In the beginning it was a win if I managed to brush my teeth. Now, I’ve made it out to do groceries, cleaned my kitchen, cooked a couple easy meals and watered my flowers (these sound like simple tasks, but they’re considered a major accomplishment when you have a newborn that eats every 2-3 hours). I love being a mom, but no one could have prepared me for the experience – life is totally different, but totally amazing.

I used to start my day thinking: “what do I want to get accomplished today?” Now I start my day saying: “I’m going to be feeding him all day, what can I get accomplished in between that?”

Probably one of the biggest adjustments for me is that I don’t have the time to make elaborate recipes right now (I’ll get there again one day hopefully). When I’m hungry, I need quick, easy, healthy food available to just grab & eat. As a nutristionist, one of the things I hear the most is, “I don’t have time to cook healthy meals.” Well, I now understand the concept of very little time, but the good news: eating healthy is still possible. Here are some healthy meal & snack ideas that have been lifesavers for me since Jack came along. Newborn or not, having these foods readily available will help you stay on the healthy track no matter how busy life gets.

Avocado Pasta
Quick, delicious and a great source of healthy fats. Boil some brown rice pasta, stir in a few tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil, stir in 1 chopped avocado and season with salt & pepper. Sometimes I add some feta cheese for some salty goodness. Lasts a few days in the fridge. 

A Boiled Egg
70 cals, 6g of protein, a great source of healthy fats, and can be eaten in 30 seconds (sometimes that’s all the time you have).

Baby carrots, snap peas and hummus
An easy way to make sure you’re getting raw veggies, and they don’t require any chopping!

Bag of Pre-Shredded Cabbage
Cabbage is part of the cruciferous family of veg, which are the major cancer fighters, but who has time to shred a head of cabbage? For $2 you can buy a big bag of pre-shredded cabbage. I add it to a bed of baby spinach and voila – an easy salad is born. 

Oats, chia and granola
1/3 cup of plain oats, 1 tbsp of chia seeds, top with healthy granola, blueberries and hemp milk = easy, healthy cereal (for my fellow mamas: apparently oats are good for milk production!)

Fruit, fruit and more fruit
These days I make sure to have a variety of fruits available to grab for a quick snack or dessert – pineapple, blueberries, apples…combine with some almonds and you’re GTG. 

Easy Costco Finds
Costco has a great selection of easy, healthy foods: their line of Fontaine Sante products are great – the bean & tabouli salads are a great topping for greens and the apple Kale salad is so good it’s hard to believe you’re giving your body a superfood.  

Quick, Healthy Dinners
This has been the biggest challenge because I’m usually feeding little Jack or exhausted in the evenings. Luckily, my hubbie loves to BBQ. When I make it to the grocery store, I stock up on healthy lean proteins like organic chicken thighs, salmon or cod and healthy sides like, asparagus, cauliflower, broccoli or sweet potatoes. The protein & veggies can both be cooked on the BBQ in about 30 mins start to finish.

No time for pictures on this post – I’m working my way up to that for next time!