Natalie Gross 0:10
Between all the feeding sessions, diaper changes and just the general exhaustion of early motherhood. Sometimes you barely have time to sit down for a meal, let alone stop and take a hard look at the nutritious value of what you're about to put in your mouth. Don't feel bad, we've all been there. But today, I'm talking with experienced moms and a Registered Dietician nutritionist about some easy steps you can take in the postpartum period to prioritize healthy eating and help you be a stronger mama for your new baby. This is Newbies.

Natalie Gross 0:57
Welcome to Newbies. Newbies is your online on the go support group guiding new moms through their baby's first year. I'm Natalie Gross. I have a four year old boy and a baby girl. And we've got a great show today talking about nutrition as a new mom. But first I wanted to tell you where you can find out more about newbies, so head on over to newmommymedia.com. If you haven't already, and there, you can subscribe to our weekly newsletter that will keep you updated on all of the episodes we release each week. Another great way to stay updated is to hit that subscribe button and your favorite podcast app wherever you're listening right now. And if you're looking for a way to get even more involved with our show, we have a membership club called Mighty moms that's totally free to join. And that's where we chat more about the topics we're discussing here on our show. You'll also learn about our recordings in advance so that maybe you can join us live to share your own motherhood experiences. So we're kicking off today's conversation with moms Kayla, Stephanie and Suzy here to share about their experiences. Mamas, please tell us a little bit about you and your family as we get started. So Stephanie, do you want to go first?

Stephanie Heller 1:06
Okay, so I am Stephanie Heller, and I am in Scottsdale, Arizona. I have three kids. I have a nine year old girl and a six year old twins. I'm also a personal chef and have a personal chef service with eight other chefs that work for me. And we cook in clients' homes daily, weekly, and for dinner parties. So I love everything food, nutrition, and especially being a mom and making that time. More fun and easy for everybody.

Natalie Gross 2:44
That's awesome. I've never known a personal chef before, so I can't wait to hear your perspective. Suzy, what about you?

Suzy Sakamoto 2:52
Yeah, thanks for having me. I'm Suzy Sakamoto. I'm a wife, mom, too soon to be four kiddos I have my oldest is five with various disabilities. And my youngest is currently one and a half. And then I am about almost four or five months pregnant with our fourth so it's fun life. We live just a few blocks away from the Pacific Ocean and Washington state. So fresh seafood is a big, big part of our life, which makes it super fun to go catch it and have a happy, healthier lifestyle, which is a big part of our lives from the very beginning of raising our kids and getting married.

Natalie Gross 3:35
That's awesome. Well, congratulations on the baby.

Suzy Sakamoto 3:38
Thank you.

Natalie Gross 3:39
Thanks so much for being here. Kayla, what about you?

Kayla Pearson 3:42
Hi. Yeah, so excited to be here. My name is Kayla Pearson. I'm a mom of two very energetic little boys. I've Anthony Drew, who's four and a half. And James who is two and a half. And we live here in the Northern Virginia area.

Natalie Gross 3:57
So what are your experiences with nutrition during the postpartum period? Specifically, is it something you prioritized at the time? Or have found yourself caring more about nutrition as your kids have gotten older? Like what does that look like in your lives?

Stephanie Heller 4:12
Yeah, I felt like with my first I had a lot more time and was a lot more focused on it and could prepare stuff ahead of time. But when I had twins, that completely changed, and I was not focused on it at all. And it was more like how can we breathe? How can we sleep and then third and fourth was showering and eating. So eating kind of went down on the totem pole for that it wasn't a big focus. It was more about convenience and just getting to the next thing. So I definitely struggled with that a lot and especially being a personal chef and having the skill I had a lot of like judgments and guilt so that I shouldn't be cooking more and more stuff should be homemade. But that was definitely a struggling time for me.

Suzy Sakamoto 5:07
For me, I actually did a lot of prepping when I was, I would say, when I started, like six months into my pregnancy, I started taking it very seriously because I cook every day all day long. Regardless, before even before having kids, and about six months postpartum, not postpartum, sorry, six months into my pregnancy, I started doubling up my meals, so that I can put some in the freezer for when I give birth. So that was a huge, huge part in my postpartum journey to be able to eat healthier, is storing that extra healthy homemade meal in the freezer and really racked up my freezer full of those kinds of meals, instead of going to store and buying ready made pizza. And I don't know what other brands there are, I was going to name a Lean Cuisine, I would just double up that dinner and put it in the freezer, or would take about 30 minutes or so on a Saturday morning, we had nothing else to do and make a you know tortilla soup or another meal to put in the freezer for after I gave birth. So that postpartum beginning timeframe will smell a little bit smoother when it came to food. I would also go to Trader Joe's or healthier store and fill up on my snacks. So that I was able to eat a little bit healthier than I normally would have if I didn't do all that prepping. So prepping was huge, huge part for me, and is a huge part for me postpartum in every single pregnancy so far.

Natalie Gross 6:46
That's amazing. Now, are you you work in the food industry as well? Or is it more of a hobby for you cooking?

Suzy Sakamoto 6:51
Yeah, I actually used to work in downtown Seattle, and a food catering for many big companies in downtown Seattle. So I always worked a little bit in food. And I was a personal trainer before I started, I then worked in finance. But right now I host my blog. It's the perfect tide.com. And I started it after moving our family moved to the coast. We were living in a big city before and then up and sold our house a couple of years ago and moved to our family's vacation house for two months, you know, temporarily. And then ever since we immersed in the Pacific Coast catching for seafood, we started to eat a lot healthier, even though we were before because I have a Mediterranean background. So I cook a lot of Mediterranean food. But more so including more omegas and fresh seafood that we are able to go and harvest ourselves into our daily living. And that's what inspired me to start my blog.

Natalie Gross 7:58
That's amazing.

Kayla Pearson 8:01
I would say during my pregnancy, especially my first pregnancy, it was beautiful. And I was living in Monterey, California. So I was in this like wonderful place with all this natural beauty and really healthy eating and access to all these fresh fruits and vegetables. So I was eating smoothie bowls and matcha lattes and doing all this yoga, and then I had my baby. And then I was exhausted. And so I was basically just trying to eat whatever I could to fuel myself for this nursing journey, which there is no hunger, like feeding a newborn, right? If you were just so hungry all the time. So I found myself having to really kind of take a step back and make like, make whole foods so I was doing a lot of those homemade energy balls and you know, the overnight oats, the oatmeal, the one handed kind of thing that I could just grab and go. But it's definitely such a shift between taking care of yourself in pregnancy and then in postpartum, where you're just experiencing that extreme exhaustion.

Natalie Gross 9:11
I'm excited to chat more with all of you a little bit later in the show. But first we're going to take a quick break, and then I'll be bringing on our expert, Kristen Noriega. She's a registered dietician nutritionist who specializes in working with moms, so stay tuned.

Natalie Gross 9:29
Today on Newbies, we're continuing our discussion on nutrition as new bombs and our featured guest is Kristen Noriega. She's a registered dietician, nutritionist, like I already mentioned, she's also a military spouse and mom of four and she is also the host of the baby weight nutritionist podcast. Kristen, welcome to newbies.

Kristen Noriega 9:46
Thank you so much for having me excited to be here.

Natalie Gross 9:50
Well, you work with moms on losing the baby weight without strict diets and more of a focus on food freedom. So what can you tell us about your approach?

Kristen Noriega 10:00
Yeah, you're right. So I have a non diet approach. And this all stemmed from well, let me back up a little bit. I had my first baby and he was about eight months old. And it was the final days before my husband was going to come home from deployment. He had been gone for months and months. And I had just become a new dietitian. And it was winter. And I had been trying to lose weight, trying to lose my baby weight, trying to feel like myself again. And I was doing it through the typical means eat less count calories, move more, all the typical advice. And I remember looking in the mirror, and I should have just been so excited for him to come home. And I was looking at myself and just feeling so disappointed, my shirt was stretched over my belly, my pants, were still fitting too tight. And I just felt so defeated, it shouldn't have been that way for me. And I had to really just go through this whole process of unlearning diet culture unlearning what I had learned in school, and figuring out how to actually live a healthy life and find freedom and enjoy food in this new role of motherhood and juggling all the things. And so, in my, my journey to figuring out what that meant, I literally discovered food freedom, I didn't, nobody taught me that at school. And so I had to figure out what that looked like. And really, that's another different way to say, it's a different way to say food freedom, balance, that's what I'm trying to say balance. And it's more of a practical approach, instead of just in theory, you have balance, no, you really, truly can systemize it and make it easy. And find food freedom where you can live your life and not be stuck and hung up on calories and macros and the plan and the specifics and the number on the scale, because that all just makes you feel bad. So that's a little bit about how I got to where I am. And I help women figure out the same process. I figured it out. And I just walk them through it. And it's so fun. It's truly my calling. I love it.

Natalie Gross 12:33
So food freedom. Can you explain that a little bit and how it relates to nutrition?

Kristen Noriega 12:40
Yes. So on the spectrum, you have dieting at one end, and you would have intuitive eating at the other end. And so some listeners may have dabbled in intuitive eating, there's some a lot of theories about that, where it's like a free for all? Well, food freedom is kind of the middle ground where you're filling up your body, you're filling up your tank with lots of nutritious foods. And in that you're still allowing yourself the flexibility to choose the sweets or the other not so nutritious foods when you want them when you need them need. I say that loosely. But it's really listening to your body, from a practical stance, filling up on the good stuff. And then the fun stuff isn't such a big deal.

Natalie Gross 13:34
We can all see the picture of the food pyramid in our heads, right? Like we grew up knowing that but how should that be tweaked for postpartum moms? Are there particular types of foods that are good for physical healing after giving birth or mental strength as well in this time when we're just like all so exhausted?

Kristen Noriega 13:51
That's a really good question. So in food freedom, and in unlearning diet culture, the number one thing you can do is to really just optimize your health. So whether you are immediately postpartum or down the road, however far you want to optimize your health, and the way you're going to do that is with a food first approach. So you want to add in lots of fruits and vegetables, but also what's super important for managing hunger and blood sugar and your your ability and lack of sleep. And all of that would be to make sure you're getting enough protein and making sure you're getting protein not only in your meals, but with every snack. So physical strength. What I would suggest is really making sure you're staying fueled consistently. So when we are in the newborn phase, we are juggling things is might be your first baby you might not have any idea what you're doing and it feels like you don't get to even sit down and eat for hours. But I would highly recommend that you make that a priority, because you're going to need the carbs, the proteins, the fats, to have that energy. So, as you're saying, physical strength or physical healing, nourish your body, give yourself adequate food. And don't worry so much about, oh, well how much just choose the really good nutritious stuff. And as far as mental strength goes, in times of exhaustion, exhaustion, also, having those habits in place where you just choose to add in the healthier foods. So it might seem like oh, gosh, that sounds too easy. But it really is as, as easy as that. So when you are exhausted, and you're beating yourself up, and you're worried about getting your baby adequate milk, getting your baby adequate nutrition, all the things, the best thing you can do for yourself is to feed yourself. So good quality proteins, healthy fats, fruits, vegetables, getting things that are easy, and more real hoof Whole Foods. So somebody already mentioned, you know, relying on, you didn't have to rely on fast food. And that's fantastic. Those are just the kind of simple swaps that you might be able to do or prepare in advance. And if you're already in the thick of it, you know, like I can't prepare, then just what's the next best choice you can make? And do that thing.

Natalie Gross 16:34
You mentioned snacking already. And when we're nursing, or in my case, pumping, we feel like snacking all the time. Right. So how much snacking is too much, you know, in this realm of food freedom. And I'll just add here, I'm someone who loves snacking on like baby carrots, or cherry tomatoes, things like that, but they don't fill me up at all. So then I'm like reaching for chips an hour later. Right? And that's like a bad habit. So how much snacking is too much? What can you tell us about that?

Kristen Noriega 16:59
How much snacking is too much. So if I wasn't the baby weight nutritionist, I would be the snack nutritionist. I think there's too much snacking. But we want to do it wisely. You want to make good snacks that are actually giving you the nutrients you need. So a snack, it's not necessarily just a moment of weakness or a moment of indulgence, no, it's a moment of a deliberate choice where you are fueling your body giving yourself the nutrients you need. So like you mentioned, baby carrots, that's great. And that satisfies a crunch, and they're cold. And you can have an entire bag next to you while you're sitting there pumping. But let's also pair that with a protein or a healthy fat. So you could have a cheese stick with the baby carrot, a handful of nuts, a scoop of peanut butter, that's my personal favorite with baby carrots, and everyone else in the world thinks it's gross. So somebody out there likes that, let me know. But it's just really important to get a combination in your snacks. So as far as too much, you want to just really honor your hunger cues, eat until you feel content. So if you're looking at a scale of one to 10, you and one is you're so starving, you could faint and 10 is you're so full is after Thanksgiving dinner and you just had two pieces of pie and you could bust. You want to stop around the seven. So on that skill, if you're getting to that seven, that means you are couldn't you're feeling kind of full, you could stop and you think you'll be okay, so, so stop. So whether that's the meal or the snack, if you can tune into your hunger cues, you're going to be better off for the long run. And like you're saying you feel like you're you're always hungry. So you might not ever be getting full enough.

Natalie Gross 19:03
Okay, good to know. Yeah. Well, especially for moms who didn't necessarily have nutrition top of mind pre-baby I can see how it might be daunting to make this a priority with everything else going on in their lives. Right that exhaustion that we've talked about all the things that you have to do for your new baby. So what are some small steps or easy changes that you would recommend for new moms interested in kind of starting on a more nutritious, healthier lifestyle?

Kristen Noriega 19:29
One of the easiest things you could do is of course, drink water. Whatever you're drinking right now, add another glass, add another bottle, don't get too hung up on the number or the ounces. Just add a little bit more. And also, when you're thinking about other foods you can add. It's always going to be important to ask yourself what can I add and you can always find something, but don't overthink it. Grab the apple, the banana the Baby carrots, that easy, no brainer things that we tend to feel like, Oh, well, that's just too simple. That's too plain. It's not cooked. It's not good for me. Well, I gotta tell you, I wasn't invited on the show, because I'm the gourmet chef, I'm the one who eats the baby carrots in the kitchen, and they're not cooked or anything like you don't have it. It doesn't have to be beautiful or fancy to meet your nutritional needs. That's like, the cherry on top is if you can do anything beyond that. So find the basics and implement those and let those count whatever effort you're putting into it. Let it count. Okay.

Natalie Gross 20:44
Well, thanks so much, Kristen, for sharing this info. We're gonna take another quick break and then bring back our panel of moms into the conversation to continue our discussion.

Natalie Gross 20:58
So we just did our interview with Kristen. So, mamas I'm curious, you know, Kristen talked about some small steps that moms can make toward pursuing healthier eating, do you have anything to add anything that really helped you especially, you know, like we talked about, it's a little bit difficult in postpartum to really focus on eating healthy when you have so much else going on?

Suzy Sakamoto 21:18
I actually am an avid snacker. When when I'm postpartum I pretty much have a snack every two hours. And that's what that usually looks like for me is easy grab and go food that are already in my fridge like deli meat, deli cheese, for instance, last night's barbecue chicken, for instance, I once I get my veggies or I do my pickup order for the week, I usually like to take a little bit of time and cut up veggies, cut up fruit, put them in bags, or Tupperware in the fridge. And those are quick ready to eat a snack that's a lot healthier than eating chips and such. The other thing for me is that we'll I don't buy a lot of, you know, things I don't want to eat, it's more of a treat for me, like I'm craving a bag of chips, I'll go get a bag of chips in that moment. But otherwise, I don't make it a regular purchase for me. And that helps me to avoid seeing it on a constant basis and grabbing it on a constant basis. Because if it's there, I'll snack on it. If it's not there, I probably wouldn't include it in my lunch or snacks. And then throughout the night, right after I give birth, I usually like to keep a bin of snacks right by my bedside along with ice water. And ice water is what usually helps me stay awake at night when I'm nursing. And because I'm nursing the middle night, like hello, I need a lot of water. So the ice water usually keeps it keeps me awake, but then also making sure I get enough water throughout the night. But then that bit of snacking is usually easier to grab food like dried fruit. And just think of things like that like that are a little bit easier to have next to your bedside, but not something that needs to be refrigerated. And that's what I usually go with.

Stephanie Heller 23:23
So I was thinking of two things. One tip for myself that I learned postpartum and then one that we have for like a lot of clients that hire us, right postpartum that want food in their homes. But one of the most important things is normalizing continuous eating, if you want to not continuous, but like, whenever you want versus automatically shifting to oh, I should eat three or four times a day. And I should get back to the size I was. And kind of like taking that off the table in the beginning was really important for me, especially with twins, which is such a crazy schedule and a massive. I don't even know how to explain it in words, but like brain drain and physical drain, no matter how much help you have, you're just kind of not so all the time. So I would have kind of whatever I wanted in it a relative term like nothing crazy, but like buying stuff that I looked forward to eating or making stuff that like I knew I would want without judgment. So that's was for me. And when clients hire us postpartum, they kind of feel the same way. They want to be able to eat whatever they want and not judge themselves, but have it be healthy and nourishing. So we would offer a separate list of snacks that they could add on to any of their services. And it's very simple things like chocolate dipped, frozen bananas or raspberries. or protein balls with almond butter. And pistachios like something a little twisty unique, but something they also know and like that they could also look forward to. So those are my tips.

Natalie Gross 25:14
Okay, excellent. Kayla, what about you any thoughts?

Kayla Pearson 25:17
Yeah, these are all wonderful ideas. Um, for me, the big thing has been meal prep. So you know, I'm the same way if I don't get that meal prep done in the beginning of the week, my entire week will get thrown off just with random snacking. And I'll usually go for that carbohydrate, because I've waited all day to not eat, I'm trying, you know, just to kind of hold back a little bit. So I've, you know, really what I found in pregnancy. And then the immediate postpartum was using food to really fuel my body to nourish my body. And to provide that energy that I would need to get through, you know, a sleepless night a full day of breastfeeding, because in those early weeks of postpartum, you're just, it's sheer exhaustion. So the one thing that really worked for me that I absolutely loved was a product called overnight oats. So it, you know, comes in like kind of a blender bottle, and I would just get that in the morning. So it's one hand, so you can just have it as your nursing. And I loved that. Another thing, I did a ton of energy balls. So homemade, you can get so many great recipes off of Pinterest right now, tons of nut butters, cacao, you can do brewers, yeast, things like that, that just gives you all of those extra things you need for nursing and just to sustain yourself through the day. You know, just with little ones, I did a lot of smoothies. And I love those because you can add a lot of really great protein powders in them clean protein powders that are great for a new mom. And then also, I think there's so many wonderful clean supplements now that we can put into our water. We had talked a little bit about drinking all of that water throughout the day and in the evening. And there's just a lot of like clean green products that you can put in water now and hormone balancing, supplements and powders. And so I think those have all been really helpful for me in the postpartum period. And also, you know, now having too little one, too, just are constantly on the go, I need some added energy.

Natalie Gross 27:19
Yeah, those are all such great tips. Thank you. I think we've recently seen a culture shift towards self love and body acceptance in the postpartum period, which I think is fantastic. But as new moms, I mean, I know Kristin, you talked about this, it can be really hard to feel comfortable in our you know, newly stretched out skin. So in your postpartum and motherhood experiences, what role has nutrition played in helping you just feel more comfortable in your body?

Kristen Noriega 27:48
I would say that nutrition has been key to making me feel whole and complete. And like, gosh, like, I'm able to enjoy life. So I might, I definitely encourage you to, like the other ladies are saying, you know, eat the things that that feel good right now. And don't worry about the number on this skill. And, you know, feeling really critical of yourself and self like body acceptance is tricky. But it's super important to try. It's super important to acknowledge what your body has done and gone through. And when you're at the point of decision making, when it comes to food, you can say to yourself something super helpful for my clients is I get to use this food to nourish my body. I get to use this food to nourish my body, I choose to use this food. And so it puts us into that place of positive thinking and joy and happiness. And so food is so important for for the process of body love and body acceptance. In my opinion.

Natalie Gross 29:11
Yeah, that's good.

Suzy Sakamoto 29:12
I totally agree. We often don't look at the whole picture, right for me, if I'm growing a baby or I just gave birth, we're ready to spring back to normal. But it takes a very long time to get back to normal daily everyday living being postpartum because the baby's up all night and we're hungry and we're nursing and there's just so much going on that we need to give ourselves a little bit more grace for all the things that we are handling. So nutrition is a big, big part of being able to juggle everything if I am filling myself up with as much not only but as much nutritious food as as I can, then that really sustains me. And that gives me the energy to be able to accomplish everything and a little bit easier than than otherwise.

Kayla Pearson 30:11
Yeah, I completely agree with what we're saying, I think that having children has really given me making me take the approach a whole food approach. So rather than going for what's convenient, I'm really instead doing so much research and tapping into what's going to really fuel and nourish my body, what's going to be good for my kids. And so I've gone from a lot of the quick, easy packaged foods, which is nothing wrong with those they serve their purpose to but to really kind of doing things that are going to provide long term sustainability and nutrition for my body. And, you know, I found during my pregnancies I was eating more healthfully than ever before. And I do think it's definitely a challenge to kind of keep that long term, especially when you are getting into multiple children. But you feel so much better when you do. And so it's really given me such an appreciation for the healthy foods that are available to us.

Natalie Gross 31:16
Yeah, and one thing, one aspect we haven't talked about, you know, with nutrition is modeling that for your kids. Stephanie, you have, you know, older children than some of these other mamas, how has that played out with them? Have they watched you, you know, go for the healthy snack and then kind of start incorporating that into their lives to

Stephanie Heller 31:32
it's funny, it's actually the opposite where I am making them like a protein, a vegetable and a starch and making sure like it's not, you know, the starch is there, and they have the fat to balance it and all of that. But then for B, I'm like, I'll just grab this. So I've had to, like, make for them also, and then make it for myself, like, make sure it's balanced. And that I'm being aware, but I put a lot of effort in giving them good food. So yeah, I've had to reverse it a little to myself and give that to myself.

Natalie Gross 32:11
That's fair. Yeah, we definitely prioritize our kids needs before our own many times. And yeah, it's just another example.

Kayla Pearson 32:19
And I think too, you know, as much as you want, and we, you know, we did baby led weaning with my kids. And I think little ones turned out to be pretty good, easy eaters, and they're willing to try things. But ultimately, I found that most toddlers start to go through a picky phase, where that you are, you know, turning away from maybe some of those Whole Foods for a little bit, but I think that it ebbs and flows and goes back, and modeling that Good nutrition is obviously you know, it's like the best that we can do.

Natalie Gross 32:50
I do hope it goes back because yeah, my son ate anything as a baby. And we're definitely in that picky phase where all he wants is mac and cheese from a box and I'm like no, we can't do that every night, like that is not sustainable.

Suzy Sakamoto 33:02
Mine is trying to go back to that right now. And I'm like, no, no. Good mom. I didn't need my broccoli. No, no, no, why your broccoli is good for you. Well,

Natalie Gross 33:14
As we close here, I want to give you guys a chance to share any good resources out there on nutrition for moms, like I don't know any Instagram accounts or blogs. I know Suzy, you have a blog. So any resources out there that have helped you that you would like to like to recommend to our listeners?

Suzy Sakamoto 33:32
Yeah, I'd love to well first recommend my blog. I have a ton of Mediterranean and seafood recipes because again, we live on just a couple blocks away from the Pacific Ocean so all things seafood, and I grew up eating Mediterranean foods, so tons of really good for you food there. And there's also a lot of really really good recipes like somebody else stated on Pinterest. So look for you know lactation cookies, look for lactation energy balls and really dig through what you like to eat. And we're a certain ingredient that you like to eat and search recipes for it and go from there. So for instance, I really like broccoli and I don't like green beans as much so I will you know buy broccoli and look for that ingredient. So not as much as pulling a certain website for instance, but more of pulling a an ingredient that you do enjoy and finding recipes around it.

Stephanie Heller 34:43
I have a resource. It's actually one of my coaching clients and she works just with postpartum moms on nutrition and helps coaches them and but also cooks like with them and for them in their home. And she would be happy to answer Any questions like even if she's not in your area or anything, and her website is bellytobabynutrition.com. And it's just an her mom is a doula and a midwife. So she comes from that like, area of being very into that stage of life. So I think that's a good resource to check out.

Kayla Pearson 35:20
So two of my favorite food and wellness bloggers, one is called Philosophie. And she is a natural food chef. Her name is Sophie Jaffe. And she also was a yogi. And she has an entire line of infused nut butters and honey is that she does and she's just what an amazing she's mom of three, a yogi and just one of those people that you just want to be around because their life is so light and beautiful. And she has so many amazing recipes. So I follow her. And then downshift ology that is another Her name is Lisa Bryan. She has a cookbook that's available on Amazon. And that has been so helpful, she makes really quick, easy, approachable meals. And she also does meal prep instead of doing individual meals where she'll cook a bunch just batches of different things, and then kind of combine them in different ways throughout the week. So I think that's really helpful if you are a new mom. And she has a few autoimmune diseases, and she just cooks really natural whole food recipes that are easy. So those are my two big ones that I always go to.

Natalie Gross 36:34
Great. And Kristen, I know you work one on one with moms as well. So tell us a little bit about how you help moms and then close this out with any last thoughts that you have.

Kristen Noriega 36:44
Yeah, so a great place to start would be my podcast, the baby weight nutritionist podcast, you'll hear all about so many tips and strategies and ways to start thinking differently. And then when I am working with a client, it's very customized, very whole body approach and Nan diety that's a no go. And so we look at labs and movement nutrition. And it's faith based as well because I, I fully believe that that's an integral part to a woman's wellness and so it's customized based on what the woman needs as far as duration and frequency. But it's it's so supportive well beyond anything you would get with your like dietitian at the doctor's office or something like that, and or, you know, whatever you might stumble into very supportive and very much very effective. Any last thoughts as we close? I would just say that give yourself permission to enjoy food to enjoy where you are, and play the long game.

Natalie Gross 38:03
Well, thank you so much to you, Kristen, and moms Kayla, Stephanie, Suzy for joining me today. Listeners, you can find out more about Kristin and her business that she just talked about at kristennorieganutrition.com Also check out newmommymedia.com where we have all of our podcast episodes plus videos and more.

Natalie Gross 38:31
That wraps up our show for today. We appreciate you listening to Newbies. Don't forget to check out our sister shows Preggie Pals for expecting parents, parents savers for moms and dads with toddlers, the Boob Group for moms who get breast milk to their babies, and twin talks for parents of multiples. Thanks for listening to Newbies your go to source for new moms and new babies.

Disclaimer 38:56
This has been a New Mommy Media production. Information and material contained in this episode are presented for educational purposes only. Statements and opinions expressed in this episode are not necessarily those of new mommy media, and shall not be considered facts. Will such information and materials are believed to be accurate. It is not intended to replace or substitute for professional medical advice or care and should not be used for diagnosing or treating healthcare problem or disease or prescribing any medication. If you have questions or concerns regarding your physical or mental health, or the health of your baby, please seek assistance from a qualified health care provider.