Why I Focus on Superfoods

January 11, 2019January 23, 2019

Why I Focus on Superfoods

I am borderline obsessed with superfoods. My husband hears me exclaim about them at least twice a week. “Oh, grapefruit?! It’s a superfood!” He’s also had to endure more than one occasion of me listing the superfoods that are in the meal he’s currently eating.

For better or worse, right?

Once I discovered superfoods, I was hooked! I am familiar with the paleo diet and Whole 30 and various other theories on eating. I love them all. But I love them from a distance. I love them vicariously through others. I love them in stories that don’t involve me. I love them in someone else’s life. For me, it’s too much. Too complicated. With too many “can’ts.” I just can’t with the can’ts. Plus, I have children and am usually pregnant or nursing which means I need to have a full diet. I don’t know if we understand the human body well enough to say whole categories of foods can be safely removed from our diet all at once.

It all started when I picked up a cookbook highlighting superfoods and knew instantly that it was for me. What is a superfood? It’s whole food that has the most nutrition per caloric value. It has the most bang for its buck. These are the foods that are chocked full of nutritional value and variety. And they are what I plan our family’s diet and meals around.

Here are the reasons I love thinking this way:

It’s safe and applicable to everyone.

Focusing on whole foods has nothing risky or quirky about it. It doesn’t omit anything that we should be eating. It’s good for my kids and their growing bodies. It works for me when I’m pregnant, when I’m nursing, and when I’m just breathing.

It’s simple!

There are no riddles here. We just eat a lot of these foods and since there are so many of them on my list (which I share below), we get plenty of variety. Plus, by filling our diet with good food, the stuff that I shouldn’t be eating naturally gets pushed out. I don’t have to count calories or nutrients or try to fixate on anything in particular. Eating treats isn’t a negative. I just don’t eat as many treats now cause I’m too full with the good stuff.

It’s vibrant.

I automatically shut down when told I can’t eat something. Womp womp. I’m like a child rebelling against restrictions. But with superfoods, instead of taking things away, I get excited about trying different dishes with leeks and quinoa and get to figure out how to add scallops to the occasional meal. It’s like a puzzle to me. It’s motivating, colorful and fun!

Here’s the list of superfoods I use. Unfortunately, the good old cookbook I mentioned is buried in storage and I can’t seem to find it online to reference for you. Luckily, these foods are as old as time and this list is in no way set-in-stone or exhaustive. What is the best dish you’ve made using ingredients from below?

Apples
Avocados
Oranges
Grapefruit
Kiwifruit
Blueberries
Raspberries
Bananas
Broccoli
Carrots
Red bell pepper
Brussel sprouts
Tomatoes
Spinach
Garlic
Kale
Celery
Peas
Beets
Leeks
Pumpkin
Turkey
Chicken
Grass-fed beef
Salmon
Tuna
Trout
Scallops
Oysters
Kefir
Greek yogurt
Eggs
Brown rice
Kidney beans
Lentils
Pot barley
Oats
Quinoa
Buckwheat
Miso
Honey
Cinnamon
Green tea
Red wine
Dark chocolate
Walnuts
Brazil nuts
Coconut oil
Olive oil

How does Marabou support women?

We live in culture where “bouncing back” is more valued than proper rest. As admirable as it may be for a sports star to get back on the field, the same rules don’t apply to postpartum recovery. The traditional resting period has been stolen from women through pressure to get back to their job or simply through lack of presence.

Grandmas, sisters and best friends who otherwise would have been there to help a woman transition into motherhood often live too far away to be of any help. Household chores and caring for older children inevitably fall on the mom. But she just delivered a new life! She needs rest.

Marabou Services is a unique gift registry which provides services instead of stuff. Most mom’s get too many onesies, too many baby blankets and not enough helping hands. Break out of a destructive cultural norm and start a Marabou registry today.

Start a Marabou Gift Registry!

With a Marabou registry you can sing up for any service which will benefit you or someone you know during the postpartum recovery period.

Postpartum doulas for a first time mom

House cleanings for moms of multiples

Childcare for moms with older children!

Once your registry is created, add it to any other registry or post it to your Facebook and ask friends and family contribute to your postpartum service, rather than buying you more stuff.

More and more moms find they have to figure out postpartum alone. Is it any wonder why PMDs are on the rise? Or women are embittered by the journey of motherhood? We can change that by giving the gift of peace.

January 1, 2019January 23, 2019

The Needs of a Postpartum Mother

The postpartum phase is often a mystery to those not experiencing it. It’s even a mystery to me at times, because each postpartum experience is different! I think we focus a lot of energy on the physical needs of a postpartum mother. These are absolutely, 100%, without-a-doubt important. Bring her a meal, and nourish her soul too, right?

But, there are other needs that we often forget. Here’s an infographic we created to help remind us of these other needs as we interact with postpartum mothers. Use it as a guide as you prepare to visit a new mother:

Mom physically needs wholesome food. Bring a meal that’s warm and nutritious.

Mom emotionally needs openness and vulnerability. Ask her how she’s doing in a way that’s genuine. And if she seems open to it, be inquisitive to the challenges or concerns she alludes to.

Mom mentally needs quiet and stillness. Take your bells off before you go in, use a soft voice and maintain a peaceful presence.

Mom spiritually needs acknowledgement. Affirm everything she says and – if you feel comfortable – tell her how amazing you think she is for doing all she’s done: labor, childbirth, taking care of a newborn.

The list could go on and on. I think if we all used ideas like this when visiting postpartum mothers, we could forge strong connections and leave mothers feeling refreshing and nurtured, instead of depleted after hosting guests mostly interested in holding the new baby. Onward, support people! Go out there and bless new mothers everywhere.

How does Marabou support women?

Start a Marabou Gift Registry!

With a Marabou registry you can sing up for any service which will benefit you or someone you know during the postpartum recovery period.

Postpartum doulas for a first time mom

House cleanings for moms of multiples

Childcare for moms with older children!

Once your registry is created, add it to any other registry or post it to your Facebook and ask friends and family contribute to your postpartum service, rather than buying you more stuff.

More and more moms find they have to figure out postpartum alone. Is it any wonder why PMDs are on the rise? Or women are embittered by the journey of motherhood? We can change that by giving the gift of peace.

October 12, 2018August 13, 2019

Insights of the First 40 Days

As soon as you become a mother, it’s all about that baby. Twenty-four-seven. One-hundred percent. Everything. Day in and day out. You suddenly, without realizing it even, put your baby first in everything. Have to pee but baby’s hungry? You’ll cross your legs while you nurse. Walking into the kitchen for a much-needed snack when your partner hands him over for mama time? Trail mix can wait. Need more sleep and baby stirs? Obviously.

These things are appropriate. This mama-bear instinct matters and it makes sense. Even when your bladder is about to burst or you don’t think you’ve ever been hungrier. Naturally, moms lay down their lives for their children, and our human babies are born especially helpless.

This is why mothers needs to be safeguarded during the postpartum phase. They are giving everything to their newest little ones, despite needing a recovery themselves. This is why I love the Five Insights for the First 40 Days from Heng Ou. These five things – retreat, warmth, support, rest, and ritual – are how mom herself gets what she needs.

She retreats. She ignores social obligations and cocoons with baby until she is ready to be out in the world and with her community again. She pursues warmth. She avoids chill and rejuvenates her body with teas, bone broth, and warm soups and stews. She accepts support. She receives help in her household and with her other children so she can focus on herself and baby alone. She rests whenever she can so that her body can heal and she can re-center. She embraces ritual whenever someone offers it to honor the significance of this transition and all the things she’s experienced.

These things are important for a mother. Remember them the next time you have a baby: don’t feel guilty when you retreat instead of welcoming visitors, or when you rest around the clock. You need this.

Remember these insights when you know someone having a baby: let her retreat and rest, but when you do visit, bring something warm, offer support, and ask about her birth experience or how she’s doing with new motherhood.

How does Marabou support women?

Start a Marabou Gift Registry!

With a Marabou registry you can sing up for any service which will benefit you or someone you know during the postpartum recovery period.

Postpartum doulas for a first time mom

House cleanings for moms of multiples

Childcare for moms with older children!

Once your registry is created, add it to any other registry or post it to your Facebook and ask friends and family contribute to your postpartum service, rather than buying you more stuff.

More and more moms find they have to figure out postpartum alone. Is it any wonder why PMDs are on the rise? Or women are embittered by the journey of motherhood? We can change that by giving the gift of peace.

September 16, 2018February 4, 2019

Bravo To You Working Parents

Today is National Working Parents’ Day! It is a day to honor parents who work to provide for their families. I have been lucky enough to stay home with my kids since I became a mother, but as I prepared for this post, the challenges of working parents were so evident.

At first, I imagined doing a post on the current legislation supporting working parents, especially new parents. Maternity and paternity leave came to mind. I didn’t want to compare our parental leave mandates in the U.S. to other nations. To me, that’s like comparing my family to yours – we are us and you are you. We all have different needs and ways to thriving. But, I was interested in the research done on what’s the ideal length of parental leave in terms of mother and baby health. What’s the sweet spot for optimal family happiness and health? I bet you in the end, this sweet spot is good for business, too!

It seems the answer is 6-12 months! At this point, moms and babies are ready. Mothers who have this length of leave or close to it experience less Postpartum Depression and Anxiety, improved emotional health, higher breastfeeding success, and relational stability with their partners. Babies have reduced rates of SIDS and increased chance of well-baby care with a pediatrician. Without the early distraction of work, parents also report being able to exercise high sensitivity and responsiveness to their infants (see here and here). These benefits extend for decades. And it all seems pretty intuitive, right?

It’s too bad, then, that the current federal mandate is 6 weeks of unpaid leave. The general thought seems to be that improving this issue would be good for businesses, too. Paid leaves that are too long or too short discourage women from returning to work. When companies provide sufficient time off, they boost employee morale and retention and positively impact business productivity. “This is really what economists call a human capital investment. You invest in this, you will end up picking up the benefits of this policy even years later,” says Mauricio Avendano, associate professor of social science, health, and medicine at King’s College, London.

It’s clear that reaching the sweet spot of parental leave duration is an unfortunate rarity for us. Let’s hope this will improve and in the meantime: Kudos, serious kudos, to you working parents! The burdens you bear are immense. The fact that you do the impossible on a daily basis for the good of your family is incredible. There’s a reason you have a national day all your own.

How does Marabou support women?

Start a Marabou Gift Registry!

With a Marabou registry you can sing up for any service which will benefit you or someone you know during the postpartum recovery period.

Postpartum doulas for a first time mom

House cleanings for moms of multiples

Childcare for moms with older children!

Once your registry is created, add it to any other registry or post it to your Facebook and ask friends and family contribute to your postpartum service, rather than buying you more stuff.

More and more moms find they have to figure out postpartum alone. Is it any wonder why PMDs are on the rise? Or women are embittered by the journey of motherhood? We can change that by giving the gift of peace.

September 13, 2018February 4, 2019

Attention & Autonomy: What Your Older Kids Need

Many people are overflowing with excitement when they find out they’re pregnant. But perhaps after the initial craziness fades, or maybe after you’ve already given birth, the realization sets in: Oh crap, I have to be a parent!

I’m here to tell you: It’s not a riddle!

With everything in my life, I do my best to keep things simple. Oi. Otherwise, my mind can’t keep up! I hate second-guessing myself and have tried to develop and trust my gut instincts. The same is true in parenting.

There’s no need to discover complicated parenting theories. All you need is your heart and confident knowledge of your kids. The one parenting expert I could listen to and read again and again (because she’s so simple!) is Amy McCready.

The core of her literature (and really, all you need to know) is the two things kids need from you emotionally: Attention and Autonomy! I love this thought. I keep those two simple tidbits in my mind and even when I have a little baby, if each of my older kids get some of my undivided attention and feel a sense of significance and charge over their own lives, I count that as a win.

Attention: Spending intentional time with your kids directly and without distraction. Day in and day out, attention looks like:

Reading books together
Getting on the floor to play when baby is happy or sleeping (extra point if you tap into the autonomy piece and let them choose what you play!)
Tea time
Simple quality time – unscripted and without agenda
Taking your child out for one-on-one time – to a coffee shop, the library, or the park. In our family, we called these “dates.” All day long, I get to hear: “Mom, I want to take you on a date!”

Autonomy: Giving your kids control and choices. Despite their size, they are humans and need that, too. You can let them choose:

Their day clothes
Their own snack
Which book you read together
How to perform their morning routine
How to complete a task you give them

It’s as simple as that! I’ve found that kids really just want to be a part of our lives. They want to be included in what we as a family unit have going on. Those two pieces – attention & autonomy – are all they need to feel loved, connected, and significant.

How does Marabou support women?

Start a Marabou Gift Registry!

With a Marabou registry you can sing up for any service which will benefit you or someone you know during the postpartum recovery period.

Postpartum doulas for a first time mom

House cleanings for moms of multiples

Childcare for moms with older children!

Once your registry is created, add it to any other registry or post it to your Facebook and ask friends and family contribute to your postpartum service, rather than buying you more stuff.

More and more moms find they have to figure out postpartum alone. Is it any wonder why PMDs are on the rise? Or women are embittered by the journey of motherhood? We can change that by giving the gift of peace.