There鈥檚 no better gauge by which to judge how food affects your body than how it responds to fuel following the physical marathon that is birth and the demands of the 鈥渇ourth trimester.鈥�
When our baby was born three weeks ago, I found myself grabbing whatever was on hand in the kitchen, despite some high-quality frozen meals stashed in the freezer.
Living on comfort food like muffins, banana bread and coffee isn鈥檛 actually good for much more than the soul, even when you body tells you it needs another round of Carla鈥檚 thickly-sliced, butter-slathered, chocolate-chip ridden, home-baked deliciousness.
After seven days of high-carb, high-sugar eats 鈥� and blaming my sluggishness on a lack of sleep, which was only partly responsible聽 鈥� I spent an entire day eating well. It was thanks to my brother-in-law, who showed up to meet the baby bearing quinoa salad, free-range turkey and veggie quiche, like some west coast modern-day wise man.
The difference in my energy levels, mood and overall feeling of health was incredible, both that day and the following.
On a mission to carry on with the good eats and energy (both the real and metaphysical kind), I dug out my blender, juicer and my sharpest dicing knives, and spent far too much money on produce at Nesters. On the menu? Any and everything I felt like eating, as long as it contained something fresh.
My physical response was immediate and I was able to hit the ground running after my other two children and actually enjoy some yard work, too.
Life feels much more manageable on fresh eats, which may sound obvious but times of change or stress typically make eating well more difficult, when it鈥檚 the most important time to ensure you do exactly that.
The best part about my mission was not being neurotic about having a clean kitchen, as the hubs is working from home and able to clean up after me (clean-up being one of the reasons I didn鈥檛 ever really take to juicing 鈥� I find it messy).
A few of my liquid favourites, besides the fermented grape kind, include ginger, apple, celery and beet, as well as cranberry, orange, lemon and carrot.
In the blender I鈥檝e been combining frozen mango and banana with yogurt, greens (kale or spinach), fish oil and hemp seeds.
I鈥檝e long been the queen of turning absolutely anything into a salad, and some of my most recent successes include layering odd combinations of protein on greens with fantastic results.
Tonight I reheated baby potatoes and brussels sprouts from last night鈥檚 dinner, tossed them with fresh baby spinach, diced avocado and a few spoonfuls of mashed up meatloaf, all topped with sunflower seeds and creamy garlic dressing.
It would have been easy enough to eat the meatloaf and potatoes but with minimal effort and some crisper drawer loners, eating well was a breeze.
