Fab Friday Feature | Foods to Eat After Giving Birth to Save Time and Stay Nourished

August 20, 2014

Hey new moms! I know many of you are bending over backwards to find time-saving meals that will benefit both you and your baby. Not to worry. The Chloe Jackman Photography blog has brought in an expert to lend a hand and help you become the savvy food mom you’ve admired from afar!

A Purified Life helps women and busy professionals feel good, have more energy, and reach their health goals without sacrificing time.

Foods to Eat After Giving Birth to Save Time & Stay Nourished

By Giovanna Garcia

Your body goes through major physical and hormonal changes during pregnancy and when giving birth. These changes make it essential for new moms to stay well nourished and hydrated after labor to help the body balance, especially if breastfeeding.

Symptoms such as postpartum depression, indigestion (bloating/gas), fatigue, and mood swings are simply signs that there is an imbalance in the body. Don’t worry! These are common and almost all of them can be addressed by focusing on supporting and healing the gut (digestive tract). It’s also important to know that the body usually becomes immune compromised after birth. This is because about 70% of our immune system lives in our gut.

There are many foods that support digestion:

- Liquid foods – smoothie (My favorite place in SF is Sidewalk Juice), soup, pudding, bone broth, and herbal tea (in particular ginger, fennel, nettle, chamomile, mint, rosemary, and lavender)

- Warm foods – soup, stew, porridge, cooked vegetables

- Spices – ginger, cinnamon, cardamom, nutmeg, cloves, turmeric, vanilla

- Fermented foods – sauerkraut, coconut kefir, coconut water kefir, kimchi, fermented/pickled vegetables. These can easily be added to any meal for flavor and gut healing benefits.

- Aloe Vera – juice or gel from plant. Heals the digestive tract lining. Use in smoothies or drink a shot of it first thing in the morning.

Other ways to support and heal digestion:

- Eat small meals throughout the day – although it’s easy to forget to eat during these busy times, skipping meals will lead to mood swings, fatigue, and bloating.

- Eat mindfully – eat slowly, take time to chew food (even if it’s a liquid meal), take breaths in between bites, and avoid eating in front of a TV or other electronic device.

Besides supporting digestion, there are also specific nutrients that are essential for dealing with fatigue and depression:

Omega-3 fats

Enhance brain function and provide energy. Good sources are: wild salmon, flax seeds, chia seeds, eggs, and walnuts.

Note: Avoid canned fish if nursing.

Protein

Having small amounts of protein throughout the day will keep blood sugar stable and keep mood swings at bay. Good sources are: fish, organic eggs, seeds, nuts, quinoa, and legumes.

Eat your vegetables!

Eating a variety of vegetables will ensure that you are getting a full spectrum of nutrients everyday and reduce cravings. Great choices are: kale, collard greens, chard, spinach, zucchini, broccoli, cucumber, celery, parsley, cilantro, mint, bell peppers, Brussels sprouts, carrots, radish, tomatoes, and asparagus. My favorite place to get the best seasonal and less costly produce is at any local farmers market.

Hydration

Hydration is very important for nursing moms especially. Dehydration often can be confused with hunger and lead to low energy, fogginess, and cravings. Filtered water, lemon water, and herbal tea are great ways to hydrate. If you don’t like the taste of water, you can add fresh fruit or fresh mint to add flavor. Adding chia seeds to water will also help hydration and stabilize blood sugar. Limit caffeine and alcohol intake as these can induce fatigue and mood swings.

Ways to save time while staying nourished:

- Prepare big batches of soup, stew, porridge, and cooked vegetables ahead of time and freeze.

- Have a blended meal – One of the best ways and fastest ways to get tons of nutrients in for one meal is to blend everything up. Whether it’s a blended soup or a simple green smoothie with berries, spinach or kale, celery, chia seeds, and almond milk. You may even make a big batch of smoothie and enjoy leftovers the next day.

- Plan ahead – Set out some time to plan your meals for the week ahead and prepare something that can easily be reheated for a few days. No need to overwhelm yourself with tons of different dishes, stick to 1-2 dishes for the week.

- Prepare one-pot meals such as stew, soup, stir-fry, sauté, and porridge.

- Have your groceries delivered to you – Good eggs is a great online grocery store that offers produce and products from the best local farms and food providers, and they deliver for free! This is a great place to buy your fish and eggs.

- Always have healthy snacks on hand – fresh fruit, raw nuts and seeds, fresh vegetables, hummus, dates, hard-boiled eggs, nut butters, tahini, seed crackers, and water.

- Hire a personal chef – I have created a special personal chef bundle for you to be free of stress after giving birth.

New Mom Special for Chloe Jackman Photography Blog Readers!

4 or 8 weeks of personal chef services, 1 home visit per week.

Each home visit is 3-4 hours and includes 3 dishes with 4 servings each, which is a total of 12 meals per week.

I plan the menu, grocery shop, cook, store food, and clean up for you – No stress!

Health investment:

§  4-week package = $1,600 (normal price is $1,800 – you save $200)

§  8-week package = $3,200 (normal price is $3,600 – you save $400)

§  Only Chloe Jackman Photography blog readers can access these discounted packages.

Contact me to learn more at 415-379-0508 or via email at giovanna@apurifiedlife.com

Now you that you know a bit more about your postpartum nutrition, here’s a recipe I recommend to get you started!

Brown Rice Coconut Porridge with Coconut Milk, Spices, and Dates

This dish is perfect for breakfast or a comforting meal in the afternoon. The blend of spices will keep the body warm and aid digestion.

Ingredients:

1 cup short-grain brown rice, soaked overnight

2 cups coconut milk (I recommend homemade or canned by  ‘Native Forest’ – organic and BPA-free)

2 teaspoons vanilla

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon or cinnamon stick

1 teaspoon minced fresh ginger or ground ginger

½ teaspoon ground cardamom

¼ teaspoon sea salt

Toppings:

½ cup unsweetened shredded coconut, toasted

½ cup hemp seeds

½ cup fresh strawberries, chopped

¼ cup fresh medjool dates, chopped

Extra coconut milk if desired

1 Tablespoons raw maca powder (optional, but will provide great hormonal balancing benefits), you can mix this in before adding the toppings

Procedure:

1. Soak rice overnight or for at least 4 hours. Drain and rinse. Place in medium size pot with coconut milk, cinnamon, vanilla, ginger, cardamom, and sea salt.

2. Bring to a boil, lower heat, cover, and simmer for 45 minutes, until rice is cooked and it reaches a porridge consistency. Add water or more coconut milk if porridge becomes too thick.

3. Serve and stir in maca powder if using. Garnish with toasted coconut, hemp seeds, chopped strawberries, and chopped dates.

Serves 4

Because you can’t have a happy healthy baby without happy healthy parents

Fab Friday | Shapely! | Guide to Traditional Wedding Dress Types

March 14, 2014

Ok, you just got engaged…well first, congratulations!!!
Second, good luck with the planning process because you’ve
got your work cut out for you. But not to worry because it’s not ALL stressful… some of it will be a blast. Today we’re going to talk about one of the super fun aspects to wedding planning… shopping! More specifically, dress shopping!

So the way I understand it, some girls plan their wedding from the time they’re five until they walk down the aisle, others have never even thought about it, and some of us fallsomewhere in the middle. Me? I’ve thought about it to some degree: I know I want it out of the country, I know I want awesome music all night long, and I know it will probably be really colorful. But beyond that, I don’t know much, including what style dress is most flattering to my body type.

In fact, until now I really only knew one or two of the traditional styles and shapes of wedding dresses.

I’ve schooled myself in wedding dresses and styles, so today I’m going to share what I’ve learned with you lovely ladies…

Body shapes and suggested dress shapes

Hour Glass:

Curvy in all the right places, bust and booty

Sheath, A-line, ball gown, dropped waistline, mermaid

One shoulder, strapless, scoop necklines

Apple:

Smaller shoulders and hips

Empire or ball gown dresses

Strapless or sweetheart necklines

Pear:

Hips are larger than the bust and the waist gradually slopes out to the hips

Empire, A-line, ball gown

Strapless, halter, circular necklines

Rectangle:

Just a tiny bit of curve at the hips, mostly straight torso, shoulders that align with hips

Sheath, empire, mermaid, A-line, ball gown

Portrait or strapless neckline.

Inverted Triangle:

Athletic and strong, wider shoulders and bust with tighter torso and hips

Sheath, empire, ball gown, A-line

Halter, strapless, one shoulder necklines

So this is in no way, the end all be all solution for every women out there, but it’s a decent place to start…so get out there, invite your girlfriends to join you and start trying on dresses!!! Here are some beauties that I’ve had the honor capturing that I wanted to share as inspiration…

xo

Fab Friday | Nail Your First Dance | Featuring Annemarie of The 8Count

February 28, 2014

Anxious about hitting the dance floor on your big day? Panic no more — local dance and social coaching biz, The 8Count, helps you build confidence and look awesome busting a move. Founder Annemarie “Ree” Estess coaches adult dancers through basic moves derived from funk, latin, and social dance forms. Zero dance experience required.

Whether you’re seeking personalized coaching for your first dance, or want your bridal party to learn fun steps to keep the reception rollin’, The 8Count has moves for you.

“Annemarie is the absolute best! She helped my fiancé and I get ready for our wedding day, by getting us comfortable on the dance floor together and preparing us for our first dance. She made us feel at ease from the first minute, and we both genuinely had so much fun with her […] Based on where we were starting from, I thought we would need much more lesson time than we ended up needing – and I feel more comfortable dancing than I ever could have hoped for, esp. in only ~3 hours of lessons – all because she is such a great teacher!” – Jen N.

Here are a few fresh offerings from The 8Count:

Original First Dance Package: Take the guesswork out of your first dance with custom choreography and private instruction. The 8Count will help you select and cut your music (no 6-minute first dances allowed!) and choreograph a routine befitting of your style and dance level. (Rate: starting at $400)

Bridal Party Package: Your bridal party will learn doable dance moves to the beats of Motown, Rock, Top 40, and more. With these steps in their back pockets, they’ll keep the dance party rocking long after the bouquet gets thrown.

(Rate: starting at $40 / person. Min 6 people)

Bachelorette Parties: Get the perfect combo of sexy and classy as you dance with your closest ladies. Learn flirty moves that’ll turn up the heat on the dance floor…and then some.

(Rate: starting at $40 / person. Minimum 6 people)

Groomsmen Bootcamp: Get the guys feeling less antsy with this lesson in dance floor survival moves. They’ll learn basic footwork, upper body work, and upbeat steps to help them break the ice — and break it down — all night long.

(Rate: starting at $40 / person. Minimum 3 people)

Connect with The 8Count

Meet AnneMarie:

 

photo by: Suzy Clements Photographs

Annemarie “Ree” Estess has been teaching dance fundamentals for over a decade. She specializes in helping clients utilize the social value of dance, recognizing that it is one of the most engaging ways to connect with people, let loose, and enjoy the present.

She performed with and directed dance companies while studying at Stanford University, where she earned her B.A. in Human Biology and her M.A. in Sociology.

In her free time, it’s typical to find her living it up on the dance floor with friends, trying to teach herself guitar, and reading, writing, and speaking on the topic of social connection.

Fab Fridays| What’s up in SF? | 2014 Calendar of Events

February 7, 2014

We live in a fabulous city and I know that I often take that for granted…that life get’s too busy to stop and smell the roses, too busy for me take full advantage of all my city has to offer, so I’m thrilled to share this fantastic and informative SF calendar of events, to help you take better advantage of all the fun there is to be had!

Feel free to let know how it goes and Happy 2014!!!

xo,