One of my favourite parts about being in the health and fitness industry is helping couples achieve healthy conception! I’ve said this at a nutrition chat before and yes, it was a little akward, I don’t actually help at the time of conception, I help a minimum 2-4 months before hand!!……
To me, pregnancy, recovery and of course a beautiful healthy baby are the best gift I can help people achieve! It really is one of the happiest moments celebrating with them when they’ve successfully fallen pregnant and are filled with so much joy at the new life they will bring into the world!
Well now, all romantic notions aside, pregnancy isn’t like the movies, well maybe a little tiny bit like ‘what to expect when you’re expecting’…Planning and making a family is an exciting time, it is also a time filled with high hopes and deep despair. With a little patience and loving support though, a dream will turn into reality! Make sure you have wonderful friends and a loving understanding partner (that’s what it’s all about isn’t it!) so you can enjoy the process of evolving into a family with your partner and allow your body to thrive in a stress free healthy, happy environment so you can reach that ultimate goal of creating life.
My passion is getting potential parents bodies ready to concieve, assisting with patience during the conception time, helping a woman cope with her changing body, building a foundation for a successful labour (which is technically like working out for 24-48hrs!!) and helping to create a balance during recovery and life with a wiggly new baby!
To start off with alot of conception troubles can be helped simply by both couples making adjustments to their nutrition, learning the woman’s cycle and and enjoying stress relieving exercise. Relieving the stress and making a space for fun, free and playful interaction with potential parents is ideal to building a future family. (On a side note some STD’s and age can play a factor in reproductive health and infertility).
On the nutritional side of things creating an environment in both parents where there is a plentiful supply of nutritional building blocks and minimal to no toxin build up means that the cells used to create soon to be bub are of the best quality! Simple really! Knowing that 1 in 10 babies in Australia are being born prematurely and 1 in 30 are being born with birth defects gives a clear indication that it is vitally important for a couple achieve optimal health before conception occurs! Thats where I come in and support your journey and make it easy and fun!!!
Did you know? Sperm may take up to 116 days to generate and are able to be damaged by toxins (alcohol/smoking ect) during this time, as well as female eggs being vunerable for 100 days leading up to ovulation. Also it is only a tiny window every month of 12-48hrs during ovulation that a woman can fall pregnant and only 1 in 3 fertised eggs evolve into a baby! Baby making really is a miracle!
Clean eating, regular exercise and being alcohol and toxin free enable you to create an opportunity for health conception, pregnancy and baby! As much resistance as some may feel in the beginning, by opening up to clean eating, regular exercise and being alcohol and toxin free will enable you to create an opportunity for healthy conception, pregnancy and baby! The hardest part is starting but then you’ll soon become one of those couples you see out walking with giant smiles on their faces or posting on Facebook about how awesome they feel after their sweaty workout and wonder what you ever did before exercise!
Now once these two healthy bodies have had 3 months clean eating and an excellent exercise program… plus all important date nights together alone (Did you know healthy couples making love every other day can expect to try for a baby for up to a year until further assistance is available) and pregnancy is achieved it is important to know what to do next!
It used to be believed that once pregnant a woman had a free pass to eat for two, gorging on treat food and gaining weight as she pleased and shouldn’t exercise or maintain an intimate relationship for fear of hurting the baby. This is actually far from the truth and many women have had complications during pregnancy and labour such as gestational diabetes, premature birth or delivery problems as well as inability to lose baby weight and depression… all which can be avoided if you just keep enjoying healthy foods, moving your body and feeling connected with your partner!!
Welcome to the new happy and healthier era of baby making where you don’t have to subscribe to the myth that having a baby means you sacrifice your body shape and live in a tankini at the beach for the rest of your days feeling insecure and undesirable. Being a mum or dad is the greatest gift on earth, you should be able to enjoy it and teach that happiness and confidence to your children!
Being pregnant means you need more nutrient rich foods not just more food, yep there is a huge difference. Pregnancy requires more high quality nutrients in the form of vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds, lean proteins and slow releasing carbohydrates. Pregnancy specific exercise while pregnant helps your body physically and emotionally, exercise helps nutrient and oxygen delivery to your growing baby, it also keeps you in tune with you body and gives you the chance to have a shorter less painful labour and easier recovery.
Sugars, fats and junk food and avoiding exercise can lead to health problems not only for the mum but for bub later in life, it also means it is harder for the mums body to bounce back after pregnancy which can lead to depression, fatigue and relationship issues. Staying healthy and fit while pregnant increases the chances of a easier labour, healthy baby, healthy body post pregnancy, ability to cope with stress and maintain healthy relationships.
I’m not saying you are banned from a treat while you are pregnant, when you’ve had all your nutrients of course you may indulge! It is simply a positive compromise for good health in the future, not a deprivation, just a balance. Every one experiences pregnancy differently; you may or may not carry more or less weight than your medically supposed to. Eat and act intelligently and embrace the fact you are so amazing by making a human being. How ever your body shape changes during your pregnancy, it was worth it, your baby is a miracle! Later on all this good physical and emotional balance will each your kids to eat well, stay healthy and feel good about themselves throughout their lives!!
Labour as I mentioned earlier can be described as a full on work out for 24-48hrs… that’s very, very intense to say the least. Exercise helps you feel good, look good, teaches you to breathe, helps condition your muscles and enables a speedy recovery. Exercise before; during and after pregnancy is the best and only way to ensure you have the energy and vitality to cope with the various stages of pregnancy and motherhood! Toddlers… run… FAST!
Recovery at first takes 6-8 weeks for the uterus to return to normal and time for you to adjust to sleep deprivation, feeding and life with a sparkly new baby! Once you feel you can, it can feel nice to go for walks or swims, it is important to stay hydrated and keep eating well. Have meals planned and accept help! Make sure as parents you still remember to have a few special moments with each other in any way you can.
Nutritional plans, safe and effective exercise programs PLUS lots of TLC (tender loving care) is my speciality and a gift that keeps giving, creating happy healthy families on the Sunshine Coast!! If you feel good then your kids feel good, prevents stress related sickness, emotional problems and bullying and best of all you can enjoy the process of making and having a family, create happy memories and live a full life!
Resources
BubHub
Essential baby
