Wondering how to feed yourself without sending your whole bank account to Uber Eats? Check out the following time-tested, sleep-deprived parent-approved tips for getting nourishing food in your body when you’re running on fumes.
- Make ahead and freeze
This works best if you’re reading this before the baby arrives, but it’s worth including for those early birds or those who have people who can help with this later. Even the most organized new parent shouldn’t need to think about food those first few days at home. Plan for at least a week of meals you can just defrost when the baby comes home. Bonus points if you have time and space for 2 weeks’ worth.
- Buy early and store
This is either instead of cooking meals in advance, or in addition to (if you have the space!) For those with limited freezer space, this might look like stocking up on shelf-stable options. Kettle & Fire has a line of shelf-stable bone broth-based soups. Bonus: their soups are naturally high in collagen, which helps healing after delivery.
- Meal trains
Never heard of a meal train? I bet your grandmother has. Meal trains are a way for friends, family, and neighbors to come together to cook for (or these days, order for) someone who is usually going through a life change. Like ordering food for delivery, meals are dropped at your doorstep at regular intervals. Ask a loved one to organize one for you, or plan one yourself. It’s easier than ever to organize, thanks to organizations like mealtrain.com.
- Outsource where you can
It is a privilege to have the resources to outsource, and if you have those resources, this is the time to use them. This might look like paying for a ready-made healthy meal delivery service (my favorites are Pete’s Real Food and Factor_) or paying for a cleaning service to free up time for cooking. This is about taking as much off your plate as possible because let’s face it, you need to sleep.
- Embrace easy/simple (and yes, boring)
There’s plenty of time later for elaborate gourmet meals. But right now is the time to get nutritious food in your face so you can feed the baby and get some sleep. Here’s what you need: some vegetables, some protein, some fat (probably more than you think), and some unprocessed carbs. Yes, carbs. Carbs help you sleep and help with milk production (if you’re nursing).
For example:
Prewashed salad greens + Eggs cooked in ample ghee, coconut or avocado oil + Berries + Salt & Pepper = Done
Rinse and repeat. If you have the wherewithal to be bored with your meals, that’s a good sign!
- Re-examine household responsibilities (i.e., think like a CEO)
Are you the better cook, but also the person who is breastfeeding? If you have another adult in the household, maybe it’s time to think about which responsibilities only you can do, and those it’s time to ask for help with. Which brings me to #7…
- Ask for help!
Have you internalized the idea that not only could you do it all, but you should also do it all? Most of us are used to wearing our self-sufficiency like a metal, but the new parent phase isn’t the time for that. I repeat, the new parent phase is NOT the time for self-sufficiency if you have any other choice. Do you have a local friend who can periodically watch the baby and make you lunch so you can nap? Is there a family member who can stay the weekend to help you cook meals? Step back, figure out who is in your life who can help, and ASK THEM.
- Embrace repetition
Have you figured out that you can dump a can of tuna (or sardines, for those of us paleo OGs) on some prewashed lettuce and eat it before the baby wakes up? Then it’s OK if this becomes your go-to meal. In time it will get easier, and in time your repertoire will grow. In the meantime, you are nourished.
- Reexamine your standards
Local, seasonal, wild-caught, organic, cooked from scratch for 48 hours using only kitchen tools you whittled yourself, orgasmically delicious.
That’s all great. And hey, maybe you were that person before the baby. But now, you’re just not. You’re too tired, or there just aren’t enough hours in the day. You know what? It’s OK. Ask yourself: does it taste OK? Is the bulk of my diet reasonably healthy? Does it nourish me? If yes, that’s just fine for this season of life.
- Healthy go-to options at local restaurants
Yes, restaurants! My metropolitan parents are wondering why this is last when it’s so easy to get restaurant food delivered at the click of a button. It’s because, as a functional health coach, I would be remiss if I suggested that restaurant food make up the bulk of your diet. Even at a time like this. Most restaurant food just contains too much sugar, salt, and funky oils.
BUT can you and your spouse go for a meal to celebrate making it 3 months into parenthood? Absolutely! Can you order delivery on occasion when you have run out of food, the baby is screaming, and you just can’t think? Of course! If you’re feeling really put together, scan menus in advance, so you can easily make healthier choices in the moment.
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