Birthday blog: How I Eat and Move to Stay Healthy and Strong (Postpartum)

I just turned 41 !! and - except for a recent sciatica episode - I feel great. Healthy, strong, happy and beautiful.

I proudly achknowledge that my healthy lifestyle has helped me recover super quickly after both my pregnancies, despite my age. So I want to share some of my daily diet and lifestyle practices that help me lose weight postpartum, and continue to feel healthy and strong.

My self-love practices also play a huge role. Even though I still have a few extra pounds from my last baby, they don’t bug me as they would have in my 20s or 30s, as I know they’ll come off soon (probably when I stop breastfeeding and my hunger goes down a bit), and I’ve felt overall good in my body, and even energetic despite middle-of-the-night wakings (due to my baby). And this is huge, as I’m someone who NEEDS her 8 hours of sleep. So waking in the night to feed my baby is tough for me, and I KNOW it means I need to nourish myself extra well.

Therefore, these past months, I have placed tons of emphasis on eating enough nutrients and NO deprivation, to have energy despite waking up at night, and to support my breastfeeding journey. (Breastfeeding can be exhausting, and in my case, makes me very hungry!). And I love that this focus on NOURISHMENT (and NO calorie counting) helped me lose my baby weight the first 2 months, and after that, has really fueled me and helped me feel amazing at 41.

With this in mind, I want to share a typical day for me currently (and in these past 6+ months) so you have an idea of what it looks like to be healthy and well-nourished without any calorie counting nor deprivation.

Let’s start with the basics. Some key things I practice regularly that help me stay healthy and feel good include:

  • MINDFUL BREAKS. Daily time for breathwork or a quick meditation (even if its deep breathing while breastfeeding or walking my baby outside, but its conscious and focused, and I’m alone or with my baby and at peace; this is key!)

  • HYDRATION. I hydrate like crazy. I have about 2 cups of water upon waking, then my lemon water, then my matcha latte, then another water, then my morning smoothie, then more water …. all before lunch! And I’ve been adding trace minerals to my water, and most afternoons I’ll also have one glass of water with 1/2 an LMNT pack.

  • MOVEMENT. Staying active, including (most days) both AM and PM movement (even if its a 10 minute walk with my baby, or 15 minute barre/pilates class)

  • FOCUS ON BUILDING MUSCLE, eating enough protein and strength training

  • Extra HEALTHY FATS & OMEGA-3s. I eat about 2-3 avocados per week, tons of almond, cashew and peanut butter, as well as raw nuts and seeds, I drizzle extra virgin olive oil on my foods, I add coconut yogurt to my smoothies, and more…!

  • PROTEIN. About 100 grams of protein per day (I estimate I get about 90-105 grams daily). Since I’m breastfeeding I’m at the upper range of my protein range, about 0,8-0,9 grams per “ideal” body weight of 118 pounds, but once I’m done breastfeeding and back to my normal weight, I’ll probably decrease that to average 90 grams of protein.

  • FIBER. Adding acacia fiber to my morning matcha latte and my afternoon decaf coffee latte, as well as flaxseeds to my daily smoothie (+ taking magnesium at night) to help me stay regular.

  • ALLOWING FOR NUTRITIOUS SWEET TREATS. Allowing myself to enjoy healthy desserts every day (usually twice a day!). I’m getting all the wonderful benefits of cacao and organic dark chocolate (and all the other superfoods that I add to my desserts!). Some balance is key.

  • PRIORITIZE SLEEP. Going to bed earlier than usual to make up for the fact that I wake up at night at least once to feed my baby (a few months ago I was waking up 4-5 times, now I’m down to just once most nights) but regardless I need an early bedtime in order to get my 7.5-8.8 horus of sleep. My Oura ring has helped me a lot with this!

  • EAT THE RAINBOW, filling my plates with TONS of greens and other colorful veggies.

Here is my typical day:

7am: I start my day feeding my baby, then I stay in bed doing some deep breaths.

I drink tons of water and take my probiotics and warm lemon water. I brush my teeth (while doing some leg lifts!) and aim to step outside even if its for a 5 minute meditation

8am: Matcha-Moringa Latte with collagen and acacia, pinch of cinnamon and my homemade almond milk.

8:30-9:15am: Workout (and pump!). Sometimes it’s a 20 minute workout only, other days its 40 minutes. Depending on my day, how much work I have, etc.

9:30am: Breakfast: a loaded protein smoothie bowl + vitamins (while I journal and set my intention for the day)

(Go to Balance Market / work/ clients)

12:15pm: Small nutritious protein-rich snack (while I feed my toddler and infant their lunch) + a few more glasses of water (here I sometimes have 1/2 packet of LMNT electrolytes with my water for extra hydration).

Examples of snacks: a few seed crackers with hummus or babaganoush and homemade kale chips, or a small serving of homemade tuna or salmon salad with seed crackers or celery and carrot sticks, tomato-avocado-bean salad, a small slice of my seed bread with cottage cheese, etc.

back to work…

2pm: Lunch (+ dessert). I always start my lunch with a green salad (usually a mix of lettuces, microgreens and some avocado) then follow it with animal protein with cooked veggies and sometimes a legume/grain. Some of my typical lunches include:

For dessert I have (usually) either a few squares organic dark chocolate 80%+ cacao and/or 2 energy balls. I switch up my energy ball recipes (I’m currently loving these) and sometimes make them into squares (like my peanut butter chocolate fudge squares)

3:30 or 4pm: Decaf latte (organic swiss water decaf always, with acacia, cinnamon and homemade almond milk). I sometimes grab a few cashews or a slice of my banana bread or zucchini bread too, though I know its best not to snack! (When I feel compelled to lose a bit of weight, I’ll cut out this snack!)

5:30pm: either I teach barre OR I go for a quick stroll with my baby outside

6:30pm: Dinner (usually vegetarian) + healthy dessert. My go to dinners include:

  • vegan macro bowl (using leftovers usually!)

  • veggie curry (or this one with garbanzos) and some cauliflower rice on the side

  • 2 egg frittata or omelet with tons of veggies and 2-3 tablespoons white or black beans mixed in + sliced avocado

  • any creamy vegan soup (made with bone broth or I’ll add collagen) with an avocado toast (on my gluten-free seed bread) sprinkled with seeds

  • a generous piece of my vegan lasagna, or 2 slices of my Pascualina (it’s like a spinach quiche) or veggie quinoa tahini bowl - all three from Balance Market - with an extra egg and a small side green salad

My healthy desserts after dinner are usually 2 energy balls or 1-2 of my peanut butter chocolate fudge squares, or a black bean brownie, or chia pudding with granola and dark chocolate chips, or avocado chocolate mousse, and lately my tofu chocolate mousse.

Note: I try to listen to my body and only eat dessert if I really really want it, but honestly, these days I always feel I “need it”. When I’m done breastfeeding I will do a mini detox (one of my signature ones, join me for my next one!) to help me lower my sweet cravings and cut out one of my daily desserts.

8:30pm: Kids are asleep and I start my evening routine. I get ready for bed, do my self care (face creams, etc), and either read a book or watch a show with my hubbie (and these days I pump again at this time!)

9:30-10pm: SLEEP. I aim to be asleep before 10pm (but it doesn’t always happen!). If I went to bed later and woke up more than once to feed my baby, I’ll do my best to stay in bed a little later and push back my morning routine, because I know how crucial my sleep is!

So there you have it. TONS of nutritious foods all day long (including desserts!), tons of hydration, and movement both in the morning and evening (most days!), plus always some time for myself and my self-care, my family, friends and work.

Just remember everyone is different, we each have unique bodies and metabolisms, so please honor your bioindividuality. But I hope this inspires you to “UP your nutrition and self-care game”, and release the need to do unnecessary dieting! Because when we properly nourish our bodies, yes we can still lose weight and feel great!

Love and Balanced Nutrition,

Mariana

My 5 best fitness tips

There’s been a recent wave of information pointing to all the benefits of heavier weight training, and it’s valid. The benefits are huge, especially for muscle building and weight loss.

However you go about it, building muscle is KEY for our metabolic health, and becomes even more important once we reach our 40s and we become more insulin sensitive. (We need to build more muscle so our glucose has somewhere to go instead of circulating in our bloodstream). Training to keep our muscles healthy and strong is not only important for how we look and feel, but also for blood sugar regulation, hormonal balance and weight loss!

BUT that doesn’t mean that walking, jogging, cycling, dancing, barre, pilates and yoga aren’t equally as amazing for your health! Same with most sports.

Keeping this in mind, I’m sharing my top 5 fitness tips to help guide you when you’re creating your exercise routine.

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February: Heart Month - 6 tips for optimizing heart health

February is the month of the HEART, and an important time to review your heart health and how you can support it better.

Unfortunately, cardiovascular disease (CVD) remains the LEADING CAUSE of death worldwide, shortening our lifespan. I strongly believe (together with many leading doctors and health experts) that this will change once we start to prioritize nutrition and lifestyle choices as our first line of defense.

Today I’m sharing 6 things you can start implementing ASAP (apart from the obvious of NO smoking, staying active and avoiding fried foods, trans fats and packaged foods!).

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Want to Balance Your Hormones and Optimize your Weight? Take these 4 steps!

Hormonal balance requires a holistic approach, including:

  • DIET: nourishing your body with a nutrient-rich diet

  • EXERCISE: engaging in regular physical activity

  • REST & STRESS MANAGEMENT: prioritizing sleep + managing stress, and

  • MINIMIZING TOXIC LOAD: reducing exposure to environmental toxins (as well as internal toxins!); start by switching to cleaner household products, clean beauty, etc.

I delve quickly into each of these points, giving you actionable steps in each category so you can start to improve your hormonal balance and overall health ASAP!

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Best Healing Postpartum Foods + 4 Favorite Recipes

I recently shared 10 tips that helped me recover after birthing my children, and now I want to delve a little deeper into the FOODS that have helped me during this “4th trimester” to nourish myself, heal, promote healthy digestion, and keep up my energy (despite sleepless nights).

I promise that what you eat makes all the difference in your recovery! A healthy nourishing postartum diet is important to: 

  • Replenish nutrients depleted during pregnancy 

  • Support a successful and speedy recovery from birth 

  • Create a healthy supply of (and good quality) breastmilk 

  • Support hormonal balance

Here are the key HEALING FOODS that I was eating daily in my first 40 days postpartum (and continue to enjoy almost daily during my “4th trimester”), and 4 of my go-to recovery RECIPES.

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10 Tips for an Excellent Postpartum Recovery

As I’m coming close to the end of my “4th trimester” after birthing my second baby, I want to share some tips to help with HEALING after giving birth (natural or c-section) - also applicable to help heal from any surgery or trauma. These are things that I myself applied and helped me immensely to have a great recovery.

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A Day of Anti-Inflammatory Meals for Sustainable Weight Loss

Chronic long-term inflammation (what SO many people are facing today) is extremely harmful to our health. Not only does it lead to weight gain, but also contributes to obesity, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, autoimmune diseases, and other health conditions.

Thankfully, there is a lot we can do to reduce inflammation in the body just through our daily diet.

Some anti-inflammatory foods that I recommend to eat regularly include:

  • leafy greens (lettuces, arugula, kale, spinach, etc).

  • fermented foods like raw sauerkraut, kimchi and unsweetened organic yogurt or kefir

  • colorful vegetables (orange veggies like organge bell pepper, sweet potato and butternut squash, yello veggies like yellow squash, yellow peppers and onions, purple vegges like purgple cabbage, eggplants and purple potatoes/carrots/cauliflower, white veggies like cauliflower and radish, red veggies like beets, and of course ALL green veggies, including brocoli, green beans, zucchini, all green herbs, ETC).

  • colorful fruits - in small amounts at a time (blue/purple including blueberries, blackberries, plums; red including starwberries, raspberries, cherries and red apples; orange including oranges, nectarines, some varities of peaches; green including green apples and pears, etc.)

  • omega-3 rich proteins like wild-caught fish and seafood, organic grass-fed meats and poultry, as well as organic eggs.

  • nuts and seeds - ncluding walnuts, almonds, chia seeds, flax seeds, hemp seeds, sunflower and pumpkin seeds, etc., as well as nut and seed butters

  • other healthy fats including avocados and extra-virgin olive oil

  • fiber-rich legumes including: lentils, chickpeas, peas and all beans, as well as small amoutns of whole grains such as quinoa, wild rice, brown rice, millet, amaranth, teff, buckwheat, etc. (*only if your tolerate these ; reguardless I recommend sticking to small portions and cooking properly, always soaking before cooking).

Today I’m sharing a day of healthy, delicious and easy “anti-inflammatory” meals to get you started on your anti-inflammatory lifestyle!

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Easiest Protein Yogurt Chia Parfait

I’m sharing one of my favorite quick and easy healthy breakifasts for those days when you don’t have time to prep your usual breakfast.

NOTE: This recipe is amazing for both gut/digestive health and for balancing hormones (and is of course pregnancy and pospoartum friendly).

Yogurt Chia Almond Butter Berry Bowl

Ingredients (serves 1):

1 cup unsweetened vegan coconut yogurt OR plain Greek yogurt if you tolerate dairy

  • ½ - 1 scoop unflavored (or vanilla) protein powder or collagen peptides *(see note below)

  • 1 ½ tbsp chia seeds OR ¼ cup chia pudding *(see note below)

  • 1 to 1½ tbsp almond butter (option to swap for another nut/seed butter)

  • ½ cup frozen blueberries, strawberries OR cherries, microwaved for 30 seconds (can also use fresh!)

  • optional: 1-2 tablespoons low-glycemic granola

Instructions: Add all ingredients to a bowl and enjoy! *see blog for many tips, subsitutions, etc.

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Healthy dinner recipes - salmon with pesto, kale salad, and a quinoa-veggie salad

Today I’m sharing an entire 3-part menu (including four healthy recipes), which is perfect for a family lunch or dinner, or for hosting a few friends or another couple.

This menu is PACKED with omega-3 fatty acids, antioxidants and fiber, making it great for your digestion, for longevity, immunity, and for hormonal balance. It’s also very balanced in protein, healthy fats and healthy low-glycemic carbs, making it ideal for keeping blood sugar stable.

Menu (all gluten-free and dairy-free):

  • Kale, Fennel & Avocado Salad

  • Quinoa Bell Pepper Salad

  • Roasted Salmon with a Pumpkin & Hemp Seed Pesto

Watch the video to learn how to make these recipes easily, and get tons of cooking/prep tips! And check out my recipes below. Enjoy!

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I’m sharing one of my favorite salad bowl recipes - Mediterranean Salad Bowl (inspired by a BeingBrigid recipe) - that is packed with fiber, protein, healthy fats, but also rich in colorful, antioxidant-rich veggies that help promote longevity and better immunity (among many other benefits). It’s easy and delicious, and one of my favorite meals for a hot summer day, or when I’m ovulating.

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10 Ways to Support Your LIVER and help you detoxify

Our liver removes all toxins, clears medications from your body, breaks down our food so we can properly process it, and even helps us with hormone regulation - so it is absolutely crucial that we take proper care of this essential organ!

In this blog, I share my 10 most important steps to take to better care for your liver (via simple lifestyle and diet habits).

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World Health Day: 4 ways to embrace it and support your health

Happy World Health Day - a special day (April 7th) that serves as a reminder to prioritize our physical, mental and social health and wellbeing.

For me personally, my definition and understanding of health has changed a lot over these past 20 years since I’ve been immersed in the health and wellness world.

Given my journey, personal experience and years as a health caoch, this year I’ve drawn 4 key conclusions on how we can best prioritize our health (and then I share 4 things you can start doing today to put in practice)!

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Five Reasons For Your Bloating & How to Cure It

I used to constantly struggle with a bloated belly, where I often felt like I was 3 months pregnant.  It was terrible, but nothing I did seemed to make it go away,  so it became normal for me.  I tried many diets, and maybe a 2 or 3 day juice cleanse would help temporarily, but of course, a few days back to my normal eating and the bloating would come back.  

It took me a long time - essentially one year of nutrition courses and lots of additional personal research and experimentation - to finally realize that the bloating was not normal, and was totally curable.  

So if you’re in the same camp as I was, struggling with constant bloating and maybe occasional gasiness, it’s important for you to know that there is a cure to get rid of this for good.  Like most things, it all starts with identifying the root cause behind your bloating.  So let’s take a look at what I have found to be the key triggers of bloating, gas and constipation:

  • Imbalance in your gut bacteria

  • Gut infections and/or Food sensitivities

  • Lack of digestive enzymes / low stomach acid

  • Lifestyle: Stress, Eating rushed, and Not chewing your food properly

  • Diet: Eating inflammatory foods, Improper food combinations and Not prepping/cooking your foods properly

Read more at my blog to discover the 5 steps to cure your gas and bloating both short and long term!

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March is National Nutrition Month, a month to help increase awareness about the importance of good nutrition for improving your overall health. Making healthy food choices and improving your eating habits (in combination with incorporating more physical activity and stress reduction into your lifestyle) can help prevent many chronic diseases, such as diabetes, heart disease and cancer. And of course, it will help you LOOK and FEEL better, have more confidence and be happier!

Here are 6 of my best tips to help you make healthier nutrition choices (to minimize risk of disease, reach and maintain your ideal weight, and feel better in your body overall).

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Intermittent Fasting: 5 Tips to Make it Work for You

I’m a big fan of fasting, for the right people. It can have some impressive results, but after extensive research on the topic, and experience with many of my health coaching clients, I’ve realized it’s not for everyone.

Even if it IS for you, you might be doing some things wrong and not getting the full benefits.

Today I share and/5 key tips to optimize your Intermittent Fasting, and make it work for YOU. (Plus I explain when it’s just NOT for you, or how you can tailor it).

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Two ingredients to include in your healthy snacks (and 5 easy snack options for you and your kids!)

MOST of your typical go-to snacks, even that banana (and especially those packaged crackers/cookies/bars, etc. that are filled with sugar and preservatives) can lead to a large glucose spike. And this is something we need to minimize if we care about our health and our weight!

So today I’m sharing with you 5 of my go-to healthy, easy “sweet” snacks - for both me and my toddler.

NOTE: For all of these sweet snacks, in order to support blood sugar regulation, I add two KEY INGREDIENTS:

  1. NUT/SEED BUTTER (and/or a little nuts/seeds)

  2. a pinch of CINNAMON

Find out WHY, and get my 5 easy to prep snacks for when you’re on the rush and ant to be prepared for when the sugar craving comes in.

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Ready to Improve Your Health This Year? Start with these 7 Steps

If this year, you’ve realized YOUR HEALTH is a top priority, you know you want to positively and definitively upgrade your health this year (in a way that does not require suffering nor excess restriction, and actually LASTS), but you’re not sure where to start, I’m here to help!

After a decade of experience as a health coach, I can share 7 key steps to embark on a successful health journey.

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3 Easy, Quick, Low-Carb Dinners

After a long day of work, we’re tired and have little brain capacity left to think of what healthy meals to make, so we often go for the easiest, quick, carb-based dishes like tortilla with cheese, or pasta, or order takeout from restaurants (which often contains processed carbs, even hidden sugars and inflammatory oils).

But these dinners can wreak havoc on our health!

Plus, we are generally, more susceptible to blood sugar spikes at night, so it’s even more important to be careful with carbs at dinner time. Focusing on blood-sugar balancing meals at dinnertime is KEY for our metabolic health, our weight, our sleep and our energy levels.

The good news is, there are many healthy, delicious low-carb dinner recipes that are also super easy, quick, and loaded with flavor and nutrients to support our health, and filling enough to satisfy us after a long day.

Today I’m sharing 3 of my favorite low-carb dinners (actually 4 recipes!) that keep my blood sugar stable and are super quick and simple to make! PLUS, they are moslty detox-friendly!

  1. LETTUCE CUPS – two ways

    1. LETTUCE CUPS WITH EGG SALAD

    2. LETTUCE CUPS WITH TUNA SALAD (OR CHICKEN OR CHICKPEA SALAD)

  2. EGGS WITH GREENS AND BEANS

  3. CREAMY ONE POT CAULIFLOWER SOUP - WITH SEED CRACKERS AND VEGAN CHEESE*

*the soup is the only recipe that takes more than 10 minutes, BUT the recipe makes 3 to 4 portions so it’s great to make once and enjoy twice in the week (and its still one of the quickest soups to make, and all in one pot).

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After your Thanksgiving meal (or any large dinner) you will likely feel lower in energy, heavy, bloated and a bit guilty. I urge you to let go of the guilt, be thankful for your delicious meal, and instead, just focus on getting your body back on (a healthy) track.

The day after your big meal, follow these 9 tips to boost your metabolism, aid your digestion, and get yourself feeling light again!

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