Episode 41
[00:00:00] Welcome to The Be About Being Better podcast, where we help people make evidence based sustainable. Small changes for their health that compounded the huge shifts towards a better, more vibrant life. I'm your host Abbie Stasior, a health and life coach, future registered dietician, a master's graduate from Columbia University, and a certified intuitive eating counselor.
And I believe that we can't make lasting or meaningful change single handedly. So I'm so happy that you're here so that together you can see that a diet free, sustainable lifestyle is possible, and you can leverage that to live a better life. And remember my disclaimer, This podcast is meant to give you general information.
And it's not meant to substitute or replace medical advice, a diagnosis or serve as treatment.
Abbie: [00:00:00] Hello. Hello, y'all. Welcome back to the Be About Being Better podcast. I am. Stoked for y'all to hear this interview. This is packed with so much knowledge. I'm really excited for y'all to hear from my friend and colleague in the field, Mel Spinella. So I met Mel at Columbia. We did our master's program together and she sped ahead and she completed a , year ahead of us.
And she, um, She's now a registered dietician and she has specialized in fertility, prenatal, and postpartum nutrition, and she specifically specializes in working with very busy people. So I'm like, okay, girl, we gotta bring you on the show because, um, I know I'm super single right now, but I am already starting to take prenatal vitamins and I'm already thinking about how to optimize fertility.
Y'all know that I love cycle sinking, like I'm just all about the hormone health and optimizing fertility. And I wanted to bring Mel on because she is just so up to date on all of the recommendations that you need. Three to five years out from pregnancy, one year out from pregnancy while you're pregnant and postpartum.
Our fourth trimester people don't talk about the fourth trimester, but it is so, so important. So I'm really excited for y'all to hear from Mel because she is just a wealth of knowledge and just knowing her. In person through our grad program. She's just such a genuine soul. She, she cares so deeply about people and I can only imagine that she's transferring that compassion to her patients as well.
She's, she's just so fabulous and I, I have a lot of respect for her, so I'm really excited for y'all to hear from her and gain the knowledge. And one thing I wanna emphasize is that when it comes to prenatal care, fertility, Pregnancy recommendations like it is so individualized. Everyone has a different health history, everyone has a different body.
Everyone's at risk for different things. So as we're talking about some general nutrition recommendations, For before pregnancy, during pregnancy, postpartum. Just note, these are in general recommendations like do, do not, you know, you gotta work with a doctor, a dietician, one-on-one, so that you can figure out what is best for you individually.
And so you'll get a lot of insights during time. You'll gain a lot of general knowledge. However, I just wanna emphasize as a disclaimer, everything is. On a nutrition on an individual basis when it comes to nutrition. So you wanna make sure that you're working with a healthcare professional to make sure that you're getting the right recommendations for you and your body to get to your goals and have the best fertility and pregnancy experience overall.
So I'm really excited for y'all to hear this episode because even if you're not planning to get pregnant for three to five years, um, this, this is all very relevant to you, and we're gonna be talking about different recommendations for all different phases of the life cycle. Yay. So thanks for listening, and I'll see you later.
Abbie: All right. Hello. Hello, y'all. Welcome to the Be About Being Better podcast. I am joined today by my girl, my friend and colleague in the field, Mel Spinella. I am so excited to have you, Mel. Thanks for coming on the show.
Mel: Thanks so much for having me, Abby. I'm so excited to be here and to catch up and chat with you
Abbie: Yes. And you're gonna tell us all of the things and y'all, one of the reasons I wanted to bring Mel on the show is she really specializes in two areas. Um, we're gonna be talking a lot about fertility, pre and post. Natal care and nutrition. But I also wanna let y'all know that Mel is, she, she's really great with busy professionals and that is something that I specialize in as well.It's like, how do we make health simple? Because what's simple is sustainable. So that's one thing that I really appreciate about you, girl, and um, I just think it's so needed.
Mel: Yay. Yeah, I know. I love that. You are, are also catering your content towards busy professionals. You know, just showing people that it is attainable to eat healthy if you have a busy schedule.
Um, there's a lot of tips and tricks that you can do and it doesn't have to be this big
Abbie: Yes, totally. Absolutely. So to dive in, one question I always start with all of our guests with asking is, what is something that you've been through in your life that. Now hindsight is 2020.We can look back and know that it changed us for the better or made our life better.
Mel: so I would say having not a great relationship with food in college and in my early twenties. And now being on the other side of that, because I can now eat without feeling guilty, I don't stress and second guess over every food choice I make. But most importantly, my mind isn't occupied with thoughts about food 24/7, and I can focus on. More important things besides, you know exactly what I'm eating all the time. And it's interesting cause when I was in it, I didn't see it as a problem. Um, I thought I was just being healthy, which is a positive thing.But now being on the other side, I see how problematic my approach was. And now I see so many people, you know, with a poor relationship with food or getting caught in the diet cycle and like there is another way. Um, eating healthy should make you feel good both physically and mentally.You may wanna reassess your relationship with food.
Abbie: Yes, a hundred percent. If you're like hungry all the time, if you're restricting yourself, if it seems hard to keep up with, if it's infringing on your social life and if you're just miserable all the time, like definitely something to evaluate there.
Um, so that's great that you've really made it on the other side and, um, have recognized that, oh wow, when I heal my relationship with food, so many other things in my life improved. My health was really holding me back.
Mel: Totally. And I think like just the emotional and like mental burden too that it took up. Like the occupation of, you know, of thinking about what I was eating all the time. And, you know, I went through different phases. Like initially it was calorie counting. Later I had, you know, more like orthorexic tendencies, but. It can be really mentally exhausting. And now, you know, it's funny cuz now my approach is like very simple and like showing that, you know, it really can be easy. So it's just, it's interesting being on the other side and how freeing it can be and how, you know, food doesn't need to be this big, complicated thing. It can be simple, it can fit into a healthy, busy lifestyle.
Abbie: Yeah, a hundred percent. And I think, I think we struggle as well. You're a dietician. I'm r D two B almost there. Um, I think we struggle sometimes in our field because what we do, what we recommend, what really works isn't always the. Flashiest sexiest recommendation. It's like we just need to eat more fruits and vegetables. We just need to balance our plate. It's not always a supplement or greens powder that we're recommending. Actually, we probably wouldn't recommend that. Um, so I think that's really frustrating. People are looking for these, these different products in different supplements, things that are flashier and seem more exciting, when in reality what really works is the basics.
Mel: Totally. And I see that all of the time with my patients.
Like people are so they get really hung up in the details and like have a really microfocus and they'll be asking exactly like you were saying about certain supplements or you know, is it the oil I'm cooking with? Or just like these very. Tiny details in their diet. But what I noticed is most people don't have the basics down pat.
Like most people aren't eating enough fruits and vegetables. You know, I see a lot of people not eating balanced meals with protein, carbs, healthy fats, veggies, um, not eating consistently. Um, maybe drinking too much caffeine, maybe not getting enough sleep. like There's a ton of things, like more on the macrolevel that we can look at first and can address a lot of, of. A lot of issues that I see.
Abbie: Yeah, definitely. So that's really what I wanna dive in with you today. Cause I really wanna show, hey, if you are prepping for fertility, even if you are three to five years out from wanting to have a kid, like if you are listening to this right now and you are single as a Pringle like me, hi, hello, um, but you know that eventually you wanna have a family, what can you already start to do now? That would help? Prep for fertility. Make sure your hormones are, just make sure that you're doing everything to optimize your health before that time comes. And we'll kind of go through each of the, stages of the life cycle, if you will, um, to see what the nutrition care is for mom and before you become a mom. But what I would like to ask you first is what made you wanna get into. Focusing on women's health and fertility nutrition specifically?
Mel: That's a good question. SoI would say I first got into, just like generally speaking, women's health. Uh, in our first class, in first semester in our master's program, um, it was. Human development. And that's when I first learned about prenatal nutrition. And it's something that had like never really crossed my mind, and I just found it so interesting, like the connection between what mom eats and how it, the baby, and just like what important then. Um, as I did my internship, I knew I wanted to focus on prenatal nutrition, but with that I got exposure to nutrition preconception, and also nutrition postpartum. And I realized, you know, how important it is through multiple stages and not only during the prenatal time and. You know, nutrition is really important for preconception for a variety of different reasons.
Like one to build up your nutrient stores, which I can definitely go into more details on. Um, Two, like there's no magical food. I would say that's like going to, you know, optimize your fertility, but eating a nutritious diet overall can just put your body in the best position possible, um, for preconception.
Abbie: Awesome, awesome. Yeah, so it's really these like more simple recommendations versus one specific super food that's going to, uh, which I don't, I don't even know what a super food is. I feel like that's a super made up
Mel: Yeah.
Abbie: and fitness industry, but there's no one, uh, food that's going to totally, radically change your hormones, um, or optimize fertility. So let's, let's start then with people that are maybe three to five years out from wanting to get pregnant. What health recommendations would you recommend for, for that person?
Mel: Yeah. so I would say there's some general things and then there will be an individual component as well. So just like generally speaking, first I would say just getting a solid nutritional foundation. So focusing on eating majority of the diet, being whole foods and limiting those ultra processed foods. So when I say whole foods, I mean foods like fruits, vegetables, whole grains. Healthy fats like avocados, nuts and seeds, high quality protein sources, um, foods like that. And then just limiting like ultra processed packaged foods, those tend to just be higher in fat and added sugars and lower in nutritional content. Then when you're eating, I would say focus on eating balanced meals. Um, balanced meals have protein, healthy fat, and carbohydrates, um, and lots of veggies in them. And then eating consistently. So to me, I like to see people eating about every three to four hours, and this'll depend on what your day looks like. Like it could be, you know, it's gonna include meals, three meals and snacks, um, just depending on how your day shakes out. But I see a lot of people skipping this step, , taking, you know, big. skips between meals or, maybe not eating a lot during the day and then the ravenous at night. So focusing on getting consistent meals is really important to get that consistent fuel throughout the day. Um, and then just prevent going into the next meal. Feeling overly hungry if you've waited too long. Cause if you go into a meal or snack, feeling overly hungry. That's when you tend to overeat. And it can also influence your food choices. Cause when you're really hungry, like you're not gonna like, be like, oh great, like prep this salad. You know? It's like, you want food now you're gonna grab like what's available. Um, so that consistent and making sure that they're balanced can Uh, then during this time, it's important to learn of any nutritional deficiencies that you have. And work on correcting them, so making sure that you're getting regular blood work done and just being aware of your nutritional status because during pregnancy, And as you get closer to, when you get three months out or so, two pregnancy, , certain nutrients are really important. So you wanna, you know, start correcting any. Deficiencies that you have just to make sure that you have really built up those nutrient stores and they're at a good level. Also making sure you're eating the right amount based on your body's needs. So making sure you're, you're eating enough is one really big thing because eating insufficient calorie intake or just having intense dietary restrictions could lead to weight loss, uh, possibly a amenorrhea or loss of period. And that could negatively impact fertility. And then also restricted diets just generally limit your nutrient intake. And as I've mentioned, you know, this is a time when you wanna build up your nutrient stores and nutrient intake is so important. And then I would also say something that's important during this time is just overall working on your relationship with food and body image. if you have been in the dieting cycle or struggled with eating healthy in the past, this would be a really good time to focus on your relationship with food and building those sustainable, healthy habits.Because when
you're pregnant, your body is obviously going to go through some changes. And even though it's expected, it doesn't mean that women don't struggle with seeing their body change. And that's why it's really important to work on your body image and your relationship with food before you get pregnant. Because when you're pregnant, it's not just about you. You're not only just nourishing yourself, but also your future child and nutrition can have a really significant impact on your future baby's growth and development.
Abbie: Yeah, a hundred percent. I'm really happy that you spoke to that. So it's so important to work on your body image now, but also that relationship with food. And
I'm curious, how would you. Reconcile. Cause I think a lot of the advice that we get is to eat whole foods and decrease or limit, or some people even say completely remove ultra processed foods, which is that even realistic?
I don't know. How can someone work to limit ultra processed food intake while still improving their relationship with food and maybe trying to work foods back in? Like how do we find that balance?
Mel: Yeah, that's a great question. So I would never tell anyone to, you know, never eat an ultra processed food again. Um, I definitely believe all foods can fit into a healthy diet. Um, it, It's all about balance. Um, but one thing I would say is, you know, you want the foundation of your diet to be those balanced, nutritious meals. Um, so. Trying to fit Whole Foods in as much as possible. And I like to tell patients to not reach for, you know, the desserts or ultra processed foods when they're hungry. Um That's more like, like when you're hungry, have the nourishing foods, and then have the ultra processed foods, kind of with that as more like to satisfy a taste or craving, if that makes
Abbie: Hmm.
Mel: So basically if you eat the ultra processed food, like chips, ice cream, one of those. Um, so let's say like that's the food that you really want. Um, and you're hungry. So if you're hungry and you're eating that, like you may overeat that and eating a large amount of like chips, for example, may not feel great. So for example, maybe if you had some. Like a Greek yogurt or like a banana and peanut butter or some veggies and dip, and then you had the chip. That may feel a little bit better because then you're getting, you know, the nutrition, you're getting a more balanced meal or snack, and then you're also getting the food that you love in.
Abbie: Yes, I love that. So it's more about what are we adding to make this more satiating and more nutrient dense versus we need to limit the amount of ultra processed foods that we're having.
Mel: Yes, definitely.
Abbie: Yes. Okay. I love that. I love that. Now as we're getting closer to fertility, maybe like a year out, do any of these nutrition considerations change as we're like, okay, we're getting serious now, really wanna get pregnant in the next year?
Mel: Yeah. So this is where I would focus in more on certain nutrients. So one thing that's really important is getting on a high quality prenatal vitamin. Um, so it's typically recommended about at least three months in advance of becoming pregnant to get a prenatal
Abbie: Mm-hmm.
Mel: Just to start, you know, building up those nutrient stores and certain nutrients are really important in early pregnancy. For example, FO or folic acid is really important for the closure happens in first few weeks of pregnancy, often before most women even know that they're pregnant.
Abbie: Yeah.
Mel: So it's important to, you know, be taking a prenatal vitamin before pregnancy just to make sure your body is getting the nutrient it needs. Especially those that are important earlier in pregnancy. vitamins are a whole different topic. There are so many out on the market. And they vary so much. Um, there's, there's no standard formula for prenatal vitamin. So they don't all contain the same nutrients. They don't all contain the same forms of nutrients. Um, some forms of nutrients are more bioavailable or readily absorbed and utilized by the body than others. And they can contain pretty different quantities of nutrients as well. Um, so I won't go into details on that, but I mean, I have, you know, I have a blog post on that if anyone is interested in breeding, you know what I look for in a prenatal vitamin. And I also have, um, free prenatal vitamins handout as well.
Abbie: Oh girl. All right. We're gonna link all of that in the show notes. So just head to the show notes. We'll put the blog post in there. We'll definitely link to your handout so that people can read more about that. Um, cuz that's so important and I actually. literally so single right now, but I was like, I need to be on a prenatal vitamin. now. Um, well I'm trying to make my hair grow and I heard that they can make your hair grow, so we'll see if that actually works. And I just, I'm not taking a multivitamin right now cause I eat pretty nutritionally and like my, I recently had blood work. Everything's looking good. Um, I'm no longer vitamin D deficient, so that makes me
Mel: Yay.
Abbie: But I was like, I kind of just wanted something and. I like gummy vitamins. I kind of wanted a gummy something in the morning and I know that I needed to find one that didn't have any iron in it because I'm a carrier for hemochromatosis, so I store iron, so it's very dangerous. yeah. It's really dangerous for me to have, um, iron in a supplement. and my doctors have always said like, whenever you start taking prenatals, like don't have any iron. , so I think I'll have to watch that because I know that iron is something that we want to be. Our babies need to store up because they need that for the first six months of life before they start you know, Having their own store. So I'll have to work on that with my doctor. But, so yeah, I, when I was looking the other day at all the prenatal vitamins, I could tell they do not have the same formula. Like everyone is really different. Is there a certain form of like folate or folic acid that you would recommend or look for? one or the other?
Mel: Yeah, so. That's a great question. Before I answer that, I just wanna point out something that you said you know about, you know, you specifically like look for one without iron. And that's a great point. It's just that it's really individualized. Um, so there's certain prenatal vitamins that I like more than others, but which one you take is so dependent on the person because, you know, we all have different health conditions, we all have different nutritional deficiencies. Different people eat different diets. like maybe someone has an allergy or they're vegetarian or vegan. So different nutrients are gonna be important for different people. Um, so it's definitely person dependent, but in terms of certain forms of nutrients. So yes, folate, folic acid, that is always an important topic. Um, so. Just to clarify what this is, So Foley, um, is a certain B vitamin, and that's sort of the umbrella term for folate and folic acid. But Folic is actually the type of the vitamin that occurs naturally in foods. And then folic acid is the synthetic form that is found in certain supplements as well as in fortified foods. So I think it's fortified in like pastas and things like that. Folic acid, uh, was a popular version of the vitamin for a while because it is a more bioavailable version. However, some women contain the MT H F R mutation, which basically prevents folic acid from being converted into its active form, so you can get the active form in a supplement, and that's five methyltetrahydrofolate. So that is the activated form of the vitamin. It's also called methylated folate. That form is readily absorbed and utilized by the body. And that's the methylated folate. Um, similarly for b12, there's a methylated form and that's methyl. ,
Abbie: All the things. So would you recommend only taking the methylated form if you have that Mt. HFR gene?
Mel: Yeah, so taking the methylated form is definitely important just because if you're taking folic acid, it's gonna be harder to convert to that methylated form. Uh, so generally speaking, I like the methylated form because it's the more bioavailable form.
Abbie: Okay. Awesome. Or folate wouldn't be, that would just be in foods, but if it's in a supplement, it would always be folic acid or the methylated form.
Mel: That's typically what I see.
Abbie: Okay, cool. All right, cool. Well thank, I'm like learning for the RD exam right now. This is, this is fabulous. Okay, amazing. Um, so that makes sense. Is there anything that you would recommend, cuz I know you mentioned before getting blood work and that's really important and so I'm always on the show harp and like, we gotta, you know, get tested for vitamin D to see if you're deficient there. Uh, but are there any other specific labs that you would recommend that people ask for to keep track
Mel: Yeah, so I would say, Vitamin D is an important one. Um, a lot of people are vitamin D deficient, especially this time of year. Um, so knowing what your nutrient stores are for vitamin D and whether or not, like if you're deficient, you may require more supplementation, um, than someone who, who starts out with solid vitamin D stores. Um, also, you know, vitamin D three has been shown to more effectively raise your vitamin D levels than vitamin D two. So that's something that. You may wanna consider looking for in a prenatal vitamin. , other than that, iron is something that's important. Um, that's a nutrient that's especially important later on in pregnancy., They can also, they can test your folate as well. They can test your B12 as well. , but just getting general blood work and just being aware of, you know, if you are anemic or have any other of these nutrient deficiencies, um, and especially if you have any dietary restrictions that would cause any nutrients to be of particular concern. It would be important to, to look into those.
Abbie: Awesome. Thank you. And then skipping to, well I feel like cuz there's so many nutrition considerations for when you're actually pregnant and you're going to so many doctor's appointments and I highly recommend that you partner with a dietician during that time so that you can be watched really closely.
Cause there's so many different things that can, that can come up and you could get gestational diabetes. Like, there's just so many different things. Um, so we probably won't dive into all of the nutrition considerations for pregnancy. In this episode, but if y'all want that, definitely DM Man Instagram.
If you're like, hey, what, you know, what, what do we need? but I think we can speak to maybe healthy weight gain. Cuz I think, you know, you speaking to body image, our bodies are changing so much. I think people are afraid to gain weight or they think it's bad if they're gaining weight during pregnancy where no, this is actually a good thing and you're supposed to gain a certain amount of weight throughout, um, your whole time being pregnant.
So, I don't know if you could speak to that a little bit or just reassure people that it's okay to gain weight during pregnancy.
Mel: Yeah. Yeah. So you are growing a human, your body needs extra calories and extra nutrients and extra weight to do that,
Your recommended weight gain is going to depend on your pre-pregnancy bmi.
Um, Some women may need to gain more weight than others. Um, just depending on kind of like where you started out and what the, best weight range is for you. But no, like some women may see the final number and it. Scare them a little bit or make them uncomfortable. But it's not all like that gain that we're gaining. You know, the weight goes to support a variety of different parts of the body. So some of it is, of course the baby, some of it is amniotic fluid, some is the placenta, some is, you know, increased volume of body fluids. Some of it is increased blood. You know, it goes to support a lot of different areas that are so vital to growing and developing this human. Um, I will say in terms of like how your weight gain goes. It's gonna vary from person to person. So it is interesting. , I don't know if you know this, Abby, but I'm actually pregnant right now.
Abbie: I didn't know. Oh my God. Congratulations. Oh, this is so funny and amazing. I love it. How timely. Oh, congratulations. Well, thank you so much for doing this interview while you're pregnant right now. I appreciate it. After you're
Mel: my gosh, of
Abbie: working all day and thank you. Yeah.
Mel: Um, but it is interesting like. Being in the process, like it's definitely weight gain is not always linear. Um, I know, you know, certain charts kind of show
this perfect line of like how your weight gain should be, and that's just not how its from an individual to individual basis. but instead of weight gain, like I like to focus more on what are you eating? You know, are you eating these nutrient dense foods? Um, are you focusing your diet mostly on whole foods?
Cause during pregnancy, I keep saying this, but you know, certain nutrient needs do. Can increase quite a bit. So it is important to be making your food choices count and making sure that you're hitting the right nutrients.
Abbie: Yes, absolutely. And I know a huge thing is calcium and especially in our, like a dairy free world, everyone's got a dairy allergy now it's hard for people to get calcium cuz people aren't drinking milk now.
So what, what are you doing right now for calcium and what would you recommend to your patients to get more calcium in?
Mel: Yeah, so the prenatal vitamin I take actually contains calcium, but. I also get it from food, you know, it's important to get it from a combination of both. Um, so I get calcium from, I do eat dairy products. I am a fan of Greek yogurt personally. If you don't eat dairy, you can get calcium from other foods, for example, it's in broccoli, it's in tofu, it's also in certain fatty fish like salmon and sardines, um, which are another really good food for pregnancy. I feel like. A lot of people get scared by fish, um, because there's mercury levels in in fish.
Um, so that is something to be mindful of. But there are different types of fish that have different levels of mercury. So if you stick to the low mercury fish, um, some of my favorites are sardines, salmon, anchovies. Those all are lower mercury fish, and they contain D H a, which is an omega-3 fatty acid that's important for baby's brain development. And it is recommended still, even though they're low mercury fish to limit quantity to about eight to 12 ounces of that per week. But that is a nutrient that is important to be getting in the diet, and it's something that I often don't see in a prenatal vitamin. So that's an, so a lot of people I also think have the misconception of, oh, I'm pregnant. Like all I have to do is take a prenatal vitamin and I'm good to go. But the truth is it's pretty unlikely that the prenatal vitamin is meeting all of your nutrient needs. So that's why diet and understanding important nutrients for pregnancy in combination with that prenatal vitamin is so important.
Abbie: Yeah, yeah. Oh, that's so good. And they've done studies on that too, where they look at vitamins in isolation. Like if you just take, you know, vitamin A pill versus if you have a sweet potato, which is essentially like a vitamin A pill. How does the body react and how does that, um, impact different health outcomes, biochemical biomarkers and things like that.
And time and time again, they're finding that it's the real food. It's the vitamins and minerals in combination with each other in the whole food that the, the body just responds better to, versus the synthetic lab made version. Which I feel like we know this, like we know this logically and like it makes sense, but then when we go to cook, it's like, I don't feel like making a sweet potato. I'd rather just take a pill. Ugh. So we're trying,
Mel: Yeah, so even in, you know, there's certain times, like in the first trimester, like a lot of women may struggle with morning sickness, food aversions, things like that. And you know, it may be a little tougher to be eating those nutrient dense foods. Like for a lot of women, salmon doesn't sound great in the first trimester, and I get that there's plenty of time definitely for nutrition, you know, you wanna prioritize those foods as much as possible. But there are some times where, you know, It's, that's why it's important to be leaning on that high quality prenatal vitamin. And that's also why it's important to focus on nutrition preconception. Cause you've had those, you have those nutrient stores already as well.
Abbie: Mm-hmm. Yeah. That's such a good point. Uh, if you're open to talking about it, is there anything that, now that you're going through this, like, you know, you've learned about it in school, you've counseled patients and clients on, prenatal care and pregnancy nutrition. Um, Is there anything that's surprised you going through the experience yourself so far?
Mel: I think I was most surprised in the first trimester, just like how much my taste changed for food. So like I. yeah, so I did experience like a little bit of morning sickness, not too bad, fortunately. Um, I did experience. Like some food aversions that were unexpected. Uh, like I experienced meat aversions. Um, I experienced like Brussels sprouts. Could not look at them. Like random things. But I think the strangest thing was like, I usually am a sweets person. Like I have a sweet tooth. I like having like some sort of dessert at the end of the day and like sweets just were not appealing to me, which was like the first time in my life that has ever happened.
Um, Now things have sort of like balanced out and I'm sort of ba now I'm in the second trimester. And back to closer to like my normal, my pre-pregnancy way of eating. But it was very interesting early on, like how much my taste preferences changed.
Abbie: Wow. Yeah. And just like every day, I mean I think it's hard to meal prep for that cuz you're like, I don't really know what I'm gonna be in the mood for the next day.
Mel: Yes, that was something that was really interesting because I'm definitely like more of a, of a meal prep person. I'm not like a full like meal prep, breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks. But I like to meal prep, like a few things. And it is more challenging to do that during pregnancy because you don't know what food will taste good or you don't know what food will be like.
Sound absolutely disgusting in the moment. Um, but I think like, After like, you know, a few weeks or so, like you do kind of get into a habit and I was able to develop like staple foods that, you know, I could handle and were, and figure out like where to add nutrition. Um, so that's actually something else that I work on with clients is like, okay, what the foods sound good for you? Um, for a lot of women it may be like bread and cheese. Okay, great. Like, can we. Add. What can we add to that? Like maybe we can add some eggs. Eggs are another amazing food for pregnancy. Um, one of my favorite foods for pregnancy, uh, just a second to highlight eggs. But eggs are a great source of, choline, which is a really important nutrient Also important for baking brain development. Um, and then they have a ton of other nutrients in them. They have vitamin A, d, B12, Um, they're really just have a ton of nutrients that aren't in a lot of foods and the majority of the nutrients are actually in the egg yolk. So it's important to eat the whole egg and not just the egg white.
Abbie: mm.
Mel: But going back to like planning, so yeah, bread, cheese, can we add some eggs? Can we add some avocados? You know, healthy, fat, um, what can we add to this To add a little bit more nutrition to your plate.
Abbie: I love that. I love that. And see like what, what they're able to tolerate. And sometimes people can, I mean, I think eggs are great too. They're the protein that is just, it's so bioavailable. Our bodies just love soaking up the protein from eggs. And there's so many different ways to cook eggs that if you're having texture aversions, it can help to try and make the egg a different way so you can still get that
Mel: Totally. And some people struggle with eating eggs like those sound gross or. The smell is bothering me, or whatever the case may be. But also like, think about dishes where you cook eggs into. Like maybe you make an oatmeal bake and it has a cracked egg in it, or maybe you bake something and it has eggs in it. Um, there's a lot of different ways that you can get eggs in besides just, you know, eating the plain egg by itself.
Abbie: Mm-hmm. That's such a good point. I love that. Awesome. And then anything like postpartum that you'd recommend as far as nutrition goes?
Mel: Yeah. So postpartum nutrition is sort of this forgotten area. Uh, but what many people don't realize is that postpartum nutrition is just as important. as prenatal.
Abbie: Hmm.
Mel: So it is important to continue with supplementation, postpartum, uh, postnatal vitamins do exist, and that's cause some nutrients are really important for recovery.
Uh, so vitamin A, vitamin C, zinc, and also protein, um, are important to support recovery similar to how they support wound healing. Also, FO and iron are important to prevent anemia, especially with, you know, bleeding that can occur during childbirth and also if you're breastfeeding. So maternal diet can influence certain nutrients in breast milk, uh, specifically vitamins and d h. And I'm not saying that to scare anyone from breastfeeding, but just rather point out that the importance of postpartum nutrition. Mom will always make breast milk that is optimal for her baby. You know, nature is really smart and breast milk changes based on the baby's needs. You know, breast milk that mom initially makes is different than the breast milk. She makes weeks after giving birth. Breast milk in the morning is different than breast milk at night. Um, it's constantly adapting to support baby's needs. And also mom passes immunoglobins or antibodies to babies and breast milk. So mom is always making the optimal breast milk, but it's still important to focus on your nutrition Postpartum. Um, in addition to supplementation, of course, nourishing yourself with nutritious meals. So in addition to those nutrients who also need to consume sufficient calories to support recovery and also to support milk supply.
Abbie: Mm.
Mel: And then again, this is a good time to be working on your relationship with food and body image as always, but you know, it took nine months to grow and develop a baby. It could take nine months to, you know, get back down to where your pre-pregnancy as well. So giving yourself grace, um, doing things that can make you, you know, feel good, like wearing clothes that are comfortable and wearing clothes that fit. And more so focus on just nourishing yourself with nutritious meals. Kind like we were talking about for the three to five years out. before pregnancy, like eating full foods, eating balanced meals, eating consistently, all those things that can just support yourself postpartum.
Abbie: Yes. I love that. And I was actually just reading a study. I'm doing a systematic review for my internship right now about intuitive eating, and one of the studies I was looking at was, um, how does intuitive eating. Impact women in that postpartum period, and they found that intuitive eating was really effective in decreasing mom's risk for postpartum depression.
Mel: Oh, wow.
Abbie: I'm like, that is so interesting. Like yes, it helps with, you know, increased, you know, fruit and vegetable variety and increased intake.
You're working on that relationship with food. You're listening. To your body's hunger and fullness cues and responding out of care, love and respect for yourself, like all of the regular intuitive eating things that we feel. But because intuitive eating helps with size, acceptance and body positivity, or b body neutrality, um, you just, you have a lot of peace during that time. And yes, you're building peace with food, but you're also having more peace with your body. So those women that were at risk in the study for postpartum depression, like it didn't get postpartum depression. Really amazing.
Mel: That's incredible.
Abbie: Yeah. Oh, well, is there anything that you would say to people out there that are in that postpartum era and they just wanna lose all of their baby weight?
Mel: Yeah, so I would say, you know,
Focus on nourishing yourself, supporting your body. You know, your body just went through a lot giving birth. It needs to recover. Um, it definitely needs that extra nourishment, especially if you are breastfeeding. And also we know, you know, restrictive dieting doesn't tend to work long term. So if you are, you know, calorie counting or going on a restrictive diet, you know, you may see success in the short term, but it often leads to regain in the long term. So it's really more important to be working on those sustainable, healthy habits, uh, instead of going on restrictive diets. And not only that, you know, restricting certain foods could lead to suboptimal nutritional intake, and we know nutrients are really important during this time. Um, also it. Repercussions on your mental health, you know, can cause stress, anxiety, feelings of failure, um, can negatively impact your relationship with food in the long term and lead to poor body image. So during this time, it's really important to, you know, be supporting yourself the best way possible. Um, nourishing yourself with nutritious meals and really taking care of yourself.
Abbie: Mm. Yes. How can you nourish yourself? I love that. And is there any advice that you would have for the men? Uh, is there anything that they should be doing nutritionally?
Mel: Oh, actually that's a great question. So pre-pregnancy Um, we talked about women, what they should be doing. We talked about prenatal vitamin. We also talked about, eating a balanced diet there. Actually, there are some more specific foods that women could focus on, but let's go to men. Men are half of the puzzle. So their nutrient stores and eating a nutrient dense size are also important for them. Um, taking a multivitamin is also something that they can do as well. Um, that way they can get, you know, the Foley in and also other important nutrients, um, just in a well-rounded multivitamin. So actually in my prenatal, um, vitamin standout, I do have a couple of multivitamins for men cause. They're just important, especially through pregnancy.
Abbie: Awesome, awesome. Great. And does physical activity impact anything there or, I mean, I know generally we should be moving our body in a way that feels good and there are recommended amounts of exercise, but do you feel like that aids any in any way with fertility?
Anything you'd recommend?
Mel: You know, I'm not sure if it has a specific impact on fertility, but like generally speaking, we know it's part of a healthy lifestyle and it can, it can also reduce stress levels, which is really important. You know, before, during. Pregnancy as well. Um, so it's good to get that regular physical activity in to make sure that you're supporting, you know, an overall healthy lifestyle, reducing stress, um, also getting adequate sleep. Those are all importantfactors.
Abbie: Awesome, awesome. Yeah, just the general healthy lifestyle, bringing everything together. Is there anything else that you would wanna comment on as far as nutrition for any phase of fertility that we've talked about?
Mel: A few other things that are important pre-pregnancy, I would say one other thing that is important, uh, would be just to start familiarizing yourself with prenatal nutrition. Including which foods to avoid and which foods are important to include.
That way, you know, if and when you do get pregnant, You have an idea of, what foods are good to include, and what foods are best to be avoided during pregnancy. Um, just because it can be really overwhelming when you find out. And there's so much information on Google. And just like everything with nutrition, you know.
Everyone and every, and anyone has an opinion on this. Um, so I would say try your best to familiarize yourself with prenatal nutrition from accredited, resources, um, that way, you know, if you do become pregnant, it's not a super overwhelming experience and it's an easier transition.
Abbie: Awesome. I think that's really great advice. And where can people find you? Is there anything that you're promoting right now?
Mel: Yeah. Um, so you can find me. My social media handles are at well bys. Um, my website is well by malnutrition com and I currently, you know, post content on women's health. I do see one-on-one clients, uh, geared towards women's health.
And then I soon have a pregnancy guide available. Um,
Abbie: Amazing. Well, we will definitely link all of these things in the show notes so that people can find you in your blog posts, handouts, website, all of the things. And last question for you, Mel, is what is something that you're gonna do this week to make your week better?
Mel: Oh, I love that question. So I'll do things that will overall help reduce my stress and just make my life easier for the week.So for me, on weekends, I like to go grocery shopping and I like to prep a couple of things. Like I usually prep breakfast, um, I eat. An oatmeal bake for breakfast pretty much every week. Like I'm, it's, it's pretty set schedule for me. And then I may prep a couple like vegetables, like get them chopped and ready. It's easier to assemble. Having those foods like prepped and ready to go just makes it easier to assemble nutritious foods throughout the week. And when you make eating healthy, the easy option, it's a lot easier to sustain. So. I like to do those things cause I know that they'll help reduce stress and just set me up for success for the week.
Abbie: I love it. Well, we are fans of meal prep here about being better too, so I love that, that you're modeling that. Yay. Well, thank you so much for being with us, Mel. I really appreciate you and your time and, and all of your knowledge. Seriously. Amazing.
Mel: Thanks so much for having me. This was so fun.
Abbie: Yay.
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