The Barbell Mamas Podcast | Pregnancy, Postpartum, Pelvic Health
The times are changing and moms have athletic goals, want to exercise at high-intensity or lift heavy weights, and want to be able to continue with their exercise routines during pregnancy, after baby and with healthcare providers that support them along the way.
In this podcast, we are going to bring you up-to-date health and fitness information about all topics in women's health with a special lens of exercise. With standalone episodes and special guests, we hope to help you feel prepared and supported in your motherhood or pelvic health journey.
The Barbell Mamas Podcast | Pregnancy, Postpartum, Pelvic Health
Food as Fuel: Navigating Nutrition for Active Moms
Are you fueling properly for your active lifestyle through pregnancy and postpartum? The answer might surprise you. In this eye-opening conversation with registered dietitian and sports nutritionist Mel Sulaver, we dive deep into the critical yet often misunderstood world of nutrition for athletic women navigating motherhood.
Recent research has revealed a disturbing connection: women with histories of low energy availability face significantly higher risks of preterm labor and delivery. This finding underscores what many health professionals have long suspected—our bodies need more fuel during pregnancy and postpartum than conventional wisdom suggests, especially when maintaining an active lifestyle.
Mel brings both professional expertise and personal experience to this conversation as a mother of two who's navigated these waters herself. She expertly dismantles the generic advice that suggests pregnant women need only minimal additional calories (150-400 depending on trimester), calling it "a load of garbage" that fails to account for individual variation and activity levels. For breastfeeding athletes, the standard recommendation of 400-550 extra calories often falls dramatically short.
We explore the telltale signs that distinguish normal postpartum fatigue from dangerous under-fueling, and why those persistent digestive issues might not be food intolerances at all—they could be your body's response to insufficient energy intake. Mel offers practical strategies for increasing nutrition without creating additional stress, acknowledging the real-world challenges of fueling properly when you're sleep-deprived and overwhelmed.
Perhaps most refreshingly, we reject the false dichotomy between "bounce back culture" and anti-diet rhetoric, finding middle ground for women who want to feel strong and capable in their bodies without extreme restriction. As Alana Meyer so perfectly puts it: "Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels? Have you tried being strong?"
Whether you're planning for pregnancy, currently pregnant, or finding your way postpartum, this conversation provides the knowledge and permission you need to properly nourish your athletic body through one of life's most demanding physical journeys.
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Hello everyone and welcome to the Barbell Mamas podcast. My name is Christina Previtt. I'm a pelvic floor physical therapist, researcher in exercise and pregnancy, and a mom of two who has competed in CrossFit, powerlifting or weightlifting, pregnant, postpartum or both. In this podcast, we want to talk about the realities of being a mom who loves to exercise, whether you're a recreational exerciser or an athlete. We want to talk about all of the things that we go through as females, going into this motherhood journey. We're going to talk about fertility, pregnancy and postpartum topics that are relevant to the active individual. While I am a pelvic floor physical therapist, I am not your pelvic floor physical therapist and know that this podcast does not substitute medical advice. All right, come along for this journey with us while we navigate motherhood together, and I can't wait to get started. Hello everyone and welcome back to the Barbell Mamas podcast. As promised, I am here with Mel Sulaver. Did I say Sulaver?
Speaker 2:Yeah, nailed it, nailed it.
Speaker 1:I was like practicing saying her last name before we got on the podcast. Many of you might know her through Instagram. She's at Nutrition by Mel. Mel and I have been working kind of around each other I would say for a long time because she specializes. She's a registered dietitian and a sports nutritionist that works a lot with women as they get into their perinatal period in other areas of their life too, but definitely has a strong interest in this space and I got to see some of her presentation though I didn't get to meet her in person at the Female Athlete Conference in Boston and since then we have connected and gone back and forth about the really important considerations around fueling. I can let her get a little bit more of a deeper dive into her credentials and her story getting here.
Speaker 1:But where I think this conversation became really pertinent and Mel and I were connecting is that we just had this study that came out that looked at women who had been in a state of low fueling, so low energy availability Sometimes you'll see this called as relative energy deficiency in sport and there was a new paper that had come out of my research lab that was talking about those who had a history of low fueling. They were at a higher risk of preterm labor and delivery, and it made me think a lot about our active individuals and how they're fueling throughout pregnancy. So this is such a timely conversation, mel. I am so excited to have you here. If you could give an introduction to our listeners about who you are, what you're doing, and then I really want to dive into some of the nutrition pieces in pregnancy and postpartum.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I'm happy to be here. Hi everybody, I'm Mel Salaver. Yes, I'm a registered dietitian. I specialize in women's health and sports nutrition. I've been practicing for almost 15 years now as a dietitian and I've done just about everything like I've done hospital based work, I've worked for medical practices and then for many years nutrition by mom was a side hustle, knowing that I would eventually take a leap and do it full time. So excited to be doing that now for a couple of years.
Speaker 2:And I guess how I got into this very niche base of female athlete, return to sport, pregnancy, postpartum. I've been an athlete my whole life. I think my identities at this point, you know, I think your identities fluctuate at different points in time. But I am a mother, I am a wife, I'm a small business owner, I'm registered dietitian, I am an athlete and you know I as a younger athlete in college was kind of set off through disordered eating patterns by my college coach, ended up leaving kind of mid year and just like deep diving into nutrition as I was studying dietetics, knowing that I wanted to shift the culture of what it meant like to help optimize nutrition and feeling in sport as an untapped potential. And also, how do we educate others who hold space for us as athletes, and preventing disordered eating and eating disorders. And so initially that was a lot of my work in sport optimizing, fueling, preventing disordered eating and eating disorders and kind of going through time experiencing amenorrhea, kind of supporting other female athletes and navigating amenorrhea. I feel like when I first started, this was all very much female athlete triad, obviously kind of in in 2013,. We now have relative energy deficiency in sport and so this understanding that low energy availability impacts all systems of our body, including our performance, well beyond just our fertility, was just kind of in on like and of course. Like, of course this impacts our whole body, it's not just one part of us. And specifically supporting female athletes, understanding that we have these really major transitions in our life we go through puberty, which is unsupported traditionally in sport or shamed in many ways, and so how do we better support our female athletes through that? I have two small humans, one who's going to be four and then, if you can see the one I'm holding right now, she's going to be four months.
Speaker 2:I think being equipped to manage what it looks like to go through a fertility journey, obviously through pregnancy, and then return to sport postpartum. It's a very unique experience to go through in your own body. It doesn't matter how long I think you've supported other people going through it. When you go through it yourself, there's just so many missing pieces to the puzzle where you say again, even being literate, it's just how, how did I miss this? Like I could have better supported this so many ways. And it just felt like when I had my son I was like this is where I'm supposed to spend my time. It just felt like the culmination of all of the work that I've done professionally, kind of personally. I was like this is it. And so you know I would say for the last five years or so I've been heavily focused on this part of a female athlete's life and how we support it.
Speaker 1:Oh, you said so many things that I want to dive into. Okay, let's start at the very beginning. So I love that you said as female athletes, we go through a lot of transitions in our life. You know pregnancy and postpartum, yes, but also puberty, and now we're seeing our peri postmenopausal masters, yeah, yeah, flexulations.
Speaker 1:At female athlete conference I remember them saying you know how soon female athletes start getting comments about their body, shape and size, and it was something like eight or 10, right, they're starting to transition through puberty and they are having changes that are very normal and expected for your body, kind of priming into that reproductive window. You're starting to become higher in estrogen and as their body changes in shape as they go through puberty, they start to get comments on what their body looks like in its expectation around performance. I think can get into this first thought around diets, and I know I have had 10-year-olds in my clinic talking to me about trying to lose weight and diet and sports. So can you talk first about first, what is the difference between eating disorders and disordered eating, because I think they're very close terms and I don't think that the differentiation is made very clear, sometimes online, sure.
Speaker 2:It exists on a spectrum, right. So an eating disorder is a form of disordered eating. Disordered eating is not an eating disorder. So an eating disorder itself is clinically diagnosed. Within the medical side, you have the other extreme end, which is an eating disorder, and oftentimes I think disordered eating is what happens in the middle, right. We're not fueling optimally or what might be ideal for us or our sport or our body in at baseline, and then you have what starts to become very problematic.
Speaker 2:I like to say that I exist in supporting people through disordered eating because ideally, we're catching it before it becomes clinically diagnosable. And the unfortunate part about culture and I think this exists beyond sport culture obviously is so much of what can be disordered is normalized. So you know, I like to. There's not even a clear definition behind it. But what I like to tell people is if you are perseverating over what you're eating, if you're really struggling with your body image and things you're be using to live your life to the fullest, then we're probably navigating some form of disordered eating. And I don't care if you have a clinically diagnosed eating disorder. You are worthy of care and support and being able to work through whatever tumultuous narratives have gotten you there in the first place.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and I think when we're, we have that identity as athletes. Nutrition is super important and sometimes in some of our big, you know, fitness spaces, there can be this hyper fixation on clean eating and only eating clean foods. And you know, even CrossFit was focused on paleo, which is great. Oh yeah, a lot of. And you know, even CrossFit was focused on paleo, which is great, oh yeah.
Speaker 1:A lot of individuals, you know. Getting more fruits and vegetables net positive right, like avoiding processed foods fantastic. But when you're working out for 10 hours a week, like you're not going to be able to get that much fuel in broccoli, like your gut is going to be destroyed. If that's what you're trying to eat, correct. And I think there's been a big push around low-carbohydrate diets and carbohydrates are so important for our athletes.
Speaker 1:Yeah, they are the most important macronutrient Can you talk about how you like, unpack this with people. Like how, if you have somebody who's saying, like I eat a lot, lot like I eat so many fruits and vegetables, I'm full all the time, what do you mean? I'm under eating, cause I talk to people a lot Like what are you talking about, christina? Like there's no way I'm under fueling, I eat all the time.
Speaker 2:Well, it's relative right Like what is appropriate for you or me or anyone else is so relative to you in your own body and so a lot compared to what? Like compared to what you were doing before. So you know, and even paleo within CrossFit has been modified right Like. If, like it was modified, it won't be like oh well, we need sweet potatoes and now we need to have these other things if you're working out because we need carbohydrates and your performance is going to tank If you don't and your hormones will be compromised if you are in a female body in particular like separate discussion everybody but there's a reason why our male athletes sometimes do better in fat adapted states than our female athletes. We need carbohydrates for our hormonal status and our body to function outside of exercise. So it is really important.
Speaker 2:Unpacking and rebuilding is like very much the basis of one on one how I support people or if I'm like educating and coaching on an allergic capacity, I think, where we need to start and focus. So you know, a lot of times people will ask like, just tell me what to eat. I just want you to tell me what to eat and you know what I like to do first, before that with anybody, and it's. It's not like a 10 step process, it's just we need to know what your relationship to food is and what your relationship to your back is. So you know, do you have certain foods that you deem safe? Do you have certain foods, foods that are scary or that you go out of your way to avoid?
Speaker 2:You know understanding like from there, from knowing what those things are. Is there a narrative that kind of plays in your head and kind of we work it down to like usually it's one or two lines. It's something that maybe a parent said at some time or a coach said at some time. You know what's? What's really frustrating for me is it's usually not their voice, it's not your voice that told you something with that. Somebody said it once, who you really trusted and you've held on to that deeply, and so we need to unpack that narrative and start to replace it with something that is more serving of you, and a lot of that is also finding like your voice.
Speaker 1:That is so interesting. In rehab we see that all the time. Right, I can give you all these positive messages but if there is one negative lean, then our brains like latch onto that negativity. Right, because we want to, because we're trying to make sure that we're avoiding threats. But in our culture we're not holding onto negative information to avoid the bear that we saw down the road. Right, we're holding onto that negative information to avoid the bear that we saw down the road. Right, we're holding on to that negative information and it's internalizing and changing our behaviors and creating a lot of stress and anxiety around fueling.
Speaker 1:Correct, you mentioned how we've kind of transitioned from female athlete triad to reds. So when we're thinking about female athlete triad and we were first talking about this conversation around under fueling, it was focused on losing your period amenorrhea, bone stress, injuries or low bone mass, and then the low fueling piece and now it's kind of gone into. Basically, when you're under fueling, your entire body goes into energy saver mode, so you are powering down in all your systems. Can you talk about you know what are outside of just your menstrual cycle and bone stress? What are other things that you're asking your clients about to try and figure out if they're in this low energy state and would kind of classify into the diagnosis of REDS.
Speaker 2:Sure, and I'm going to keep it because I think in different populations, within female athletes, so again, like within kind of puberty or like younger female athlete, I'm going to keep this to what we would see in our postpartum athletes because that's kind of the nature of the mama piece and it's hard to distinguish because there's a lot of overlap between what generally you might experience postpartum. So a lot of what I'm looking to understand is you know, obviously within postpartum you may not be getting a period and if we look at extended amenorrhea it's more than six months. But I know plenty of people who truly are feeling well, who didn't get their period back postpartum for 10 months or 12 months, really are feeling well, who didn't get their period back postpartum for 10 months or 12 months and so. But actually make that really hard as a marker, whereas at other points in time it's a really helpful flag for us is I don't I have not seen a standard like clinical marker of like this is when you get it back, cause some people get it fast and some people don't. So know that like that's definitely something we need to flag, but in isolation, at this particular point in time, it can't be something that we solely rely on um, unless, of course, like you're weaning and you're not breastfeeding or lactating at all, then then we can maybe utilize a little more.
Speaker 2:But I think the other big piece is fatigue. So, again, this is generally going to overlap with, like if you're getting really poor sleep and not recovering, um, but I would say, flag it as something that doesn't feel normal, right, like if we're not sleeping, we can expect some level of like being tired. But think, like bone tired, like if you have this, like if you're really tired, like bone achy, tired, your entire body, something is probably off. And again, just knowing we're looking at these things not in isolation but as like a cluster of symptoms. So if you've returned to exercise, you've returned to sport, we're looking at slower recovery between workouts. Maybe you're getting sick, you're getting infections.
Speaker 2:Obviously we might see some stress fractures or frequent injuries. Usually what I say, especially, especially with my mom's like if we see one stress fracture immediately we're looking at other stuff. If there's two kind of back to back, okay, there's probably a problem. So some of the injury pieces like we can flag a little bit more aggressively and, to be honest, like if we deep dive into your diet, it's pretty easy to tell almost immediately, like if you're not doing it right or doing it in a way that is best supportive of your body. You know, kind of edging off of that, you have persistent muscle soreness, like joint pain, like again think that achy breastfeeding right now, but like achy, achy joints, fingers, hands.
Speaker 2:And then the other one I think that's really big nutritionally is GI distress. So what ends up being concerning for me, especially within the context of reds, is people have GI distress and they think it's got to be gluten, it's got to be dairy. I'm going to take more things out of my diet and I will tell you most of the time and this might not be the case for you, but most of the time it is not gluten, it is not dairy, it is the fact that you are not eating enough to support your body and, as Christina mentioned, your body slows down, your metabolic rate slows down to basically suck every nutrient you're possibly giving to it. So that can cause bloating, that can cause indigestion, that can cause constipation. Versus, if we were eating enough to support like baseline physiological needs and then exercise demands on our body like it would continue humming along. It does not mean that we're broken Like this can be corrected, but you know we might have to essentially refeed you in better capacity. But you know, I would really ask within that is experiencing especially some of those GI distress issues. Let's flag something like this before you start taking things out of your diet Because, again, these nutrients, especially you think dairy, is such a prime source of calcium and vitamin D for people and you know, again, we're at risk for these bone stress injuries tying in lactation.
Speaker 2:I mean not to get too ahead of our conversation, but you know the other other thing to to share within this is sometimes, I think, based on what you might see on social media, it's marketed like postpartum or pregnancy are these entirely different states and we need all these different nutrients. But the reality is you just need more of the things that you already need. So, especially as a female athlete, like high risk nutrients iron, vitamin D, calcium you need more of them. So we need to be conscious of, like, making sure those things are readily available in our diet. And so, again, you take out something like dairy if that was a prime source for you and you don't replace foods you're taking in now we've got a problem.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's so fascinating. So in 2023, and Mel and I are very aware there is a new relative energy deficiency and sport consensus statement that came out that was speaking to all of these signs and symptoms that Mel is talking about when we think about when we are under fueling, we see a big drop in estrogen, and so obviously that has implications for our menstrual cycle and for fertility, which is where we're going to go. Next is around fertility, but we also have estrogen receptors in our brain, so there's brain fogginess, inattention, heightened anxiety in our bones, hence the risk factor for osteoporosis, and so this expansion of like you know, we're seeing in menopause that people have increases in joint pain and discomfort, similar to what Mel was talking about. So again, we're getting into these states that are almost mimicking things like postpartum and menopause, which can make them a bit complicated.
Speaker 1:The only questionnaire that we have right now that is validated is the low energy availability for females questionnaire, and they'll hit on the three parts that are in it. Right, they talk about menstrual cycle and if you were placed on birth control, why. They ask about GI distress, bloating, discomforts, et cetera, and then they ask about injury history and, funny enough, you don't know this because we haven't chatted about this yet, but some of I took the leaf cue with our pregnancy studies. We put it into our survey cue and the GI part was the one that was being flagged as statistically relevant or not statistically relevant, but hitting the relevant threshold. I should say right.
Speaker 2:Interesting.
Speaker 1:Have a greater than score of two on or a score of four, I don't even remember, don't even quote me, but that would hit the. We should probably investigate this a little bit more or you could be at risk for low fueling. The one that was the most commonly reported was around the GI stuff. So it's so interesting that you put a spotlight on the GI stuff, because we saw that in our survey data when we looked at the leaf cue.
Speaker 2:It's so common and not normal. Like clarity, like words matter here. It is common, we see it. That doesn't mean it's normal and that does not have to be something that you navigate or live with at all.
Speaker 1:Yes, absolutely and okay. So we have individuals who you know are having trouble with their periods or they're on oral contraceptives and then I find that a lot of people think that they're fueling. Then they decide that they want to get pregnant, they go off some of their contraception and maybe they didn't realize that they were getting into this low fuel state and they don't get their period back, or when they do get their period back, it's very light. So can you talk about how this low fueling kind of interacts with fertility? Obviously, if you're not getting your period, it's going to be hard to figure out when you're ovulating. But kind of, how do you support people in the preconception window who are like, ooh, like I've been at risk for this before or I think I'm in this now I want to get pregnant. Like what do I do?
Speaker 2:Great question and, honestly, like I most of my one on ones, I support them throughout the journey and, like I, have some who you know and it tends to be a lot of people who have a history of, again, clinically diagnosed eating disorder or like disordered eating patterns, and so I feel like fertility journeys are the first time that can be heavily triggered, and so a lot of that I would say it's two, it's twofold, right? So you have, we are addressing what it looks like to be able to support your body for conception and you have to be able to mentally navigate that too, right? So again, it's less of this. Like I'm not just going to tell you what to eat, like what are your barriers to doing this and how can we also mentally prepare you for the fact that your body's going to change and it doesn't matter what people get kind of you're looking at that, have this, quote unquote perfect body with this little bump. Like we cannot dictate what your body's going to look like In pregnancy. It's going to respond how it responds, and even I'm going to talk to a couple different things here that just immediately come to mind. But even within kind of weight gain guidelines, I have seen varying levels of weight gain outside of what is considered clinically normal and a lot of it is normal, like some people carry more weight when they are pregnant, some people carry less weight when they are pregnant, and there are times where that is not directly related to what they're eating, like we have real life case studies on that, so so a lot of this is preparing people on that too.
Speaker 2:First, it's working through like what are your fears to eating more? Cause, typically there's a concern to consuming more if there is a state of low energy availability, so we have to address that. And the other piece is helping them understand that you know the first thing always, if we look at like a hierarchy of needs for our body, for conception in turn, like when we're looking to perform at high levels, we need to be eating enough, right, and so I like to understand what people perceive that is for themselves, where they got that information, where it comes from. For some people it comes from dietary guidelines, which is an unhelpful marker because it's not based on you. For some people it's in comparison to their spouse. So I think, in like male female relationships in particular, some of the females I work with are, like very concerned that they're eating more than their spouses, but they're doing more than their spouses, and so it's unpacking that like why do you feel like you're not, that that's a bad thing, right, or something you shouldn't do, right? So we got to work through that, um.
Speaker 2:So, so, helping them just better understand what their body needs, we very slowly feed them. So I'm an advocate for like one thing very slowly, like let's, let's slowly feed your body, see how it responds. Let's slowly feed your body, see how it responds. And a lot of that is just it's an exposure exercise, right? So it's making you, it helps you recognize that you're safe as we introduce. You know, I've had people concerned they're going to gain a hundred pounds over, like truly a hundred pounds overnight, and none. This doesn't work that way. But hey, like your body might change and that's going to be in the best interest of what you're looking to do, kind of like. So we need to be aware of that.
Speaker 1:It's so interesting. Now, interesting, when you talked about the husband thing. My husband and I he used to always joke he's like I'm never getting your leftovers at a restaurant.
Speaker 1:Like that has never been a thing for our relationship and it was because him and I met at a crossfit gym and so we were both like very competitive in that space, and so it was it's always like a running joke being like I'm not going into this restaurant assuming that I'm going to get anything out of your plate, because I know, but I won't, and it's it's. It's not in a self deprecating like, it's not in a deprecating way at all, it's. It's more in a we're both having these goals to fuel our bodies for, for our sport, and so we kind of have this like agreement that we don't share food and I'm not going to go in with the expectation that I'm not going to eat my food.
Speaker 2:It's just correct, yeah, yeah, I mean so. So do we and and people laugh like if we're going certain places, like we eat, we eat a lot. Or if I'm hosting like I have a lot of food because I don't, I I'm aware that, like people have differing, so there's, when it comes to the actual eating and active food, there's a lot of different pieces there. So so for me, initially, again, it's just understanding like what are your barriers? What are you scared? You know, is it hard if someone else makes your plate? You need to make your own plate, like there's.
Speaker 2:There's logistical pieces there that vary individually, but outside of just the total energy intake, the other thing I do need to highlight is the carbohydrate intake peak, because you know you've you've spoken to estrogen and your estrogen is also tied to your carbohydrate availability levels, and I'm not talking about fruits, veggies, things that are very high in fiber, because that can actually like too much fiber can impact how we absorb estrogen and these different receptors in our body. I think there might be one or two studies on that. There's not much. And what's interesting with fiber is we don't have an upper limit recommendation to fiber right Like, fiber is healthy and it's great because it's preventative of different forms of healthy, and it's great because it's preventative of different forms of cancer, and absolutely I'm not taking away from that.
Speaker 2:But if we think about how we want to support our body at different points in time be it if we're looking to better, you know, make ourselves energy available, or getting ready for sport and building with a competition, or you're talking about a triathlete earlier building towards an Ironman if your intake isn't changing alongside your training, we are likely going to be digging, digging you into some form of hole and we need you to be more energy available. We also need you to be more carbohydrate available. So it might mean shifting what's just on your plate, that it's not as high in fiber and it has more starchier things and and ways like that. So those are some of the ways we might start to shift things with someone.
Speaker 1:I think you're hitting on a really important theme that you and I have both seen is that a lot of the advice that you're seeing online is for the general public which, for example, like most people, are not eating enough fiber, like as you were. Public which, for example, like most people, are not eating enough fiber, like as you were talking about fiber, I'm like most people are not eating enough. Our athletes are, and so when you're you're eating a lot of fiber, you said there isn't an upper limit but how it's going to influence your, your athlete who is doing a lot of exercise, who is doing a lot of movement, and then, as we kind of transition into the pregnancy fueling conversation, you know the main narrative is you're not eating for two Like.
Speaker 1:Stop thinking that you're eating for two like you don't need to eat more and I actually saw a big TikTok influencer who's literally her whole platform is how to lose weight in pregnancy, which made me, oh God, yes, and so can you kind of talk I have had, with that new study coming out showing that those who had a history of low energy availability were at a heightened risk for under fueling, I think what I took away or preterm delivery.
Speaker 1:What I was taking away from that is that preterm delivery. What I was taking away from that is that I think that I hadn't done my due diligence as a rehab provider in pregnancy to fuel, to talk about that fueling. I talk about it a lot in pregnancy and postpartum, but I think I had paused that conversation more, or I was more likely to pause it in pregnancy, or I would just kind of check it and be like you're eating enough, right, and they're like, oh yeah, I'm eating tons and I hear that study, I'm like, ooh, like I need to be diving into this fueling. So can you talk about what like just kind of overarching what our nutrition needs are by trimester and then kind of how you layer in the fueling conversation in our active individuals during pregnancy?
Speaker 2:Definitely, I think ideally, like, assessing first is important. To like, what did your diet look like going in? Right? So? Are you someone who you know you A? Like we're even preparing for conception, right? So? Like not even were you taking prenatals? Like, were you aware of some of like these essential nutrients? Like you think about your first trimester?
Speaker 2:Folate is really important for preventing neural tube defects. Calcium, vitamin D like these are really important throughout your entire pregnancy because you know you are building a baby skeleton. We need to protect the maternal skeleton. Your bone density does take a bit of a hit throughout the course of pregnancy and again in postpartum. If you are eating enough of said nutrients to support your body, it will return. But if you're not now, we're compromised and we're also, as expressed, like, in a state postpartum that mimics. It's pretty similar to perimenopause and menopause Maybe a conversation for another time but like can't tell you the amount of people just a lot of us are giving birth later, in our late 30s, early 40s. So I mean, I've seen a lot of people literally go from postpartum right into menopause or like it's. It's a very short bridge, so we need to be very aware of that.
Speaker 2:Um, and the other thing I want to be cautionary about is there are calorie recommendations. So, like in this trimester, you need you know, in the first trimester maybe you only need 150 calories, and then the second and third trimesters it's like between two and 400. I think that's a load of garbage. Again, like person to person, these needs are going to vary. So please take calorie recommendations with a grain of salt similar to lactation 400 to 500,. These needs are going to vary. So please take calorie recommendations with a grain of salt similar to lactation 400 to 500. 550. Again, I have seen people require upwards of 700 extra calories. I'm not someone who does calorie counting with clients, I think. I think it tends to take you out of your body and what I need is for you to be in your body so you can support me in making informed decisions for you. So just really cautioning calories and, in turn, you know if you want something to focus on. Focus on the nutrients. We also want to focus on iron. Right, like your blood volume is doubling. We want to be conscious of iodine. So iodine is supportive of your thyroid. Up until 20 weeks gestation, your thyroid is supporting the baby's thyroid because they don't have their own fully functioning thyroid. Yet that's an interesting one because we've I've also seen I don't know if you've seen a number of different thyroid issues through pregnancy into postpartum, and some of that, I actually think, is especially in.
Speaker 2:I'm a child of the 90s and sea salt became really big. Sea salt does not have iodine. Other salts like like traditional, just regular, like coarse salt had iodine in it. That was just a readily available source for most people. So now you have everybody switching to Himalayan salt and switching to sea salt. They're not getting the iodine that they're used to getting, unless you're eating seaweed on a regular basis, which isn't most people. So, like certain things we need to pay a little bit more attention to. Those are some of the big ones.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I think it's you're talking at like such a big point. When I'm thinking about interpreting that research around different trimester, I interpret that as that's over your basal metabolic rate. So we have our metabolic rate where I'm a couch potato, I'm doing nothing. This is the calories I need. If I was going to be a couch potato and I'm pregnant, here's the calories I need. And then now you're active and you need to go above that. And so sometimes with my clients, I'll be like here's the calories I need. And then now you're active and you need to go above that. And so sometimes, like with my clients, I'll be like here's your basal metabolic rate, just to be alive. You are below the just to be alive piece. And now you're also pregnant. You need, you know, 500 calories more. But you're right. Like those those things, people say, okay, I'm just going to, you know, add this or stack this on top, but in actuality it's a little bit more nuanced than that and that's like baseline and then so much. Our active individuals just need so much more than that. So I think that's such an important message.
Speaker 1:And then, as we transition into postpartum, you mentioned a couple of things that I think is really great. In pregnancy we have more calcium need for baby, so they take calcium from mom. And so what we see in the postpartum is this transient drop in your bone mineral density, as Mel said, and usually within 12 to 18 months it will rebound when you are in the nutrient environment that you are going to be able to adapt. Part of that is because, too, in postpartum, we go from in third trimester, where we're a ball of estrogen, to postpartum, where we're a desert of estrogen. That's normal, that is exactly what should be happening with your hormones, but it is a lot. And then in the postpartum period you're probably not sleeping. Your boobs are sore, you're healing from birth, you're trying to get back, like maybe you only have six weeks of unpaid leave, so you're trying to get back at work, like there's all these things, and so you're probably feeling a little bit run down right, like you're-.
Speaker 2:Yeah, or you have other kids or you're caringgiving for older adults. I mean, there's so many reasons that make this hard.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that make it hard. And then we're trying to add in this conversation around fueling. And so I remember when I was postpartum with Quinn and I had gotten an IUD in six weeks postpartum because I was like no more babies for me right now. That was a great decision for me and I didn't realize that I was in reds, because if I had the choice when I was trying to navigate work and family, if I could choose between stopping and eating lunch or getting a workout in, I always chose the workout.
Speaker 1:My mental health needed. That I didn't realize until my resting heart rate dropped to like 43, that I was like Ooh, that's a really low, like I don't know if I'm eating enough. And I was able to kind of reach out to sports med and some of my colleagues and they're like, oh yeah, christina, like what are you doing? And I don't know if you're going to agree with me, but the first thing that I did before I got into adding nutrients I was like I just need to eat more and so I would. Yeah, yeah, I've guys twice a week because I was like 2000 calories and I always train my Friday training, because I used to do that Thursday. I I knew I was like I was on to something, because Friday I was like I feel amazing.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, you can tell. It's amazing how fast you will see a difference.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so we're talking about reds and you're saying, okay, well, is it? Is it postpartum, or is it that I'm not fueling? What does that those conversations kind of look like with your people?
Speaker 2:does that those conversations kind of look like with your people? Like I think initially, like I said, it's gauging baseline and even jumping back a little bit into pregnancy. The thing I didn't mention, that I want to also acknowledge is like, yes, like we're going to start wherever your mental health allows for us to start right. So if it's just not popping off screen just to grab a scrunchie for this small human of mine, if, if the easiest thing for you to do is go to five guys or to eat, like a few, something that you're craving, that you're willing to eat, great done, we're not going to worry about it. I don't want you to have anxiety about oh gosh, I have to have this, this specific food or this specific thing, or like I don't, I don't want to eat liver Like Mel, are you kidding?
Speaker 2:You know? Like where are you willing to start? And that is where we will start. And the reason I bring back pregnancy is because in your first trimester plus you might feel like garbage, like can't eat, food aversion I mean, I had them most. Most people I see do I have a handful that have absolutely no like aversions or fatigue and they just feel phenomenal throughout and I love that for them, but the reality is, most people experience some sort of like nausea, vomiting or food aversion, and so the last thing I'm going to do is tell someone that they're failing because they're not having these specific foods. So we do what we can.
Speaker 1:There's so many people online that are saying like you need to fuel your body. And there's the comments where you're like, are you joking? All I could eat was like unsalted, like crackers. That was the only thing I could keep down. And I feel like there's like this comparison game where, like there's this almost like preaching, sometimes that can happen, correct Influencer culture that can be so hard to swallow and you're like well, I had hyperemesis and I was retching the entire pregnancy. So thanks, but no thanks. Like, yeah, like I have a friend of mine who had hyperemesis and the only thing she could eat her entire pregnancy was protein waffles, and so that was amazing.
Speaker 1:After out of hospital it kept her, you know, because when you're throwing up that much, you're so at risk for so many things.
Speaker 2:Oh, yeah, yeah, oh yeah, yeah, so, so. So, first and foremost, like, please give yourself grace wherever you are and like, no, like that's that's where you start, um coming back.
Speaker 1:Okay, you're gonna have to reframe the question the postpartum question because my brain went into back there and now I forgot and when you have individuals who are like not sleeping, they're in the new postpartum, they're're very stressed and overwhelmed, and then they may also be under fueling, like it's a little bit more blurry because you're in low estrogen and then low energy availability puts you into that low estrogen. So how do you help people realize that you are feeling all these things because you're postpartum, but they make the magnitude of them or they may be being made worse because you are also not feeling appropriately Like how do you frame those conversations up?
Speaker 2:So, in terms of gauging, like a starting point, sometimes this does have to do because of postpartum anxiety, postpartum depression. So, first and foremost, like really gauging severity. Or, you know, I've had people not eat because they just they can't put their baby down, like if the baby is screaming or crying at all, like that is very distressing to them, and so they won't eat because they can't put the baby down, so they can't get hands right. So the first thing is like where are you at? And how do we just start to find little intervention points, right? So, if it's the workout, if you know, if you say to me, if you're like Mel, I just like, I know, I know I have to eat, but this 25 minutes that I have for myself, like I want to exercise, okay, like, can we grab some sort of a bar? Like, can we grab some sort of bar bar? Do you want to have some cereal? Like toast, a bagel, something that you can have before and then afterwards, like would you drink a protein shake? And this is you get back to like the some shaming.
Speaker 2:That goes on because, you know, sure, in a certain amount of time it's really great for you to have hot, cooked, warm meals, but not everybody can do that. Not everybody can do that. And also, by the way, there's a number of different companies that will sell you like postpartum meals and they don't give you enough food. Like you need to buy multiple. Like I have been asked several times like what do you think? And I'm like it's not enough food. So like, if you have the resources and you want to get a couple different meals to eat, like you need the oatmeal and you need the egg and you need the congee, not just one of those. So like what's the starting point? And how do we just start to give you a little bit more?
Speaker 2:Um, but the buy-in comes with what you express, right where it's like you start to feel better.
Speaker 2:So like let's just try this once and then go get a workout in the next day, or helping them realize, like I know that this is really important for you to have like movement in your day. But if we're at a point where you can do like a little bit more of an intense workout, like can you give yourself rest the next day instead of like back-to-back stays that are likely also digging yourself into a hole, can we get a rest day and maybe it's like an active rest day, some sort of walking, some sort of like buffering, conditioning, like what can we do that will give you that sensation that we're doing the thing that we want to do, without like further digging you into a hole, but finding the windows where, like, you're willing and able to eat Once you do start eating, like it does make. It does make a difference. So a lot of that really is just like doing it once, doing it twice, then trying something and realizing that they feel better.
Speaker 1:Amazing, all right. The last thing that I want to get into, because I want to respect your time. One of the things that I think about a lot is how we have a lot of pendulum swings, right. So on one side, we have this bounce back culture where the amount of time it takes you to look like you haven't had a baby is like this, this badge of honor. The other side, we have individuals who are, you know, doing a slower rebuild and say, hey, it took you nine months to get pregnant.
Speaker 1:It is okay if your body has changed shape and size, and I think in both camps there is, I don't want to say, problems, but I think some people who don't want to prescribe, maybe to bounce back culture, but they want to have body composition goals, sure, sometimes feel like they're in this weird place, like I, like they, like some people, will jump on them with like this shame, blame, train of like why are you trying to lose weight or don't? Blah, blah, blah. And then the other people on the bounce back culture are like look how I look not pregnant at six weeks postpartum, right? Or that I never had a baby and so how I think, where I sometimes, you know, will definitely just like refer to RD to have these conversations is around being in a calorie deficit for body composition goals, versus slipping into low energy availability, where that deficit is so significant that it's having negative impacts on your health. Like this might be a really like you're like wait, wait to give me a really calm.
Speaker 1:I think I, I think I know where you're going, Like so Like it'd have body recomposition goals postpartum, like I know I did yeah same. That doesn't necessarily mean that you're trying to do bounce back culture, correct. How do you kind of talk about recomposition postpartum when we're kind of in this awareness of how that low fueling and calorie restriction can have health implications?
Speaker 2:Well, I think it's an. I think it's a really important conversation to have and I'm glad you're bringing it up because, yeah, it seems like we exist in what is all or nothing. Like you, it's it's the problem with diet culture. It's the problem with anti-diet culture is there's extremes that exist on both ends. Like you don't. You, you can want to like feel strong, resilient in your body, especially if you've been in a certain type of body most of your life. I think a lot of it on my end is first, like, what are you expecting? Like, what is the expectation that you have? Let's talk about that. And then let's talk about, like, potential timelines, because you can't guarantee weight loss, you can't guarantee body composition a certain amount of time, like I'm not a fan of that like six to twelve weeks, it's, it's just, it's not, it's going to be variable, especially at this point in time. Um, so initially, it's also gauging like are you breastfeeding, are you lactating? Because that will say a role in this In terms of creating a calorie deficit. I'm very cautious of how I do. I will give her away. Yeah, my, my mother not gonna grab the baby. Oh, push in. Yeah, thanks, dude. Um, he's been so good she's done. Um, so initially it's really important to gauge, like what's the expectation, because that's what we're working with for each person.
Speaker 2:The other component is just because you want this doesn't mean that there's a problem with it. But if you are, I will say, if you're someone who has struggled with the body dysmorphia disorder meaning piece, we need to just talk about like what are the drivers? Because this can really come from a place of optimization. Like returning strong, healthy and, to be clear, like body aesthetics is very different than returning to sport. Everybody, like these are these are two different goals that we have. Sometimes your aesthetics come as a byproduct of your training for sport not always, but that's where I like to talk through clearly like what's your expectations that we can talk about what is going to look like from the movement standpoint and then also from the dietary standpoint.
Speaker 2:So gauging like the headspace around it, and so if someone is really adamant about you know, losing weight or working to a specific body composition, that's, I think for me, the biggest piece is like gauging the expectation, understanding where it's coming from and then helping outline that. But in terms of a timeline, it's going to be variable, because if you are breastfeeding or lactating and you want to do that for however long you want to do it, or you just kind of want to see how it goes. There's some people who choose not to or choose to combo feed, and that might dictate. But we're also gauging milk supply as we increase things, so there's some variability there. But I really do not like to put people into a calorie deficit for at least a year at least, with any sort of intention, and when I do, it's very, very slow.
Speaker 2:Um. That being said, we can manipulate body composition without adjusting um calories, and so that's usually where I'll start. But, similarly to previous discussion, like what are your preferences? Because we might have to shift around, like the foods that you're eating, to better support those, that type of macronutrient intake, and you don't need to know your macros to do like that's how I support it, just because of where I come from. That's not what I lead with. But we'll talk about specific types of foods. Or take the meals you're having and how do we change this in a way that makes it more supportive of these goals that you want?
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, I think, yeah, I think you. You touched on a lot of really great points. Number one, for sure, milk supply has been a barometer. Like I know that I'm not, I'm not, I'm not in healthy calorie deficit. Maybe a little bit when my milk supply starts to go down, especially when I'm hydrated.
Speaker 1:So, yeah, that's a great point. And the second point that I think you made is that when we're fueling for performance, the body recomp tends to happen in tandem, without intentionally putting yourself in that deficit. And then you know, like, for example, I'm a weightlifter and so right now trying to not a lot, but I'm trying to drop a kilo to just hit my weight class, and so I have not been in a calorie deficit for a really long time, but now I'm just slowly you know over eight weeks trying to drop four.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 2:And it's and I'm not newly postpartum and so I think but that hasn't been with a lot of restriction, it's just been of like maybe don't have that ice cream at nine o'clock, like like but that's the thing, and you, but you do a wonderful job because you've also talked about this and and this is how I talk about it is, you know, because, because I think we often find ourselves in this comparison game of like I did this before, why can't I do it now? And again you sit there in a pocket. It's like well, what did your life look like? Tell me? Tell me out loud, what did your life look like before? And then let's talk about what your life looks right now. Looks like right now, and we're talking about two very different situations. And so it is unfair for you to expect this when this looks like this, so we can make changes to what you're currently doing.
Speaker 2:But also, you know, the other I think tip I would give to people is think about what's negotiable for you and what's not negotiable for you. So, like the ice cream, like if you want to get ice cream with your kids and that's important to you, well then, like we need to incorporate that into what you're doing, you don't have to give it up. But then we need to give up something else, because within food, there's also an association that certain foods are better than other foods, Now, certain foods we eat because they're nutrient dense right, they provide like physical satiety. And there's other foods that we eat that aren't nutrient dense, but they taste really good and they're part of celebration community and whatnot, and so there's room for both. But when we're working towards a specific goal, we have to take into account that something's going to have to shift.
Speaker 2:So what makes it hard with, like again, the diet culture, anti-diet culture piece is, like you know, then you feel like well, I should just be. You know, I've worked with people where it's like I don't understand, I should just be able to do all the things, and it's like you can't. If you want this thing like you can't, either you need either we need to change the expectation or we need to change the behavior. So so it's, it's, it's so I, it's all behavior work. It's not. It's less about food specifically most of the time, and we need to talk about the behavior and why you're doing it or why you're not doing it, and it's, it's heavy and it's hard. It's hard for people.
Speaker 1:It's hard unpacking some of those things right. Like I, I know that my own journey has been. I've been really lean and I have been in athletics for a really long time and for me I even returned at like my second postpartum journey. I was super lean, like six pack. I was doing 10 to 12 hours of CrossFit stuff and for me it wasn't the postpartum thing that shifted is I finished my PhD, started a postdoc, went back into clinic, all those types of things, and now I'm like, Ooh, I can't hold on to that training volume.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and so my body shifted shape and size, not because of pregnancy, postpartum, but because I just went into a different life phase. Yeah, and even that, like you know, you talk about the mental side like that really messed me up. Yeah, I was like I don't. I'm so used to holding on to this like way my body looked and the way my body moved, because that was a big part of my identity and now it's a smaller. It was a big part of my identity and now it's a smaller. It's still a part of my identity. I wouldn't say that I've gotten rid of that because you know, I've still done half marathons and I'm training for a competition right now, but it's not as big, and that's fine.
Speaker 2:Yeah, well, that's, and like even as I introduced myself, right, it's like you have these identities and they might shift. They might shift in like priority and that's it, and you might decide in in, in 10 or 15 years, like you want to revisit some of that and you can, like you know how you're capable and, um, I feel like so much of navigating pregnancy, but any season that we navigate in life is knowing where you are, what you're comparing yourself to, but what, what can you do now based on these things that you want? And even in my own postpartum season, like I am really excited to work back towards a place where I feel like confident and strong and like competitive in my body. Again, I just know that it's not right now and I'm and I'm okay, like I accept that, but I am looking forward to when I feel like I'm in a place to be able to give that time and energy to it.
Speaker 1:You know I love Alana Meyer so much, like I just have the biggest crush on her and she don't we all I know, doesn't every woman and she goes. Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels she goes. Have you tried being strong, like I feel good, like, and she's got. She's like I feel nourished and she's just like you know, and I was like, oh, chef's kiss, I just love that. She's like I do a lot and I feel good within my body and I think that is like the reframe that every woman needs is like do you feel strong and capable within your body? All right now, how do we find you? How do we find you?
Speaker 2:Nutrition by Mel. Nutrition by at nutrition by Mel. Social nutrition by melcom is where you can find me, Mel at nutrition by mel.
Speaker 1:So if you know mel and you know nutrition by mel, you will find me we'll make sure we put all the links to where they can find you on our show notes. Thank you so much. I feel like I could have talked to you forever. We're already at an hour. I'm like, oh, we'll be 30 I was like we did it, why I was lying to you about saying that expectation that's it.
Speaker 2:hey, I'm glad we did it with the baby. I was like, oh, we did it. There was a lot happening, but we got it.
Speaker 1:We did it Well, thank you so much for hanging out with us today. If anyone has any questions, is it okay if they turn to you on Instagram. Yeah definitely Amazing, and I'm sure we need to have you back on the podcast to talk more things about nutrition. Well, thanks so much.
