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Showing posts from June, 2017

Chocolate Peanut Butter Energy Bombs

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Now I know I had you at the title of this recipe but I feel that I may just need to reassure you a bit more that these 'energy bombs' are indeed not just enticing but also good for you! These are what you would call high fat - they are very much packed full of good fat from peanut butter, coconut oil and butter. There has been a lot of emerging research around the importance of fat - including saturated fat. A lot of the work I do with mums one-on-one (especially in my kick-start package ) is looking at this and ways to increase these fats to help prevent cravings. This is where I find these energy bombs to be gold - or rather chocolate peanut buttery bites of gold! With next to no carbohydrate or sugar (except what is naturally there a little bit) these will not produce a big blood sugar spike at all AND provide much needed energy - ideal for that dangerous 3pm time (or breastfeeding marathons!). My only disclaimer here is that these are not sweet, and do taste high in fat (wh

Winter Sleep Tips

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Sleep for anyone with small children is basically a distant memory, however winter seems to add an extra factor into the mix. Getting out of bed to re-settle or feed little ones in the cold feels like an endurance event and there is a much higher possibility of little ones waking more too. As far as wellbeing is concerned sleep is very much a key cornerstone (I have an entire chapter on this in The Nourished Baby for this reason!). In this blog I shed light on some the science behind sleep in winter time for your bubs, along with some tips which just may help you to stretch out those sleep times during these months. Regulating Temperature Did you know that when you are pregnant your baby's temperature is very nicely regulated inside your womb? However, the ability to regulate body temperature is a physiological adaption developed once outside that snug oven. When first born, a newborn baby is unable to shiver, which mean they will struggle to regulate their temperature all on their

The Healthiest Yoghurt

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I wanted to write this blog as I often get asked what is the best yoghurt. To be honest I thought this would be quite straight forward however, it was not until I went into the supermarket and seriously looked at the enormous range of yoghurts did I realise there were so many. I am very programmed to just buying the couple of brands I know and trust that I do not look much at the others especially as shopping with two toddlers you get like nano seconds in this section as one) it is cold and two) ah...two toddlers in a trolley need I say more? I think I need to do a series of blogs on yoghurts - kids yoghurts, greek yoghuts, coconut yoghuts....you get the picture! But for now I hope the following helps you to get started at least. Yoghurt is a dairy food and I know this is quite a grey area of nutrition. I have a chapter on this in The Nourished Baby as well as my toddler book (coming August 2018), as it can be confusing even right from the start. I thought it would help to actually sa

Travelling with Kids - The Practice Run

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With release of my new book coming out in August this year, we are planning a serious amount of travel in a national tour (as well as overseas). We will be taking both boys with us - one as we do not want to be apart from them for so long but also because we want them to experience this travel with us! It is very much way out of my comfort zone - up until a couple of years ago I had not done very much travel at all! Travelling with kids is another whole new ball game too - even more so when doing work on route! If there is one thing that we have learnt so far with all the events we have done it is that you need to be prepared for the unexpected! Something will happen it is just a matter of what! By the way parenting is just the same right so mix these two together and you really have to think on your feet - this gets easier and easier with practice so.....we decided to do a practice travel trip to Wellington - a place I am largely familiar with as my sister has lived there for 10 years

Congestion and Sleep

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With our eldest son turning five in a few months it is fair to say we have endured quite a few winters now! As both boys have been in daycare since a few months old, keeping their immune systems strong and fighting lots of viruses has just been par for the course. I think one of the hardest things we have to go through as parents is when our children get sick. Virus are especially challenging as there is often very little we can do except to provide support and help nurture our babies while they battle this themselves. How to help your baby when they are congested is something I get asked a lot about. So the following is some tips of this which is a mixture of my understanding of nutrition and wellbeing for little ones mixed in with some (hard learnt) parenting experience! Changes in Food Babies and toddlers are little versions of ourselves – I always try and keep this in mind when things do not go to plan – as adults there are days when we do not want certain foods or only feel like p

Warm Pear and Ginger Smoothie

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A warm smoothie can really cheer up chilly winter mornings! For little ones who are struggling with colds this might also be something a little different which can help soothe sore throats. The ginger and natural probiotics in the yoghurt can also help boost immune systems. Just a note on the almonds - the Nutri Bullet is pretty powerful and can easily blend whole nuts but you could always use some almond butter instead. Ingredients: 2 pears 20 almonds Small piece of peeled ginger (about a thumb nail) 1/2 cup of unsweetened yoghurt 1 and 1/2 cups of unsweetened almond milk 1 tb of honey (optional) Directions: 1. Warm the almond milk for two minutes in the microwave. 2. Add the pears (skin included), almonds, youghurt into the blender. Pour the warm milk in over the top and add honey if desired. 3. Blend and enjoy while warm! For another warm smoothie idea check out my Warm Apple, Oat & Cinnamon Smoothie and in my next blog is some extra tips on helping babies with congestion, xxx D

Strong Bodies and Strong Minds

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It has been just over two years since I posted my blog, My Real Postpartum Body. Two years and it is still going viral. Two years of mums reading this, major media outlets sharing it and being asked for interviews. Two years of getting messages time after time saying how relieved mums are to not feel alone with this. To me this just shows how much the changes that happen to us after having a baby affect us. How much pressure we have to look a certain way after having a baby. A few weeks ago, during one of the last days of our ‘real’ summer…you know when it was hot enough to get in the water, we took the boys to a family day at the beach. I had just finished writing my book and we were all looking forward to some quality time at our local beach. My husband took a small video of all of us – one for the memory books - he loves doing this. That evening he showed me the video and some of the photos he also took and asked me if he could share this (on social media). My first thought when I