Sandrine Lavoie-Filion

Most new moms expect to be tired after labor and while taking care of a newborn so they often don't realize that there are a lot of thing that can help them get some energy back.

You need to recover and one of the best ways to do so is by imrpoving your nutrition.

A lit of moms (especially breastfeeding moms) can have nutrition deficiencies persist even past a year after having their baby.

What to do?

-Check your iron and vitamin D levels.
-Increase your dietary sources of Iron, vitamin D, B12, zinc and calcium.
-Use supplements if needed in your diet.

You'll see that this will already give you some energy back until your little one decides to sleep through the night 😉

These characters need to be watched!

If I don't keep a close eye on them they'll change my whole outline 😮

They have already changed my little novel to make it a whole serie... what's next?

When you've tried almost every fitness and nutrition program out there but nothing seems to be working here are a couple of reasons why this might be happening.

1) Most fitness content and advice have been based on research done on men which didn't take into account women's hormonal state (pregnancy, postpartum, peri-menopause), the menstrual cycle, and the fundamental biomechanics difference between men and woman.

2) You're self-sabotaging. You usually have good results in the beginning but somehow life always gets in the way... or you get in your own way. When things get difficult or challenges arrives you put yourself last again, can't seem to find solution and believe that once again you will fail and stop putting all the effort in. You're a self-fulfilling prophecy. You thought this was going to fail so when things became difficult instead of oushing through you saw it as confirmation that it "once again" wasn't going to work.

3) You're staying in a calorie deficit for too long. You're body wasn't meant to stay in a constant state of deficit. At one point your body will be adapting and you will stop losing weight. That's why doing cycles of deficit then coming back to balance is important if you want long-term results.

Which one is it for you? 🤔

This is my life now, I can't concentrate anymore since this book needs to get written.

Why is the world such a source of inspiration?

Most weight loss plateau have nothing to do with your workouts or your diets but more so from your habits.

Your habits of putting yourself last, of finding reasons not to workout, reasons why you're going to fail, seeing the obstacles instead of the solutions.

What really is a game changer for your weight loss is when you realize that you are the one that can control your thoughts and behavior. You are the one that can decide to succeed or not. Most people stay stuck because when a challenge occurs then get into their head and sabotage their results.

"I'll start again on Monday."
"I've already screwed up anyway."
"It doesn't matter anymore."
"I knew this wasn't going to work."

Change your thoughts, change the way your react, change your results.

Sure, age is one of the factor to take into consideration when you calculate the basal metabolism (amount of calories burned at rest). As you age, there will most likely have a slight decline in your metabolism but that's not why you've been gaining a few pounds lately.

During peri-menopause and menopause estrogen production declines, you become less sensitive to insuline and you start to lose your muscle mass faster than before.

Less muscle means less calories burnes, less glucose control (more prone to pre-diabetes), and less utilization of your fat reserve.

If you have gained a few pounds lately it isn't due to age and you can do something about it. Reverse the process.

Add more resistance/strength training to your weeks and increase the amount of protein in your diet. 💪