As a new parent it can be tricky to keep up with your health – both physically and mentally. Adapting to looking after a newborn can be overwhelming, and you can often put your own needs on the back burner, but it's important to still take care of yourself. This doesn’t have to mean gym sessions with your baby strapped to you or getting up at 4am to peel carrots before they wake up!
It's especially important to listen to your body, and take it slowly if you are the parent who has just given birth.
You'll need time for your body to recover, and often for your emotional and mental health to catch up with having created this little human as well, before you try to start doing exercise at a level you were at before.
Keeping active at this time might include a simple walk around the house or getting up and gently stretching (if it is safe to do so; if you had a tricky or caesarian birth especially, please follow advice from your midwife or doctor on when and how to be more active).
Getting out doesn’t have to mean a hike
Fitting in exercise with a new baby can be so difficult. In these early days, leaving the house is a huge achievement, no matter how far you go. Just going for a walk up and down your street with the baby in the pram is a great way to get moving – and a nice experience for baby, too!
Finding ways to eat well can make a big difference
When it comes to food, there are many options for ready prepared vegetables that can simply be thrown into a pan, steamer or on an oven tray, or even healthy prepared meals that can be easily reheated.
You might find it easier to cook only a few times a week, making bigger portions of nutritional meals that can be stored in the fridge or freezer and reheated on the days it feels like cooking is just a step too far.
Don’t underestimate the power of help
Friends and family will be fighting each other to come and see you, or more accurately in most cases see the baby. There is nothing wrong with asking them to bring some meals or snacks for you when they do – in fact, it would be perfectly fine to refuse entry to anyone not holding food when they arrive!