Gwen Posted May 7, 2012 Share Posted May 7, 2012 I am trying to get back to good nutrition and overall health following the birth of my second baby almost 8 weeks ago. I typically get two to three hours of sleep in a row and the rest of my sleep is interrupted by nursing etc. I succeeded in 7 days of whole 30 but then succumbed to cheats. I know I felt more energetic during the week of eating clean than I have in the couple of weeks since, but I also think that my lack of sleep may be a BIGGER problem than my nutritional problems. Anyone have tips or advice on how to balance out the effects of lack of sleep? (I don't think I can change the amount etc at this point so I am stuck with dealing with it) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derval Posted May 7, 2012 Share Posted May 7, 2012 Can you nap during the day? the only way I survived those early days was go back to bed with baby for the morning nap , around 10-12. I also expressed (or used formula) one feed a day - so my husband could give the 10.30 pm feed, and I'd go to bed at 7.30pm and get to sleep till 1am ish. It is so hard, you are a great woman to be be thinking of your nutrition, I could barely think at all I think if you try & eat clean , but maybe without the strict constraints of W30, keep well hydrated, and get out for a walk outdoors every day, stay socialable, nap as much as poss...you will feel good(ish!) Congrats on your new baby Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melissa Urban Posted May 8, 2012 Share Posted May 8, 2012 I love what D says above. Naps are great, and eating as clean as you can without making yourself crazy is going to do wonders for your energy levels. The lack of sleep means you have a smaller margin of error with your nutrition, so do your best - think of clean eating as your secret weapon to combat sleep deprivation. Melissa Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
becca Posted May 11, 2012 Share Posted May 11, 2012 do you cosleep? I found, after both my kids, that bringning baby to bed meant I could nurse and sleep as needed thought the night and maximize my sleep as best I could. it's tough in the postpartum year(s) especially when you are exclusively breastfeeding. good for you thou giving your babe what nature intended! have you had your thyroid levels checked? perhaps also discuss a cortisol managing supplement with your MD. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaseyD Posted May 12, 2012 Share Posted May 12, 2012 i agree with the ditching the strictness of a Whole30 in favor of just doing your best to eat clean. New babies are hard on the sleep. I suddenly learned the art of napping after about a month of refusing to nap when my daughter did. After a while, you just have to or you'll go crazy. We had a horrible experience breastfeeding, unfortunately, so we switched to formula a month in and that allowed for my husband to get up for some of the night feedings. We split the night so that I was going to bed earlier and he put her to bed and got up for the first half of the night, and then after 2 or 3 a.m., I would get the rest of the feedings and get up with her bright and early at 5:30 a.m. It sucked for our marriage for a while (we hardly saw each other), but we both felt rested more days than not doing that. I think newborns require weird temporary survival techniques to be adopted. We were also lucky that we had grandparents willing to take her overnight once a week. Hang in there momma! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hahuston Posted May 22, 2012 Share Posted May 22, 2012 I'm right there with you. My 13 month old still does not sleep through the night. This is my 3rd Whole 30. Some things that have helped me have a successful Whole 30: Plan your meals in advance-include snacks. Keep a dry-erase board on the refrigerator so you can make your grocery list as you run out of things or as you think of new things you'd like to include. Do any preparation you can in advance-also including snacks. The crock pot and barbecue are your friends. I needed snacks during my first 6 weeks of Whole 30 (I did 2 consecutively) but as time went on, I no longer needed to snack. As far as sleep and exercise go, they go hand in hand. Since I'm not getting adequate sleep, I don't push exercise. I go for a walk when I can, get movement of some kind in when I can. The exercise will come when the sleep does. Eating clean really does make a difference, but if I don't plan ahead it's all too easy to just grab something easy (but likely not healthy) or just skip the meal altogether. And this is why I started my 3rd Whole 30 today. You can do this! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robin D Posted May 24, 2012 Share Posted May 24, 2012 I'm so glad to have found this forum! I've been following this website for over 2 years now and watched the number of people who have started eating clean explode! It's so encouraging! Now on to my question/concern.... I recently became a first time mom in November 2011. My daughter has sporatically been sleeping through the night (10 1/2-11 hours at a stretch) since she was 8 weeks old (I know, my life is rough....). I, however, have NOT. My insomnia some weeks has been terrible. It is not unusual for me to sleep less than half the amount that she does for over a week straight. This is not entirely unusual for me; I've battled insomnia since I was in my 20s and there have been periods of my life where I have gone a month or more with less than 5 hours sleep every night. The only time in my life where I have consistently slept well was when I did my first and only Whole 30 during the summer of 2010. I literally would go to sleep at 10 or 10:30 every night and wake up at 8 hours later totally refreshed. My skin also cleared up and I was rockin' my CF and cycling workouts. I really really want to try and replicate this, but between trying to be a good Mommy, wife, working part time and making a valent effort to CrossFit like I did before, I'm just not finding the time to meal plan and cook like I did when I did my first whole 30 (my husband doesn't have the time to help me either). Does anyone have any suggestions to make revamping my diet easier? Words of encouragement? Anything that can help me try and get this started again would be appreciated. My other question is about including dairy. Because I'm breastfeeding I need to keep my caloric intake up, and to be honest with you, I felt like what made the biggest difference to me before was cutting out the sugar entirely. If I include dairy in my diet will it effect my insomnia? Logic tells me no, but I'm too tired to think too much about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaseyD Posted May 25, 2012 Share Posted May 25, 2012 From someone who has had insomnia as bad as what it sounds like you've gone through, if you have seen eating perfectly clean helps you sleep better, then that is the way you should eat. You just have to get up the energy to get it started long enough to start sleeping better, then you will have more energy to meal plan/cook or whatever you need to do to make eating better work. I've never understood how people can't get enough calories eating paleo. I think it is because they are still nervous with fats and/or meat. I've not had a problem eating more than enough calories eating this way (and dairy has never been in the picture for me because of an allergy). Instead of taking in milk, eat some more fat! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
citymom Posted June 20, 2012 Share Posted June 20, 2012 First of all, I wanted to weigh in on the original post on this thread. Gwen, I can totally relate to all of this conversation. My son just turned 3 and I've been through all the ups and downs of not sleeping/nursing all while trying to get back into the gym and eat clean. My recommendation on getting sleep for you is just to get it whenever you can while you still can. During the newborn days, the baby is sleeping a lot. Make the most of this time and nap with the baby. Before you know it, your baby will be sleeping a lot less during the day and requiring more work/time/attention from you. Even when that happens, I still suggest napping while they nap. And make sure you tell yourself that you are worth it. I had a hard time "letting" myself nap without feeling guilty that I should be doing something else like laundry. After that, just eat the best and cleanest you can. If you can't fit in time to make great meals, then figure out what you CAN do. Self talk is so crucial. I dealt with PTSD after the birth of my son and truly struggled with eating clean and getting back to the gym. I was always beating myself up about what I WASN'T doing. Part of my counseling efforts have been to evaluate my self talk. Even now as I'm working out more and eating better, I still am not ready to go 100% committed to a Whole30 lifestyle, but I'm working with what I AM willing to do. I'm facing each day with what I CAN do. I know it's not exactly where I want to be yet, but it's where I am. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gwen Posted August 2, 2012 Author Share Posted August 2, 2012 A belated thank you to all of you who thoughtfully replied to my original post! I have been doing my best to eat clean ever since and now that my baby is 4.5 months old, I have fewer sugar cravings. But it is still a struggle as the sleep comes and goes. having a three-year-old who only naps about once a week also makes catching up on sleep challenging. So as you guys suggested, I have put less emphasis on intense exercise, choosing to crossfit only 3-4 times per week and rest on the other days. This seems to help a lot! And as Melissa said, the cleaner I eat, the more even my energy levels, so I have to keep reminding myself its worth the effort. I never ever have trouble consuming enough calories though, strict eating or not Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derval Posted August 2, 2012 Share Posted August 2, 2012 Glad you are taking a wee bit easier Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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