GQ Jordan: The Postpartum Nutritional Advice Every Mother Needs to Hear

0:00What's your pillars when you're pregnant? Scheduling in your nourishment. Your body is going through so much. Have you felt sick? What did you do? It's giving yourself a bit of grace. Without enough rest, your hunger hormones are going to be impacted the next day. And what about postpartum? Your body needs to rebuild. Slowly but surely, you kind of get a bit brainwashed into thinking that you have to do everything. The postnatal period is so geared towards bounce back. What are the worst faddy diets that you see? So that's a bit of a red flag. Absolutely. we want to add things in not take things away.

0:30Brain fog and exhaustion where does someone start? It's worth kind of checking before it becomes a real issue slowing down to speed up. Hello my loves and welcome to Motherkind it is me your host Zoe we are proudly sponsored by Wild Nutrition's Women's Supplements and I am so happy to be here with you today thank you for pushing that little play button. This is the show for you, the woman behind the mother. This is a place to exhale and focus on you for a moment. This episode is with GQ Jordan, the women's health nutritionist who is currently pregnant with her second baby. And she joins me with a rare kind of honesty about what it actually takes to nourish yourself through pregnancy, loss and the depleting early years of motherhood.

1:22So this is a conversation about energy, hormones, the quiet exhaustion so many of us have learned just to live with. GQ explains why your body after birth is rebuilding from a major event. There is no bounce back going on whatsoever. She also talks about why so much of the wellness messaging aimed at new mothers is really restriction, dressed up as a reset. We get practical to what to eat when you're exhausted and you're running on broken sleep. Why breakfast is always the first thing to go and how to fix that. And she gives so much incredible advice about the simple tweaks that can make a real difference.

2:00Underneath the nutrition, this episode is really about permission. Permission to prioritise your own needs. Permission to put yourself first every once in a while. It is honest, warm, full advice, and I think you're going to want to send it to every exhausted mother in your life. Here it is. Quickly, before we get there, can you subscribe wherever you are listening or watching to this? Subscribing tells the algorithm gods that more people want to listen to our content. It serves it to more people and we get to reach more and more mothers with our mission of spreading wise, kind advice in a world full of judgment.

2:39So help me on that mission. Here it is. Hope you love it. Oh, GQ, welcome. I am so excited to be chatting to you, especially as you're pregnant right now. Congratulations. Thank you. No, I'm so excited to be here. Delighted to be here and have a chat. So tell us about this second pregnancy. Has it felt different, Zayn? Very different. A lot more relaxed in ways. The first trimester was a bit anxiety feel because last year I started the year with a miscarriage, unfortunately we lost a little girl so as you can imagine moving in through those milestones that I previously passed there was some anxiety there that I had to keep kind of reframing and kind of getting through and talking about I think talking about that kind of stress and tension and bracing I suppose is always the best way to get over it but past that when we when we got past the kind of 14 week mark I was just loving it it's has just been amazing it's been a completely different experience than my first pregnancy my second pregnancy and I just am so excited for the next chapter oh that's so lovely to hear I sadly lost two as well between my first and second and it is amazing how anxiety inducing the experience then is when you're pregnant because you it's almost it's like you're holding your breath yeah that's how it felt for me that's exactly it's holding your breath like bracing it every turn every bathroom trip sorry from tmi but yeah every twinge you're just kind of second guessing and we we did a lot of scans um and we had a lot of reassurance in that sense it was always about like you know reiterating to myself that the evidence that i have is all pointing in the right direction and yeah it's uh it's a bit of a mine filled that women have to kind of overcome when they've had you know pregnancy after loss really is and how what's your because obviously you're a nutritionist you live and breathe kind of helping us feel better feel more energized what's your what's your sort of um your pillars when you're pregnant to help you stay healthy and have you felt sick oh god i was so sick the first trimester was just uh was was such a battle in that sense as well more so on this pregnancy and you know there's lots of old wives tales about you know boys versus girls and we were actually told that we're having a boy up until 20 weeks and then the sonographer is like no that's that's a girl I was like oh that really tracks because I was so sick in the first trimester but I suppose when it comes to like pillars and things that I really try to take off within my day and it is within your day it should be taking each day as it comes because you know someone might have different symptoms someone might have you know different responsibilities and workloads and you know energy expenditures during each day so it's about you know having your meals scheduling in your nourishment because your body is going through so much and there's a lot being asked of it and that's true even when you go into postpartum so kind of reframing your approach to nutrition as you know my body is almost like a machine it's an engine and when it comes to fueling an engine you need to have those raw materials in there or else it will start to malfunction or you know work subpar so having your breakfast lunch and dinner and within that trying to take off a few like you know nutrients you know enough protein enough omega-3s enough vitamin d all of those classic things that we hear about when we go to our midwife or our doctor but keeping it really simple at the same time you know you don't need to micro manage or or kind of calculate be a walking calculator when it comes to your nutrition it's just really intuitive simple additions to your plate that you know adds a bit of color adds a bit more protein a bit more fiber and over the course of a week over the course of a month that really really adds up and helps your your system just you know function better and so that you experience your pregnancy a little bit better and you know your day-to-day even when you felt sick because I know so many women say to me my sister-in-law had terrible issues like I'm so worried about the baby because I can't keep anything down you hear that a lot don't you what's what's best to do then what did you do?

6:49I think as well it's giving yourself a bit of grace because you there's everyone's so different and every day when you're going through that nausea luckily mine finished at 14 weeks but I know that lots of women have it up until you know their due date so it's really just giving yourself a bit of grace and you know if you feel like you can manage different kinds of food great if you can't just getting in your safe foods is all that you can do you know resting resting is also I think a nutritional element because without enough rest your hunger hormones are going to be impacted the next day your absorption of certain nutrients are going to be impacted so kind of taking a step back and not getting too bogged down or didactic on you know different nutrients or worrying because you're going through a lot like it's it's it's a lot to handle and if someone hasn't experienced nausea in pregnancy you know it is all consuming um so just kind of giving yourself a little bit of grace and not worrying too much because you know you it's you will be able to eventually get those nutrients back in your baby will be fine you know it's it's it's it's taking the pressure off and what about postpartum because i think there's so much focus isn't there on nutrition and pregnancy but for me i think i struggled more postpartum because i was exhausted i actually put on all my kind of baby weight if you want to call it that in postpartum because I was so tired and I would get to four o 'clock every day and I would go to the Gales at the end of my road nice and I would get myself one of their hot chocolates which is basically melted chocolate in a and a and a cake and I did that every single day for like nine months and it had an impact and I think I think that's because I was grabbing sugar yeah because I was so tired and it did give me that fix but what what's better to do you know when we're postpartum or even you know three years in four years in you still get that just wading through treacle exhaustion feeling 100 what what do we do what's best to do nutritionally when we're in that state well to say like postpartum and you mentioned they're like you know three four like it takes two years for your body to really recover after childbirth it is a massive event and a lot of depletion can happen both in the third trimester and you know if you are breastfeeding that's another area to think about when it comes to energy across the day you know you said it yourself your body was kind of craving that energy in the afternoon because you're having a bit of a crash um making sure that you're fueling enough in the earlier stages of the day can really help with that rebound in the latter stages oftentimes our body is craving energy those quick forms of energy in the afternoon because we might not have gotten it in the morning and that that makes sense because the morning time is such a demanding kind of window when you have say a newborn or a young child because you're getting them up and dressed you're getting them fed maybe you're feeding them whether that's breast or bottle whatever it's time consuming and maybe you're you don't have a partner to support you in that in that time frame so it's all on you and the first thing to go is breakfast yeah 100 is always breakfast i heard you talk about this you're like i'm a nutritionist and i kept skipping breakfast oh yeah yeah it happens to everyone like the best of us I'm not saying that I'm the best of us, but, you know, because I'm aware of these things, but we're all human and these are human situations.

10:09And it's just, I think, having some awareness of that in advance, say, if you're coming up to the end of your third trimester and getting ahead of that. And I'm not saying like, oh, you need to be like 12 hours meal prep every day and filling your freezer because that's not sustainable either. it's more about thinking about maybe really useful meals really easy accessible meals that you can do with a baby strapped to you or you know getting into a routine or rhythm where you know you're doing the night feed maybe if you have a partner they could prep a smoothie for the next morning so that you can just blitz it drink it while you're feeding you know those small little habits stack up over time and ensure that you're getting the nutrients you need after maybe a really broken a night of sleep after you know after feeding if that's what you're doing you know all of these things because your body needs to rebuild and in order to rebuild we need you know all of the raw materials that we talked about and I think simple habits like that can really really support you and I know from experience that you know you mentioned you your habits in in postpartum I went the opposite way I went into like martyr mode almost where I was like I must do everything and it's something that I actively said I wouldn't do in my third trimester coming up to birth.

11:27And then suddenly, you know, you get conditioned by messaging online. Because in motherhood, maybe it's late nights, and you're on your phone, and you're just absorbing this content where slowly, but surely, you kind of get a bit brainwashed, you know, into thinking that you have to do everything and I think that everything should start with filling your cup because it's not selfish it's literally the the most necessary thing you can do to support your family and your baby um it sounds like cliche but if you're okay they'll be okay and you need to start it like patient zero which is you it's true what sort of things were influencing you what were you doing were you like color coordinating oh god no it wasn't no I don't even do that now what were you doing I was just like you know trying to go to all of the classes oh yeah you know that kind of thing where you're like I must do this my I see my you know people in my it cracks me up what are those classes for it's like the babies don't even know oh my god they're just like looking back it's a waste of money not really obviously get you know you get other things out of it connections is obviously important as well and I think yeah obviously within that kind of taking a step back and getting perspective they are important but maybe not trying to do one every day you know just kind of realizing that you're only one person you've been through a lot your body's recovering and first and foremost you need to nourish that you can show up every day as your best self you know you you need that nourishment and yeah I definitely was just a sucker for trying to do everything same same same same crazy isn't it how we take that sort of tendency to overwork and achieve into postpartum sort of the equation broke a bit for me I was like okay this isn't this that old way that I used to do things doesn't quite work because I get a buzz off doing things and getting things done like the dopamine and mini dopamine hits and it just doesn't it doesn't marry well with having a baby and a small child you have to take a step back so what are some of the things because the majority of people listening the majority of people in my audience tell me they experience kind of brain fog and exhaustion and do have those sugar cravings and I think most of the mothers that I know would probably say do you know there's so much that I want to do differently with my nutrition and my well-being and how I feel do you hear that and where does someone start what are some of the things we've normalized that actually we should be doing something about no yeah I definitely hear that a lot of the time and it's there are a few key nutrients that you know are in more in demand as you come up to birth and postpartum which will have that effect on brain fog and you know your energy and all those things so iron is something that we often hear about and I'm sure everyone knows someone who might be anemic in pregnancy or postpartum, but it's one that kind of gets brushed under the carpet, I think, in a way.

14:28A lot of the symptoms would, you know, kind of trend towards or overlap, I suppose, with, you know, the brain fog symptoms and that exhaustion that we kind of talked about, that low-grade exhaustion where you just don't feel like you can, you know, go out and do what you want to do should definitely be on someone's radar you know if you feel that fatigue that kind of brain fog it's worth getting it checked and it's worth kind of checking before it becomes a real issue I think being able to assert yourself and kind of ensure that you're looking after yourself you know if you feel fatigue that's like really impacting your day it's worth going to your doctor and just getting a checkup and having you know the kind of iron vitamin d that kind of those things checked um other nutrients like dha which is a form of omega-3 that is prioritized in the third trimester and if you're breastfeeding as well to the baby and that has major effects on your brain and can lead to you know brain fog so something to work to consider you know in your diet so i always kind of tell my clients to focus on smash fish which is salmon mackerel anchovies sardines and herring um twice a week and you know if you if you don't eat fish if you're vegan uh an algae supplement will also do that for you it's actually the kind of the source of it that's what the fish eat and that's how we get it so you're kind of going to the source if you're using an algae supplement so when we're eating the fish we're kind of eating them for their food rather than yeah yeah yeah obviously when you're eating the fish you're getting other nutrients as well or whatnot so um and I'm just obsessed with sardines I think the whole world is at the moment I feel like it's trending online but yeah everyone's t-shirt that I look at at the moment it has sardines on it yeah doormats pencil cases pencil cases but you know it's it's everywhere um and for good reason it's like one of those foods that I think everyone should be should be consuming what else what else do we what about the sugar thing so I've had issues not issues with sugar that sounds a bit dramatic but as i was saying i'm someone who grew up and i've actually not had any for 15 months at all and it has it has been pretty revolutionary i'm quite an extreme person so if i'm cutting something out i just that's it i'm not saying that that's the healthiest but that's what works for me tell me about that when we're postpartum is it common to have those sugar cravings you talked about having breakfast we need more protein yeah in breakfast is that Is that what it is to get us through that day and night?

17:04Because we know what it's like. There is no day and night really anymore, is it? It's just all one big long awake cycle. Yeah, exactly. A nap cycle. It is protein. It's many things. You know, for a balanced plate, the ideal balanced plate, say, or a balanced meal or a balanced snack will have a source of protein, a source of fiber, slow releasing carbohydrates and healthy fats. obviously when you are in your postpartum period that kind of structure can fall by the wayside obviously yeah i had toast literally for breakfast lunch and dinner uh well there you go it was missing a bit of protein there you can't add a bit of seeds on there you'd be grand i'm joking um but it's it's about having as often as possible those nutrients in your meals because they each have their own role you know the slow releasing carbohydrates choosing the slow releasing ones rather than the simple ones say white instead of white toast you're going for brown toast with you know a bit of nut butter with some seeds sprinkled on top it's a bit more balanced but having protein with every meal is a really good starting point because it does stabilize your energy it slows down the release of glucose into your sugar into your bloodstream between meals it makes those meals kind of last longer rather than peaking up high they're kind of having a more gradual gradient so that you're making it from breakfast to maybe a snack in the at 11 because you know postpartum you do need more fuel um or you know otherwise if someone's not in the is that true do we need more fuel because you hear this this sort of you know eating for two and breastfeeding takes another a thousand calories i can't remember so that's true it does if we're breastfeeding or postpartum well yeah because we do need extra yeah and you definitely need more protein because your body is physically recovering from the trauma of birth yeah you know whether you've had a c-section or it was a vaginal birth your body is recalibrating it needs to replenish re-nourish and we need the raw materials in there um and yeah if you are breastfeeding of course yeah you are your output is is greater than than otherwise so it's important to kind of approach that as such because we kind of i briefly talked about it about my experience with postpartum but like the messaging around uh postpartum post the postnatal period is so geared towards bounce back or you know that that really awful negative reductive uh messaging and we should really be thinking about it as a time of re-nourishment replenishment because you are rebuilding after a major life event you've just built a human now you need to support yourself and get back to to square one um and i think the the really nasty thing about it is you know women in this period are so receptive to messages because you want to feel better you're so vulnerable to it especially as your body is different and i think we probably need to talk about that a lot more how it can take years you know your organs i don't think go fully back until you know two three years after it's actually phenomenal because your clothes don't fit and it And you are so vulnerable to then some of these faddy diets.

20:14What are the worst faddy diets that you see aimed at postpartum? I've seen a few. And I'm sure a lot of people can, you know, you might be aware of it now that we talk about it in a sense. But like gut healing where it's actually just a lot of restriction, you know, cutting out a lot of foods in your postpartum. And I think anything that frames itself as a reset or like, you know, cuts certain food groups out is always something to be aware of. So that's a bit of a red flag. Absolutely. We want to add things in, not take things away. Because when you add things in, the good stuff, you'll start feeling the benefits of it.

20:48And you're naturally going to be veering yourself towards those things because you're getting that, you know, that feedback. And gradually the kind of less supportive things will be drowned out or crowded out. um but yeah i've seen like you know the gut resets the just the resets in general the you know dropping the messaging around dropping you know the the stump that what is the lower belly fat all of that kind of thing our body like our body is sending us messages the whole time you know if we've got a lower belly kind of accumulation of fat there that's just our body telling us something and it's not anything to be like afraid of it could just be inflammation and how do we address inflammation we get more whole foods in we eat more oily fish we drink more water water is something that is so important so basic but so important in postpartum I always tell my clients like you know visually just have a large bottle in your eyeline because if you see it you'll do it when I was breastfeeding I used to put them next to every chair because I know I'd sit down the latch was always painful difficult so I'd be like crying through it and then I'd look and there'd be no water I'd be like oh no I could be trapped here for an hour especially if they fall asleep maybe two hours so I used to in the mornings go and put water that is a good habit that's good I used to put one in my buggy and then have one just that I'd bring around the house but I like your idea about it because yeah you are sometimes latch trapped yeah breastfeeding thirst is nothing quite like it no i feel thirsty talking about it

22:25everyone listening whatever you're doing also have a drink of water because you're all probably dehydrated like we are absolutely and that's the thing isn't it it's like sometimes it's just the simple things get us 90 of the way there you know there's a lot of optimization talk in postpartum but at the end of the day if you're not feeling enough resting enough getting your nourishment whether that's your connection with adults your solo time your sleep your food your water then anything else or anything in a that's being touted as the secret that you're missing you know it's not going to do it for you and what about because I think something that's pretty universal whether you're postpartum or you've got sort of 10 year olds like I have is quick meals And I think that's where it can often go a bit wrong.

23:12What are some really good quick prep meals or snacks that actually do have that balance? Do you have those whole foods? Do you have some of the protein and DHAs that you were talking about? Yeah, I think, well, there's always, I always kind of, when I talk with my clients, I think tweaking your favorite meals is always the best approach. Because if you like something, you're more likely to make it. you can you can kind of tweak it in a sense to make it a bit more balanced so if it is spaghetti bolognese which you can prep or meatballs and pasta you can prep ahead um or you can make on the spot pretty quickly adding in beans to that adding in lentils to that it's a really good way of upping the fiber upping the plant protein which kind of makes it cheaper as well it makes it so much cheaper yeah great um so it's doing a lot more for you it's accessible it's easy it's quick um it's something that you really enjoy and i think that's important as well it's like that joy that you get from food because after a long day if all you want is a spag ball have the spag ball but add in some beans and lentils you know maybe change the pasta to be more whole grain based um but simple tweaks like that where you're not reinventing the wheel you're doing something that you already know and love but just tweaking it so it's a bit more supportive and when it comes to like snacks you know and meals i can talk more about examples of of of quick meals you know just breaking it down into the components that you want you know okay i just need a source of protein i need some fiber some you know vegetables that grow above the ground are quite high in fiber so that's usually what i tell my clients to kind of focus on um and then drizzle of olive oil for healthy fats and some complex carbs which would be you know like sweet potato you can have regular potato if you rather that a little hack is to cook it and cool it so maybe a potato salad could be good that you prep on sunday and then you have and add it into lunches um if you're at home on on your own um and snacks like you know piece of fruit and nut butter cheese and crackers or oat cakes and and not but you know there's small kind of things that are grabbable um because your hands are going to be you're not going to be hands-free most of the time are you it has to be quick easy meals easy snacks yeah that's it what have you got any sort of package snacks that you love what about the bliss balls are they good oh they're like they're like the date balls either yeah yeah they are good you know they are good and obviously different brands will have different kind of benefits or ingredients or whatnot.

25:34But ones that have lots of, you know, focusing on the almonds, good source of protein in there, you know, whether you have the dates in there. Dates are great. They are just, they're high energy. So it's being aware of, okay, they might not be the most balanced overall, but they are a really good thing to get you through. Say if the gap between lunch and dinner is too long, it's better to eat something rather than not, you know. It's better to have that fuel rather than to go into depletion in that sense. I'm trying to think of other snacks, like grab and go snacks that you can get. I mean, I'm a bit of a strange person.

26:08I love boiled eggs, so I used to go into Pratt and get the egg pots, but I'm not saying that everyone will do that. Oh, like that guy. What's that guy, Eddie, who shouts at everyone about eating boiled eggs all the time? Oh, not like him. The Irish version. Eat boiled eggs. I just think they're so good. I don't know. I've got a bit of an obsession with them, but, you know, things like that. But I think that every, like most, I won't go naming names, most major supermarkets or those local versions of supermarkets have, you know, chopped apple with nut butter. Yeah, it is much easier these days, I have to say.

26:43Because even a decade ago when I was a new mum first time around, then what I would go in and look for stuff like that. And it just didn't. So I ended up at Gale's every day. What can I do? Hey, you got your delicious hot chocolate in the cake. How bad? It's all good. And, you know, in the course of a week, if you want to treat yourself to a hot chocolate and cake, go for it. Exactly. I wanted to ask you about because, you know, you've got a four year old and you're pregnant and you're also having this unbelievable career moment, right? Where you're. Everything's happening. Yes. And so many of the people listening in our community have the same.

27:16Right. So we're ambitious and we want to do things, but we also want to be kind of great moms and present and look after ourselves, too. And it feels like this equation. and I'm just super curious of everyone I meet. What's your version of that equation and how do you do it kind of day to day? Tell us about that. I think, yeah, the last few years have just been quite hectic in the best sense of the word. Like I'm, you know, I'm pinching myself at the moment because it's, I'm living my dream essentially. I'm loving the stage I am with my family. I've got a gorgeous little boy turning four soon I've got a little girl on the way and that's been a journey in itself and obviously with my career and my nutrition clinic it's it's yeah just pinch me that I'm at this point where I can help people and um yeah kind of take off some of my my bucket list kind of moments I think day to day I'm the kind of person I mentioned before I love getting stuff done I love a dopamine kick from a ticking off a to-do list.

28:21Typical Taipei you are. I'm telling you to my detriment but it is about just bringing it back to kind of the important things like what's actually important to my to my life long term is that my son's happy that I communicate with my husband and just realizing that I don't need to do everything right now that life and my career hopefully will be long and that slowing down to speed up is my new kind of is my new phrase because I want to enjoy this pregnancy I want to enjoy the fourth trimester the meeting this little girl and like giving her time and that she needs and that I need as well and that's really important and I think if I slow down over time that will just bolster everything up long term and that takes reminding because it's so hard when you get all these opportunities as well and I think you know it's not just in weird jobs like ours we work for ourselves it's when you're in corporate as well you know do you want to go on you know this do you want to do this qualification do you want to you know these opportunities can just keep coming and I think it's a real skill to work out as you were saying what is important and what do I want to do how do you decide what you say yes to what you say no to well if if the decision is timely in the sense that if uh if the difference between me doing something now or doing something in six months is dramatically different that might be a question of me of me following through with something but most of the time i think especially as women because we've got you know we are in our families oftentimes not all the time in a situation but we are the people who are building these little humans and building out the family there is a pressure that you need to take everything like you know take every opportunity because it might not be there yeah but you know if something's not going to be there in six months when I'm truly ready then it's not for me it's not an alignment that's what I always think no so it's kind of just bringing it back to that and my husband is like he works overtime on reassuring me for those things because I I when I feel like stressed or anything I'm a talker I just need to get it out of my head or else it ruminates and creates this monster internally but um yeah it's it's just about hearing yourself like speaking things out hearing it out loud and getting advice or guidance I suppose from people you really know and trust and people who know you um and obviously within that it's trusting yourself you've got a gut feeling go with it yeah so true it's hard it is hard to to do they right it can be it can be really hard and so when you think about how do you think you'll manage this postpartum differently than the first your career's in a different place obviously you're gonna have two you're living abroad how are you setting yourself up for it I'm taking pressure off myself I with my first pregnancy with quite my son it was you know you're going into it a bit know now at least I've got that experience and I know I've learned from my mistakes I've learned from my you know some of the happy surprises that I managed to to to kind of achieve it in the in in that time around um but with everything like I had a very tricky experience at breastfeeding you know that you're saying that was painful for you I had I was in A &E with mastitis on day three and I was like persevering for four months after that I did the same because again that like conditioning yeah yeah and you know hey it could be a completely different situation and I'm open to that of course but I'm also open to you know having boundaries um around my mental health my physical health um because a fed baby is you know is the best outcome right it's that's the most important thing so if a situation arises similar to my my previous where I was really depleted and I was really struggling with breastfeeding I'm going to maybe take a pause and just think about what's the best outcome for my family as a whole and that starts with me it's not selfish it's literally like I said before if you are looking after yourself if you're in a good place that really trickles out to the people who you're trying to care for um so I think that's kind of the difference I suppose no zero pressure I think that's the wisdom isn't it from your first to your second it's like I certainly gained the wisdom the perspective the wisdom of perspective and you think actually I I'm the same I killed myself literally trying to breastfeed for so long when it just wasn't happening and then and then I would pump so I was either pumping cleaning the pump or giving the bottle and the noise oh my gosh oh god yeah that noise like nightmares yeah and then with my second I did combination right from the start and it was amazing and almost felt like cheating it was so easy I was like oh my god yeah yeah I think that's it isn't it and like I think introducing the bottle early I know I don't know if that's like the the done thing but for me that because of the mastitis it was a happy kind of coincidence in a sense that it meant that it um my husband was able to do some of the night feeds because I'd express and then he'd do the night feeds yeah we did extra chunk of time of sleep yeah which really does kind of expedite your recovery a little bit more yeah we did we did the same and it was a bit of a game changer yeah I have to say but I think I love that transition that you've been through I talk about that a lot in in my work from sort of I've got to do everything and I've got to do it perfectly to actually like how can I make this easier how can I get more help how can I take the pressure off like those are three just unbelievable questions to ask yourself definitely like a sustainable approach where everyone is kind of supported is what i'm aiming for that's like the gold standard in my eyes yes yes um okay i want to ask you some quick fire questions but they're not that quick fire because it's made so they're quite deep um it's like really deep long yeah but we call them quick fire just to throw you okay uh motherhood is teaching me dot dot dot but patience, growth, and I was kind of thinking about this earlier because I'm at the stage with my son where I'm just loving it.

34:45You know, it's every day, every week is a new chapter that's like unlocking or a new element of my brain that's unlocking and my heart too. So I think it's just teaching me growth in ways that I didn't realise were there. you know mentally and also just my capacity for love and the sense so cringe but it's true it's so true that is beautiful okay second question what is something that you used to value before motherhood that you no longer do

35:19perfectionism I suppose and again that's something that I'm working on and reminding myself like we've talked about but it is perfectionism I used to be really like I still am in certain ways but when it comes to motherhood I'd rather an average month than you know a sporadic few days of perfect because that is the sustainability aspect you know there are things that are thrown at you daily in motherhood you just can't plan for so it's better to have like a solid foundation that's really durable and sustainable than something that is like Instagram perfect or you know ticking off all of those things we've seen scrolling through our feed so it is just letting go of that perfectionism.

36:07100 % I'm with you we're like the same person honestly. Welcome to my podcast. Yeah my name is Zoe. What's something that you didn't value but you do now okay okay um I suppose it's time I suppose that's a very strange way of putting it but I suppose it's quality time you know before in the early stages of motherhood and maybe I can't really compare it to not being a mother but with my son because I was so depleted at the start you know those afternoons of playtime were something that I was like oh my god get me through these give me strength but now that has completely shifted I like they're energy givers rather than energy takers now and that might be due to the fact that I feel more supported I'm more nourished I'm like you know looking after myself a lot more but and when that happens when you have your capacity back things start to take different shape and you can see things from a different perspective um so I think it kind of is hand in hand there with how I'm supporting myself I always say this to clients as well it's like when you support yourself when you're nourished when you're rested when you've got those different supportive habits in whether that's you know connecting with your friend having your adult time your solo time away from your kids you show up differently in your day-to-day and your experience of your day changes your experience of your life changes because they stack up and that is essentially your life so it's always I I think that that's something that I value now time and I suppose the kind of supportive structure and routine that I've built yeah it's so true it's so true on time I always say to my husband what did we used to do on the weekend what did we actually used to do really bored well I don't remember being bored but like now it's just yeah every minute counts that's how I feel like every I'm like oh I've got five minutes before I'll quickly do it's like crazy and the last question is if you could give just one gift to all the mothers in the world what would that one gift be and why

38:20god that's a really good question okay give me a sec if I could give one gift to all the mothers in the world what would it be I'd say permission to prioritize yourself as well because it's so easy to prioritize someone else it's like this innate thing that we almost a switch that goes off when we become mums that you want to give give give but in order to give you need to have you know a solid base yourself so it's not prioritizing yourself instead that wouldn't be realistic or you know intuitive but it's prioritizing your needs as well because you need your little family revolves around you and people feed off your energy and if you're okay they'll be okay that's beautiful thank you where can someone learn you've mentioned clinic a few times do you take on clients where does someone learn more about you and your work um well through my instagram gq jordan nutrition or my websites gq jordan.com gq jordan nutrition.com but um i do take clients on us like kind of seasonally and i've got a team of the nutritional therapists that can support as well as I will be on maternity leave soon.

39:31But yeah, check me out there and I'd love to connect with whomever wants to as well. Incredible. Thank you so much. It's been so lovely. Thank you for having me. Oh, thank you. That was the episode. I hoped you loved it. If you did, please make sure you subscribe and I will see you next time.