In this blog, I interview the founder of The Nurtured Mama podcast and community.
Lindsay Stenovac is a Mom who works with women - and particularly moms - recovering from disordered eating. Here are some of the fabulous insight she shared with me during her interview:
What are some of the things you work with that are specific to moms recovering from eating disorders?
Something that has become more and more apparent to me is that there's a lot of shame when a mom who's in recovery has an increase in disordered eating. They could be in recovery for 2 years, 10 years, 15 years, but if they start to realize during their perinatal journey, they’re struggling, it brings up shame. They forget to take into account that this is actually one of the riskiest times for recovery. And a small or large amount of eating disorder behaviors or thoughts that can come back into the mind are not uncommon.
When I get initial calls for support, a lot of the self-talk I hear from recovering moms is “I feel so stupid,” or “This shouldn’t be happening,” or “I can't believe this is happening again. I thought this was far behind me.”
I'm always really quick to say:
“This is actually something that a lot of women in recovery experience. It's one of the riskiest times for recovery. And it doesn't say anything about your recovery or how much work you put into it. And look here you are on the phone with me! You have totally recognized what's going on. You're getting support. That's you taking care of yourself. This is exactly what you need to be doing: reaching for and getting support!”
Right off the bat it’s important to make sure that they know they didn’t do something wrong; that there is nothing wrong with them. A lot of the times disordered eating thoughts and behaviors come up as a result of the hormonal changes that women experience. And pregnancy/postpartum, are big life changes. It isn't surprising that disordered eating "coping skills" come up.
Shame:
I also see that there's a lot of worry around body changes during pregnancy and postpartum. This is a big time of change, not just physically, but also emotionally. What I have noticed is, for women in recovery, it may take a little while to open up about that. I've notice a trend with not wanting to say out loud or fully express the distress around body changes, because they don't want it to be there. They don't want to be feeling this way about their bodies. They feel shame about feeling bad about the change in their body. And so keep that really close to their vest. But over time it starts to organically come out. For moms in recovery, just know that this could be a risky time, and seeking support can help.
(Side note: shame is such a big obstacle for recovering women. I tell my clients shame stands for the false message of SHAME= Should Have Already Mastered Everything. Let's challenge that message, again and again. You get to be human and in-process, just like the rest of the world. And you deserve compassion, just like you offer your little one.)
How can pregnant and postpartum women sort through all the food recommendations that are in magazines, doctor’s offices, and diet-culture and find what works (and doesn't) for them?
We do have some changing nutritional needs during the perinatal period. However, oftentimes they are presented in a way that reinforces diet culture. And so there's some work to be done regarding how we consider nutrition. How do we incorporate that into our own bodies’ wisdom? For example, if I’m working with someone who is early in pregnancy, the first trimester is often survival mode for many women who have pregnancy nausea. The cues from your body are so strong, they are very chaotic, and they are not to be messed with. So if I were to say, as a dietician
“Hey you know you should really more broccoli during your first trimester because vitamin C is very important and broccoli has lots of vitamin C,”
and then you go home and you can't even look at broccoli because you're going to be sick, that nutrition information is not that helpful for you! You have to say to yourself:
"OK, vitamin C might be important, so I could probably take a vitamin supplement to help myself during this time."
And then, in the meantime, you might be eating saltines and apples. It’s a really interesting time to explore, because the cues from your body are so strong. You have really very little choice other than to go with the flow of what your body is asking for. This level of intuitive eating- of listening to your body’s cues- can be very scary or it can be very empowering. I've seen it go both ways.
I believe it's very helpful to have that dietitian with you to say something like this:
“Oh, you got this piece of nutrition information. Let's look at whether it's supportive or not supportive to you and how could we use it in a way that honors what your body is telling you right now.”
We really have to learn what intuitive eating calls gentle nutrition. We have to learn how we can incorporate that gentle nutrition into our lives. We have to think about the different stages someone's at, and to realize that healthy eating doesn't mean rigidity. Healthy eating doesn't mean restriction or not allowing yourself to enjoy food. There is no such thing as a right way to intuitively eat. There's only listening to your body and going by what it needs. Your body does have wisdom, and it is going to be giving you different information every day. The only way you're going to know what it needs is to is to pay attention to it and just do the best that you can.
In conclusion? Pregnancy (and postpartum) are great times to practice:
*letting go of perfectionism and shame,
*eating intuitively and listening to your body's needs,
*being present what what-is (rather than what your fantasy wants it to be) and
*receiving support and practice being good enough.
To connect with Lindsay's Nurtured Mama podcast, Facebook group, and resources, click HERE
