Balancing Ambition and Your Path to Motherhood
In today's fast-paced world, balancing a demanding lifestyle while preparing for motherhood can feel overwhelming. As a high-achieving woman, I can understand teetering on the edge of burnout, struggling to maintain your health while just trying to keep your head above water some days. Let’s chat a bit about how you can navigate this, ways I’ve been able to manage my time more efficiently that I want to pass to you, all while keeping your health and fertility at the forefront of it all.
The Better You Feel, The More You Will Excel
How often have you shown up for your day, only to want to turn around and go right back home (or back to bed, for the WFH sisters)? Running on E every day isn’t doing anyone any good. Our bodies rely on mitochondria to create energy at the cellular level, but when the necessary ingredients for cellular renewal are missing, we feel drained (a major reason I use functional lab testing like organic acids testing in my programs to help understand just how much your mitochondria are struggling).
Optimizing your health will skyrocket your mental clarity, productivity, and creativity. When your body and mind are functioning optimally, you’ll find it easier to tackle your day with renewed energy and focus.
I know you’ve got a lot on your mind, but teetering on the edge of burnout isn’t a safe place to be. It’s time to put in the work now so that you can get back to enjoying your career, your social life, your partner, and living for these pregnancy prep days.
Using Your Schedule to Your Advantage
Let’s talk about time. Have you ever heard, “We all have the same 24 hours”? Give me a break. Usually, we hear this from personal trainers or holistic nutritionists, with a subconscious tone of “try harder” and “hustle – you’ve got goals, don’t you?” Girl, no one is going to tell me that someone whose entire job is to exercise or create meal plans for others understands the demands of a professional career, deadlines to meet, maybe a commute, keeping up with professional education, while still trying to eat better, exercise, learn all the fertility hacks, and run from burnout.
What we need to do is optimize the very little time you do have, without creating more work for yourself.
Top Tips for Efficient Meal Planning
Meal planning doesn’t have to be a burden. I hate to tell you, but eating out for lunch every day doesn’t align with your health goals. But meal planning and prep doesn’t have to be such a burden. Additionally, make your meals more nutrient dense, without extra work involved to do so. Often, this means switching out one ingredient for another, no extra prep. Planning takes me about 45 minutes on a Friday morning to choose meals for the week, write a grocery list, and build a grocery pick up or delivery order. From there, I usually spend 1-2 hours on Sunday cooking breakfast and lunch for the week, and chopping and preparing ingredients for dinners through the week.
Here are my top tips to make your meals more nutrient-dense without extra work:
Add leafy greens to the bottom of finished plates.
Use fresh instead of dried herbs for more color, flavor, and antioxidants.
Add a drizzle of olive oil to your dish once plated.
Use bone broth instead of regular broth to increase protein and healing capacity of meals.
Sprinkle chia, ground flax, or hemp over salads and smoothies.
Opt for wild-caught fish or grass-fed meats for a better nutrient profile.
Incorporate fermented foods like kimchi or sauerkraut for gut health.
Use nutritional yeast for added B vitamins.
You Don’t Have to Do it Alone
Let someone else do the heavy lifting of making sure your body is in optimal condition for pregnancy and give you exactly what you need to fine-tune your health. This way, you aren’t wasting hours reading Insta posts, Googling, or consulting a PCP who has no clue what vitamins are best for your situation. Hiring a functional wellness consultant is the best move to ensure you’re on the right track.
Schedule Downtime
Put some downtime in your calendar. Maybe it’s daily (the first 30 minutes of my day are for me – manifesting the life of my dreams and practicing gratitude) or maybe it’s weekly. But if you can’t find 30 minutes for yourself, you probably need an hour instead.
Does that last statement make you feel any particular way?
It’s Okay to Shift Your Focus
It’s okay to feel like you’re ready to focus on something other than your career.
I’ve talked with many women, myself included, who have reached their professional goals and are living what they thought was the life of their dreams. But something inside them is calling them somewhere else, somewhere deeper, more meaningful. It’s okay if you feel like slowing down and being “just good enough” at work or otherwise is actually what your soul is craving as you step into this new chapter of motherhood.
It’s time to put yourself first, so you can step into motherhood confidently.
Balancing ambition and motherhood doesn’t have to be a struggle. By optimizing your health, using your time wisely, and listening to your inner needs, you can thrive in both areas of your life. It’s time to embrace this new chapter with confidence and joy. Ready to take the next step?
Schedule a strategy session today to start your journey toward a healthier, more balanced life and a thriving pregnancy. I only accept TWO women monthly to provide the most high level, custom support.