You would be surprised to know that my secret to keeping up with five kids has nothing to do with any caffeine.
I was recently having a conversation with a family member and had just finished getting her up to date on all of the activities our family was up to, when she asked what kind of person I was; a coffee or energy drinker? Surprisingly, I am neither.
It hasn’t always been that way. After having my first baby, I bought a Keurig and enjoyed my morning coffee ritual. This eventually led to energy drinks, and needing multiple throughout the day. But nothing really helped.
Motherhood Challenges
I have breastfed all of my babies until they were a year old. Did you know breastfeeding releases oxytocin which makes both you and the baby feel relaxed and sleepy? That explains why I felt I needed a nap every time I went to nurse a baby to sleep!
New moms are often told to sleep while the baby is sleeping. This is great advice! But, with each new addition, it became harder for me to nap, even though there were plenty of days that I needed one.
Thanks to a caffeine sensitivity all of my kids had while breastfeeding, I had to quit drinking coffee, soda, tea, and energy drinks cold turkey. There was one night in particular that I remember holding my two-week-old baby at 1am while she screamed. This had been going on since 9pm and there was nothing I could do to comfort her. She was exhausted but couldn’t relax long enough to fall into a deep slumber. The more I breast fed her, the more irritable she became.
In a desperate search for an answer, I found an article about breastmilk sensitivity. Then, it finally hit me. Caffeine was causing her to be so wired, she didn’t know how to sleep.
I was more than willing to give up caffeine to get my sleeping baby back even. though I was worried about how I would make it through the day alive. I didn’t enjoy being so dependent on something that made me irritable and grouchy when I didn’t have it. But how was I going to make it through the day alive? Was there a better alternative?
Food for Thought
My sister and her family are vegans. Their lifestyle has encouraged me to seek healthier eating alternatives. The idea that your body is more energized when it isn’t lacking the proper vitamins and minerals it needs to operate, was obvious but also a new concept for me.
Take a look at the food pyramid or dietary guidelines that the USDA Center for Nutrition recommends. The vegan diet goes against a lot of the information I have learned about health in general. We all know that fruits and vegetables are good for you. But could a person really feel full and energized with no animal products and without animal based protein? I was intrigued and began a month long challenge of a strict vegan diet with my husband.
Breakfast consisted of overnight oats with fruit or smoothies. We would meal prep a week’s worth of lunches on Sunday. Lunch was usually burrito bowls loaded with beans, quinoa, spinach, bell peppers, avocado, vegan cheese, and homemade salsa. Dinner was a mix of new recipes I had found on Pinterest. We tried all sorts of ways to cook tofu so it would resemble a meat-like texture. Our snacks were organic granola bars, nuts, fruit, or whole grain crackers and hummus.
Our kids were enthusiastic about this new lifestyle change too. Mostly because they could pull out their kid safe knives and help cut up vegetables. We found they became more adventurous in trying new foods when they helped cook them.
Our Takeaway
The results of this challenge were incredible! I was seeing a boost in breast milk production (I was concerned it would drop) and my husband’s joint inflammation from sitting in a truck most of the day was gone. Not only were we sleeping better at night, our need for an afternoon nap also vanished. We both agreed this was the best we had ever felt.
I was just laughing the other day when my oldest was stealing bites of salad out of my bowl at lunch. This kid lived on mac and cheese and chicken nuggets everyday for nearly the first five years of his life. I never would have guessed that he would even look at a salad.
After this challenge, we did go back to including one traditional, kid favorite meal at dinner because I couldn’t keep up with making separate meals every night that I knew everyone would eat. But it was a serious eye opener for our health and all around well-being.
I challenge you to give it a try! For a day, week or month, and let me know if you saw a difference in the comments!
