08/28/2026
This feels a little vulnerable to share.
As a dietitian, I think people sometimes assume my diet is pristine. That I always choose the vegetables, never miss a workout, meal prep every Sunday and somehow have nutrition figured out 100% of the time.
I’m here to tell you: I love a cookie. I love a good burger. I love my vegetables too — and pretty much all of the in-between.
I know a lot about nutrition, but I’m also a wife, a mom, a business owner and a human being living a very real life.
As I’ve had babies and worked toward figuring out what healthy looks like for me now, there have been plenty of bumps along the way. Seasons where I exercised consistently and seasons where I barely did. Meals that were beautifully balanced and plenty that were chosen because they were fast and everyone needed to eat. Times I prioritized myself well and times when I absolutely did not.
And I think that’s part of why I wanted to share this.
I read something the other day that said once a woman has carried a child, in some ways, she is always postpartum.
And that hit me differently.
Because pregnancy doesn’t just change your body for nine months.
You conceive. You carry a baby. You birth them. Maybe you nourish them from your own body. Your hormones change. Your sleep changes. Your relationships change. Your priorities change. The amount of time and energy you have to care for yourself changes.
And then somehow we’re supposed to “bounce back?”
I’m nearly four years postpartum with my last baby, and there has been no bouncing over here. 😂
It’s been slow. Steady. Sometimes really consistent and sometimes very much not.
Because life is going to life.
But looking at these numbers reminded me how much can happen in the mundane.
Since August 2024, my weight has gone from down, but that’s actually not the part I’m most proud of.
I’m most proud of my habits that have created a space to build muscle and increase my metabolic rate (because that means more calories and more calories means I need more food to sustain my muscle 🤪)
And that matters.
Muscle takes energy to maintain. It supports strength, metabolic health, blood sugar regulation and our ability to keep doing the things we want to do as we age.
The goal was never just to eat less and control my body.
It was to build a healthier, stronger body that could support the life I actually live.
And it didn’t happen through a 30-day challenge, cutting out entire food groups, living on 1,200 calories or following a perfectly rigid plan.
It happened through ordinary life.
Eating more protein. Moving my body. Building muscle. Eating vegetables — and eating the cookie. Learning which meals actually keep me full. Making a better choice when I could and moving on when I couldn’t.
Doing the same boring things enough times that eventually they became part of my life.
Because lasting change is usually pretty boring.
And honestly, I think there’s something beautiful about that.
The mundane is where God calls us daily. It’s where we feed our families, care for our bodies, show up for the people we love and practice the habits that eventually become who we are.
So whether you’re 6 weeks postpartum, 6 months postpartum, 4 years postpartum or 14 years postpartum, don’t convince yourself that you’re too late.
And please don’t think you have to overhaul your entire life Monday morning.
Choose one thing.
Work on it. Choose it again tomorrow. And again next week. Let it become part of your life.
Then build from there.
Weight loss takes time. Building muscle takes time. Restoring nutrient stores takes time. Learning to care for a body that looks and feels different after motherhood takes time.
Healthy doesn’t have to look pristine. It has to be livable.
And if you’re looking for someone to walk alongside you as you build habits for conception, prepare for a healthier pregnancy or navigate whatever season of postpartum life you’re in — that’s what we do at Root & Bloom.
Our website is getting a little glow-up right now, but we’re happy if wander into our DMs. 🌱
You got this, mama. ❤️
