Welcome to my special series Rediscovering You, a 7-day special running in conjunction with Maternal Mental Health Awareness Week 2024. It's our final day together in this special and we're finishing this week with my favourite little to-do because it's something that will give you a mindful boost while you're doing it, and it will take you through well beyond just the one day because it can be used at any moment when you need a pick me up.   In the free workbook I offer some examples of...

Welcome to my special series Rediscovering You, a 7-day special running in conjunction with Maternal Mental Health Awareness Week 2024. It's Day 6 and we are lightening things up a bit by finding a project to sink your teeth into. A hobby, some decluttering or a project that gets you in the flow and pulls you out of your head, clears your mental load a bit. Doing that thing you've always want to do or keep putting off. Download your free workbook to accompany this special series - journal...

Welcome to my special series Rediscovering You, a 7-day special running in conjunction with Maternal Mental Health Awareness Week 2024. Today on Day 5 we are learning the importance of loving your body and embracing it with kindness – for our benefit and that of our children Download your free workbook to accompany this special series - journal prompts, scripts and daily emails with tips and actions to support your journey towards rediscovering you: www.tashadcruz.com/rediscover Connect...

Welcome to my special series Rediscovering You, a 7-day special running in conjunction with Maternal Mental Health Awareness Week 2024. Today on Day 4 we are finding out how what you eat affects your mood and energy, why mothers often end up struggling with food, and what to eat to keep your mood steady and give you the energy you need as a mother. Download your free workbook to accompany this special series - journal prompts, scripts and daily emails with tips and actions to support your...

Welcome to my special series Rediscovering You, a 7-day special running in conjunction with Maternal Mental Health Awareness Week 2024. Today on Day 3 we are diving into self-care. This is such a tricky concept for so many of us, and I think one of the biggest problems is we lose sight of what self-care truly means to us. So in this episode I offer an interpretation of what self-care could mean to you, and give you an opportunity to decide what, how and when you will schedule in your...

Welcome to my special series Rediscovering You, a 7-day special running in conjunction with Maternal Mental Health Awareness Week 2024. Today on Day 2 we are looking to the future to work out the sort of mother you want to be and what family life needs to look like by working out what's the most important thing to you. By the end of the episode you will arrive at a single word or image that will bring the most happiness and positive change in your life. Download your free workbook to...

Welcome to my special series Rediscovering You, a 7-day special running in conjunction with Maternal Mental Health Awareness Week 2024. Today on Day 1 we are establishing where you are right now. We can't re-discover yourself if we don't know where you are today! Using the Wheel of Motherhood we will assess which area of your life needs most attention out of the 8 areas that make up a healthy motherhood. To accompany the series, I have created a free workbook for you to fill in across the...

A short and sweet episode from me today asking: Where are you leaking your energy in motherhood?   In my workshop on cycle tracking and energy in motherhood, I go into the concept of Energy Leaks and how you can find more energy if you plug where it's leaking away from you and instead invest it more wisely.   It's a brilliant concept I've borrowed from Alisa Vitti's book In the FLO and put my own spin on it in motherhood.   In the episode I share the 8 energy leaks that are wasting your...

Cycle tracking can offer incredible insight into your body's response to changing moods and energy, allowing you to harness it in a way that means you can be productive at the right time – and cut yourself some slack when you simply can't be gung ho.   However, what do you do if your cycles are irregular, you don't have a cycle at all or are on contraception that means you have a withdrawal bleed rather than a true period?   In this episode I am extending the discussion I started last...

I am currently in the ovulation phase of my menstrual cycle, also known as the summer phase. This when oestrogen is at its highest.   I am correspondingly full of energy, I am feeling sociable and confident I am feeling strong and choose heavier weights when doing a workout.   And... obviously... my libido is high.   But just three weeks ago though, I was in tears, freaking out about where my business was going (or rather where I felt it wasn't going!). I was impatient and grumpy with...

How many toys do children really need? Is independent play a good thing? What effect does screentime have on our children? This and many more questions came up during this week's episode on Raising Healthy Mothers when I chatted to Alexis Ralphs of 100 Toys, ex-primary school teacher, turned stay-at-home-dad, turned toy seller, turned course creator. I was curious to know how imporant play is as a means to learn and develop in preparation for school, which prompted me to invite Alexis onto...

What does it mean to be an empowered mother? Why do women often feel helpless and disempowered in their motherhood?   This week on Raising Healthy Mothers I'm talking to Kristy Mia – doula, yoga teacher, nutritionist and motherhood coach – all about her definition of empowerment in motherhood. We discuss: Walking the fine line between setting boundaries in our relationships and accepting wisdom and knowledge from those who have mothered before us Martyrdom in motherhood and...

How much do you talk to your children about where food comes from? This was a question I hadn't thought about much until someone posed a question about separating the imagery of an idyllic farm in the books we read to our children from the realities of animal husbandry. It got me thinking hard - because as a passionate sustainable meat advocate, I care deeply about my meat. Where does meat comes from? How is it reared? How has it been treated? Is it healthy to eat? How much should we eat?...

I recently ran a survey on my mailing list to find out what the main struggles are with low energy in motherhood. The results didn't surprise me - the no.1 issue that comes up is TIME. Getting to bed early enough, fitting in the activities, procrastination. And many who did the survey reported these all had a knock on effect on how much they were able to look after themselves. Eating enough, sleeping enough, exercising and seeing friends. Anxiety came up a lot too - which of course is...

Why do we feel so on the go constantly as mothers? How is it that we just feel so busy all the time... yet still find the time to spend 20 minutes scrolling on Instagram?   And what do we do when we're scrolling on Instagram? We're enviously watching other mums on Insta who somehow manage to fit in a full 1 hour morning routine before their kids wake up, or have done a complete do-over of a vintage dollhouse in their evenings, or have the bandwith to set up messy play AND clean it up after,...

How much choice do you really have over what you eat and what you buy for food? Although I've always had an awareness of the importance of eating food tha thas been minimally processed, ideally cooked from scratch, I hadn't considered the role that marketing, advertising and packaging plays in making a food impossible to resist and stop consuming.  In this episode of Raising Healthy Mothers I take a fresh look at ultra processed food thorugh the lens of the intention of the food as well as...

Almost 10 years ago I bought my first Fitbit. I bought it because I wanted to track whether I was doing 10k steps a day. It worked really well - I would often find myself heading out for an extra walk at lunchtime. But I found all the options for tracking overwhelming, and I especially found the sleep information disturbing. I would sometimes wake up feeling like I'd had an amazing night's sleep, check my Fitbit, only to be told  I'd had only actually had 30 minutes of restful sleep. 10...

Children have the incredible power to help us step into the here and now. They very much live in the moment, often have an instinctive need to be in nature and are excellent at knowing how much food and sleep they personally need - with little consideration for what you, the parent, need. In this week's episode of Raising Healthy Mothers I have a fascinating conversation on why we often start instinctively tuning in to nature and the seasons of the year when we become mothers, and why it can...

Welcome back to Raising Healthy Mothers for Season 10! Have you made new year resolutions or have plans to 'be healthier' in 2024? If that's the case then this is a juicy episode for you, because I'm going to tell you the 6 things I want you to STOP doing this year if this is the year you finally want to get your health on track.   These are the mistakes that come up time and time again when it comes to health and wellbeing, especially around weight loss and nutrition, and even more so in...

Breakfast is often touted as the most important meal of the day. Yet it's also usually the meal we put the least amount of thought into. It's obvious why – there's usually not much time and there are places to get to, so convenience wins every time. And for fussy eaters, it's often thier moment to shine. Becuase they get the same, predictable meal most days. It's usually always the same colour, the same texture and the same taste. It's reliably...bland. Like all other meals of the day,...

This week's guest on Raising Healthy Mothers is someone who exudes enthusiasm and excitement for her passion - gardening. And not just for the aesthetic beauty that having a joyful garden brings but for the mindful, thoughtful activity of being out in nature, being in the moment with the job that you're doing, and tending to the garden in the way that we have been connecting with nature throughout our history as a species. Kendall Platt is the Mindful Gardening Coach and she helps women take...

This week's guest on Raising Healthy Mothers is one of those wise mothers of teens from whom I can look up to and learn from. She emanates absolute calm and confidence when it comes to parenting – two qualities I know I strive hard for! Maija Tweeddale is a nutritionist helping parents create nutrition and lifestyle habits that stick so they can have the energy and good mood they need for a family life without drama. As a mum of three she knows the juggling act of family life, and has...

Today I'm tackling a common question that comes up every time I run a breastfeeding course. It's usually something like this: 'when can I start expressing so my partner can take over some of the feeds and bond with the baby too?' I find this a difficult question because two questions come up for me in return: Why does your partner feel like feeding them is the only way to bond with them? Is it really going to be a break for YOU to express? There are so many ways a partner can bond...

I recently ran a poll asking mums what their biggest worry was about breastfeeding for a second time. The unanimous response was around managing tiredness and exhaustion of breastfeeding while caring for an older child as well. I totally get it. The first time round it hits you like a tonne of bricks - how dependent this tiny creature is on you - and how they don't seem to have a clue when is the appropriate time to sleep. There is no other way to describe it. It's exhausting. But second...

This week I’m celebrating 100 episodes on Raising Healthy Mothers! And this time I’m in the interviewee chair. My husband puts me on the spot this time. We talk about… How I became a nutritional therapist How my thinking around nutrition has changed How I approach motherhood wellbeing What strings I’ve added to my bow to support mothers My top myth busting and tips on breastfeeding, perinatal nutrition and slings And most importantly - what my favourite Malaysian food is. ...