Nourishing Motherhood with Perinatal Nutritionist, Caitlin Cipriano

What happens when nutrition meets motherhood? Certified nutritionist and founder of Wholesome Huntress Nutrition, Caitlin Cipriano, joins me to unpack the unique challenges mothers face in nourishing themselves through preconception, pregnancy and postpartum.

Caitlin shares how her own pregnancy journey during 2020 revealed alarming gaps in perinatal nutrition support, sparking her mission to help mothers feel confident and well-nourished during every season of motherhood. We dive deep into why the "all-or-nothing" mindset becomes such a destructive force in maternal nutrition, often trapping women in cycles of temporary success followed by unnecessary guilt. Instead, Caitlin advocates for a sustainable approach built on grace, curiosity, and personalised systems that work within the chaotic reality of family life.

The conversation reveals how fatigue and time constraints create significant barriers for mothers looking to improve their nutrition, while social media comparison only compounds the pressure to appear effortlessly balanced. Perhaps most refreshingly, Caitlin acknowledges that even nutrition experts don't maintain perfect eating habits, but the key difference lies in establishing foundations like blood sugar balance and digestive health that reduce reliance on fleeting motivation. Whether you're planning for pregnancy, currently expecting or deep in the postpartum trenches, this episode offers both practical wisdom and permission to prioritise progress over perfection in your nutrition journey.

Ready to transform your relationship with food during motherhood? Follow Caitlin @WholesomeHuntressNutrition on Instagram or visit her website wholesomehuntressnutirition.com for guides and personalised coaching opportunities that make nutrition feel doable rather than overwhelming.

Chapters

• 0:00 Welcome to Beyond Organised
• 1:03 Introducing nutritionist Caitlin Cipriano
• 2:36 Perinatal nutrition support process
• 7:01 Breaking free from all-or-nothing mindset
• 9:06 Common challenges for busy mums
• 12:48 Finding balance and overcoming comparison
• 17:07 Connect with Caitlin's resources

Transcript

Mel: 0:18

Welcome to Beyond Organised, the podcast that helps you simplify your life and amplify your purpose. I'm Mel Schenker, life coach, speaker, founder of She's Organised, but, more importantly, a wife and mum of four little kids. If you've ever felt overwhelmed, like you're constantly juggling everything but never quite catching up, this is the place for you. Here we go beyond just the tidying up and creating systems. We're talking about real life strategies that bring order to your life, but also we talk about the things beyond the organising, the things that really matter, like your parenting relationships and so much more. So grab your coffee and let's dive in. Welcome to another episode of Beyond Organised.

Mel: 1:03

I have the lovely Caitlin Cipriano here, so to give you a quick rundown on who Caitlin is she is a certified nutritionist, mum of two and founder of Wholesome Huntress Nutrition. She's based in Vermont. She supports women through preconception, pregnancy and postpartum with simple, personalised nutrition coaching and resources. She holds a master's in nutrition and human performance and offers weekly meal plans and prenatal nutrition guide and one on one support to help moms feel confident, fueled and cared for. Her own pregnancy journey sparked her passion for perinatal health and now she's on a mission to make nutrition simple, sustainable and supportive for every season of motherhood. Caitlin is also the co-host of the Vibrantly you podcast, where she shares honest conversations around wellness and motherhood. Welcome, caitlin, to the show,

Cailtin: 1:56

Thank you so much, Mel.

Cailtin: 1:57

I'm really excited to chat with you today.

Mel: 2:00

It's so nice to have you here. I love that we're coming from a bit of a different angle here, because we focused a lot around organising and all this stuff, so it's nice to have you come in and help the audience in a different area of life.

Cailtin: 2:17

Absolutely, and I think it can be also a hard area to feel on top of in the stage of motherhood, especially Definitely, I agree.

Mel: 2:30

So what inspired you to get into the whole nutrition field?

Cailtin: 2:36

Sure, so I didn't always specialize in the perinatal area of wellness. My initial background was definitely more of a generalist. I worked actually initially with a lot of athletes and then, after having my first kiddo, my son which was right around 2020 when COVID hit I just started really seeing a lot of like gaps in this area and, of course, like I was more interested, too, in learning things to help support myself. But in chatting with other friends and seeing things, of course, online, I was just like there is a lot of information missing that would be so helpful for so many people and why are we not having conversations around a lot of these things? And so I went and got my certification specifically in perinatal nutrition, and I really wanted to be able to help more moms connect the dots and really make nutrition feel doable for themselves. I love that.

Mel: 3:54

It can be almost like an afterthought for a lot of moms, because we're so busy with our babies and even toddlers and that even as time goes on we're so busy looking after everyone else and before we realize it, you know we've got our own health issues and our own exhaustion that we have to deal with even right from the beginning, and I think what you're doing is very much needed but neglected in what a lot of mums do. So that's really cool. So how does your process work? What do you do to help mums?

Cailtin: 4:31

Sure, a lot of my clients are coming at various stages. Some of them are trying to conceive, maybe they've been trying for a little bit and they're not wanting to dive right into, maybe, a traditional medicine approach. And so we're really looking at what is going on, like how can we get to the root cause of things? Or maybe they are having I don't want to say like complications, but maybe they're having a really they're having a tough pregnancy. They're dealing with a lot of, you know, nausea, aversions. They're just really, you know, having a hard time eating nutritious foods, which is pretty you know common, it's hard enough.

Cailtin: 5:17

It's hard enough. Who can take that like capacity off a little bit and get them into more of a routine again that they were used to doing before they got pregnant? Um, or I'm seeing moms postpartum that, like you said, they're just exhausted. They're wondering why am I feeling this much fatigue? And they just really want some support, kind of coming back into their bodies again. So taking where their starting point is and listening to what are they struggling with, what are their goals, what pieces are really important to them on their journey, and so I'm blending a evidence-based knowledge alongside of I like to take a more holistic approach, so I'm really looking at them as a full human.

Cailtin: 6:18

Yeah, that's cool, so I'm really looking at them as a full human and we're not just talking about food, but we're also talking about their sleep and their stress and so that we can really help them feel more nourished and have better energy and all of those things so they can really give back better to their kiddos and their families and everything like that. Typically, I do like to start off with focusing on blood sugar balance a lot, because I find this to be a really common theme, and then also making sure digestion is good. Are there any missing gaps in what they're currently doing? And then we kind of build some sustainable systems from there. Get them some good ideas that work for both them and their families. We don't need to make multiple meals over here, but that is a big part is like shifting away from feeling like you have to do it all or like be perfect with your eating, but just really give them like good, real life strategies so that they're not feeling overwhelmed.

Mel: 7:31

Yeah, I love that. I love the whole holistic approach to it all. But also, I guess any change in the right direction is better than none at all. So I like how you're saying that you know it doesn't have to be perfect, they don't have to follow a very strict way of doing everything, it's just making those changes that work.

Cailtin: 7:53

Absolutely, and I think mindset challenges are what end up holding people back the most and there's, like in the nutrition and wellness space in general, just this really huge belief of all or nothing mindset that if you're not doing things perfectly or how someone's recommended them to you, that you failed.

Mel: 8:19

Yeah, somehow and then we carry a lot of start again tomorrow.

Cailtin: 8:23

Yeah, all the time, absolutely. And then I think we do internalize a lot of guilt around that and kind of enter a circle of trying something for three or four weeks doing really well, and then, my goodness, like we had an off day or whatever, and we kind of like re-enter that circle. So I try to help people shift away from that and really offer themselves grace and also curiosity about themselves and learning how to be more intuitive so that they're not continuing to stay stuck in that loop, in that pattern.

Mel: 9:07

I love that and you're using so many words from being stuck and mindset and stuff that I do use when it comes to organizing too, so it fits well. So, with the people that are coming to you, what are you sort of finding is the most common challenge that you're coming across?

Cailtin: 9:25

I think, outside of those like mindset obstacles that we just discussed a lot of, it is um, the like fatigue, like the energy levels is really tough, um, and then also like time. Time is always a bit like I'm not feeling like you have the time to show up for yourself because you are giving out so much to again your, your kids, your family, your job, everyone else but you yeah, everyone else but you and it's just that they feel really stretched thin and they often don't feel like they have the capacity to really plan things out, I think, in a way that does have some strategy, a way that does have some strategy, but that also allows them to still enjoy what they want to enjoy too. Food is not meant to be this like rigid thing.

Cailtin: 10:27

There does need to be this like enjoyment piece to it as well, and so I think it just ends up being overwhelming, because there's so much information out there and they don't know what to trust, what's going to be best for themselves.

Mel: 10:46

Yeah, that's so good. And even just hearing you speak on a few things I'm thinking, oh yeah, I could probably use you with a few things. Yeah, but I've got to say it's pretty funny because over the last few months I've replicated this salad from my local restaurant that I absolutely love this lamb salad and I've replicated it and I've eaten it. It's roast lamb and everything. I spent way too much money on lamb lately, but I have had it so many times for lunch over the last four months maybe, and I even said back at the start I could eat this every day for the rest of my life and months down the track I'm still eating it.

Mel: 11:32

My husband's like I'm done, I'm over it, I can't eat anymore. But I think it's nice when you can find some food or even fitness or you know some kind of thing that you actually end up enjoying and you can do it. And there's nothing wrong if you have the same type of lunch every day. If you're that kind of person, I'm quite happy to have the same thing every day, but still having that variety and stuff which, of course, you would go through as a nutritionist. But having that lamb salad is still better than me going out and getting McDonald's or just having toast or something you know. So you find what you like.

Cailtin: 12:12

Absolutely, and I encourage people to keep things simple and when you do find those things that you really do like and enjoy, you can keep rolling with that. There's nothing wrong there and then you can find other ways in your meals to interject.

Mel: 12:28

Yeah, incorporate other things yeah.

Cailtin: 12:30

So that's okay.

Mel: 12:32

Yeah, oh, that's so cool. So what do you think is sort of the main thing that holds moms in particular, back from seeking the help or making the change Like?

Cailtin: 12:46

what do you think is sort of the main thing holding them back?

Cailtin: 12:48

I think that, especially with moms, I think it's really hard to ask for help to begin with with, to even like come to that conclusion that like, okay, I'm really am like having a hard time with whatever the particular thing is, and then, once they've actually maybe come to that awareness, I think it's still even hard to admit that, okay, I really do need some like support and guidance. Here, I think, is getting over that hump of admitting that I need help honestly because we're stubborn and think that we should know.

Mel: 13:24

No, and I see it all the time too. It's humbling. It is humbling because, particularly in this day and age with social media and everything like that, we see all these other mums that seem to have it all together. And for you in your space, you probably see all the mums that have their diet in check and their fitness regime in check and they're balancing newborn babies or whatever perfectly, and pregnancies well, and all of that. And so it would be hard for your audience with that and for me with my audience, with the organizing and stuff. And you just see all these Pinterest perfect pantries and then you think where am I going wrong? It's it's hard because I feel like it doesn't matter what area of life you're looking at. We're susceptible to that comparison now and it really is the thief of joy and it can be really hard and it doesn't matter whether you're looking at food or timetable.

Cailtin: 14:24

You're comparing and it's hard. Yeah, I think that comparison piece is really challenging too. It's a bad culture in the postpartum space. It's also really challenging to see that a lot Kind of like you said, being other moms. Why can't I be like that? And I was not like that. I had lunges, especially in the postpartum timeframe, and then you throw hormones on top of it.

Cailtin: 14:52

Yeah, it's really not easy, and I think that maybe somewhere along the lines, with more people sharing those positive experiences and not enough of these are some things that could happen to you along your journey during pregnancy and postpartum. Like this isn't meant to fear, monger you or, to like, take joy out of your experience, keep it real.

Cailtin: 15:18

This isn't meant to fearmonger you or to take joy out of your experience, but these are things that you could expect happening and I think that that would really help a lot of moms just feel seen and heard when those challenges do come up.

Mel: 15:30

Yeah, and that's it. And I don't know about you with your space, but I'm sure that every day it's still making those choices and finding that balance in even what you're an expert in, and I know that's the same for me too. I don't want people thinking that a lot of us that are experts in what we do don't have the same struggles anymore. We are still making choices in that, but we might have set things up to be a little bit easier for us now, or we don't rely on motivation so much because we've got the habits and the good things in place, all these different things. There are ways that it can become a bit more natural in some ways, even if it's a learned skill. And yeah, I just want to encourage people that just because we're good at what we do doesn't mean that we don't have to work on it too Absolutely.

Cailtin: 16:25

I think it's always a work in progress and taking it like one day at a time, but, like you said, once you do have that foundation and those sort of systems in place that you've identified work best for you, it does make it so much easier that, like you said, you're not relying on the motivation to get it done.

Mel: 16:47

Yeah, well, let's see and look, both of us, we've got little kids and all of that, so we're still just working it out one day at a time. Yeah, that's great that. So we're still just working it out one day at a time. So if someone listening, wants to get a hold of you, wants to follow you, wants to get your help, where can they go? Where can they find?

Cailtin: 17:06

you? Yeah, absolutely so. I'm on Instagram at Wholesome Huntress Nutrition. You can follow me there. You can check out my website as well. It's also wholesomehuntressnutritioncom and I do have some different guides. If you're just looking to kind of dip your toe in, get some recipe ideas and learn, I do have a few one-on-one coaching spaces available currently at this time. So if someone does have like questions or want to connect, you know they can either DM me on Instagram to chat or shoot me an email, which is also wholesomehuntress at gmailcom.

Mel: 17:44

Great. Well, I'll make sure all of that information is in the description to make it nice and easy for everyone listening. But I have really enjoyed getting to know you and listen to what you do. I haven't come across a lot of people that are in your space and I think it's very, very much needed, so I certainly encourage everyone listening to check Caitlin out and to go there. But thank you so much for coming on and joining us today.

Cailtin: 18:13

Yeah, absolutely I had a great time, though. Thank you, you're very welcome.

Mel: 18:16

If you loved this episode, don't forget to hit subscribe so you don't miss what's coming next. And if you want to continue the conversation, you can connect with me on Instagram at @shes. organised, or, for some free resources, head over to beyondorganised. com toolkit. Remember, organising is a tool to live the purposeful life beyond it. See you next time.