Healthy by Stephanie

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Healthy by Stephanie

Nutritional Therapy Practitioner + Pre/Post Natal Personal Trainer who helps mamas navigate pregnancy, postpartum, and beyond. IG:

12/11/2025

Hello, Third Trimester 👋 Here’s how I’m adjusting my diet + workouts to support this final stretch.

Diet Adjustments
Smaller, more frequent meals have been key—big meals just aren’t as comfortable right now. I’m eating every couple of hours in smaller portions and increasing calories when my body asks for it (usually 300–500 extra depending on hunger + energy).

Workout Modifications
No more exercises flat on my back (I elevate on a bench), swapping planks for bear holds to avoid unnecessary abdominal pressure, and choosing wide stances in my squats/hinges.

Rest Routines
Earlier bedtimes and naps whenever I can fit them in. Truly leaning into rest as part of the routine.

Hydration Focus
Being extra intentional with hydration throughout the day to help minimize swelling and just feel better overall.

- follow for all things nutrition and fitness for pregnancy, postpartum, and motherhood! 🩷

12/05/2025

When a client tells me they're struggling with pregnancy fatigue, the first labs I like to run are an Iron Panel and Vitamin D.
 Before we talk about what to do — let’s quickly cover why these two markers matter so much during pregnancy. 👇

𝘗𝘳𝘦𝘨𝘯𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘺 𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘶𝘭, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘵’𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘢 𝘩𝘶𝘨𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘭𝘴, 𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘥, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘯𝘶𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘴.
 Fatigue is not always “just pregnancy” — often, it’s your body asking for more support.

↙️Why iron stores tend to drop in pregnancy: During pregnancy, your blood volume expands significantly to support baby + placenta. That means your body needs more iron to make more red blood cells, and if your stores were low pre-pregnancy or your intake isn’t keeping up — fatigue, shortness of breath, dizziness, and weakness can creep in. Many women enter pregnancy already borderline low without knowing it.

↙️Why Vitamin D is often depleted: Vitamin D plays a role in immune health, mood, hormone function, and energy, and baby relies heavily on your supply. Pregnancy increases utilization, and if sun exposure, diet, or absorption are low — deficiency becomes common. Low vitamin D is also linked to increased fatigue, aches, low mood + poor immune resilience.

Instead of chalking up exhaustion to “normal pregnancy,” let’s look deeper. ✨ Testing > guessing. Once we know your levels, we can build a plan that supports you — energy, mood, and nutrient status.

➡️ Save this reel so you can advocate for yourself with confidence, or as always message me for 1:1 support. 💛

- follow for more pregnancy nutrition and + hormone tips.

12/04/2025

Hey IG world, I'm back!
It's been a while since I've posted on here, and let's just say I've been busy momming two while growing our third! 🥰

I've missed interacting with you all and sharing about pregnancy, nutrition, fitness, and health. So this is my "soft opening" as I work my way back to more regular posting here!

I'm so grateful and blessed that God has graced us with a third — and (so far 🙏) an uncomplicated pregnancy. We’ve had a big year! My 4-year-old daughter started at a new school, my 19-month-old son is running around like crazy (nickname = destructo boy), and my husband and I were finally married in the Catholic Church!

I can't wait to start sharing more about life again — 👉 what I'm doing differently this pregnancy, meals I'm loving, how I've been moving 💪 this time around, and tips and tricks to hopefully help mamas have their healthiest pregnancy possible!

If you’ve gotten this far, thanks so much for reading and I’m so glad you're still here! I hope you're all enjoying this holiday season. Cheers to finishing out 2024 healthy and strong! 💪🎄🎁

- follow for all things nutrition and fitness for pregnancy, postpartum, and motherhood! 🩷

10/30/2025

Today, we got married (again) in our church! 💒

Five years ago to the day, we were married in Southern California in front of 30 of our closest friends and family. We were living in California at the time, and our church in Santa Monica had shut down due to the pandemic.

We had to make a hard decision: reschedule everything and wait for our church to reopen, or continue with our ceremony and have our marriage convalidated at a later time.

So today, on our five-year wedding anniversary, we were married again. We're both happy and grateful to receive the sacrament of marriage in front of our two children — with our third baby on the way 🩷🩷🩷.

A lot can happen in five years, and I love you now more than ever 😘.

We love because He first loved us. — 1 John 4:19

04/01/2025

Simple meals for moms because there's nothing more time consuming than cooking different meals for each family member. Cook one meal for everyone and simplify your life and anxiety, mama 🤎.

These meal ideas are delicious, healthy, filling, and EASY. The whole family will love them. Bonus is that they are all blood sugar friendly, so it won't send anyone on a blood sugar spike and crash after eating. Win, win, win 👏

Breakfast:
🍳Bacon and eggs
Add raw cheese for the kids
Add ferments for the adults

💥Supercharge it: sub the bacon for steak

Lunch:
🍗One sheet pan chicken thighs and roasted veggies. Drizzle it all with olive oil, salt, pepper and garlic powder. You can sprinkle parm on the veggies if it will help your kiddo eat them 😉.

Dinner:
Grass fed burger patties on lettuce wraps with raw cheese and sauerkraut.
🥗Side salad for the adults
🍟Jesse and Ben's frozen tallow fries for the kids

💥Supercharge it: use a ground beef liver blend to take your burger patties to the next level.

03/19/2025

My favorite, indoor, non-screen activities for my toddler. 🌷

We don't do tv shows for our littles aside from desperate times calling for desperate needs. This usually means when I'm sick or when she's sick.🤧

1️⃣ Easel 🎨
She uses this thing so much. Whether she's doing stickers, chalk, or drawing, it's almost a daily activity.

2️⃣ Lovery Toy Kits 🧸
We have been on this subscription since my 3.5 year old was born. Now our 11 month old is reusing all the earlier play kits, and they're like brand new toys all over again for my toddler. Toy rotation is key in order to keep things fresh and organized.

3️⃣ Forts, tunnels, and "nests" 🪺
My daughter loves to make different forts, tunnels, and nests out of toys, blankets, pillows, etc. It's so fun for her and great imaginary play.

4️⃣ Play Food 🍕
She has a tea set, sink, pizza, and ice cream kit and at least one gets used daily.

5️⃣ Books 📚
We do bi-weekly library trips, and gift her books for every holiday (versus tons of toys). She lovessss to read and memorizes entire books that she sometimes "reads" them to us instead.

I'm so glad that the warmer weather is here and that we'll be able to play much more outside. Drop some of your favorite favorite non-screen time activities below 👇

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Arlington, VA

Website

http://www.healthybystephanie.com/

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