Episode Transcript:

The Nourished Mama - Ep 3

Ana Robinson (00:01.365)

Hello and welcome. Today I am joined by the wonderful and beautiful Renee. Renee is a certified nutritionist and health coach and she just has the most beautiful presence online as well, inspiring mamas to live their healthiest, happiest life. I have loved following Renee's journey and today Renee and I are going to chat a little bit more about prioritising your health as a mama.

Something I always say and my followers will know is without a nourished mama, there just can't be a nourished home. So one of the most important things that we do is make sure that we never feel selfish for prioritising our own health. Both Renee and I are super passionate about making mamas feel happy and comfortable to do this. So I am so excited to have her on the podcast today.

Renee Brown (00:53.878)

Yay, I'm so excited to be here. Thanks so much for having me.

Ana Robinson (00:57.894)

Renee, can you tell us a little bit more about yourself? How did you get into nutrition and health?

Renee Brown (01:04.01)

Yes, absolutely. So I'm a mama. I've got two beautiful little kitties, Georgia, which I actually can't believe is almost seven, which kind of like when I say that out loud, I'm like, have a seven year old. I'm like, how does that happen? And then I have a little boy, Luca, who is going to be starting school next year, which is crazy. So he is almost five. And yeah, I have always been super passionate about health and wellness. think it's always just been part of me. Like I kind of joke that I used to be like the teenager that would get the big, big health books when I'd be like go to the bookshop and I like wanted them for some weird reason. And I just loved flicking through them, even though like most of it would just go like over my head. I've just always loved.

I guess like learning about wellness, focusing on like health and wellbeing. And I've always loved like coming up with my own like nutrition plans and exercise plans and lifestyle plans. That's always been something that I've been doing. And I think as I've kind of got older and I've moved through like my journey with wellness, I really, really noticed like the impact that it has on myself and on my children and my life. And I think that's really how

I guess that's how like my journey has really deepened and my love for wellness and nutrition has really expanded just through like life and really seeing the impact day to day. So yeah, it's been, it's been a fun journey. And I think I'm learning more and more now as I'm like older and in motherhood and trying different ways to see really what works for me. But yeah, it's been a, I think it's just been part of me from the get go. I've always loved it.

Ana Robinson (02:40.617)

You can just tell it's almost like part of your energy and aura. I think people that follow you will know you just, yeah, you just portray that aura of wellness and health. And it's almost like it's just part of you. And I love that.

Renee Brown (02:43.79)

Yeah.

Renee Brown (02:53.646)

Thank you, that's so kind.

Ana Robinson (02:55.987)

I think when you say as well like you know learning as you go that's such a big thing as well because I think a lot of people can look from the outside and go well she's got it all figured out and you know she's got this routine I'll never be able to get to that point but both you and I even being nutritionists you know we are forever learning adapting and evolving trying new things and you know having days where things don't go to plan but then being able to come back from that and I think that's the most important part of a health journey. doesn't have to be perfect. It doesn't have to be this strict routine that you follow. It is about, like you said, learning and growing and evolving, which I think is so important to take note of.

Renee Brown (03:37.934)

100%. I think that is actually one of the things that I'm getting more passionate about and I think especially with social media is we almost like we see ways that people are maybe moving through their day and eating and things like that and we go, my gosh, that's what I have to do. I'm gonna follow it 100 % and we've almost forgotten to listen to our own body and listen to what works for us and I think that's one thing that I'm always trying to share is that like this week, I might want to do this and I might want to start my day with a green juice and a matcha. And then next week, I'm like, do you know what? That's actually not how I feel like starting my day. I'm going to have a protein smoothie and I'm going to focus on having more of that in the morning and I'll have my lemon water. And it's like, I'm continually changing and evolving and tweaking and adjusting day to day because we're not the same every day. And especially as women, like our hormonal cycles completely change, like what we're craving and how we're feeling and our sleep and all the different things. And I think if we can just give ourselves like a little bit of grace and really realise like we don't need to follow the strict path, we can very much just listen to our body and try and have fun with wellness, like play with it. Go, I'm gonna try doing this. Let's see how that works. If that doesn't work, like that's fine. That wasn't meant for you. Try something else. Try a different way of eating. Try some new whatever, supplement, greens powder. Try it, have fun with it and you might find products and foods and different things that you love adding in and you might find ones you don't like and that's okay. And I think we've just forgotten that that's okay.

Ana Robinson (05:15.541)

100 % I get a lot of people say to me, you know, somebody recommended this collagen powder and it just doesn't taste right. It doesn't sit well with me, but I'm just going to keep taking it because I know it's good for me. And I'm like, no, that's not how health and wellness works. Because if you feel like you need to do something, then that's never going to be sustainable. It's never going to become a core part of your health habits because you don't actually enjoy it. And the point of health and wellness is you get to a point where you actually enjoy it and I think a lot of people sometimes can see it as this task or especially Mums can see it as this other thing that they need to add on to their list But the point of it is getting to that point where it feels fun It's enjoyable and like you said is listening to your body and that's huge. It's so big because even when I Work with a lot of clients about repairing your relationship with food something I say to them is Rather than focusing so much on what you shouldn't have.

Ana Robinson (06:16.727)

Let's focus on how you can add in more of the good stuff that actually make you feel your best and take note of that. And when you're in that healing process, don't restrict yourself so much. If you really feel like that chocolate bar, it is totally fine to have it. But the most important information you can give to your body and brain is how did you feel following that? And you don't have to beat yourself up. You don't have to, you know, but it's give your body that information because I can almost guarantee

Renee Brown (06:39.174)

Mmm, I love that.

Ana Robinson (06:46.543)

you if you start storing that information over time you are naturally going to start going more for that nutritious healthy option because your body knows that it's going to make you feel more energised more happy so it's about giving your body that information and then tuning in and listening which is so important isn't it

Renee Brown (07:05.688)

I love it and I 100 % agree about like adding in goodness. Like that's always been my philosophy as well. It's like, let's not even focus on maybe the things we perhaps shouldn't be having as much of like, know, like processed foods and things like that, refined sugar. And it's like, let's just step away from that and go, what can we add in today that makes us feel really good? Like let's just add in things and you know, it's just gonna naturally crowd out the rest. And you also know it's gonna change your taste buds. Because I think that's a big thing that we forget that our taste buds change actually really, really quickly. Like I always think with my homemade nut milk when I first started making it, I was like, this is a different flavor. It doesn't have all the sweetener in it. It doesn't have even anything else added to it. And I was like, this is interesting. And I had to adjust to having that. And now I'm like, this is the most delicious thing I could ever have. And I think it's like my taste buds have completely changed. And now if I have like a store-bought milk, I'm like, I just, doesn't agree with me and I don't like the taste. And I think sometimes we just forget that we're like, our taste buds, like they change. And so you have to give yourself like a little bit of time to adjust to those little flavor changes as well, I think when you're making, you know, switches to your habits and very subtle ones. So, yeah.

Ana Robinson (08:22.409)

Definitely, definitely. And I think a lot of people would be surprised at how quickly that can actually change. And not to say that the journey isn't hard. It is, it 100 % is. In those first, I get a lot of people, because in my programs we do cut out the refined sugar for the six weeks. And I get a lot of people by week two say, felt really good for the first week, but in week two I feel really groggy. I've got headaches. But then that's because your body is detoxifying from that sugar, it's removing all those toxins, it's trying to heal, it's trying to repair and naturally your body's going to go into this overdrive where it feels tired and you can get those migraines and headaches. But if you push through to the other end, both you and I know just how amazing that other side of that can feel. So it's just, you know, it is, it can be difficult, it can be hard, but also making sure that you give yourself that grace, but also push yourself, push yourself.

Renee Brown (09:08.236)

Mm-hmm. 100 percent.

Ana Robinson (09:22.171)

you need to get out of your comfort zone and just, you know, make sure that you're understanding that it is a journey, but it's a journey that's going to make you feel so much better on the other end.

Renee Brown (09:33.006)

100 % I think I love to always say like immerse yourself just immerse yourself in whatever habit you're trying to change just immerse yourself do it daily and then that is the fastest way to make any type of changes like it doesn't matter if I mean you think of like adding in a green smoothie if you had it three times a week like you might notice a little bit you know you might be like I kind of like this but imagine if you had that every single day for seven days you would be craving it by the end of the seven days your energy will be feeling it. You'll be feeling better with your digestion. Your skin will probably even be feeling better. And so it's like any habits that you want to do, the best thing that I always say is literally immerse yourself in it and just do it. Do that one habit every single day, even if it's like a workout or whatever it is, just to build that habit. And then you just notice the difference. And I think you notice that with like your course, with my course as well. It's like…You just, you need to go all in with things to make changes and I think that's just the best way to go about it. Yeah, absolutely.

Ana Robinson (10:31.635)

Yeah, and the consistency. Consistency is key.

Renee, so I know for you, early motherhood is such a challenge. lot of the reason why I do what I do at the moment is because I became severely burnt out. It was two years after I had my daughter, who's my second baby, and I became extremely burnt out. I actually ended up in hospital with a really nasty virus. And then from that ended up developing an autoimmune condition.

Renee Brown (10:41.351)

Yeah.

Ana Robinson (11:06.363)

that I feel like comes down to the fact that I just really wasn't told how to support my health in those early years of motherhood. I think a lot of people think that, you know, that postnatal depletion occurs between, you know, zero and six months and then you'll feel fine. But actually the full effects of postnatal depletion actually hit around that two to three year mark, especially if the mother hasn't actually replenished her health. And that's what happened to me. So a lot of the reason why I do what I do today is because of that and I want to make sure that a lot of mums are trying to avoid that as well. What are some of the biggest challenges and struggles that you have experienced in those early early years of motherhood?

Renee Brown (11:48.682)

Yeah, mean gosh, so many. Thinking back on it, I think with Georgia, so my daughter, she, that was almost like so foreign. When you have your first child, it's so foreign and you're kind of just like floundering around. So I almost found that slightly easier. And then Luca came along.

Ana Robinson (11:51.517)

Yeah.

Renee Brown (12:12.11)

He was born, I think about two years after Georgia and I found because he was born bang in the middle of COVID lockdown. So it was like our first COVID lockdown in Auckland, bang in the middle of like the one month and he was born in that. And so that I found to be unbelievably challenging. I think the biggest thing that I found was sleep deprivation. Georgia was not a good sleeper. She was like, I will wake seven to eight times a night and just slowly kill your soul with her sleep. God, I think that is the worst and then having to go through the day and just, you're in survival.

Ana Robinson (12:45.682)

Yes, my son's exactly the same. Yeah.

Renee Brown (12:54.86)

Like, let's, you know, I think everybody knows that as a mom, there's just stages where you're in full survival and the days just are literally on repeat and you're like, I can't tell the difference between today and yesterday and last week and I'm literally just moving through the motions. And I think that that was probably the stage where I fell in love with my daily rituals because I was like trying to clip onto something, like something that was almost like stable that I was in control of, because I think as you know when you're a new mom as well in the early stages, you don't really have control of anything. You don't know really when they're gonna sleep and how long they're gonna sleep for and if they're gonna scream or they're gonna wake up happy. You're just in it. You're trying to survive. Yeah, you're just in pure survival. And so for me, my rituals was something that I almost could have control on. And I missed and I craved that time that was just

Ana Robinson (13:35.413)

Yes, yes, yes, serious survival mode.

Renee Brown (13:51.118)

for me in my day. And so that was really where I started my journey into my daily rituals that I'm so passionate about now is because I realised quite quickly that I could actually fit in quite a few five minute rituals into my day if I scattered them from wake up to the end of the day. I knew I wasn't gonna get this like two hour window of like. You know just doing nothing and being able to fit in all these beautiful things and so I found that I just literally would write down Then I still actually to the debt to this day do this is I wrote down all the things that make me feel my best So I wrote down movement sunshine, gua sha, dry body brushing, green drinks, my boosted matcha meditation like I literally just wrote this really big list of

Ana Robinson (14:28.756)

love that.

Renee Brown (14:40.862)

all my favorite like wellness and health things that make me feel really good. And then I was like, right, which ones can I fit in to my day that are not going to acquire like a whole hour to do? And so I would just start in the morning and I would just slowly start adding them in. So sometimes like while I was like breastfeeding Luca, I would be meditating for a few minutes. And then, you know, maybe while like Luca was sitting in like little bouncy chair, I would do my Gua Sha before I jumped in the shower. And then maybe I didn't get anything else done. And then at lunchtime when like Luca was sleeping or Georgia was there, I would go outside and I'd have my marcher in the sun and I'd ground my feet on the earth and like I would take a few minutes. And so I really found like that to be so beneficial to how I felt. And then when I got to the end of the day, yeah, I was still tired and still a little bit drained, but I like wasn't depleted. I was nourished.

Ana Robinson (15:30.869)

you.

And it your emotional health as well that probably really made a huge difference to that as well, which is such a big part of our journey as mums. think a lot of the time we focus on the physical, I'm so tired. I'm so exhausted. But reality is, is that there can be a lot of overwhelm, anxiety, know, mood swings that can build up as well when we're not focusing on those little bits. And I always say it's the small habits that make the biggest impact over time. It really is. And it's those small habits that you can implement daily and be consistent with that are going to be part of your long-term health routine. Because a lot of people, especially women in general, but mummers, we go in with this all or nothing approach because we're built that way. It's like if we can't get it perfect, if we can't get it right, then there's no point. I'm just going to wait until the kids are older, until they're at school. But reality is, that there is never ever the perfect time to prioritise your health as a mumma.

Renee Brown (16:23.726)

Okay.

Renee Brown (16:31.672)

Mm.

Ana Robinson (16:31.739)

And reality it also is is that if you go in with that, okay, I'm starting on Monday I'm gonna sign up to a gym go on this diet that is never going to be sustainable Anyway, you've never heard of someone being on a diet for two years that none of that approach is actually sustainable But you know making that decision to go okay for this week. I'm gonna become obsessed with drinking more water That's something that you can really build on and that's something that's gonna make a huge difference to your health over time or

Renee Brown (16:46.648)

Yep.

Ana Robinson (17:01.303)

Okay, this week I'm going to focus on going to bed earlier, so I'm going to start in 15 minute intervals. And this is what I tell a lot of my clients, like these are the habits that actually make the difference, not your gym membership.

Renee Brown (17:07.853)

Yeah.

Renee Brown (17:14.744)

I think, yeah, it's those really, it is those daily habits. And I think we forget the momentum you get from actually one sticking to something and then doing it and you start to feel better and then it becomes so much easier to do the next thing. So it's like, just pick one thing, one simple thing, especially as a busy mom. I think it can get so overwhelming and you're like.

Ana Robinson (17:29.075)

Yes.

Renee Brown (17:36.652)

Okay, that sounds amazing and I would love to add all these rituals into my whole day, but like that's just too much. I can't do that. And so, and I get that, like I slowly built them in. And so, you know, maybe you just literally say, tomorrow I'm gonna wake up in the morning and I'm gonna add a greens powder to my water. That's it. Like you can do that while holding a baby. So we can do it. And then you do that and you have that and you just literally do that for the whole month.

Ana Robinson (17:52.285)

Exactly.

Exactly.

Renee Brown (18:01.484)

and you see how you feel, you will feel so much better in yourself knowing you've done something for yourself that you will then go, okay, what is the next thing I'm gonna add in? And we just slowly add one thing after the other and just literally let it fill your day with these beautiful little habits and rituals. And I think if you can do ones that you can do at home, because I know like as moms, we're often at home. We're doing a lot at home. We're not out and about able to do like a million different things. So try to make

these rituals, these habits, ones that you can actually do in your house and in your home so that really no matter how your day's going, you know that you can still come back to those. And I think that's always really important.

Ana Robinson (18:41.013)

And it creates a happier environment, doesn't it? Like that's the whole point is you need to, you know, wake up in a space where you feel inspired and happy. And a part of that is focusing on these daily rituals in your own environment and in your own space. And I know a lot of the time, sometimes, you know, I get a bit of backlash when I talk about self care, but I think this is because a lot of people really overcomplicate what self care needs to look like.

Renee Brown (18:43.864)

Mm-hmm.

Renee Brown (18:58.575)

Yeah.

Renee Brown (19:10.04)

Mmm.

Ana Robinson (19:11.059)

mean that you need to go for a weekend retreat or you know go to the day spa or get a massage that's not what we're referring to when it comes to self-care and prioritising your health it simply is like waking up and having some lemon water that is you know and also making sure that you're doing it in a way that doesn't feel like you need to add another task in I think habit stacking is something that I always say to a lot of my mums is okay well if you know you're gonna come downstairs and you're gonna make

Renee Brown (19:25.816)

Yes.

Ana Robinson (19:40.883)

coffee, while you make that coffee have a lemon water, know pour the water have the lemon drink that first because that's going to make a huge difference to your health. know hydrating your body with water rather than coffee. There's so many benefits there and making sure that when you know these little micro things like you said in your own environment goes such a long way. Now I know a lot of people like I said feel like self-care might just be this other thing that they need to add to your list to their list but

Maybe if you can give us an example of what prioritising your health as a busy mum looks like for you.

Renee Brown (20:16.382)

Yes, 100%. So, so for me, I think I mean, I change mine regularly. I'm like, I'm big. I'm not actually I love routines, but I'm not somebody that loves to stick with the same routine over and over and over again. So like I said, I love my non negotiables like those to me, I think if we can all take time, like even today, if you're listening to this, like write a list of your

the things that make you feel amazing, like the things that make you feel like your best self. And I would literally make the biggest list of those and then just look at the list and go, realistically, how many of those things could I fit into like a busy day, like a typical busy day to day and add those into your day. And I think for me, that's what I do every day is I've got my list. I know what my non-negotiables are. I generally have between like seven to 10 of them.

And then in my day, will rotate. So sometimes I'll do them in the morning before the kids wake up. Like I love an early morning routine if my children are sleeping well at night. If they're not, they love to go through stages where they will just like wake me up at night. And if they do that, then I move my morning routine to normally like a midday routine. And then when they're either like having their lunch or if they're at kindy in school on the days that they've both got those.

I will do my beautiful rituals and rambles routines in the middle of the afternoon. And then for whatever reason, if that doesn't work because I've got work and there's kids and all the things that come up in life, I will then move it to the evening. And so I'm constantly rotating and changing and tweaking my practices and my routines to make it really work for me.

As long as I know that I'm fitting in my non-negotiables into my day, then I know it doesn't matter what time of day I'm getting them in, as long as I'm really getting them in. Because if I don't, I notice the biggest impact in my mood and my energy and my patience as well, I think is a big one. Like as moms, think we all like our patience is something that gets tested many, many times in a day. I think for me, my self-care is my way to balance my patience.

Ana Robinson (22:08.147)

Exactly. Yes.

Ana Robinson (22:23.071)

Yes.

Renee Brown (22:23.52)

And if I don't do it, I'm like my patients, just, I've become not a very patient person and I hate that. So I really like, this is like one of my tools to keep that. And I think I'm sure like a lot of you can probably relate to that.

Ana Robinson (22:28.757)

again.

Ana Robinson (22:37.225)

Yeah.

And I think this, really want to touch on that as well, because I think a lot of the time as moms, you know, it goes back to feeling selfish to prioritise our own health. And I think this also comes from a lot of, you know, the way society has made us believe motherhood should look like. It's almost like, you know, the minute we leave that hospital, it's almost like it's embedded in us that, our life is no longer about us anymore. It's about this child. And we really, you know, for me, one of my biggest goals is to pave the way for a new version of motherhood. And the reason for that is,

Renee Brown (22:45.623)

Mm-hmm.

Ana Robinson (23:08.103)

like you just touched on, when we prioritise our own health, that has the most beautiful ripple effect into our family. And that's why a lot of the time I do say, without a nourished mama, there can't be a nourished home because so much of health and wellness stems from us. We are the heart of the home. It's so important that we prioritise our own health in order to be able to lead our family that way as well. And you know yourself that ripple

effect that that creates into your children because like you just said you are a more patient mama you're a happier mama something that I struggled with a little bit was my daughter hated it when I would go for my jogs and walks she would scream and cry at the door and I thought to I used to you know have that real big struggle on do I go do I just you know am I traumatising her and then after a while I realised okay but when I go for these jogs when I go

to a Pilates class, yoga class, I come back home and I am such a better person to be around. I'm such a better mama to be around. I'm more patient. I feel happier. I'm not overwhelmed. I can sit and play. It's the quality time that I spend with her when I get back because I'm in such a better state emotionally and physically and mentally. And that's why it's so important that we change this version of motherhood where we feel selfish to prioritise our own health and really

Renee Brown (24:29.356)

Yeah, 100%.

Ana Robinson (24:37.735)

that you know like I said we are the heart of the home we lead the way our family you know leads as well and everything we do now is going to be how they respect their body and treat their body as they grow as well which is another thing that's a whole other topic but you know

Renee Brown (24:55.086)

absolutely. No, I love it. Like even at home, like I will always, when the kids were actually younger, there was like at 9.15, that was the time that like the kids would have their morning tea. I would set them up with their morning tea. And then that was the same time I would move my body. So they always knew like they would have their morning tea. I would roll out my yoga mat and I would start to do like my workout. I would never have it like on quiet. I always had it so like they could hear what I was doing. And I would always explain to them, I'd be like,

I'm moving like I'm doing this is my me time. This is mommy's time. You know, I've got to do this and then I can play with you after and often times like Georgia would come in and she would watch or she would do a little bit and it's like, I think we almost have forgotten that they can be part of it. Like it doesn't need to be this thing where you're you go into a separate room and nobody talks to you. Nobody interrupts you and it's like that's not achievable. Like who has that unless your kids are at school and it can be or whatever.

Ana Robinson (25:44.565)

on.

Renee Brown (25:49.994)

every single day, you know, and you have that time and you're not working and juggling a million things. But I think most of us are like, we've got a little person hanging off us or by us or with us or around us. And so we need to make it achievable. And I think to show them like I even got Georgia like a little yoga mat, I was like, they can be part of it as long as they understand this is your time and they can be there and they can be doing it with you and they can watch you. But mommy needs to have her quiet time and

Ana Robinson (26:10.399)

Yeah.

Renee Brown (26:17.858)

do her little workout and then we can play. And I think like my kids just knew at 9.15 every day, mommy was rolling out her mat and it's like they just adjust it and they would play and they would be like around me. And that was just part of the routine. And I think sometimes we've forgotten that we actually can build our kids into our wellness routines. We don't need to keep it separate from them. Like they can help us make green smoothies. Like why can't they be pudding?

Ana Robinson (26:37.909)

100 percent.

Renee Brown (26:43.64)

chopping up and putting things into the smoothie and the blender with you, you know? Like, it can be joint and you can be doing it with your kids.

Ana Robinson (26:48.305)

Exactly.

Yeah, definitely. this is also goes for meditation because I try and introduce meditation to a lot of the mums in my program and a lot of them, you know, it's like this foreign thing and it's almost like they feel like I always say to them, you don't need to be in this quiet space with like birds humming and like water flowing. I know that that's what it can look like, you know, on social media. But reality is, that when I meditate in the mornings, I will come down a lot of the time, my kids will come

out and they now they have learnt to just sit with me or my daughter will sometimes just plonk her butt on my lap but that's totally fine because the reality is it's almost like just the just the idea that you made that commitment to yourself to go I'm gonna slow down for five minutes for ten minutes whatever it is that in itself is so much more powerful than how successful your actual meditation was

Renee Brown (27:29.774)

Cute. Yeah.

Renee Brown (27:51.435)

Mm-hmm, 100%.

Ana Robinson (27:51.767)

It's the power is where you said to yourself, meditate this time for myself to breathe and slow down. That's what meditating really needs to look like for you as a mama. And that in itself is so powerful. And I can guarantee you that you're going to get so many benefits from that, whether you are doing a quiet meditation or whether you're doing a meditation with the kids around. Either way, there are so many benefits to that.

Renee Brown (28:17.646)

No, love my meditation practice is definitely something that I think for moms. think meditation is so beneficial and I think we put that pressure on it being this perfect, beautiful, quiet. Oftentimes, I'm sitting there, Luca will climb on top of me or he'll be playing with my hair, just twisting, twisting my hair. This is not triggering at all, I'm fine. Breathing through it.

Ana Robinson (28:36.745)

Yes. Yeah, I love that.

Renee Brown (28:45.772)

So it's just part of it. think we all know motherhood is messy and we have to just find ways to still look after ourselves at the same time. And that's never gonna look picture perfect, but if you show up every day, like that's truly the most important thing.

Ana Robinson (29:00.433)

Exactly. And just choosing you. It's as simple as that. It's just choosing you is so powerful. So if there's a mama listening to this now and she is like deep in the trenches, we've both been there. She's deep in the trenches. She has no idea where to start. What are some advice, tips or strategies you can give her? I know that you've touched a little bit on this with, you know, just waking up and having that morning lemon water. But what are some other things that you can give her?

Renee Brown (29:02.414)

Mmm.

Renee Brown (29:06.285)

Yeah.

Renee Brown (29:11.842)

Mm-hmm.

Renee Brown (29:23.694)

Mm.

Renee Brown (29:28.042)

I would probably say, like I said, write the list, get out of your head, like all the things that make you feel amazing, and then I would figure out, do you want to have a morning practice? Like, is that gonna be achievable for you? It really depends, like, how well your child sleeps, what time they wake up. Like, if you're getting a rested sleep, you might feel like, absolutely, I can get up 20 minutes before my baby normally wakes. Like, you totally can. Or if you're like, no, sleep is just not happening right now.

then you might say as soon as you put your baby down to sleep at night, that triggers the start of your evening routine. And you might go and have like dim all of the lights and really like try to relax, take some big deep breaths. would put on, you could put on like a meditation. You could do a quick Gua Sha or dry body brush. You could have a beautiful hot shower. You could make some kind of beautiful like herbal tea. And just, think even just trying to lower some of your stress, your cortisol levels at the end of a busy day, that in itself.

is gonna make you calmer, more relaxed, and you're gonna go into the next day more capable of being able to add in maybe something else that might feel really good. I think when we come from this really depleted survival stage, oftentimes the best thing we can do is just try to regulate our nervous system first and really get that really calm. And it doesn't need to be like sitting for 20 minutes to meditate when you're so depleted. Sometimes that's like impossible.

It could just be even lying down with like a warm big blanket on you and taking some deep breaths and like that will lower your stress levels and help you to just really reduce a lot of that stress. And I think that can be so powerful. And once you've done that and once you've done that for a few days, even a few weeks, if that's how long it takes you to really feel like you're

starting to kind of calm yourself down, then you could look at what you could add in. And that can be the lemon water, the green drink, a boosted matcha in the afternoon, it could be a green smoothie, it could be anything that is really appealing and feels good to you. Like what feels good to you? And add that in and like just start there. We don't need to make it complicated. We don't need to be seeing, you know, the influencers that are doing 50,000 billion.

Ana Robinson (31:35.445)

this.

Renee Brown (31:45.938)

routines like find somebody who's in the same stage as you and who's got you know who's got little ones and who's maybe also in that survival stage and then use them and follow those people that are in a similar stage as you that maybe are a few steps ahead. That's I think that would be my my advice.

Ana Robinson (31:46.837)

Thank

Ana Robinson (32:00.85)

Yes.

Yeah, exactly. love that. Something I also tell my clients about is the fact that when it comes to nutrition, because I know diet is a huge part, we're both nutritionists and we both love our food. We love promoting that beautiful whole food approach. And something that I do tell a lot of my clients is I can give you like all the nutrition advice. I can give you all the meal plans, all the recipes. But a lot of the time when it comes to a health journey, 80 % of that journey is mine.

So much of it is mindset. And one of the activities that I get a lot of the mums to do is find what drives them. What makes them want to be the best version of themselves? And I want to ask you, what drives you to be the best version of yourself? And what is your unique why? I think your unique why is so powerful. And this is something I say to a lot of the mums when it comes to a health journey and when challenges arise. It's your unique why that's

Renee Brown (32:46.446)

Mm.

Renee Brown (33:01.518)

Mm.

Ana Robinson (33:03.383)

going to set you back on that right path. That's going to help you come back to those, why you're doing this. Why do you want to be better? Why do you want to do better? What are some of your unique whys?

Renee Brown (33:05.654)

Yeah.

Renee Brown (33:13.826)

I think my unique why is just because I want to feel my best. That to me, like I don't, I feel like I don't have time to not feel my best. I hate not feeling good. I hate waking up and feeling tired or moody or out of balance or just blah. Like that to me, I just, I don't enjoy that. Like I want to feel my best every day as good as I know I can feel because I know when I do that and when I feel my best, I am just.

the best version of myself for my kids, for my husband, for my family, my friends. Like for my work, I can be creative, I can be inspired. Like my days become lighter and more fun and more joyful. And I know that that all comes down to have I actually shown up and looked after myself. And so for me, that's my biggest why, because I really see the direct impact in how I feel and how I look after myself with how I'm able to do everything else that I wanna do in my day. And I'm busy, like I'm juggling.

Ana Robinson (33:58.303)

Thanks.

Renee Brown (34:10.696)

multiple things as are you and I think we both know that when we don't show up for ourselves like how can you ever try to do anything else for anybody else and it's like I want to be fun with the kids and I want to laugh and I want to play and if I don't look after myself I just I just can't do that like I don't I'm depleted and so for me I think that's my why is I want to feel my best every day so I can just be the absolute best version of myself.

Ana Robinson (34:22.527)

Yeah.

Ana Robinson (34:33.525)

Thank

And I think as well that we only get one life with our beautiful family. And that's what I remind myself all the time. We only get one life. Do we want to live it feeling overwhelmed, stressed, you know, unhappy in our own skin, or do we want to make the most of it? And the only way to actually make the most of it is to prioritise our health. Like full stop, is prioritising our health. And that is the fastest route to happiness. I truly believe. So I love that.

Renee Brown (34:40.014)

Mm.

Renee Brown (34:44.974)

Mmm.

Renee Brown (34:56.844)

Yeah.

Renee Brown (35:04.974)

I'm

Ana Robinson (35:07.063)

last question about one of my favorite questions that I've put together to ask you because I'm so excited to ask about Byray. I have followed a little bit of your Byray journey. For those that don't know, Renee is also, I wanted to keep this till the end, the founder of Byray, which is at the moment has one product or two products technically. But this is literally what you're famous for Renee, which I absolutely love and it is your matcha.

Renee Brown (35:16.101)

Yeah

Renee Brown (35:28.479)

Yep.

Ana Robinson (35:35.655)

We are both absolute matcha lovers. literally tell mamas this is the best mama hack. Like having that afternoon matcha is such a mama hack that everybody needs to introduce into their life. It is a beautiful form of sustained energy, unlike coffee, which can give you that huge spike and then extreme crash. Not to mention that, you know, it messes with our hormones as mamas and it's likely what's giving you that 3pm slump as well. And that is one of

my biggest driving forces for switching over to Marcha. So when you launched Byray, I was like, my God, this is literally what we need in the motherhood world. So tell us a little bit more about Byray.

Renee Brown (36:18.116)

I love. Yes, so, Byra, it's been basically like a passion project probably for the last three and a half years. So we've just launched, which is very exciting. It's launched with our kind of like our Hero Marcher, which is our HiVade Marcher. It's something I've been making for literally like six years at home. And I was like, I need this to be easier and in a jar that I don't have to spend five minutes.

literally adding my matcha, my all the different adaptogens and superfoods and herbs that I was adding to mine. And I think like for me, this was one of my rituals that really impacted my health, my energy, my mood. It was something that I could add and that made me feel amazing every day. And so it's really special to me. It's been something that I have just been literally obsessed with for years and to now have it out in the world is just the best feeling.

And I just wanted, like I wanted to help women to feel their best. And that's really the heart of what Bi-Rate is about. It's ritual wellness. It's helping women and a lot of moms to nourish themselves, to feel really good, to have easy ways to do that. And really beautiful ways. I really saw this lack in the wellness industry where all the wellness products were not treasured. They weren't like our beauty products. They were things that you almost threw into your pantry. They weren't special. They didn't feel like they were bringing you joy. And I was like, why? Because these

products are bringing us life. Like they're literally helping us to show up every day and handle the million things that we juggle every day. And so a big part of Byray is that our products are beautiful. They're designed to be on your kitchen counter. They're designed for you to literally while you're scooping with your beautiful Byray scoop, you're taking a few moments, you're slowing down, you're adding beauty and a little bit of something special into your day. And then you're getting all these incredible benefits

Ana Robinson (37:44.702)

Yeah.

Renee Brown (38:10.958)

from the matcha, from the adaptogens and the superfoods and it tastes good. So to me, it's kind of like a triple threat in terms of like a wellness product. And that's just the beginning. We've got lots of beautiful products coming like next year and in the future. So, but we had to start with the matcha. I was like, I'm a matcha girl. I've had it for days. I know the benefits and yeah, so it's so exciting. I think April next year, that's the goal. That's the plan.

Ana Robinson (38:15.667)

Yeah.

Ana Robinson (38:27.401)

Thank you.

Ana Robinson (38:32.789)

So when's your next product launching? Amazing.

Renee Brown (38:39.758)

We're hoping for April, so at the moment we're just focusing on the Marcher and then yeah, we're gonna build on it in April, which is exciting.

Ana Robinson (38:47.206)

I'm so excited. And so at the moment, you can get your hands on the High Vibe Marcher and the Pure Marcher, which I love.

Renee Brown (38:55.182)

Yeah, so with the high vibes like our boosted marcher, it's got the adaptogens, the superfoods, the herbs. It's gonna really like elevate you and make you feel really, really good, help you with stress levels. That's what adaptogens are so incredible for. And then we've got our pure, like I actually have both in the day. So I'll start the morning with my pure, which is just organic ceremonial grade marcher. And then you can have the boosted to really lift your energy and elevate your mood in the afternoon.

Ana Robinson (39:11.774)

Yes.

Ana Robinson (39:21.203)

Yeah, and also touching on that as well because every time I post matcha I do get people say to me I had a matcha at a cafe and I loved it whatever and I don't want to boost anybody's bubble but buying good quality ceremonial grade organic matcha is actually really important if you want to get the full benefits of matcha and also make sure that you're avoiding any like additives and sugars and thickeners which you can probably find at a lot of the cafe style matches and that's why for me it is so important

Renee Brown (39:48.552)

All home fans.

Ana Robinson (39:51.127)

that when you are purchasing a matcha or you're choosing matcha you do go for something that is organic and ceremonial grade and ideally sourced from Japan which is where yours is sourced from as well.

Renee Brown (40:03.062)

Yeah, I think quality is key. need to like if we're buying any type, like literally any type of wellness health products that we're consuming day to day, you want to find the best of the best because you're having that. That's part of your health. That's part of your wellness every day. And with matcha, like you want to get the antioxidants, you want all the chlorophyll, you want the energy that you're going to get from it. And if you get like a brown matcha,

or often a lot of the ones at the shops are the culinary grade one and they're not vibrant, they're not gonna give you that beautiful, all those antioxidants for your skin. It's just, we want quality.

Ana Robinson (40:34.901)

Yeah, the polyfans. Yeah, definitely. And you know, yours is when you know when you see that beautiful, vibrant green color. That's how you know you've gotten a good matcha. Before I let you go, can you just quickly give us some benefits of the matcha in general?

Renee Brown (40:43.438)

Yeah.

Renee Brown (40:50.158)

Yeah, absolutely. So it is incredible for your energy. It's incredible for it's like rich in Antioxidant. It's just gonna lift your mood like you were saying before you're not gonna be having that big coffee crash that we get I often say with March or it's like you have it and it lifts you and then you just literally get to go along You're not gonna crash. You literally don't even feel like you're like I don't even know when it stopped working because I just feel Balanced and calm you can have it later in the afternoon. It's not gonna keep you up

It's incredible for your health, it's incredible for your heart, it's incredible, yeah, just packed with these antioxidants and the chlorophyll in it. it's a definite like beauty skin kind of drink as well.

Ana Robinson (41:27.123)

And for your immunity. Yeah, it's also great for immunity, gut health. There's just so many benefits to matcha. There was also actually a recent study that found that the polyphenols found in matcha have been linked to killing breast cancer stem cells. So yes, there are some amazing benefits around having matcha. And again, best mama hack.

Renee Brown (41:33.622)

Absolutely. So many.

Renee Brown (41:46.176)

Yeah. I that.

Mmm.

Renee Brown (41:54.538)

Yeah, I'm a hack.

Ana Robinson (41:55.015)

especially in the afternoon, if you are having an afternoon coffee, definitely get rid of that and switch it over to a high vibe matcha because honestly your life will change. Yes.

Renee Brown (42:01.944)

You

I'll have it on my way to pick up Lukey from Kindy. I'll be like, let's make my matchup mentally prepare myself for the chaos that is coming in the afternoon, reduce them with the stress, have a little thing for myself and then we can handle the afternoon. We're okay now.

Ana Robinson (42:13.991)

Yes. Exactly. Renee, where can everyone find you?

Renee Brown (42:24.458)

Yes, so you can find me at Wellness by Renee Brown on Instagram, also By Ray Wellness Club. yeah, those are kind of the two platforms I'm on. I'm also on Wellness by Renee. If you want to head across and check out any of my eBooks, my courses, and then By Ray Wellness for ordering my Hivide Matcha and my Pure Matcha.

Ana Robinson (42:44.437)

amazing. We will make sure we link all of that in the show notes guys so you can get your hands on one of Renee's beautiful marches. Renee, thank you so much. I know so many mummers are going to benefit from this episode and I know we've probably inspired so many mummers to start their health journey. So I love that we're able to do that together.

Renee Brown (42:47.394)

Fantastic.

Renee Brown (42:51.433)

Love it.

Renee Brown (43:00.206)

Hopefully, yeah, I love chatting with you. I could have chatted for many, many more hours. 100%. Thank you so much for having me. I loved chatting. Bye.

Ana Robinson (43:06.293)

No, I know. We'll have to do another episode soon to get that.

Ana Robinson (43:14.633)

Thanks Renee.