My personal depletion timeline

Looking back, I can pinpoint the signs. I felt the worst not in the newborn haze, but years later. It hit when my youngest was about three. That’s when my periods became debilitating. My skin flared. Anxiety crept in. I was eating well and running around (read, chasing my tail, not intentionally exercising or getting my steps in) but found it harder and harder to lose the lingering postpartum weight. 

I had wild hormonal shifts and an ever-present feeling of being off. Like I was just not myself, or in the driving seat of my own body.

I looked at photos of myself from that time and I barely recognised myself. The smile was there, but the glow had gone. I felt husk-like – dry, yet somehow sweating with the weight of it all. I felt depleted in every sense. I was experiencing mood swings I’d never had before, still nearly five years postpartum. Heavy periods had become the norm. 

The reflection I saw didn’t feel like me, and I realised I’d been putting myself last on every list for years.

And that was my turning point.

A single yoga session a week and eating more protein wasn’t going to cut it. I needed real help. I needed to put myself fully first, if I wanted my family to get the best from me. And I still have to keep doing that. Consistency is everything. 

My current non-negotiables are:

• daily supplements (high-strength, and properly targeted to me)
• movement: strength training has been a game changer, as has barre, and I swim 1-2 times a week – because I love all three
• proper nutrition, with a strong focus on protein and fibre (read, not skipping meals and making up for it with a big, super-nutritious but  l a t e dinner)
• sleep: I’m in bed by 11pm at the latest (and working on getting that even earlier – honestly, this is huge progress for me)
  some form of fitness class once or twice a week, whether with my lovely local PT or a yoga class
• 10K steps a day
• no coffee after 1pm
• 2 litres of water a day, minimum

There’s more I’m stacking in, but this is what’s shifting the needle for me right now. Finally. I can’t believe how little of this I made time for since becoming a mum. I mean, I can, but I can’t.

I also swear by a high-quality B vitamin complex for consistent energy, a multivitamin, vitamin D3 with K2, a probiotic, and omega-3, plus magnesium. I pulse in other supplements – like adaptogens and berberine – but that’s my current repletion baseline

Check out The Postnatal Depletion Cure by Dr Oscar Serrallach for help building yours.