0:05

Welcome to the Speech Source Podcast

0:07

. My name is Mary Brazeek and

0:10

I'm Kim Dillon .

0:11

We are two pediatric speech language

0:13

pathologists with a combined 25

0:15

years of experience .

0:17

We are your source for speech , language

0:19

, feeding , play and much more in

0:21

between , in today's

0:24

episode we have a guest .

0:25

Her name is Emily French and

0:28

she is a registered dietitian

0:30

. And we're excited to have Emily

0:32

on today because she is going

0:34

to talk to us about being

0:37

a dietitian and her knowledge , but

0:40

also she has had

0:42

to make it something that she

0:44

actually uses in her life as

0:46

a mom , so we really want her to talk

0:48

to us about what that process

0:51

has been like . Having that knowledge

0:53

and teaching

0:55

other parents and patients

0:57

about it is one thing , but then also implementing

1:00

it into your own life , especially

1:03

when that's your job , is something different

1:05

. So we're really excited to

1:07

have Emily on . Welcome , emily .

1:10

Hi , thank you . I'm excited to be here . Thanks

1:12

for having me .

1:14

Emily , I know that you work locally for

1:16

a children's hospital , but then you also

1:19

see patients outside

1:21

of that . Tell us more about what you're doing right

1:23

now .

1:24

Yeah . So my partner and I

1:26

Kayla is her name she and I I've started

1:29

seeing patients in the private sector

1:31

for people that don't have access to

1:33

a dietitian in a clinic setting . There

1:36

are so many patients out there that just

1:39

need some sort of dietitian support , and maybe

1:41

it's in a very short-term

1:43

capacity , but they

1:45

just need somebody to bounce ideas off of

1:47

and help with . Maybe it's a two-feet transition

1:50

or a wean off of the G

1:52

button or even formula consultations

1:54

, and so we're just really trying to fill that

1:56

hole for people that don't

1:58

have access to it . So we just really have

2:01

heard from speech therapists and other people

2:03

that there is a need for dietitians

2:05

to collaborate with

2:07

speech therapists .

2:09

That's so exciting . Emily , what's the name of

2:11

your website ?

2:13

RDS for .

2:13

Little Eaters . I

2:17

love it . Emily , tell us

2:19

first a little bit about what is

2:22

a dietitian . What background do you have

2:24

?

2:25

Yeah , so I have an undergraduate

2:27

degree in nutrition and that

2:29

is the baseline and you can't really do anything

2:31

with that . I went to University of Texas and

2:34

I applied to internships

2:36

, mostly out of state . There's an opportunity to

2:38

learn something beyond what I was learning

2:40

in the Texas nutrition

2:42

world and actually did my internship

2:44

in New Hampshire , which was very different

2:46

in eye-opening , because the way

2:48

they practice nutrition there is so different . So

2:51

it was a great place to learn and to grow

2:53

for sure .

2:54

Tell us a little bit more about that . What do you mean ? That

2:56

the way they practice nutrition is

2:58

so different up there ?

3:00

I would say in Texas , maybe the South in general

3:02

, were much more focused on

3:05

diet culture , whether that diet

3:07

be keto or paleo or

3:09

low fat , versus in New Hampshire

3:11

. It was more about whole foods

3:13

and where your foods were sourced and where they

3:15

came from . People tried to obtain

3:18

their meat from the guy

3:20

down the road who slaughtered cows

3:22

and they are selling vegetables on the side of the road

3:24

and people are much more focused

3:27

on whole foods versus

3:29

diets or fad diets

3:31

. It was really great because

3:33

even in my undergraduate I would say

3:35

that they were still very much teaching

3:38

diet

3:40

culture .

3:42

Interesting , so you feel like that's really more

3:44

of a regional difference rather

3:47

than the specific demographic

3:49

of the people that you were seeing

3:52

in each location .

3:55

Yeah , it's like the kids

3:57

that I worked with even had this different

3:59

understanding about nutrition . It was like in

4:02

their family culture it was different . I

4:04

grew up this is a weird example , but maple

4:06

syrup is a big thing there . I grew

4:09

up only ever eating pancake

4:11

syrup and not even knowing anything about maple

4:13

syrup . There , even

4:15

if you don't have a ton

4:17

of resources , your family is buying maple

4:19

syrup . They're buying real

4:21

food whenever they can . It's

4:24

not like they don't have grocery stores and people aren't buying

4:26

actual food from grocery stores . They're not

4:28

all buying things from the neighborhood on the street

4:31

, but they're more focused on the whole food

4:33

aspect and making sure it's

4:35

sourced and quality food

4:37

For kids who

4:39

might need a dietitian .

4:41

do they have to have a referral to see

4:43

a dietitian or are you able , as

4:45

a family , to just recognize a need

4:48

for help with nutrition

4:50

and call yourself ?

4:53

Absolutely . There are not a ton of dietitians

4:56

that are seeing people in a private practice

4:58

setting , but they are available

5:00

and you do not need to have a referral for

5:03

them .

5:03

What are some common

5:05

presentations that you see with kids

5:07

coming in who need nutritionists ?

5:10

Yeah , my demographic that I work

5:12

with the most is for kids

5:14

0 to 5 years old

5:17

. It's a lot of tooth bead management , picky

5:19

eating , healthy eating , allergies

5:21

, a lot of formula education

5:23

for infants , because there's so many types

5:26

of formulas . Especially now with all the

5:28

European imports , we see so

5:31

many allergies present with kids

5:33

when they are under one . There

5:36

is so much formula change that happens

5:38

with those kids Because

5:40

there's so many types , it's hard

5:42

for pediatricians to know everything

5:45

about all of them . I

5:47

feel like that is an area where

5:49

we are heavily utilized right now

5:51

.

5:53

And probably constantly changing . So

5:55

to have somebody that's staying up

5:57

to date with all of those changes and

5:59

able to be a resource for the pediatricians

6:02

is probably huge .

6:03

Oh God , yeah , it's changing constantly . I feel like it's

6:05

even a struggle for me to keep up with these days

6:08

. We really have to be diligent about staying

6:10

on top of it , because it's overwhelming . I feel like

6:12

formula companies are coming up with new stuff all

6:14

the time and then dropping off other ones that didn't

6:16

do well . It's like you have kids that were on a formula

6:19

for years and then we're having to switch

6:21

them over because they don't make it anymore .

6:25

I have a genuine question because all

6:27

three of my kids have used formula to

6:29

some degree and we used all three different

6:32

ones for all three of them . Is

6:34

there actually a huge difference between them

6:36

? Because it's so hard as a mom

6:38

to go and you

6:40

want the best for your kids and then I don't

6:42

understand any of the ingredients on the back

6:45

of those boxes , and

6:47

then you want the best but there's

6:49

a huge price discrepancy

6:51

. There's the generic Costco

6:54

or Target brand and then there's the

6:56

specific reflux kind or

6:58

the gentle . Are there huge

7:01

differences among these ?

7:04

I would say that there are even

7:06

amongst the ones that are all targeting the same

7:08

thing . So let's say we have a kid that's

7:10

on a formula that is hypoallergenic

7:13

. Even within that there's the extensively

7:16

hydrolyzed formulas and

7:18

then you have a totally free amino acid formulas

7:20

that for those kids that don't tolerate the extensively

7:23

hydrolyzed , and even amongst just the

7:26

free amino acid , it's like this one has a

7:28

probiotic , this one doesn't . This

7:30

one has more MCT

7:32

oil , which is going to be better

7:35

for kids that maybe are

7:37

having a whole lot of vomiting . They might digest that

7:39

a little bit better . And this one

7:41

is totally from extensively

7:43

hydrolyzed whey proteins

7:46

and so it's like they might digest

7:48

that one better if they have this other issue . So that's

7:51

why it does come in handy to have somebody

7:54

who knows what the symptoms are and what

7:56

they might tolerate better . But sometimes it really

7:58

is just trial and error and that can

8:00

be hard and expensive for

8:02

families because one child really

8:04

might not tolerate a formula that

8:06

is very similar to something else and

8:09

I think that you've experienced that as well . And

8:11

the brand difference does make a difference

8:13

, because sometimes it is a probiotic difference

8:15

or fat difference or something .

8:18

How long is a trial considered

8:20

?

8:22

So trial and what

8:24

we should say in the clinical setting versus what

8:26

I feel like we do in practice is very different . So

8:28

we say two to four weeks , but

8:31

in practice , if I recommend

8:33

a formula and then they start vomiting at every feed

8:35

, I'm not going to say keep going , I'm not there to

8:37

clean up your child's vomit eight times a day

8:39

. So I'm going to say go ahead and stop that , let's do

8:42

something different . So I think

8:44

that we in practice probably do closer

8:46

to three days and

8:48

sometimes less than that , but

8:51

officially it should be two to four weeks

8:53

. And if you don't see a major difference

8:55

, then I think , sure , continue

8:57

trying , but if things get worse , then you should change .

9:01

Isn't it tremendous sometimes , the difference

9:03

between what the textbook

9:05

answer is for something like the

9:07

trial . And then you become a mom

9:09

and you realize that two to four weeks might as well

9:12

be two to four years of your life and

9:14

that many things .

9:16

Absolutely . Yeah , it's so helpful to

9:18

have people who have walked , who , honestly

9:20

, maybe have just been a parent . You don't even have to walk it

9:22

with a child that has special

9:24

needs of any kind , but just a parent can

9:26

relate a little bit more to what that looks like , what

9:29

two to four weeks , eight times a day

9:31

, really , yeah , especially when you're talking

9:33

about feeding that's just

9:35

something that we've talked about before

9:37

is already such an emotional thing

9:40

that parents are working

9:42

through and it happens throughout the day .

9:45

so I can definitely see

9:47

how day three you're ready if

9:49

it's not going well .

9:51

Yeah , it's the only thing parents do

9:53

eight times a day . It is so incredibly

9:55

stressful . It's the feedback that we get

9:58

.

9:58

That is the most stressful thing that they do

10:00

when they leave the NICU and

10:03

what kind of support does

10:05

happen when kids leave the

10:07

NICU and feeding is a struggle

10:09

and they have you there

10:12

to be managing formula

10:14

and they have their physician who's

10:16

managing that kind of bottom line

10:18

of weight gain but who

10:21

is typically the person that's

10:23

helping them with the actual mechanics

10:26

of feeding the child

10:28

?

10:29

Whoo . That's why we need more speech therapists

10:31

. I would say that is an area where

10:34

we would love to

10:36

be able to do more collaborative

10:38

care with feeding therapists

10:41

and with dietitians . I think that

10:43

our jobs as dietitians

10:45

we walk in and , because we do a lot of

10:47

feeding type things , people

10:50

have a lot of questions for us about that , but we can't

10:52

fully answer those , and so we

10:54

absolutely need speech

10:56

therapists to work together

10:59

, and I think that patients see the fastest

11:01

results when we can make that collaborative

11:03

care happen .

11:06

And even just talking over the last few

11:08

weeks with other speech therapists , I think they would say

11:10

the exact same thing about

11:12

you dietitians because , just

11:14

like you said , knowing all

11:16

those small details about differences

11:19

and formulas and what's

11:22

making a child react a certain way

11:24

or what are some other options , that's

11:26

a different world than a speech therapist

11:29

that specializing in feeding would have . And so

11:31

I definitely agree

11:33

that having a team and

11:35

being able to collaborate is the

11:38

best outcome for a family when they're

11:40

going through that journey .

11:42

Absolutely and unfortunately , like

11:45

until maybe a little bit more recently , I don't

11:47

feel like parents . If they're not connected

11:49

to a clinic that has a dietitian , then that's not

11:51

even on the radar . So often it's

11:53

a pediatrician trying to help , which

11:55

is wonderful . It is a lot of information

11:57

for them to know and I

12:00

just don't know how often they have

12:02

all that information .

12:04

You finished school . You have your

12:06

job . Were you here

12:09

in the DFW area

12:11

working before you got married ?

12:13

I was not no , I was in Austin before that

12:15

. Shortly after we got married , we moved

12:17

to Fort Worth and

12:19

I started working

12:21

at my current job because

12:24

this was my favorite population . So

12:27

I love working with this zero

12:29

to five range . I really loved working

12:31

in the NICU and working with babies , but you miss

12:33

out on the opportunity of working with parents

12:35

so often . You're working with the

12:37

rest of the NICU team but not

12:39

with parents directly , and I really love working

12:42

with moms and dads and I

12:44

just have a lot of heart and sympathy

12:46

for them . I think even more now . So

12:48

we have two children they're five

12:50

and three and when my son was born he

12:53

has just come with more medical

12:55

complexities than we could have ever imagined

12:58

. That has made me

13:00

sympathize so much more with these families

13:02

about what it looks like to feed your

13:04

child , to nurse your child

13:06

and bottle feed your child and pump

13:09

like maybe all at the same time . I

13:11

just have so much more sympathy and can relate

13:14

and I think it's helpful when I'm trying to make practical

13:16

plans for parents now . I really

13:18

want to do what's best for them , for

13:21

the mom and the child , but

13:23

she's going to fight for the child and

13:25

I need to fight for her .

13:26

And I think it's just like you said earlier with

13:29

the textbook answer for

13:31

some things and how different that is for a life

13:33

. Even what we feel like we

13:35

know based on

13:37

our knowledge , to tell the parent to do with something

13:39

once we've become a parent and

13:41

once we've tried to do it , sometimes that changes

13:44

. Sometimes we know that's not going

13:46

to work very well once you leave the clinic

13:48

setting or the office and get back in

13:51

the home setting . So I'm sure understanding

13:54

that firsthand has been really

13:56

helpful in your relationship with

13:58

parents and how

14:01

you want to figure out a plan for them that's

14:03

actually going to work at home .

14:06

Yeah , absolutely even not taking

14:08

it for granted the kids' feeding schedules

14:10

, trying to reduce the amount of feeds

14:13

that they have as soon as possible

14:15

, because that is lost sleep

14:17

and that lost sleep causes

14:19

them to probably

14:22

be more emotional during the day . It just

14:24

affects everything , the way they feel about their child

14:26

. So really being aggressive

14:28

with feeds I think has

14:31

come after I've been a mom and especially

14:34

after I had to do the whole

14:36

two feet routine with my child .

14:39

Did you feel that , when you

14:41

were having to make some of those decisions at home

14:43

with your son , that

14:46

you were able to quickly just access

14:48

your knowledge and know exactly what to do , or was

14:50

it harder for you to do

14:52

that as a mom ? I wasn't sure if you had someone

14:54

else guiding you along that you

14:57

trusted , or if you were able to just put everything

14:59

that you knew into practice .

15:01

I really mostly managed all of

15:03

it myself , but I would

15:06

say where that was a downside

15:08

was that I

15:10

held everything to this really high

15:12

standard , so I didn't have

15:14

anyone helping me or

15:17

calling me out on what was actually healthy for

15:19

me . So I was

15:21

managing , but it was

15:23

unbelievably overwhelming and really

15:25

daunting and I didn't have

15:27

a lot of peace about it and I honestly

15:30

, a lot of days , was probably fairly bitter about

15:32

the amount of work that I was putting in , because

15:34

I was holding on to this . This is what is best

15:36

, this is what I must do because this

15:38

is what I've been trained to do . So

15:42

I was able to manage it , but I wasn't

15:44

in a good place about it emotionally

15:48

.

15:50

That's so hard too . Nutrition

15:53

, that is a never ending

15:55

target , and the target is always moving

15:58

, especially as babies . They're changing

16:00

day to day , even just

16:02

between the feeds the morning

16:04

feed versus the evening feed and so

16:06

how often , when

16:09

you're working with families , do you feel

16:11

like they should be checking in , because

16:13

their appointments with you are not

16:15

probably going to be as frequent as

16:18

when they need to adjust , and

16:20

then are you allowed to go rogue ? How do you

16:22

figure that out when kids are just

16:24

changing all the time ?

16:26

Yeah , I think I often love it when

16:28

parents go a little rogue , because when patients

16:31

have medical complexities , everything

16:34

goes out the window with what they feel comfortable with . Normally

16:37

you would bring your baby home , you feed them

16:39

, you increase volume as you need . They sleep

16:41

through the night a little bit more . You feel fine about that

16:43

. But when you add in this medical complexity

16:46

, parents don't feel comfortable doing anything

16:49

without running it by somebody . But

16:51

babies often really do . They do a pretty

16:53

good job of like telling you when they

16:55

need something and parents listening to that

16:58

and responding appropriately and trusting

17:00

. I think that they need to be empowered to trust

17:02

their gut a little bit more and

17:04

we're absolutely there to

17:06

help and consult

17:09

and I think like

17:12

once every couple of weeks would probably be great

17:14

, but I think often parents

17:16

would like more than that . I don't think

17:18

they need more than that . A lot of times , though , I

17:20

think that they should feel empowered

17:22

. If you feel like you need to make

17:25

this change , whatever that may be

17:27

, try it , see how it goes , and

17:29

I often feel like those kids progress quickly

17:31

when their parents feel like

17:33

they can trial and mess around and

17:35

trust their gut with their kids .

17:38

And that must be such a big learning experience

17:41

too , to really to

17:43

teach the parents to listen

17:45

to their children and

17:47

to read their children's cues . And

17:49

this is all non-verbal usually , and

17:51

now you said zero to five , but

17:54

for the first good half of that there's no

17:56

way they'll be able to verbalize what

17:59

they need specifically . But

18:02

that's a really interesting perspective

18:05

that really in

18:07

like your role as

18:09

a dietitian , is to empower

18:11

and educate families so that they can do

18:13

it themselves . Is that what I hear

18:15

you saying ?

18:16

Yeah , and in a lot of these cases , yes , like

18:18

I can give you some information and

18:21

let's go forward and feel free to change

18:23

some things as you go and then run it by me

18:25

after you tried it . Yeah

18:28

, I feel like that often works

18:30

well for the family , because

18:32

then they're not being given a plan by

18:34

me that doesn't work for anybody in their family and

18:36

it's just stressing them out . And especially

18:39

families that have come out of the NICU , they're very used

18:41

to this . This person increases this and

18:43

they tell me when I can do this action

18:46

and that's just not really real life

18:48

. And if your baby hadn't been

18:50

in the NICU , or if they didn't have delays

18:52

, or if they were a typically developing child and had

18:54

no allergies , whatever it is then

18:57

you would just feel like you had free reign to

18:59

do what you want . It's your child and you

19:01

don't feel that . You feel like that's taken away from you .

19:03

If your baby's been in the NICU , so , emily , I wanna

19:05

shift a little bit and talk

19:07

about families and

19:09

diets , and

19:11

I think we all

19:13

want our kids to have a

19:16

healthy diet , whatever that means

19:18

. We want them to be able

19:20

to eat whole foods

19:22

, and then we also want

19:24

our kids to learn how

19:26

to listen to their bodies and listen to what

19:29

they need in terms of calories

19:31

and energy and all of those

19:33

things . Yes , like do

19:35

you see that the way families

19:37

are eating now

19:40

is different than it was

19:42

a few years ago , or even pre-COVID

19:46

? Our lives are so busy

19:48

, you have so many

19:50

families with multiple incomes

19:52

or just less time

19:55

eating meals as a family . Have you seen

19:57

that's changed ? Nutrition

19:59

for families .

20:03

Absolutely . I definitely think that people are

20:05

eating on the go a lot more just because

20:07

we're busy . Yesterday I

20:09

picked up my daughter from school and we had

20:11

two appointments after that in the evening

20:13

, and I think planning ahead is gonna

20:15

be the best thing that you can do . Preparedness

20:18

makes a really big difference If you

20:20

know that you have something big coming up . For

20:23

instance , my kids were really hungry when I picked

20:25

them up from school and so I

20:27

knew that in my plan we were going

20:29

to stop at a Chick-fil-A , but I

20:32

made a whole Ziploc

20:34

bag of cut vegetables for them to eat , and

20:37

they ate them because they were hungry and that's all we had

20:39

. So there was some

20:41

preparedness that we can do to

20:43

supplement that fast-paced lifestyle

20:46

of always being busy to make

20:48

sure that our kids are still getting a

20:51

variety of foods . But

20:53

absolutely , I think that people are

20:55

just busy and they're doing the best they can .

20:59

Yeah , it's so hard looking

21:01

at our calendar . Every single

21:03

person has something

21:05

going on every single night . So

21:08

often we're trying to figure out how

21:10

do we squeeze in feeding the kids

21:12

. Then there's so many activities

21:14

. Drive-through is not an option every night

21:16

, when you've got that many things

21:19

going on . What

21:21

are some of your favorite things ? You said cut up

21:23

vegetables . That's a great idea . I think my

21:25

kids might eat that if I'm like .

21:26

Sorry , I didn't bring the popcorn

21:29

too , but what ?

21:29

are some of your healthy snacks that you like to bring

21:32

.

21:32

Yeah , so this has become something

21:34

that's very normal in my life

21:36

. Whenever I have a spare moment

21:38

, I will make a batch of some kind of muffins

21:41

or something and I keep them in the fridge and

21:43

in the freezer , excuse me so that I can pull

21:45

them out when I need to Like healthy muffins

21:47

. There are several Instagram

21:50

and websites that I really like , one

21:52

of which is YummyTowardTheirFood , the

21:54

FeedingLittles and then Ambitious Kitchen . They

21:56

all have really great muffin recipes

21:58

that sometimes have vegetables in them

22:00

, sometimes are made with cottage cheese

22:03

or Greek yogurt very high in protein

22:05

, that are just healthy snacks . That takes

22:07

planning , because you have to use

22:09

your spare time whatever

22:11

spare time that is to make

22:13

a batch of muffins . But doubling them and keeping

22:15

things in the freezer has been the greatest thing

22:17

. Kim was at our house yesterday

22:20

and I was making stuff for lunches for

22:22

the future . I froze 85

22:25

percent of that , so being

22:27

able to pull stuff out of the freezer has saved

22:30

my life .

22:31

I have noticed that I feel like almost every time

22:33

I'm at your house , you're either prepping for

22:36

a future meal and

22:39

you're in the kitchen . I was going to ask

22:41

you about the muffin recipes because I have seen

22:43

both of your kids eat that for

22:46

breakfast , if I've been over there early and

22:48

they love it . Going

22:50

back to the whole

22:52

foods , and I know that a lot of the stuff you use

22:54

is just it's not processed

22:56

and you're making that from scratch

22:58

. I think the reason

23:01

we get away from that sometimes is because

23:03

we are too busy . But being able

23:05

to take a chunk of time to prepare

23:08

stuff that you can freeze and just pull

23:10

out on the go is going to make a

23:12

big difference in the nutrition that they're

23:14

getting .

23:16

Yeah , absolutely . It took

23:18

me two , two and a half years

23:20

after my son was born to figure it out

23:22

. It's not like it's easy . I even knew as

23:25

a dietitian . I knew what I wanted to do , I

23:27

knew what I should be doing and I

23:29

was doing it some , but I wasn't

23:31

doing it well . I was struggling

23:33

and I was frustrated

23:36

every Sunday when I would spend 10 hours in the kitchen

23:38

. I'm just so much better

23:40

at it now and finding little pockets

23:43

of time to just do this one thing . Then

23:45

I don't have to do that on Sunday and my Sundays

23:47

don't look the same anymore . Now I prepare

23:49

food for maybe four hours and that includes

23:52

the dinner for that night . So I'm just

23:54

so much less stressed . But

23:56

it took me years

23:58

and this is what I do for a living

24:00

, so it's hard .

24:03

And then do you , just as you do it realize

24:05

, and the ingredients to keep on hand , to

24:08

be able to just pull whenever you have

24:10

45 minutes to try

24:12

to prep something .

24:13

Yes , I do . I would always have almond flour

24:16

, even if I'm putting some spinach in

24:18

some muffins . I normally buy spinach

24:20

and we don't really use it for anything else , unfortunately

24:23

. Put it in Ziploc bags and put it in the freezer Truly

24:25

, I like them with the freezer . These days

24:27

, everything goes in the freezer . We waste

24:29

very little food in my house . Even if there's one

24:31

serving left of something from the dinner , I

24:34

freeze that and pull it out for a lunch for

24:36

my son two weeks from now , and it's one

24:38

less thing I have to do .

24:41

I love that Also cuts down on the food waste

24:43

, yeah , and just

24:45

offer some natural variety , because

24:48

if you batch things , that's part

24:50

of the thing is , you can't cook all

24:53

these chicken breasts then you have to have a chicken like

24:55

the next however many meals . Maybe

24:57

that kind of gives you some variety . I

24:59

do know that it helped

25:01

me out so much postpartum

25:03

. My family grilled

25:06

chicken breasts and some

25:09

just hamburger patties and

25:11

stocked my freezer with them , and that

25:13

was so helpful .

25:15

Yeah .

25:16

I was breastfeeding or with the kids , because it's the

25:18

protein that sometimes I struggled

25:20

. We've always got the fruit or the starch

25:23

, but I was always looking for that protein

25:25

to go with it . So now , when my

25:28

husband grills , we'll just buy

25:30

more chicken , and then there'll just be

25:32

more chicken breasts that we put in the freezer for

25:34

those times that it's like nope , there's baseball

25:36

that's coming out for tonight .

25:38

Yes , absolutely , I do

25:41

a lot . If I'm making something in a pan , like

25:43

casserole type dish or something

25:45

, I will try to make double whenever I can . The

25:48

prep work takes twice as long If you're cutting twice

25:50

as many vegetables , twice as much chicken

25:52

, whatever it is . But then I freeze that

25:54

whole other thing and we do have a deep freezer so

25:56

I'm able to put that in there and pull it out on

25:58

busy nights , which is super helpful .

26:02

Also , I feel like my family definitely

26:04

is buying more at Costco

26:06

these days . With the amount everyone

26:08

eats and to just the price of

26:10

groceries , it is more economical

26:13

to plan ahead and

26:15

to buy things in

26:17

bulk more as well .

26:19

Yeah , absolutely , even avocados

26:21

. Before it goes bad , I'll mash

26:24

it up and turn it into an avocado little

26:26

dip and put it in containers and freeze

26:28

it , and then I put it in my lunchboxes

26:30

to dip stuff in .

26:33

This is so inspiring here because

26:35

I think , committing to taking

26:37

that little bit of time when it seems

26:39

hard , that

26:42

is so helpful down the road and I'm sure

26:44

that's what you've

26:46

seen now at this point is that it's worth

26:48

committing to doing these things

26:51

because you're getting healthier

26:53

food and your kids and your saving time on

26:55

the flip side .

26:57

Absolutely . My son can't have any refined

26:59

sugar , so it takes a lot of planning

27:01

anytime he's going to have a party

27:03

at school or he's going to go to a birthday

27:05

party , or we love family

27:08

movie night and we order pizza and

27:10

he often can't have the crust that's on

27:12

those pizzas . It takes some rush

27:14

in the moment we have a party the next day , I

27:16

have to make some kind of cupcake he can have

27:18

or pizza crust he can have , but I

27:21

usually try to double all of that and so

27:23

then I can freeze it and I have

27:25

pizza ingredients that are in Ziploc

27:27

bags that we can pull out . That's all frozen

27:29

that he can have and I can throw together a pizza

27:32

for him faster than we can order one

27:34

and pick it up . It just takes that extra planning

27:36

but you don't get there overnight

27:38

.

27:38

for sure , that was one of my

27:40

questions for you , because I have seen how

27:43

he gets so excited

27:45

about the pizza night and

27:47

the movie night , despite his

27:49

pizza being different , because y'all have still

27:52

created that to be something

27:54

special for him . But a

27:56

couple of the other things that I

27:59

think y'all have done a great job with is the ice cream

28:01

truck goes through our neighborhood and

28:03

your daughter is always

28:05

so excited about that experience

28:07

, and your son also . So

28:10

I love how you figured out not

28:12

to take that experience away from your

28:14

daughter getting the ice cream , but that you

28:16

have a special ice cream for your

28:18

son that you keep at

28:20

that same time .

28:23

That was an example of one of those times where I was like I

28:26

can hear it a few blocks away . The ice cream truck is

28:28

coming . I've got to whip something together for

28:30

him and I was stressed out about it in

28:32

the moment , but they've lasted forever . We're still using

28:34

the same batch from months ago of his little

28:36

foe ice cream , and so it pays

28:38

off for months when you just do

28:40

that little bit of prep work .

28:42

And he still gets to have that experience of hearing

28:45

it and seeing it and going out there , and then he ends up with

28:47

something special for him . And

28:50

then how did y'all do trick or treating with him ?

28:52

This was definitely taken from Instagram

28:54

. I feel like this is being put out . There is this idea

28:56

of this switch which so it's a little

28:59

friendly witch that comes in and

29:01

swaps out your candy for a toy , and my son

29:03

had a blast going around and getting candy and

29:05

then we did , we just swapped it and he was totally

29:07

fine with it . So they put their candy on the doorstep

29:09

and then both my kids have Tony boxes

29:12

and they both got a new

29:14

Tony which they were thrilled with . For my daughter

29:16

, she chose 10 pieces of

29:18

candy to put out and she

29:21

got to get her Tony that way because

29:23

I'm still 100% fine with

29:25

her having candy I want her to have a good relationship

29:28

with sugar , despite the fact that we don't

29:30

really have any in the house , since my son can't have

29:32

it , and so that has been a challenge

29:34

sometimes with making

29:36

sure that she knows that candy is not

29:38

demonized in our eyes , especially

29:41

because , culturally , sugar is this thing

29:43

that everybody says is unhealthy

29:45

don't eat this and they categorize it in

29:47

such a negative way , and I don't want her growing

29:50

up with any unhealthy

29:53

relationships around sugar because her

29:55

brother can't have it . So we

29:58

really try to let her have it when we can

30:00

make sure that she knows that it's

30:03

just about his body and his tummy

30:05

and that he can't have it for special

30:08

medical reasons . It has nothing to do with

30:10

the sugar itself and

30:13

she knows enough people that have allergies and

30:15

we're able to compare it to that , which is really helpful

30:17

. Wow .

30:19

How do you figure out the whole idea

30:21

that , okay , if you don't have sugar a lot

30:23

, then it becomes this wonderful

30:26

thing , but then you

30:28

don't want to give into it and just

30:30

have it all the time and have it readily

30:33

available ? How do you figure out that

30:35

balance of how much

30:37

to have of these

30:39

sweet or the desirable foods

30:41

?

30:43

We don't have it in the house normally , outside

30:45

of her , a few things that I will put something

30:47

in her lunchbox every day . So she gets

30:49

a little something , whether it's a little cookie or

30:51

some immanence that she came home with or something

30:53

, and so all sparks goes out over

30:55

her lunchbox and so she does always get

30:57

something every day she goes to school and outside of that

31:00

she's just used to knowing that we don't have it in the house

31:02

and that has become a really easy

31:04

answer . We don't have that . But then when the ice

31:06

cream truck comes , I'm going to often say yes

31:08

to that , saying yes when I can

31:10

and when I can prepare enough

31:13

ahead of time to have something for him

31:15

, especially if he's

31:17

around , and then on a regular basis . It's

31:19

just . The answer is just that we don't have it and

31:21

the kids really can't argue with that .

31:24

And I think that kinda helps associate that

31:27

those things are tied to not

31:29

your everyday

31:32

schedule , so that when the ice cream comes

31:34

out special , yes , you get to go have sugar

31:36

, but that it's not . You're

31:38

having to make that choice every single day because it's right

31:40

there in your kitchen . Should I have it or should I not

31:42

?

31:43

Yeah , yeah , for me too , man . I

31:45

know Same here . Oh gosh , I

31:47

need to not buy any sugar . I can't get any tints or anything

31:49

like that . My husband and I would just eat it all .

31:52

So that is

31:54

how we are with the

31:56

chips at our house with , especially

31:58

with the three boys , I'm like why

32:00

don't we buy that ? And one thing

32:02

is because it would last one day I

32:05

could buy 10 things of

32:07

Pringles and they're gonna be gone the next

32:09

day , and so it is easier to just

32:11

to say we don't have that , because I

32:14

don't know if that would change

32:16

if we kept it long enough , but I don't think

32:18

so based on past experiences

32:21

. But it is definitely easier

32:23

just to not to have it and it's expensive

32:25

.

32:25

Yeah , oh yeah it's more

32:27

expensive .

32:28

And then it doesn't last .

32:29

It doesn't last . That is what's hard

32:32

.

32:32

So it's better . It's so sad , but my

32:34

husband will be like I can't overeat in

32:36

our house because there's nothing that I want to overeat

32:39

. You really have to

32:41

be hungry and want that food . Yeah , you

32:44

can only eat so many triskets , so

32:46

that's

32:48

so true .

32:49

I usually don't do this , but I

32:52

just grabbed the bag of Oreos

32:54

on the end cap of the aisle thinking , oh

32:56

, they're orange for Halloween , just okay

32:58

, we'll do a special treat because Oreos , in

33:01

fact , are dairy free . And

33:03

since my littlest one is still dairy

33:05

free , I was like , okay , let's do this , then this could

33:07

be something we could all have together . They lasted

33:10

less than 24 hours at

33:12

my house . It was horrible

33:15

and it was just this

33:17

feeding frenzy . It was just became

33:19

this thing of can we have Oreos ? Can

33:21

we have them again ? Can you pack them in my lunch

33:23

, can we ? Yeah , oh my goodness

33:26

, it just becomes this huge thing

33:28

.

33:29

I think , mary , we may have even talked

33:31

about this on a podcast before , but because we

33:33

don't do the chips like that , like the Doritos

33:36

and the Cheetos , and all that stuff that

33:38

one of the things that we do when we travel

33:40

is when we stop at the gas station .

33:42

It's like a yes yes , you can get what

33:44

you want .

33:45

But , I know those gas station attendants

33:47

think we are crazy because my kids

33:49

are like coming up to the cast register with

33:52

. We don't do like coax or Dr Pepper's or anything like dark

33:54

sodas or anything . We don't really do soda , so

33:56

it's like Dr Pepper , Doritos

33:58

, candy , they all . We're spending

34:00

like $50 at the gas station

34:03

and I know those attendants are like

34:05

these people are crazy and I want to be like they don't get

34:07

it at home , but it

34:09

is .

34:10

I like that idea , though , because if you're

34:12

stopping at a gas station , we're going

34:14

into convenience store , you're on some probably some

34:16

sort of road trip , so it adds to the whole element of it's

34:19

exciting and fun , and this is this thing that we

34:21

get to do .

34:21

It is . It's become a tradition . We could go to Disney

34:24

World and come back and they'd be like what

34:26

was your favorite thing and they'd be like the gas station

34:28

after we just spent $10,000

34:30

. Disney .

34:31

World . You just need to go drive out a few miles

34:34

out of town and then you can just turn back around and

34:36

be like that was our trip . I know

34:38

.

34:38

So yeah , that's a way that I feel like we've tried

34:40

to incorporate just those fun foods

34:43

, because it's not that it's always a no

34:45

, but we try not to have that

34:47

in our house also Because

34:49

it's hard for me I would eat that stuff

34:51

.

34:51

Yes , if you don't want your kids to eat it all the time

34:54

, they're going to be asking for it all the time . At least that's

34:56

been my experience . They know it's there . Just

34:58

like I can't stop thinking about it , they can't either

35:00

. They just keep asking , and then I just end up

35:02

frustrated with them .

35:04

Right . I feel like one

35:06

positive thing that has happened

35:08

with COVID and

35:10

changing grocery shopping is

35:13

that I don't bring my kids grocery

35:15

shopping with me . Then it is easier

35:17

to plan ahead and set those boundaries

35:19

for your family .

35:21

Yeah , we do grocery delivery pretty

35:23

much exclusively since COVID and it

35:26

has cut down so much on the extra

35:28

. Oh , we need that Jarvis salsa and chips

35:30

. So again , we'll last one day , or whatever

35:32

it is . You just don't pick up all those things that

35:34

catch your eye as much . I'm only typing

35:37

in the search bar exactly what I need for recipes

35:39

, which , again , when you're

35:41

hungry you're like there's something to eat here , unless

35:43

I make a whole meal Right

35:45

.

35:48

That's what I think is so neat about

35:50

your experience when you were in

35:52

New Hampshire , with more of the fresh

35:55

markets and on the weekends

35:57

was it just on the weekends or was it all the time

35:59

? You just had that opportunity to go .

36:01

Oh yeah , these people don't even run it . They just put

36:03

all their zucchini out on the end of the road and

36:05

you just drive up to your money and take your

36:07

produce .

36:08

Marketing is such a huge piece of that Is

36:10

. We know these foods aren't healthy

36:12

A lot of the ones that we have options for

36:15

here but it's there

36:17

, it's convenient , it's all

36:19

in front of our face when you go to the store , and

36:21

that's unfortunate .

36:25

Emily , do you have any tips

36:27

on how to teach

36:29

your kids about healthy eating

36:31

Without all the negativity

36:35

? Not that sugar is bad or cheetahs

36:37

are not bad , oreos aren't bad

36:39

, but we just have to understand

36:42

the whole concept of in moderation

36:44

. But do you have any tips for how to teach

36:47

that or talk about that with kids

36:49

?

36:50

Yeah . So what we do in our families

36:53

, I really don't call any I don't even call foods like

36:55

healthy or unhealthy . I would say what

36:57

we focus on is what

36:59

the different food groups are and why

37:02

your body needs them . If my daughter's

37:04

had a whole bowl of strawberries and she

37:06

wants more , but she's already had 20

37:09

. And then I would explain to her if you're

37:11

still feeling hungry , there's a good chance

37:13

your body probably is needing some

37:15

sort of fat and protein to fill it

37:17

up a little bit more . So let's think about

37:19

what foods we could have that fat or protein

37:21

. So maybe some cheese or some

37:24

nuts so that she can

37:26

feel more full . And even

37:29

if I'm serving that alongside

37:31

a couple more strawberries , I have found

37:33

that eating the gets eating with kids and you

37:35

probably see this as well right , if you can get them eating

37:38

something , then they're more likely to

37:40

eat something else that's in front of them . If I want

37:42

her to have cashews with

37:44

more strawberries but I don't want to totally

37:46

say no to the strawberries then I'll like give

37:48

her some cashews with those and she'll eat her

37:50

strawberries first . But once she's eating those , she'll eat

37:53

the cashews too and won't ask me for food

37:55

in five more minutes . So

37:57

we mostly try to focus on what

37:59

your body needs and what it's telling you

38:02

, and that it all matters

38:04

, right ? I remember talking to a girlfriend in college

38:06

and she was telling me how bad

38:09

she's been feeling and I said what

38:11

have you been eating recently ? And it was like

38:13

had never occurred to her that

38:15

what she had been eating had

38:17

an effect on how she felt , and so

38:19

I really try to make that a priority with my

38:21

kids , that they connect those two things

38:23

. So even if I have a headache , I

38:25

might say to them oh , my head has

38:27

been hurting , I probably

38:30

need more water . Isn't that crazy that

38:32

your body tells you what it needs and

38:34

leave it at that ? So I try to incorporate

38:37

as often as I can that

38:39

food and what we're putting into

38:41

it affects

38:44

how we feel , and I definitely

38:46

think my daughter has picked up on it . She

38:49

will spit things back out to me about

38:51

I had too much to eat that night

38:53

. My tummy really hurt , or maybe

38:56

it's that she ate too much ice cream and

38:58

she will tell me I don't

39:00

think that ice cream . I

39:03

think they've been allergic to it because I didn't

39:05

feel very good afterwards . But it opens up this

39:07

door for us to talk about . Just probably

39:09

you ate too much of it and that's what

39:11

made your tummy hurt , but she's very used to

39:14

that verbiage that what we eat changes

39:16

how we feel .

39:18

Oh , I love that . Guys , you're right , that's

39:21

something you really have to purposefully talk

39:23

about , because sometimes we

39:25

just are in a crummy mood or

39:27

we just don't feel good , like you said , if

39:29

we're dehydrated or if

39:32

we haven't been making healthy food

39:34

choices , and what

39:36

we eat is so linked to confidence

39:39

. And I know we talk about confidence

39:41

building so much in kids , but

39:44

it is crazy how

39:46

important it is for kids

39:49

to eat well , to be able to

39:51

learn , to be able to grow , to be able to

39:53

just feel good about their own bodies

39:55

and what they're doing .

39:57

Yeah , it feels like they seem really empowered

40:00

if they know what different

40:02

foods have . They get excited about that

40:04

. Knowing that tomatoes help their

40:07

heart and different like that's exciting

40:09

to them . And they're just such little sponges

40:11

of knowledge . They know so much random knowledge when they're

40:13

young that it's fun for them

40:15

to have that information and to share it and

40:18

to not just think I have to eat this

40:20

because my mom is making

40:22

me , but this is doing something good for my body

40:24

.

40:25

Okay , Kim , did you know that tomatoes are good for your

40:27

heart ?

40:28

No , I knew carrots were good for your eyes .

40:30

I did not know that about tomatoes .

40:32

So no , I haven't never . We knew that .

40:34

Okay , where do I find these food facts

40:36

? I feel like we need to learn about foods like animals

40:38

or something .

40:39

All the different colors all provide different

40:41

vitamins and minerals and phytonutrients and

40:43

they all do different important things . I think

40:45

that's a cool thing to teach to kids when they're

40:47

in like the preschool , elementary

40:49

school age . They like love that kind of stuff

40:52

because all those different colors

40:54

mean and do different things for our bodies

40:56

and that is a really fun time to teach

40:58

them that oh sorry

41:01

, we can make that resource .

41:02

I've really noticed as we've moved

41:04

into the middle school and the high school age , especially

41:07

with my kids they're wanting their bodies to do certain things

41:09

with sports and with activities and

41:12

being able to teach them

41:14

that what they eat and drink

41:16

plays such a big role

41:18

in what their bodies

41:20

are able to do and their energy levels

41:22

and obviously sleep also

41:24

. That's a big part of it too . But

41:27

I've just been amazed at what

41:30

we've told them for so many years and then

41:32

they hear it one time from a coach

41:34

or something like mom , this is what I

41:36

need to do . Okay

41:38

, but at least if they're hearing it from somebody

41:41

, I don't care how it resonates

41:43

, but I do think that's such a great

41:45

concept to understand that the

41:47

food really does , like you said , make

41:50

such a difference in what your body's

41:52

doing and how you're feeling , and it's

41:54

great .

41:55

Yeah , I think that that's self-reflection . So

41:58

, like us doing intentional self-reflection

42:00

out loud in front of our kids about

42:03

you , said , mary , I don't really feel

42:05

good today and you just leave it at that

42:07

. But if you say , okay , I don't really feel good today , I'm gonna

42:10

say this out loud in front of my kids and

42:12

then say , I wonder what I've been

42:14

eating that might be making me feel .

42:16

I wonder if .

42:16

I need to drink more water and you're just saying

42:18

these things out loud to them . They're gonna

42:20

absorb that and start to make those connections

42:22

to that . What they're eating affects them .

42:26

What you were saying , Emily , about just feeling

42:29

overwhelmed a lot when

42:31

you were starting to meal

42:33

plan and do all the things with your son . What

42:35

if you're listening right now and you're thinking , okay

42:37

, I know we eat out too much , I know

42:39

we don't have the best diets , I wanna

42:41

do better . What are some

42:43

of those first steps that you

42:46

would take towards healthy

42:48

eating with your family ? To not make

42:50

it feel so daunting , Is there maybe

42:53

a good first step that you

42:55

mentor families to

42:58

the road towards healthy

43:00

eating ?

43:03

Yeah , I would say being

43:06

prepared , sitting down and saying

43:08

these are the three meals that I'm gonna make this

43:10

week and we're relying

43:13

on leftovers . And I think that's important , that

43:15

you're not trying to cook every single

43:17

day of the week and

43:19

, truly , if you are running

43:21

short on time , something like grocery delivery

43:24

really is life changing . So you

43:26

order exactly what you need and it shows up at your

43:28

door and you're not having to set aside an hour

43:30

or two to go to the grocery store when you don't have time

43:32

to do that , so that time that you're

43:35

saving can be spent putting on a crock

43:37

pot or something like that . And

43:39

that has been

43:42

probably the biggest help for our daily

43:46

schedule is me writing

43:48

down what we're having and then following

43:52

through with that , because even not writing it

43:54

down stored in your head and then

43:56

you can't remember and you're like why do I have all these groceries

43:58

? What was I gonna do with that ? Again , even

44:00

though I did wrote the list one day ago , I

44:02

already forgot . So that would

44:04

be a huge help . And then if something

44:06

like pre-making muffins

44:09

that you can serve to your kids

44:11

that morning and then freeze , double

44:14

it and freeze the next batch that you can take out two weeks

44:16

from now is helpful to put

44:18

in your kids lunchboxes as

44:20

a snack or whatever it is that

44:22

has also been really helpful to us .

44:26

And that was one of my questions for you as the

44:28

snack . I feel like the snack world

44:31

is just crazy with all

44:33

the times a kid needs a snack and after

44:35

the game they get a snack , and what

44:38

are your thoughts on that ? Do you think kids are snacking

44:40

too much ? Do you guys just try to focus

44:42

on your three meals a

44:45

day ? What are your thoughts on that ?

44:47

I think kids are not snacking on the right things . So

44:50

, yes , they're asking for snacks frequently if

44:52

they're having goldfish , because goldfish

44:54

is not filling them up and so then

44:56

they want to snack in an hour , which is

44:59

no fault of their own . If we're feeding them

45:01

something that has carbohydrate

45:03

and protein and fat and fiber that

45:05

their body's having to break down , they're going

45:07

to need a snack way less frequently . So

45:10

nuts is a regular thing in our house

45:12

. Fruit or that's gonna have

45:14

the carbohydrate and the fiber in there . Cheese

45:17

. It's really great about carrying

45:19

all the different food groups together , because

45:21

that is why kids

45:23

need a snack so much , and sometimes it's because they're going

45:26

through a gross group , but often it's just because they're just

45:28

eating one food group . That

45:30

makes sense .

45:33

Do you ever recommend saying

45:36

no and withholding a

45:38

snack , or do you think that

45:41

it is more so the composition

45:43

of the food itself ?

45:45

I say no all the time to snacks , but

45:48

that's often because we have a

45:50

meal coming up in 45

45:52

minutes or something and you can't have

45:54

a snack right now because dinner's almost ready and

45:56

it doesn't always go over . Well , I often get

45:59

yelled at for that , but that's just

46:01

a line that I'm not willing to cross . Or if they

46:03

want a snack , what I'm offering is vegetables

46:05

. You can sit and have some bell

46:08

pepper while I finish dinner , because

46:11

they're never going to eat too much of that , and

46:14

that's great if they do . Honestly , I'm not going to be

46:16

mad about that . I feel like I trust my kids

46:18

. If they're saying they're really hungry , then I believe

46:20

that they're really hungry . I'm not going to withhold because I think

46:22

that it hasn't been enough time . I

46:25

do not plan our life around snacks

46:27

. I incorporate snacks if they ask

46:29

for them , if that

46:32

makes sense . So I'm not like okay , we

46:34

always have three meals a day and two snacks . We

46:36

have three meals a day and maybe no

46:38

snacks . Maybe two snacks , maybe one snack

46:40

, depending on if they ask for it .

46:42

So you're really focusing on that idea

46:45

of them listening to their bodies telling

46:47

them what they need that

46:49

day . Yes , absolutely

46:51

I like that . I do feel

46:54

like with one of our kids who

46:56

is a little bit more black and white

46:58

is that if he had two

47:01

snacks yesterday , he has

47:03

that idea that I need to have two snacks

47:05

today too , whether I feel hungry or

47:07

not . It's become almost

47:09

this pattern for him , even sometimes

47:11

I've seen at the end of the day where we've finished

47:14

our day , dinner's done , we're close to

47:16

bedtime and he didn't have

47:18

that second snack , I

47:20

think trying to switch that mindset

47:22

to but is your body really

47:24

hungry ? Are you feeling that you're hungry

47:26

? It's not really healthy to eat this time

47:29

of night . So

47:31

I do like that idea of switching to having

47:33

them learn to self-reflect and

47:36

think about how their body's

47:38

feeling .

47:39

Yeah , Okay . The idea of mindful eating

47:41

is definitely something that I encourage

47:44

as often as I can with them is

47:47

checking in with their body and asking what

47:49

they want to need and if they really do

47:51

need anything . And

47:53

we don't have a household that has a ton of stuff

47:56

that you just want to mindlessly

47:58

eat . It's easier because

48:00

they're not like oh , I just want to eat because

48:02

I know we have yummy food .

48:04

Dang it . I didn't get my bell pepper tonight Exactly

48:07

. I

48:09

need to go get that .

48:12

Okay , here's a scenario that plays out

48:14

a lot at

48:16

our house . Now is the whole sports

48:19

thing , kim , you were mentioning they always

48:21

get a snack after sports

48:23

, but I've got three kids , and

48:26

so all the kids are

48:28

there for the game , and

48:31

then they're all about fairness . One

48:33

person was the one who exerted all the energy

48:35

for the sport and genuinely

48:37

needs the snack , and then

48:39

the other ones are sitting

48:41

on the sideline , but then they

48:43

want to have a part of the snack . What do

48:45

you do with that Exactly

48:48

?

48:48

Do you know what the snacks are going to be at

48:50

these events ?

48:52

It's just it's like a sign up , so it's like

48:54

a different family , so it could be anything

48:56

from orange and popcorn

48:58

to fruit by the foot .

49:00

Are they asking to have the same snack

49:03

or are they okay with a different snack ?

49:05

They just want a snack , if you're okay with a different

49:07

snack if it was bell pepper versus

49:09

fruit by the foot that would not go over

49:11

.

49:11

Well , this

49:13

is really such an interesting concept because

49:15

I feel like it's the little kids who really

49:17

aren't even exerting that much energy in their sporting

49:19

events that get these snacks after , and

49:22

then this kind of goes away , I would say , by like

49:24

third-ish grade , like no one's

49:26

doing snacks anymore . But then you get

49:28

into , you really need a snack after that game

49:30

, like once they get to a certain age and no one's there to

49:32

give them snacks . No one's

49:34

funny .

49:35

Yeah , it's funny it's switched Like when they actually

49:37

needed nobody's offering them a snack . I would say

49:39

being prepared . So if there's something that you're comfortable

49:42

with them having afterwards , then

49:44

bring that and just don't have a

49:46

battle about it and just have something on

49:48

. This kind of comes back to being prepared . Take something

49:50

that you're fine with your kids that

49:53

didn't exercise . Eating that

49:55

they are also maybe not

49:57

going to be like this is the best thing ever , but

49:59

it would appease them . It's

50:01

okay . Yeah , no , you're right .

50:04

I probably . I just need to pack something

50:07

that's in the middle ground that I'm okay with . And

50:09

then , two , we're not a juice family

50:11

. We don't do juice or soda . And

50:14

when the Capri Sun comes back with

50:16

the person who did play soccer

50:19

or whatever it is

50:21

, then that's a thing too . But

50:23

now there's actually a lot of options . There's

50:26

that hint of brand

50:28

that we've gotten sometimes , or

50:31

my kids even just love sparkling

50:33

water because I drink a lot of it , so

50:35

they're happy to just have flavored water . So

50:38

I think you're right . I just need to be prepared

50:40

and bring those things ahead of time .

50:42

Yeah , but like this takes a lot

50:44

of mental capacity and a lot of a

50:46

lot is falling on you to

50:49

remember , which

50:51

is why it takes so long to get it down

50:53

.

50:54

Yeah , but I think it goes in seasons

50:56

. Last year I couldn't have done any of this . I

50:58

was just like nope , whatever comes our way

51:01

, that is fine and that's just where we are

51:03

at . But right now I'm just

51:05

in this stage of having

51:07

more time to do more

51:09

and wanting to do better in the food

51:11

department . So I think

51:14

that it has been helpful to just

51:16

give yourself grace , to

51:18

say , hey , that's not something I can tackle

51:20

right now , but in the periods

51:22

where you can then go for

51:25

it , yeah yeah .

51:27

So you've said them only recognizing , maybe when you

51:29

do have those moments in

51:32

time to really try and prep . I

51:34

know that we've talked about this before

51:37

with Mary . Our weekly meals look very

51:39

similar week to week because it's

51:41

made my life easier . But then when times

51:44

come up where I know our

51:46

week isn't going to be as crazy , then I will try

51:48

a new recipe or I will try something different

51:51

. But a lot of times I

51:53

just know it's okay that Monday

51:55

through Friday they know what meals are

51:58

coming , because it's made our lives a lot

52:00

easier .

52:01

Yeah , and I think kids are okay with that

52:03

. If it's something that they'll eat , then that takes

52:05

fear out of what is mom making tonight

52:07

. Am I going to get to eat because I like it or not

52:09

? So I think that kids don't mind it

52:11

. If anybody wants more variety

52:14

, I feel like it's adult .

52:18

This has been really insightful . I appreciate

52:21

you sharing so many of your tips

52:23

and tricks and for some of your recipes

52:26

, I definitely want to put them in our podcast

52:28

notes and anything else that we talked

52:31

about . I did have one more question . With Thanksgiving

52:33

coming up , I feel like for

52:35

our kids , thanksgiving foods

52:37

are not foods that they're around

52:40

a lot . They always will eat the meat

52:42

, sometimes the bread , but a lot

52:44

of the mashed potatoes or

52:46

dressing or kind of

52:49

past roll-y type dishes

52:51

they're not used to . So do

52:54

you have any thoughts on

52:56

having kids just try

52:59

it , letting them eat what they're used to ? What

53:01

are your thoughts there with that ?

53:03

My thoughts about kids and

53:05

Thanksgiving or any meals is that

53:07

Ellen Satter is a dietician

53:10

that wrote a book many years ago on nutrition and

53:12

she has this thing called the division

53:14

of responsibility . So I

53:16

, as the parent , decide what goes on your

53:19

plate and you decide what you're going to eat . I'm

53:21

not going to force you but I'm in control

53:24

of what we're serving . But you get to

53:26

decide what you're going to eat and generally always

53:28

serving something that's safe with it . But

53:30

Thanksgiving , this is a holiday about

53:32

food and celebration and we

53:35

are enjoying food and celebrating . Our

53:37

kids should not feel pressure or

53:39

anxiety about this holiday

53:41

, so they should also get to enjoy the

53:43

food and celebrate , and so I

53:45

have no problem with kids just eating

53:48

turkey or the one food that they feel

53:50

safe with . But there's something , because

53:52

your kid has allergies , that they're not going to be able to

53:54

have what they cannot dairy , and we

53:56

know that there's butter and milk in the

53:58

sweet potato casserole . And then maybe

54:00

we'll bring a bag of frozen , cut up sweet

54:02

potatoes that you can pop in the microwave and

54:04

serve some plain sweet potatoes alongside

54:07

their meals . So , again , like it goes

54:09

back to preparing if you're wanting to supplement

54:11

their meal , but if the kids are

54:13

fine with just eating two foods off their plate

54:16

, then I think we should .

54:18

I agree with that and we've talked before

54:21

too . I think that Thanksgiving is not really the

54:23

time to start that battle and

54:25

you know , like you said , it's just

54:27

a time about family and

54:29

celebrating . But you

54:31

always have those family members that are like

54:33

eat them , try the mashed potatoes

54:36

, just try one bite . I feel like

54:38

why ? Why right now ? Totally .

54:41

And I'm not like a big fan of no , thank you

54:43

. Bite . Anyway , the more pressure I put on somebody

54:45

to eat something or somebody were to put on me

54:48

, the less I'm going to want to do it . Yeah , I

54:50

would say it's more about family

54:52

members . Parents probably don't have a huge

54:54

problem with their kids not eating all the different

54:56

foods . It's family members interjecting and saying

54:58

you should try this , you should do it . So I

55:00

think it's hard , especially if your kids are younger

55:02

. They're probably not going to , in a polite way

55:05

, say no , they're going to get upset and

55:07

they're going to say it's yucky and make

55:09

a scene about it . If somebody's trying to force them to

55:11

eat something and I think that's our job as their

55:13

parents , to probably intervene before it gets to that

55:15

point and if somebody's telling my

55:17

kids you need to try this , I'm

55:19

going to say oh , she doesn't have to eat that , I have no

55:21

problem with that and just leave it at that . And

55:23

I doubt anybody's going to push back at that and I have had to do

55:25

that before .

55:27

Yeah , and like he , said , I love this topic

55:29

so much . The whole pressure

55:31

has gotten out of hand with

55:33

kids , with food , and

55:36

I think that so often family

55:38

members and even parents sometimes

55:40

but I agree that family members really are the bigger

55:42

culprit they see Thanksgiving

55:45

as this huge opportunity of oh , but you've got

55:47

to try it because we don't usually have this kind of

55:49

food around . But it's really not

55:51

a missed opportunity . You're going to what

55:53

? See it next year or at Christmas

55:56

, Like the green bean casserole ? Skip

55:58

it , it's totally fine . That's not something

56:00

anyone makes on a

56:03

regular basis . But

56:05

I know one thing that I've done in therapy a lot

56:07

this time of year is

56:09

coaching families

56:12

on polite ways

56:14

to address other

56:16

people's opinions . Because

56:18

, like you're saying , emily , you have to be prepared

56:21

for the comments , otherwise

56:23

you're going to have to say something . I'll cut the

56:25

cuff , for your emotions might be high

56:28

. Or if you've already pre-prepared

56:30

a statement , like you

56:32

said , that just said oh , you know what , I'm fine

56:34

with whatever they choose to eat , they

56:36

don't need to try anything today . If you just leave

56:38

it at that and you've already recited that

56:40

in your head you and your spouse

56:43

or partner , whatever then

56:45

you're going to be so much better prepared

56:47

to walk into that and confident to

56:50

address a family member . And then

56:52

same with kids , because sometimes you're

56:55

off talking to someone else and then the

56:57

kid is just there when the aunt

56:59

is like trying to shove a random thing

57:02

at them . To try well meaning

57:04

but to empower them too with

57:06

the language of just saying oh

57:08

, I'm still learning about sweet potatoes , thank

57:10

you though . But I

57:12

think it's so important to

57:15

practice beforehand before

57:17

putting yourself in that position .

57:19

Yeah , I love that . I love the idea

57:21

of empowering your kids to do it

57:23

too . We encourage my daughter to

57:25

often say I don't prefer that or I'm

57:27

still learning about that , but we definitely

57:30

try to avoid any words like that's yucky

57:32

, I don't like that because

57:34

I don't love what that projects to other

57:36

people or other kids , especially

57:39

when I think about my daughter in a lunch room saying that

57:41

she thinks some food that some child is eating

57:43

is yucky , and that is not something

57:45

I want to promote . We don't talk about food is yucky

57:47

.

57:47

food nourishes our body and we're thankful that people

57:49

have it . Thank you again , emily . Yeah

57:51

, we appreciate you being here and all of

57:53

the knowledge that you've shared . It's been

57:56

great .

57:57

Yeah , it was so fun . Thanks for having me

57:59

.

58:00

Thanks for listening . Make sure you subscribe

58:02

to our podcast and check out our website

58:05

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58:07

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58:09

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58:11

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