The MINT Prjct

Parenting Adventures and Strategies for Raising Healthy Eaters

• The MINT Prjct • Season 1 • Episode 25

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Ever run out of ideas on how to make your kids eat healthily?  Today we explore ways to ensure our children foster a healthy relationship with food.  We share personal stories and strategies on introducing variety in our kids' diets, dealing with picky eaters, the power of healthy snacking on the go, and our takes on the sensitive topic of children's body size. We aim to shed light on how to maintain an open line of communication on food with our children and ensuring they stay nourished. So, strap in for a laughter-filled and enlightening episode on kids and their food.

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To learn more about The MINT Prjct and check out our programs and courses, head to TheMINTPrjct.com and follow us on Instagram, as well as your hosts, @bets.inthewild, @_coach.cara_ and @jesscarr.fit

Speaker 2:

Welcome back to the Mint Project Podcast. We are all happy to be back together. Kara has been traveling in Alaska. Do you want to give us a little recap of Alaska, Kara, before we start?

Speaker 1:

Yeah, so that's where I grew up. So I just went home for three weeks and it was raining. It's the summer of rain in Alaska right now. There has been maybe five days of sun up there. Three of them was when I was there. But we just continue to live life. You just do the things that you want to do in the rain.

Speaker 1:

There's just a lot more clothing you have to put on yourself and your children and the boots, the raincoats, all that stuff. But it was really fun. And then last week we were up there we had a family reunion. It was the first one of me and my siblings and my parents, just like that family, and so it was really fun. Yeah, we went on bike rides, went to the lake on the sunny day, yeah, and we just did a bunch of stuff that we could with kids and rain.

Speaker 2:

So it was good Any bears, any wilderness.

Speaker 1:

I didn't see any bears, but I went running. The last day I was there with a friend and I got home and my sister said our neighbor just told us that there's a grizzly with two cubs like two blocks away from us. So did you see them?

Speaker 2:

I was like no, I think I'd be running a little faster. Terrifying, terrifying.

Speaker 1:

So I didn't know that before my run.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I would not handle that well.

Speaker 3:

I saw a lot of mosquitoes. What are you supposed to do? What's like the protocol when you see a bear?

Speaker 2:

Aren't you supposed to like make yourself like look really big and scary yeah, that's what I've heard.

Speaker 3:

Like how does one do that as a small human?

Speaker 1:

That's why you run or go out with people take bear spray or guns or whatever.

Speaker 2:

Oh, bear spray Like a gun yeah bear spray.

Speaker 1:

I know, Guys okay.

Speaker 3:

We have to first at first to everyone. Disclaimer if you hear our fourth member, that's because our badass Mama, Cara, breast feeds while podcasting, so kudos to you.

Speaker 1:

Yep Talk about multitasking.

Speaker 3:

And.

Speaker 2:

I know.

Speaker 3:

I just need to see a video of everyone of us specifically just doing what you would do if a bear comes at you. I think we should do that and show the world what it looks like.

Speaker 2:

I love David. Pretend to be a bear and I'll scare him.

Speaker 1:

Oh my gosh. Luckily I've never run into one in the wild. I know people who haven't. I don't know there's certain protocols you're supposed to do with, like different types of bears, but I don't ever remember Wow. I need to get big, with some plated with others with a polar bear, You're just dead.

Speaker 2:

Oh God, I would just run and I would die. Oh no, that would be the worst. Don't run, are they fast? Yes, oh my gosh, they're so fast they're so fast.

Speaker 1:

I'll send you videos.

Speaker 3:

I don't know if I will see it Do you remember Tana?

Speaker 1:

We had her on the podcast.

Speaker 3:

Yes, that's where I'm recalling pictures of bears.

Speaker 1:

Yes, and they were. It was so fast and it was injured and they can climb trees.

Speaker 2:

So like, what do you do?

Speaker 1:

She was chased and what did she do? Yeah, oh well, you'll have to go. It's a whole thing. I mean. Luckily they were able their shotgun or their rifle that they had froze jammed and so they got one shot into the bear and they were running because there was nothing else to do, and then her brother had to kill it with a pistol, which was crazy, but it was a big one. Anyways, yeah, go check her Instagram for the full and they have like a podcast on it. It's crazy, they have a podcast episode.

Speaker 3:

So if you missed our podcast with Tana, that is not one to miss. Go back and find that one, she's amazing. Incredible.

Speaker 2:

Cool, and Betsy, you were in California. Any notable things?

Speaker 3:

It was, it was great. It was, as everyone listening to this probably knows, and which I knew but was reminded of that a vacation to the beach or just a vacation with the toddlers. Not really a vacation. No, it's exhausting, it was relaxing, it was still so good though.

Speaker 3:

It was a vacation in the sense of like watching him have fun and experiencing first, like overcoming his fear of the waves he was really scared of them and then wanted to be in them, kept telling us to go underwater Lots of sand, angels, so it was really really good. And the weather.

Speaker 2:

I miss it I miss it. Yeah, yeah, it was good. Oh, that's good. Yep, awesome, cool. Well, I was just here, so aren't you going somewhere soon, jess? I'm going up north this weekend to Trevor city, which is like my favorite place in Michigan, which I think is kind of near where you guys go when you come up here, but yeah, you don't feel like you're in Michigan, it's just, it's so nice, it's like on the beach of Lake Lake Michigan.

Speaker 3:

Yeah.

Speaker 2:

Yeah.

Speaker 3:

Yes.

Speaker 2:

Wow, geography is not my strength and yeah you, it's weird Like you feel like you're at the ocean. The beaches are like white, but you're not, cause I'm very scared of the ocean, so it's better for me to be, which I made a real mistake of watching a shark attack video the other day.

Speaker 1:

There's in. Didn't sleep, didn't sleep.

Speaker 3:

There's a lot of shark situations happening right now.

Speaker 2:

It feels like I know I I don't do the ocean, I'll dip my toes in, but like some a lot more. But then I see these people like people send me things cause they know that I don't like them, like birds and like someone sent me this video of this like the biggest fish I've ever seen and it was like in Lake Michigan. So I'm like, oh well, not going in there.

Speaker 2:

I won't tell you all the things I've seen oh my God, yeah, you know what happened when you told me about the tarantulas in your house. Don't say that word, betsy and them. Every time I stay there, they talk about the tarantulas and so from her house to their camper.

Speaker 2:

I run, I run anyways, but yes, then I'm going to Park City at Utah in August, which I'm super excited about, so I need to get all the good places to visit, all right, well, we are talking about. What are we talking about? We are talking about kind of like, I think, a complex topic, but we're talking about nutrition for kids today because we are all moms and I know we've probably all had our fair share of struggles with and we're not necessarily talking about like hey, what should you feed your kids or what shouldn't you. I mean, we'll give some of our what we do and our opinions, but this is not like a I'm judging you for feeding your kids. This, this is more of a like how to approach nutrition so that you can have, overall, healthy, happy kids who grow up with a good, solid relationship with nutrition and who maybe know a little bit more about nutrition. Because I know for me, growing up, like now my mom knows a lot about nutrition, but growing up it was kind of it was hard. Like my mom's always been super healthy and fit, we had her on the podcast, but she didn't know a lot about nutrition. Like we had a lot of stuff in our pantry that I know now she like she's always like I can't believe I bought that and fed you guys that. But but anyways, we're going to kind of dive into some of the common questions we hear about feeding your kids and helping them have that healthy relationship and kind of how we approach it with all of our kids. So we may do some things differently and you can kind of take from each of us like what you would like to maybe implement going forward.

Speaker 2:

But one other really kind of what sparked this was I think all of us have kind of no seen in the news maybe, or since kind of the pandemic happened that childhood obesity rates are higher than ever. They have tripled in the US like over the past three decades, which is kind of scary. And so we all and I know all parents just want their kids to be healthy and set up for success. So that has also kind of sparked this like how can we set our kids up for success? And a lot of that comes down to us as parents and what we're modeling and teaching them. And so one thing I kind of wanted to kick off and then you guys can kind of give me your thoughts is like when I think about nutrition for my daughter, because I think girls are, you know boys are hard too, but with girls there's this touchy body image thing of how do I encourage my daughter or our kids to be healthy and maintain a healthy weight into adulthood, and how I approach that is when I, when I think about nutrition for kids, is what habits and ideal ideologies do I want her to have around nutrition when she leaves my house? And I think that kind of simplifies it. Instead of like Me telling her what to do, what am I gonna teach her and what do I want her to know about nutrition? So for me and I'll let you guys kind of Think, think about like what you want your kids to think about but when my daughter leaves the house, I want her to know some simple things. Like what does a balanced plate look like? Like I don't care, she necessarily knows how many calories or proteins, carbs and fats, like we've started diving into some of those things.

Speaker 2:

But what does a balanced plate look like? Like what's a protein, what's a carb, what's a fat? Why should they all be on my plate? And then like, what do certain foods do for me In terms of energy, right and like why does this food make me feel a certain way? And why does this food make me feel a certain way? And then the other thing is like I think about what relationship do I want her to have with food, because I Grew up in a home that was very like that's not good for you, that's gonna make you gain weight, and so I developed this really negative Relationship with certain foods and it all almost led to somewhat poor decisions as I grew up. So Food for thought. But have you guys thought about that of like what? What's the overall big picture of what you want your kids to know About nutrition as they grow up?

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I've, I've thought about it. I have two girls and a son and you know they're the challenges with nutrition come with each, boys and girls. But, yeah, kind of going along with what you said, jess, I want them to be prepared and and for when they do leave the house, that they they know how those foods make them feel and and what different foods can do to fuel them for different things I like to think of. I want to teach them more about how food, food is fuel, instead of that's bad for you or that's gonna make you fat or something like that. Yeah, my kids, you know, like all kids, love to eat like sugary cereal, and I don't buy sugary cereal, but if they're at like people's houses or, yeah, you know, we just stayed at my mom's house, which she doesn't necessarily buy what you would think of as sugary cereal, but it still has lots of sugar in it.

Speaker 1:

Breakfast cereal is just mostly sugar, and so I was trying to teach my daughter, like I know you love to eat this, so you can have a bowl, but let's try and eat something else that will help to keep us full. And she and because she noticed that, like you know, five minutes after she's done any cereal, she's still hungry, and I said that because it's mostly just sugar and it doesn't keep you full. So I'm just trying to teach her different things like what does it do? How does it make you feel? What is it fueling you for which she doesn't really understand? Like fueling, I guess, right now, but she can tell that she's hungry a few minutes after she's done eating, whereas if she didn't you know, eggs with an avocado or something like that she would have felt a little bit more full. So I try and have okay, you can have this cereal if you want it, and let's eat this as well.

Speaker 2:

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Speaker 3:

My approach lately and I think it varies by age, like my approach with yes. My son, at least with the one kid I have, and the one time I've done this has varied very much Depending on what his age is and and also where my mental state is like if I'm Having a rough moment or a rough day and he asks for a bar. That's why I did my research to find the best option for a bar, so that if I'm gonna have a meltdown and he's gonna have a meltdown.

Speaker 3:

He can have a bar, that I feel good about. But my, my real, main recent approach has just been variety. So Even when it comes to snacks which I would say that's our hardest part is him always wanting snack food versus meals is To make sure if he's had, for example, bar that day, I say, okay, well, you already had one, a bar today, now you can have these options, these are your options, instead of saying yes and no and then Staying ahead of his meals. I've realized it has made a big difference for him. If I can get him a meal a little bit earlier maybe half an hour earlier than in my mind I think I might be hungry then we avoid that snack because he doesn't get to that point where he's so hungry.

Speaker 3:

And Then, lastly, on our plates, we finally started eating together. Andre and I used to eat really late at night Because you know, when you're a coach of a gym, you get home really late. But eating together and putting a little tiny bite of things that are on our plate on his plate and he's got like ten things on his plate versus two things. I know he's he, I know he likes. He's got two things I know he likes. In a bunch of other stuff I know he doesn't like, but if he'll touch it or lick it, I'm considering that a win.

Speaker 3:

So yeah man, it's hard for sure, but I, if I, can, always keep him eating different things, because I think kids like to find one thing they like and that's the only thing that they'll eat. So, right, this, it seems like it's starting to help.

Speaker 2:

That's such a good approach of like, giving a lot of options and variety. And yeah, I care, I loved what you said of like. Yeah, you can have that like it's kind of a special occasion, but why don't we also try to have this with that? And that's typically what I do with my daughter, in that she goes on like these, like spirts, of like.

Speaker 2:

For a while she wanted an omelet every morning and a smoothie and I'm like this is like win, win. And then she'll go on a kick where it's like no, I just want french toast or I just want to bagel and nothing else. And I'm like that's okay, like we can do that, but like what? Like there's no protein in this breakfast right now. So how can we get a little bit of protein in? And, like you said, it's not because those other things are crap or whatever, but it's like you're not going to feel great after eating just that or you're going to be hungry in 20 minutes. So we need protein because it fills us up and then your carbs are going to give you energy and explaining things to kids that way, because and now that my daughter's getting older and she's in soccer and she, you know she's in a camp right now. That's like four hours every day, and so she's starting to get it Like I need to eat the good things, to like make sure I'm keeping my energy up.

Speaker 2:

And the other day we went out to dinner and then, of course, her and David wanted to go get ice cream and I'm like that's fine, like, but we're all going to go for a family bike ride afterwards, and not because we're trying to burn off the calories, like not at all. But I'm like my belly needs to digest. Like we had two fun things in a row, but like let's all just like feel good. And like, after she had the ice cream, she's like, oh, my belly hurts. And I'm like, yeah, so like just notice those things of like.

Speaker 2:

You know, sometimes we pick these things because they're fun, yeah, and they're fun to eat once in a while. But yeah, my other thing is I just I try not to keep a ton of that stuff in the house, just because then it's like an easy, I don't even have to say no and she just knows. Like she still tries to get to me when we go to the store. She's like, oh, this person has this at their house, or this person Like that's awesome, like I, you had it over there. Like we don't keep that stuff in our house but it's fun to have it once in a while.

Speaker 2:

Like most of the time we want to be feeling good and I just was never talked about that way in terms of nutrition. Like I didn't know why I was eating and I played sports growing up too. Like and your kids will get through it, you know like they'll be fine. But like it is like if they learn early on, I mean they'll be set up really well for adulthood. If we know, like what certain foods do for them and how other ones make them feel. So even just helping them notice those things, because even as adults sometimes I have clients that like have never understood, like how much better they feel when they eat more whole foods versus like oh, I used to go out to eat all the time and, oh my gosh, the difference in how I feel.

Speaker 1:

So yeah, I think teaching them, like you said, like informed decisions, and it doesn't have to do with weight gain all the time you know I have to do with this is going to help you feel better. This is going to fuel you for this, this is going to help your skin, stuff like that. So my mom's a dietitian and she I thought she taught us really well about that kind of stuff. She never told us to go on diets or anything like that and I knew about protein, carbs and fats and what they did for the body. My brothers, you know they're like well, it doesn't matter because like we're not fat.

Speaker 1:

Example one brother one year before his freshman year of college, every morning I'd go into his room. There would be Taco Bell wrappers and a half gallon of ice cream from the night before, almost daily. And I said you are, this is not good for you. Like this, this is not good. And then he goes to school and he tries out for the rugby team, makes it and gets a body fat scan seven percent body fat. I was like so mad, like ice cream.

Speaker 2:

But David.

Speaker 1:

Yeah. But then you look more into it it's like okay, now he's not 18 anymore, he's over right and he does have things that he's dealing with. It might not be weight gain, but he does have so many skin issues but he won't change, change the way he eats, which that could definitely help, you know, absolutely. And so it is more than just about gaining weight, or not, right?

Speaker 1:

Right, it's just overall health, like here's skin and nails health, there's hormone balance, there's all different kind of things that is affected by nutrition. So If you look at it kind of in a more of a holistic way like that, rather than just the weight but yeah, that will always bug me.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, because you do. We all have those friends or those family members who can eat literally whatever they want and they don't seem to gain weight and it's like a genetic thing or whatever. But if you opened them up and looked inside, they might appear healthy because they're not overweight. But, like, how are they doing on the inside? Like you said, how are they doing with their hormones? And you know, our nutrition can it can affect so many things, even down to, like, mental health. And yeah, like you said, skin.

Speaker 2:

I know there are certain foods that cause my skin to not be happy and yeah, but it reminded me of college. Like my sister and I were just talking about we lived together for a little bit in college and we're like, do you ever remember like cooking anything? No, I think I maybe made like noodles, but again, like and that's the other thing I would like my daughter to know how to make a few healthy, easy options before she leaves my house. Like, if you know how to make eggs, I will be happy. Like, eggs are the one food I'll allow you to call a super food, because there's have so many nutrients. Like, and it's not hard, scramble them up, throw them on toes or whatever, and as long as she knows how to make, like maybe a chicken breast or some type of protein and veggies, like I'll be good to go.

Speaker 2:

But like, yeah, I just. I, my mom, always cooked for us, like I knew how to make chicken and stuff, but I didn't do it enough to then go to college and be like, oh, I'm going to cook a chicken breast. It was, hey, we're going to order Jimmy John's. So yeah, giving them those tools to when they leave the house. Are your kids picky eaters or are they pretty good about trying things? I think I know Betsy's answer, but I feel like he's doing better now crew, he's doing a little bit better.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, like I said, there's an account that I follow, and have followed for a long time, called kids eat in color, and I follow a few different ones, but the biggest thing that that has taught me is to like kind of look outside the box for your wins. Yeah, so getting him to lick something when, getting him to touch something when, because then there's next steps that follow that. One of the things that we've really started doing, especially now that we're eating as a family a K eating earlier in the day is cooking with him. He loves to cook and so involving him we have one of those stools and involving him in cooking, and if he wants to do something I'm going to let him do it. It's messier, it's slower, but sometimes the afternoons can feel a little daunting with kids and that cooking activity that feels so long actually eats up a lot of that time.

Speaker 3:

So good for their brains to just be stimulated and it's such a good learning experience. Like texture, wise, smelling he loves to smell things. Tell me what they feel like. Yeah, exactly the met. You know clean up too with part of that. So that has helped a little bit, I think, just to get him exposure and I can see how over time that's paid off in a few ways, like he tried Parmesan cheese because we were cooking with it the other day and that did not take any prompting. So that's one thing.

Speaker 3:

I've learned too is that asking him to try it or trying to convince him to try it, usually doesn't work Right. Sometimes we get lucky, but if he is exposed to it, if he's going to make up his own mind to do it, it seems to be a little more effective, which is so frustrating as a parent because you're like I'll just sit here and wait till you decided yeah, sounds good. Yeah it's starting to like. Those little wins, I think are big for parents who are trying to attack that. How about your kids, kara?

Speaker 2:

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Speaker 1:

I just wanted to say, too, piggybacking off what Betsy said. I remember you saying something like that a while ago. Betsy and I've been trying to involve my kids a little bit more in cooking. I just want to get it done. I don't like cooking, so I just want to get it in and get out. So I feel like I spend hours in the kitchen every single night, Like first I'm making the food, then I'm giving it to them, then we're eating, then I'm cleaning it all up, you know. But I do think I can see where the importance of involving them comes in. Like you said, all those benefits. So I've been trying, and today I like pour something into a bowl and it kind of got everywhere and I said, okay, all right, now we get to clean it up. And she's like why? I said, well, it's okay to make a mess, but we can just clean it up afterwards, you know. So that's been good. Thank you, Betsy, for your example.

Speaker 3:

Absolutely.

Speaker 1:

But yeah, my kids go off and on with being picky. I just, yeah, like we said before, it's just phases. Right now, jack, he likes, you know, meat and some veggies and lots of fruit. He loves apples, but Kaya just mostly loves the carbs. She loves bread, bagels, like I was talking about earlier, cereal, stuff like that.

Speaker 1:

But one thing I've been trying to do, because I also follow an account called Feeding Littles, I love that one. I think all the accounts are really good if you can find something that works for you. But they always say, like, just present it to them, just continue to present it to them different things. And so I had been making this soup for a long time and I just give them everything that's in it. And normally you know she would just pick out the things that she liked. But the other night she tried I didn't even ask her to, she just tried one of the. I think it was like a bell pepper or something that I was in. She goes ooh, I like it. Mom, this is good. I was like come on, funny.

Speaker 2:

You're like. I've been getting it to you for months.

Speaker 1:

I've been telling you to eat this for like a year, but you know, next time she might not eat it, yeah, but who knows, she might remember or she might not remember that yeah, it was there, so she had the opportunity to try it. So that's what I'm trying to do, right, their decision. The great thing about pickingdarisha is just how many kids can serve everyone along, and so she was like where I'm like, okay, I'm gonna do that. Now I've got Russians. Yeah, people are ал componipples. They didn't know that.

Speaker 3:

The price of it digging in the seal was biking up. I'm like what should we pick those green beans with? What about those little ones? And they didn't know that. But you know I could go either side by side, alright. Yeah, the style of things to eat for dinner, actually.

Speaker 2:

They I make. But yeah, I think they all go in phases and if your kid is acting picky, like, you're not alone. But there are. Like one thing that I know and again, if your kids are older and this is not you're not in this phase. But starting early with like introducing them to different foods and, like Betsy said, like providing a variety of foods, because at least then they can kind of make a choice. But the other thing is like, like you also said, eating together, like I know that some people will make their kids specific foods. Or at our house it's like what I make is for dinner, and if you don't want to try that or you don't want to eat it, that's okay, but that's what's for dinner. And so you know, if there's something that I've made that I know she really, really does not like, okay, that's different. But if you've never even tried this and you're telling me you don't want it, that's a different story.

Speaker 2:

So allowing your kids like this is the option for dinner, this is what we're eating. You need to at least try it and eventually they will like someone once told me your kid is not gonna starve. You know, like my daughter's gone to bed hungry because she refused to eat what I had made and she woke up and ate breakfast the next morning, you know like, and she forgot about dinner. But the other thing that I've started doing that has made kind of like the arguing about certain things easier is giving options with the same meal base, right. So like, let's say, I make ground turkey for tacos. She can either have that taco as like a taco, or some of us might be having a bowl with like rice and the same veggies as the option. So like, allow them to pick the same ingredients but put it into the meal that they want. So if I've had a little bit of success with that, and then also, like you guys said, involving them in the process, so like, she'll come to the store with me and I'll say what kind of veggie do you want for dinner, and she'll pick the veggie maybe for that meal.

Speaker 2:

So let your kids have some decision making, like to an extent, and that can sometimes help, but, you know, allowing them to also understand hunger signals, like, sometimes she's like I'm just not hungry. Okay, then I'm not gonna force feed you. You can come eat this dinner later when you're hungry again and these same options will be available. So keep like, just keep trying, because I also have realized like I thought my daughter was really picky but then the last couple of weeks she's had a lot of friends over and I you know, and maybe their parents make them in different ways but like I've presented things and like, no, I don't, you know, mila's eating like steak and veggies and I'm making her friend chicken nuggets, which is fine. But I had a moment of like oh, you're not that picky, like you're eating, you know some good things, so you're doing a good job Jess.

Speaker 2:

I'm trying, you know trying.

Speaker 3:

I was gonna say too, like I think that is for sure. Something to recognize is that you're doing a great job and I think for a lot of parents I've done it as well where I tell someone that crews a picky eater and they ask what does he eat, and I'll list it off. I think this happened with one of y'all, I'll list it off, and they say, oh, that's a lot, even as I'm saying it out loud.

Speaker 3:

I kind of realize oh, he does eat a lot of things. So I think part of like age old story with moms give yourself a little bit of a break. You're probably doing better than you think. If you care that much, then you're doing a good job.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, if your kids are getting in whole foods during the day, they're getting fruits and veggies in like you're doing. Great, you know we all have our moments.

Speaker 1:

I was gonna say I saw something too about snacking, and it's hard because usually when you're snacking you're on the go I know we talked about snacks earlier but you're doing the things that are bagged or processed or things like that. I have tried to move away from those a little bit, and I mean all the way as much as I can, and it just comes down to just like you would for yourself, maybe prepping that food. So if I know that we need to be somewhere early the next morning, the night before, I'm cutting up apples, strawberries and making sure we have, you know, a cooler bag, cause it's 1000 degrees here now, especially compared to.

Speaker 1:

Alaska, where I just was, and making sure that we have, you know, a bag to keep the food cool and all this stuff. We have water bottles. Keeping water bottles full, I've found has been really, really helpful as well. And then, just, I usually keep around the same snack base that you were talking about before, and then sometimes I'll add in a new thing, such as carrot sticks or things like that, every once in a while, so that my kids can try different things when we're out on the go too, and then they're not thinking about it as much, cause we're just out and they're hungry, so they'll just eat it, cause that's what we have.

Speaker 2:

I've had to get over being kind of not mean about nutrition but like a we're just not going to have that. I've had to kind of get over feeling almost guilty about that and I don't know why I feel I think it's because it's the well, I had that over here, or I had that over here and it's like okay, why do I feel guilty for trying to set my daughter up with like a healthy nutritional foundation? Like because we do do the fun, like we go out to ice cream probably once a week, we have pizza probably once a week, like she's not missing out on those things, but it's just not a daily occurrence. And I'm really same thing. I'm trying to get away.

Speaker 2:

I do have like the package snacks in our house and it's almost like I need to get rid of them because if they aren't there, like we don't reach for them and instead we reach for the fruit. Or I know I heard something the other day that was like there's no such thing as snacks. Like we created that, you know, instead of like you could have a snack but make it like a real food, cause we do have those things in my house. And then I find myself being like you can maybe have that later, but let's pick something else a little bit more nutritious first. So before we go for the cheez-its, like maybe let's have an apple, like an apple, and see if that fills you up first.

Speaker 2:

So I don't know where I was going with this, but oh, just getting over that, like oh, I'm the mean mom cause I don't have, my daughter doesn't have like a candy jar or all the snacks in the house, and by all means, if you enjoy those things and you have them in your house I am not saying you are a bad parent Like that is totally fine. I'm just realized sometimes that like my daughter goes for those things when I know she's not even necessarily hungry. It's like what we do as adults, right, it's like I'm just sitting in front of the TV, let me munch on my popcorn or whatever it is, whereas I know I just had a meal that was super balanced. I'm not even hungry, so kind of setting them up for that mentality too, of like I've had my nutrients. I know I'm not really hungry, I'm just kind of the candy's there and I want it, type of situation.

Speaker 3:

I think that boredom is a bigger factor than we realize and I'm realizing that with the three year old that it wants to need something stimulating all the time. Like I underestimate how much he needs to be stimulated or doing something busy, yeah, not even stimulated, but like his brain needs to be working.

Speaker 3:

And I think he asks for a snack when he's bored, or he asks even for a TV show when he's bored, because he'll even use the word bored, but he uses it in way the wrong context, like if he's mad at us, I'll say I'm bored. So I think I've noticed that, or you're, I don't know he uses boring. You're boring, I mean. Maybe he's using it right, I don't know.

Speaker 3:

That would hurt my feelings. He can hurt your feelings, but no, I've noticed that there's been a few times where he'll ask for a snack and I'll say, instead of saying no, I'll say yes and let's do this. I'll say, oh, yeah, let's get one. Do you wanna go play outside first? Or not even do you wanna? Yeah, let's have one first, let's go play outside or water the plants or do something that I know he's gonna be like, ooh, you never wanna say let's do this, like let's water the plants, let's go dig in my plants, let's play with Play-Doh really quick, just an alternative.

Speaker 3:

Sometimes they think, oh, that sounds better than a snack. It's just kind of that autopilot. And the same thing, like you said, with the word snack. I don't think, especially at the younger ages, they always understand that I want a snack can also mean I'm hungry. So saying like you said we made up the word snack. So correcting that to say are you hungry or are you just to do, and maybe digging a little bit deeper, because maybe they just don't have the understanding of what it is that they're feeling.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, and then having them start understanding, like what are actual hunger signals. Because if my daughter we just ate a dinner or like a meal or whatever maybe it's lunch or dinner and then we go and we're like hanging out, can I have something to eat? Well, sure, how about an apple? Or? And she's like, no, that doesn't sound good. I'm like, okay, well then we're probably not hungry, right? Like I do the same thing myself as an adult. I'm like that doesn't sound good, but like I could smash some chips right now, like I'm not actually hungry or I would go eat a salad or a bowl of fruit or whatever it may be.

Speaker 2:

So my daughter is starting to learn, like, about the hunger signals. I'll sometimes be like I'm not necessarily hungry, I just want a snack. I'm like, yeah, and that's fine, and sometimes it's okay to give into that right, and like watch a movie and have some popcorn after dinner. It's just the balance that like sets you up for yeah, sometimes I don't need to give into that craving for a snack and sometimes I can. It's just kind of a balancing act.

Speaker 2:

And again I'm always kind of like Having that thought in my mind of how do I make sure we're having a healthy, because I know I can borderline on the edge of like a little OCD with nutrition and wanting her to be healthy and too much sugar, and so I always that's what I had growing up and so I'm like I want balance, but I want her to be healthy, and so I need to say these things in the right way and I of course make mistakes here and there and it's a work in progress, but, like Betsy said, if you're trying, you are, you're doing a good job. Hey Mitt Mamas and trainers, if you enjoyed our information, you will love our programs and resources. We have a pregnancy fitness program, postpartum program, along with guides on movement modifications and nutrition, all designed to help you safely and effectively stay active through pregnancy and return to exercise postpartum. You can even bundle our programs and save so that your whole journey is covered. You can find all of these resources at the mitt project comm absolutely.

Speaker 3:

And it goes back to the stake moment where Sounds like you're doing a great job because your kid I've seen your kid eat salad, a lot of salad, yeah and I think there's a lot of moms out there, a lot of parents out there listening to this, that cannot imagine their kid eating a Salad. And she, let's say, was maybe, I guess, eight or nine when I saw her eating that yeah, trying to think when I was in Michigan. Yeah, this out in state too, that's. Those are all wins, just like anything else.

Speaker 2:

With motherhood, it's balance, or with parenting, I should say it's balance and it's giving yourself a break absolutely so one other Question that I sometimes get from moms and I actually was just chatting with One of my friends about this her, her son, is a little overweight and so she is struggling with that concern of like what have I done and what do I do to kind of undo this? And so I wanted to just touch on that because I do think that can be a concern for parents. And there I think and again, I am a nutrition coach, I am not a registered dietitian and so I would always say that if you are concerned about your child's nutrition, that you should chat with their doctor and maybe get a referral to a Nutritionist that maybe works with kids and that can help you approach this in the right ways. But some things that like kind of come to mind for me is things that also work for adults who struggle with maybe a Bad or a poor relationship with food or an unhealthy relationship with food is like not making drastic changes super quickly.

Speaker 2:

So, just like when I work with my adults, like I'm not gonna immediately tell them that they have to eliminate every Food that they enjoy from their diet, like why don't we instead work on being healthy as a family? Like hey, we're gonna eat healthy dinners together, and why don't we start adding things in? Maybe, if you're a kid or like, as a family, is used to going out to dinner a lot, or you have a lot of processed foods in the house, let's all go shopping and pick out. We're all gonna try to get some fruits and veggies in this week and kind of framing it in Like we've talked about, like adding things in and some of those other things will slowly weed themselves out. Another thing that I know works for us too is like and I know you guys do this too Is like going for family walks and hikes and bike rides and just being active as a family.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, I think the, the being active, is One that can be looked at as you need to work out Right. Instead, if you just go outside and play with your kids, or inside, if it's too hot like it is here, find places to go or things to do. I mean, make a fort in the living room, chase, let them chase you. The modeling behavior and the making it fun kind of go hand in hand, and if fitness isn't fun for you, you're not gonna do it, and same thing for your kids. So, modeling that behavior from a fitness standpoint and you're eating, your kids likely are going to do what you're going to do. If you're eating something that is making you feel Bad or overweight, they're going to be doing that too.

Speaker 3:

One of the things that I have seen, too, is sometimes, if you're the parent saying it, it doesn't always go so well. I have started buying books for crew that are fun little books and they talk about the different fruits and veggies and making it a game to see if he knows what is that. Oh, is that a strawberry? Is that a tomato? I don't know. Letting them take control and take the reins. It has has helped us so much and can, I think, be really helpful for younger kids and older kids, whether you're trying to instill a behavior or change it.

Speaker 2:

That's so true because I've been trying to get Mila to eat kiwi for a while and then she went to they call it grand camp with David's mom, has like all the grandkids and she calls me the first night. She's like I had kiwi and I loved it. I'm like, hmm, that's interesting, because she told me you didn't like it, told you like, oh gosh. So yeah, yeah, that's such a good point, is like an outside perspective and I think that's why sports are also Such a good form of getting your kids to be active, because there is a coach telling them to, hey, go run that lap or like the coat, and and it's in a fun way with friends, unless it's an individual sport. But I know my daughter loves soccer because she's running around with her friends and there's a coach telling her what to do. And it's not me yelling at her to go for a run or go walk around the block or whatever, or when we're walking the dogs, it's like a fun thing. It's not framed around, hey, this is exercise, or like this structured thing.

Speaker 1:

So yeah yeah and I'm gonna talk a little bit more on the mental side of this to my husband's a therapist and he's worked with a lot of teenagers, mostly through a drug addiction, but this can also go with any kind of addiction or over Just overdoing it with anything you know, which overeating can be thought of like that. So the problem may not always be the food or they're eating habits, but the child may also be going through some other kind of difficult problem that they're using food to mask it or to you know, kind of control for other problems. And so really being just having conversations with your kids, knowing what's going on in their lives, knowing what other influences are affecting them, that can be really helpful too If you're worried about either excessive weight gain or excessive weight loss, because those are both things that can Really other problems can show up as being the factor behind what's going on there one thing I want to add to that too, and this comes from a pet owner.

Speaker 3:

Recent experience is when someone is gaining or losing weight, there's a reason why they say go to your doctor, because they may need to run a blood panel and and there may be something else going on in there that isn't controlled by food and exercise. If you find nothing great now, you know exactly what you've rolled out as potential problems and have a better plane of attack.

Speaker 2:

Gosh, that's such a good point, especially, I think, to finish off on, is like it, having that open line of communication with your kids, like Especially as they get older, like I Hope my daughter, as she enters her teen years, will still tell me everything like she does now, but just being that like trying not to react, you know, in ways that like get them to not want to tell you things, because then you can kind of see the signs of like are they maybe struggling with body image as they get older?

Speaker 2:

And, like Kara said it, food can be one way, or, you know, body size one way for people, kids included, to control. So having that open line of communication and not Getting upset if your kid is struggling with their food or even their weight, but like talking to them about it and getting them what they need, whether that's through you or through an outside resource. Nutrition with kids is definitely challenging, um, but yeah, so drop us any notes in the comments or on Instagram. We'll probably likely post some clips from this episode and let us know any of your parenting nutrition hacks. But thanks for listening.