When a couple is expecting their first child, they’re inundated with information. But then that baby turns into a toddler that has tantrums and doesn’t like the word “no.” And all of a sudden, the well of information dries up.

So where do parents turn to for advice? And how do we know what to believe? After all, expert advice is constantly changing and everyone seems to have an opinion.

Today’s guest, Jen Lumanlan, had these same questions when she started a family. This led her to get a master’s in psychology with a focus on child development and another master's in education. She shares what she’s learned (and keeps learning) through Your Parenting Mojo Podcast. It's a reference guide for parents of toddlers and preschoolers based on scientific research and the principles of respectful parenting.

In episode 24 of The Healthy Family Podcast, we tackle how to go about finding credible parenting information. Jen shares what she has learned on her science-based parenting journey.

I think most parents understand the importance of teaching their kids to cook. I believe what gets in the way are “invisible” barriers. And in order to get kids cooking, we need to tackle these barriers head-on.

That’s why on episode 23 of The Healthy Family Podcast we’re spelling out what really gets in the way of getting kids in the kitchen. Our guest Katie Kimball runs the online cooking class Kids Cook Real Food. She is the author of several cookbooks including Better Than a Box and Healthy Snacks to Go and is founding editor of Kitchen Stewardship. This mom of four and prior teacher provides insight on how to overcome common obstacles and quickly see a return on investment.

If there’s one theme I’ve heard repeatedly regarding moms, daughters, food, and body image, it’s this:

Mom has poor body image and food issues (to varying degrees). Despite this struggle, mom wants to keep her issues from infecting her daughter. She hides this part of herself, hoping her daughter never finds out the truth. She doesn’t share her unhappiness with her body, doesn’t restrict food at home, and never brings up the subject of weight.

Yet despite this cover-up, mom often watches her daughter walk the same painful path. What gives?

Today’s’ show we get right into why this happens. It’s not about helping only girls or only moms, it’s about healing both at the same time. The goal is to end the legacy of body dissatisfaction and food struggle that gets handed down from generation to generation.

Dietitian Karen Diaz shares insight from her experience working at an eating disorder clinic and helping moms and daughters over the last six years. Karen is certified in intuitive eating and uses her Signature Program Break Free to guide women in overcoming dysregulated eating and body image struggles. Her soon-to-be-published book Within is aimed at helping moms and daughters come to peace with their bodies and food so they can build a healthy and happy home.

After a short stint off from podcasting, I’m back. And I’ll be talking a lot about what it really takes to create a healthy family.

Time off has a way of generating ideas and I had many this summer. But one, in particular, stood out. I got to thinking about how darn hard it is to raise healthy children -- and be truly healthy ourselves -- in today’s complicated world. It’s mind-boggling how the world has changed in a short period of time.

The speed of changing technology is a key driver in all of this. The way we receive information, move (or don’t), connect with others, grocery shop and eat, and the type of jobs available is completely different. Yet, despite all this change many of us use are left with old, outdated parenting and health practices. I believe there’s a mismatch between the tools we have and the times in which we live -- and this is what makes parenting hard.

The good news is that with the right tools, robust health is more achievable than ever. Today on the Healthy Family Podcast I’m discussing the 5 habits of the healthiest families and how I’ll be addressing each of these in upcoming podcast episodes.

Over 50% of families reporting picky eating problems at home. Not knowing what to do, parents may bribe, force and pressure their child to eat. The connection between parent and child can go south, eating often gets worse, and tension at the table grows. And it’s not just children but older teens and adults who struggle with picky eating.

One thing is for sure, we all need to know how to respond to picky eating and remove the shame associated with it. Only then can we see real progress.

To dig into this topic we have two featured experts: Katja Rowell, MD, and Jenny McGlothlin, MS, SLP. Katja is a medical doctor with expertise in relational and responsive feeding, and Jenny is a Speech Language Pathologist whose responsive feeding program at the UT Dallas Callier Center combines oral-motor and sensory treatments with parent education. Together they wrote Helping Your Child with Extreme Picky Eating and their recently released book, Conquer Picky Eating for Teens and Adults.

The show starts from the very beginning (infancy) and touches on every stage including adulthood. You will discover the best way to respond and support the picky eater in your life, even if the picky eater is you!

You’ve been there, haven’t you? Your child strikes out at a baseball game, bombs a test or messes up at her dance recital and acts like it’s the end of the world. It seems in today’s world, moving away from the limelight for even a second can stroke fear in kids.

The self-esteem movement took our culture by storm in the 1990s. Now experts realize this movement had some serious holes in it. We are finding out that striving to “be our best” 24/7 is not only exhausting but ultimately robs kids and adults of living authentic and healthy lives.

The antidote to the shortcomings of self-esteem is self-compassion. Like self-esteem, self-compassion generates a positive feeling about oneself but it has nothing to do with performance. It’s about being kind to yourself no matter what -- especially when things don’t go well. Teaching self-compassion is a must in today’s world of ultra comparison-itis and competition. Plus, research shows its really good for us. It’s one of those tools like gratitude, that boosts emotional health and well being.

On episode 19 of The Healthy Family Podcast Karen Bluth, Ph.D. explains the benefits of teaching self-compassion to adolescents. She is Assistant Professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a certified instructor of Mindful Self-Compassion. Karen has been a mindfulness practitioner for almost 40 years and frequently gives talks, conducts workshops, and teaches classes in self-compassion in educational settings and in the community. She is co-creator of the curriculum Making Friends with Yourself: A Mindful Self-Compassion Program for Teens, and author of the book The Self-Compassion Workbook for Teens: Mindfulness and Compassion Skills to Overcome Self-Criticism and Embrace Who You Are.

From the moment we are born food and emotions are intertwined. We get fed milk while being held and enjoy connection at the family table. But as time marches on, food can all too easily be used as a way to distract us from difficult emotions or fill an emotional void. This results in dysregulated eating -- eating too much or too little, and spending way too much time thinking about food and weight.

The problem is our quick-fix culture searches for answers by making up food rules, tightly controlling goodies, or to simply “thinking positive.” Our expert today says it takes both a mindful eating approach and tuning in to our emotions to get back to what she calls "normal eating."

On episode 18 of The Healthy Family Podcast we have on Karen R. Koenig, LCSW, M.Ed., licensed psychotherapist specializing in the field of compulsive, emotional and restrictive eating. She is co-founder of the Greater Boston Collaborative for Body Image and Eating Disorders and a former member of the Professional Advisory Committee of the Multi-service Eating Disorder Association of Massachusetts. She is author of several books including The Rules of "Normal" Eating, Outsmarting Overeating and The Food and Feelings Workbook.

She will forever change the way you see food and emotions, and that’s a good thing.

When over 18,000 registered dietitians were asked about intuitive eating, they got a majority of the questions right (71 percent). And those who work in weight management reported using nonrestrictive/intuitive eating more often than traditional/restrictive practices. In short, this is the how of eating: Sitting and paying attention during mealtime, honoring feelings of hunger and fullness, and saying goodbye to restrictive rules and diet practices.

In Episode 17 of The Healthy Podcast, I detail what's behind my latest op-ed piece about the direction the majority of dietitians are going when it comes to eating, and why it's different from the general public. 

We all have to deal with the stresses of modern life, and so do our kids. We have more choices, distractions, and unknowns than ever before. Stress is a major health issue in the modern world linked to the increased risk of many chronic diseases. It’s normal to want to try and find an escape, but this only makes things worse.

Mindfulness has become a buzz word when talking about stress and the challenges of modern life. Today’s guest helps us understand what mindfulness actually is and how it can help families buffer daily stressors and in turn live happier and healthier lives.

Stefanie Goldstein, Ph.D. is a Licensed Clinical Psychologist who works with adolescents, adults, couples, and families. She specializes in integrating mindfulness when working with stress, anxiety, depression, addiction, and trauma. Dr. Goldstein is a trauma specialist and has worked with traumatized teens and their families. She has also been trained in Cognitive Behavioral Intervention for Trauma in Schools (CBITS), Critical Incident Stress Debriefing (CISD), Interpersonal Psychotherapy (IPT), and is a Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) Teacher. She is co-creator of CALM (Connecting Adolescents to Learning Mindfulness) and teaches classes in Los Angeles.

In episode 16 of the Healthy Family Podcast, Dr. Goldstein shares her knowledge, experience, and tips for becoming a more mindful family.

We learn a lot about what it takes to be healthy throughout a lifetime. But strangely when it comes to our brain we know very little. We have these complicated machines that are talking to us constantly. And they don’t always make life easy. They tell us we can’t do this, or that we don’t have time for that. That’s because the mind’s goal isn’t to make us happier or more peaceful. It only wants to keep us alive which is why it creates so much darn resistance.

Today’s’ guest is Dr. Shawn Smith author The User’s Guide to the Human Mind: Why Our Brains Makes Us Unhappy, Anxious, and Neurotic and What We Can Do About It. He is a licensed psychologist in Denver, Colorado working mainly in the area of anxiety treatment and relationship repair. He is a mindfulness-based psychologist specializing in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy. He has been in private practices since 2006.

In episode 15 of The Healthy Family Podcast, Dr. Shawn Smith helps us understand our mind so we don’t fall into the modern-day traps that make us unwell and unhappy.