We live in a crazy world where food and weight are concerned. On the one hand, we hear about an obesity epidemic that researchers predict will only get worse. On the other hand, making weight the focus only exacerbates the issue. This leaves many parents confused and unsure about what to do.
Today’s guest Dianne Neumark-Sztainer, Ph.D., MPH, RD, has been studying the formation of eating habits in adolescents and young adults for many years. As principal investigator of Project EAT (Eating and Activity in Teens and Young Adults), her insights help us understand what we can do to help our child navigate their environment with success. Dianne Neumark-Sztainer is a professor in the School of Public Health's Division of Epidemiology and Community Health at the University of Minnesota. Her research focuses on adolescent health, nutrition, obesity and eating disorder prevention, and she is the author of “I’m, Like, SO Fat!”: Helping Your Teen Make Healthy Choices about Eating and Exercise in a Weight-Obsessed World.
Nutrition has been a hot topic for decades now. But over the past several years extreme quests for health have become more commonplace. There are books about people who haven’t had sugar for an entire year. Eating regimens that eschew entire food groups are the norm. And more and more people are involved in extreme fitness whether it’s boot camps, spending hours at the gym, or running ultra-long distances.
As a chiropractor, Dr. Steve Pretence was not only in active pursuit of the perfect diet, weight loss, and exercise regimes, he was recommending them to his clients. Then he noticed a recurrent theme for himself and those he was trying to help: “The more people did to get themselves to the next level, the upper echelon of health and wellness, the worse they ended up.” Not only did he stop his quest for health perfection, he wrote a book about it entitled Wrecked: Why Your Quest for Health and Weight Loss Has Failed and What You Can Do About It. In episode 13 of The Healthy Family Podcast, he’s sharing his story and what he thinks is behind it all.
Most people understand that eating plants are good for health. But knowing this may not be enough to make plant foods a regular and rewarding part of you and your family’s life.
Today we are talking about the key to eating more plant foods: falling in love with them. During October (vegetarian month), I spoke with Sharon Palmer, The Plant-Powered Dietitian. She shows us what “plant power” is all about and how these amazing foods make life better, more delicious, and healthier.
Sharon is a registered dietitian and accomplished writer on food and environmental issues. Her expertise is plant-based nutrition and she is author of The Plant-Powered Diet and Plant-Powered for Life. She is also the editor of the acclaimed health newsletter Environmental Nutrition, and nutrition editor for Today’s Dietitian. Sharon regularly appears in the media as a nutrition expert and presents on food and nutrition at national venues.
Many parents plan to have “the talk” with their children about sex and sexual development at some point. In the movies, this is shown as a grand gesture that happens on one magical day (one parent ask the other “did you have the talk with him?”).
Today’s guest shows us why society has this one all wrong. There isn’t one perfect day we realize it’s time to set our child aside and enlighten her with information. It’s something that should be a natural part of conversations that starts early. After all, the body’s gradual transition from child to adult is completely normal, and younger kids need to learn to expect it while older ones need to understand what’s going on. It sounds easy, but without role models and some type of guide, it’s not.
In Episode 11 of The Healthy Family Podcast I speak with Elizabeth Trejos- Castillo, P.hD., associate professor of human development and family studies at Texas Tech University. She created Normalized Sexual Development, a curriculum for sixth-graders that explains all the changes that go along with puberty, including emotional, cognitive and relationship development. She is an adolescent and human development researcher, and author of two textbooks. She also is a leader in the Teen Straight Talk program in Lubbock and was associate editor of The Journal of Early Adolescence for seven years.
There are many ways parents discipline their children including timeouts, withholding devices or toys, and using rewards. Rewards and punishments do help shape behavior in the short-term but miss the mark when it comes to teaching kids how to deal with difficult emotions and learn problem-solving skills.
Episode 10 of The Healthy Family Podcast is all about a different way to discipline that connects us to our children, improves their emotional health, and actually encourages them to cooperate instead of just comply.
Today’s expert is Kelly Meier, Parent Effectiveness Training (P.E.T.) Instructor and blogger at Respectful Parent. Craving a connected relationship with her children, Kelly discovered R.I.E. (Resources for Infant Educarers) in their early years. With a group of other passionate moms, she started the Respectful Parent blog, which is now her baby. As her children grew, Kelly found Thomas Gordon’s Parent Effectiveness Training and liked it so much she became certified and now teaches classes in San Diego. She shares what she has learned about this journey including key communication tools from P.E.T.
You will leave this show with several simple strategies you can implement today, to build a better relationship with your child. If you want to learn more about P.E.T. classes, see the links in the show notes at MaryannJacobsen.com/podcast.
Why do some people exercise through stressful times and others stop? Why does one mom put her self-care at the top of the priority list while another puts everyone’s else needs first?
For a quarter of a century, Michelle Segar has tried to crack the code on why some people lose motivation for healthy habits, and others don't. She’s not interested in helping people change their behavior. No, she wants to help people sustain health-oriented behaviors. In part 3 of our behavior series, we get into the psychology and science of motivation.
Michelle Segar, Ph.D., MPH is a behavioral sustainability scientist and author of No Sweat! How the Simple Science of Motivation Can Bring You a Lifetime of Fitness. She is Director of the Sport, Health, and Activity Research and Policy Center (SHARP) at the University of Michigan. Michelle has devoted her career to creating sustainable behavior change and she is a recognized pioneer in the field. For the last 25 years, she has been conducting research and coaching individuals in her three-part system.
Based on her extensive research, coaching, and personal experience, Michelle shares the secret ingredients for making healthy behaviors lasting.
Does this sound familiar? You try to add a new habit and for a while, it goes well....until life gets in the way. The new exercise routine gets pushed aside when work gets busy. Your vow to keep the house clean slowly goes down the (messy) toilet. Having your child read/do chores/cook/ over the summer goes nowhere because he is so darn resistant.
On today's show, we have a leading expert who shows us that building new habits doesn’t need to be hard. No, it can actually be easy, rewarding, and even fun (his words). We’re just going about it the wrong way.
BJ Fogg is director of the Persuasive Technology Lab at Stanford University, focusing on methods for creating habits and behavior change. He spends half his time in industry and the other half teaching at Stanford. He got his start focusing on how to change behavior utilizing mobile phones and over the years, improving health has become a theme. In December of 2011, Fogg created the Tiny Habits method. His Tiny Habits program has helped over 40,000 people create sustainable and lasting habits. He shares his wisdom and after listening to this episode you'll never look at behavior change the same way again.
Highlights from the Show:
Why are we our own worst enemy when it comes to doing what is important? Whether it’s planning meals, starting that project, or calling an old friend, the list can seem never ending. Our mind tells things don’t get done because we have no time but that’s not true. When we get down to the real reason why -- something we always do on this podcast -- it boils down to procrastination.
On today’s show we have on Timothy A. Pychyl, Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology and Director of the Centre for Initiatives in Education at Carleton University in Canada. He studies why and how people sabotage their best intentions with needless delay. He writes the Don’t Delay column at Psychology Today, is author of Solving the Procrastination Puzzle and runs the Iprocrastinate Podcast. He is a leading thought leader and researcher in the area of procrastination, what he calls an “emotional management problem.” If you are human and live in modern times, you will relate and learn the steps for ending this bad habit for good.
Five years ago Jill Castle and I turned in the manuscript for Fearless Feeding: How to Raise Healthy Eaters from High Chair to High School. It was the first book for both of us and it took about three years from inception to completion.
We came together to write Fearless Feeding to provide up-to-date feeding information to parents for kids of all ages. What we didn’t expect was how much health professionals would utilize the book. It is used as a textbook in colleges and internships around the country. The Fearless Feeding Philosophy includes the What (nutrition), How (feeding approach) and Why (how development relates to eating) at each stage of development.
On today’s show, my guest is my writing partner, Jill Castle, childhood nutrition expert and creator of The Nourished Child Blog and Podcast. In addition to Fearless Feeding, she is author of Eat Like a Champion and various e-books including The Smart Mom’s Guide to Starting Solids and Try New Food! She is a sought-after childhood nutrition speaker, develops online courses for parents and health professionals, and runs a part-time private practice.
Jill and I talk about what’s new in feeding since we turned in that manuscript for Fearless Feeding, and I get the chance to pick her brain about feeding older kids.
Addiction has become a big buzz word. You hear about it from media reports, books, and friends. And it’s no longer just about drugs and alcohol, but food, the internet, gambling, and even healthy activities like exercise.
Is addiction simply a brain disease that leaves people powerless or is there something else going on?
Today we have on science writer Maia Szalavitz, author of The New York Time Bestseller Unbroken Brain: A Revolutionary New Way of Understanding Addiction. She not only has a personal history of addiction, she has spent years researching its underpinnings. Maia argues that addiction isn’t a disease but rather a learning disorder more similar to autism, ADHD and dyslexia. Using her story as a backdrop -- and citing the latest research -- she helps readers see how addiction risk begins in childhood and either withers or grows throughout life. She also recommends better, research-based treatments for people who have already become addicted.
Anyone who has experienced the heart-wrenching reality of addiction knows that we need to do more and learn more about how to make it stop.
Sleep is vital to health and well being. But like any healthy habit, knowing and doing are often at odds with each other. Not only do we need to teach our kids to sleep, we need to stay rested ourselves. It’s a tall order but very doable according to our featured expert.
On today’s show we have Kim West, also known as The Sleep Lady. Kim’s a Licensed Clinical Social Worker who has been a practicing child and family therapist for more than 21 years. She is author of The Sleep Lady’s Good Night, Sleep Tight: Gentle Proven Solutions to Help Your Child Sleep Well and Wake Up Happy and The Good Night Sleep Tight Workbook. Her sleep method, The Sleep Lady Shuffle, is a gentle, and customizable program for families. Kim believes good sleep habits and gentle sleep coaching build a positive parent-child attachment and encourage a strong bond.
Kim walks us through important sleep principles and what parents can do at each stage of development to teach their child (and themselves) key sleep skills. We touch on key challenges-- night waking, nightmares, busy schedules -- and refreshing ways of approaching them. As Kim says, “no problem is unfixable.” She reminds us to stay open minded, and to be kinder and gentler with ourselves, as we work towards our goal of a well-rested family.
Subscribe: ITunes/Sticher/RSS I believe everyone needs to find the right fit when it comes to cooking and preparing food for themselves and their family. And choosing the right mindset is a good place to start. In today’s show, we have Katie Morford, a registered dietitian, writer, recipe developer and mom to three girls. She writes the blog Mom’s Kitchen Handbook and is the author of Best Lunch Box Ever: Ideas and Recipes for School Lunches Kids Will Love. Her second book, Rise and Shine: Better Breakfasts for Busy Mornings, was published in August of last year. Katie and I discuss The Cooking Mindset -- how the outlook we have about cooking effects everything we do (or don’t do) in the kitchen. Katie shares her beliefs about cooking from the perspective of someone who grew up in a family of cooks. She says cooking and a love of food is in her family’s gene pool. I’m hoping some of that rubs off on me!
I want to do something creative and delicious as opposed to I have do this thing I don’t want to do and now I have to go do it.
Mom’s Kitchen Handbook Katie's books: Best Lunch Box Ever and Rise and Shine: Better Breakfasts for Busy Mornings Katie's recommended "starter" cookbook: Katie's favorite kitchen tool: Instant Pot Recipes mentioned in the podcast: Lemon Tahini Dressing Genius Butternut Squash Soup Thai Salmon Curry Fresh Summer Vegetable Pasta
Top 12 Weeknight Dinners 6 Kitchen Shortcuts that Really Work (and Why) If I had to Start from Scratch Feeding My Kids, Here's What I'd Do
Welcome to the first episode of The Healthy Family Podcast! In this short-10-minute episode, I explain my vision for the podcast and what listeners can expect.
The Healthy Family Podcast isn’t focused just kids or adults, but families. It asks the tough questions like how to do influence those we love to take action? How do we create desire to be healthy in children? How do we grow old being as healthy, happy and strong as we can be? It demands health and happiness at all ages and stages.
Each episode will include a leading expert in a different area that affects health and well being (nutrition, exercise, self-care, stress management etc.). We will spend most of the show discussing the science, tips, and key information that support optimal ways of approaching health. My hope is that you leave each show saying “I never thought of X that way before.”
But the key for every episode no matter what its topic is taking an “inside approach” -- getting to the root cause of health-related behaviors. This is different from treating symptoms or giving advice about what to do. You will leave with a good understanding of the why, which is what is needed to move you from struggle to solution. This is true whether we are talking about picky eating, sleep, emotional problems or exercise.
With over 60 studies to support it, intuitive eating is emerging as a positive approach to eating, getting the right amount of food for your body type, and enhancing health and well being. It’s also an excellent way to raise kids in terms of food, body appreciation and decreasing eating-disorder risk.
In today’s show we have Intuitive Eating expert Elyse Resch. Elyse has been in private practice in Beverly Hills as a Nutrition Therapist for 34 years, specializing in eating disorders, Intuitive Eating, and preventative nutrition. She is the co-author of Intuitive Eating and the soon-to-be published Intuitive Eating Workbook. She has published journal articles and is nationally known for her work in helping patients break free from the diet mentality through the "Intuitive Eating" process.
In this episode, Elyse Resch shares her wisdom and the history of Intuitive Eating. She explains why it is so important to question your long-held assumptions about food, eating and weight. She details how we are all born intuitive eaters, and how easy it is to get off track. A firm believer of the Health at Every Size (HAES) movement, she shares how society’s weight and diet focus compromises health rather than heals it, and how Intuitive Eating can be the antidote.
Highlights from the Show:
Intuitive Eating Mindset Quote
"When you challenge those assumptions and really look at the truth, look at the science, look at people’s history, you are able to sit back and go Whoa, wait a minute, I’ve been working off this assumption and it’s not working for me!”