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adolescent.nutritionist

I'll often speak with parents about working with t

I'll often speak with parents about working with their adolescents, and understandably want them to be on board with meeting with me.

SO OFTEN parents come back to tell me that their teen is going to try a diet or workout plan on their own and if that doesn't work they'll try working with me.

🚩This is super problematic and very risky!

These online plans are
🚩rarely from professionals
🚩Not individualized
🚩Not intended for growing teens & tweens
🚩Easily can become obsessive and disordered

If your adolescent is following a food or fitness regime they found online, MONITOR your child to ensure they're eating enough and they're not excessively exercising.
And if you are concerned, get help!!

For more education and resources for raising healthy adolescents with a good realtionship with food and body, follow @adolescent.nutritionist

I was recently at a birthday party whose invitatio

I was recently at a birthday party whose invitation promised a delicious dairy meal and dessert.

The meal was great. There were many options and it was delicious and filling.

I left during the entertainment, well before dessert came out.

When I came home, I wasn't hungry, but I wanted to eat something sweet and fatty.
Because I had been looking forward to dessert when I didn't have it, I felt lacking and needing to make up for that missing dessert.

My client P had a similar experience where she went to a party but decided to eat only the fruit instead of the other dessert options. When she got home, she raided the kitchen looking for "something" to satisfy her but she couldn't figure out what. Eventually she felt sick and stopped eating but experienced a lot of guilt and shame for that experience.
Working together, P realized if she had eaten some of the dessert at the party she wouldn't have had that need to eat when she got home.

💥That restriction she had experienced caused her later out-of-control eating.💥

Helping your adolescent eat enough to meet their needs and also provide enjoyment, can prevent restriction and help your adolescent feel confident and comfortable in how they eat.

If your adolescent is struggling with this, schedule a Discovery Call *linked in bio* to feel confident raising adolescents free of dieting culture, and a good relationship with ALL food free of guilt and shame💖

A mom asked me recently how to deal with D who alw

A mom asked me recently how to deal with D who always wants dessert or a snack after eating a full meal.
Mom would feel more comfortable with him eating seconds or thirds (or more) of dinner, but doesn't like that he's choosing snacks when she has "much better food" available for him.

You know that old saying of "if you wouldn't eat an apple than you're not really hungry"?
That relies on the thinking that we eat only for nutrition, and one food can easily substitute for another.

But we eat for many reasons, of which nutrition is only ONE.
Enjoyment and taste and mouth feel are also real reasons for why we choose to eat what we do.
So you may not be hungry for an apple but experiencing legitimate hunger for a PB& J sandwich or piece of chocolate.

Satisfaction may come from foods that are often limited, especially as satisfaction often comes from food with fat in it. But note that satisfaction can come from different food for different people.

Serving a variety of foods at meals and snacks can be helpful for adolescents to ensure they are both full and satisfied.

If you're struggling with this, schedule a Discovery Call *linked in bio* to feel confident raising adolescents free of dieting culture, with a good relationship with ALL food free of guilt and shame💖

Spring is such an exciting time seeing all the dif

Spring is such an exciting time seeing all the different plants come back to life in their own unique time and ways.
And I think it's a great time to remember that kids and teens ALSO develop in their own way on their own timeline.

If your adolescent is in a bigger body than "ideal" , here are some tips for how YOU can you start getting comfortable with your adolescent, and in turn, help your adolescent feel comfortable too.

1. Recognize your adolescent for more than her body. Notice her achievements and worth outside of her appearance

2. Introduce diverse bodies into your daily life. Whether on social media, in art, or in books, get used to seeing MORE BODY TYPES.

3. Remove the judgement around bodies. Know that your child's body is not a reflection of your parenting NOR of his inherent worth

4. Explore more body neutral and non-diet resources to help you reframe bodies in general and eventually support your child and teen

If you are concerned about your adolescent's body image or eating habits and beliefs, schedule a Discovery Call *linked in bio*. I work with parents and adolescents to empower you to raise nourished adolescents with a good relationship with food and body, who eat free of guilt and shame 💖

Having sweets and low nutrition foods at home MORE

Having sweets and low nutrition foods at home MORE often can help your adolescent have a better relationship with those foods and develop better eating habits.

When these foods are provided in greater access they lose their excitement factor. Adolescents know they're available and can chose when they want to eat them.

That means they no longer need to sneak, hoard, or go overboard with these foods, because they KNOW it will be available in the near future and they can take the amount that feels right in the moment.

If you're struggling with raising adolescents with a good relationship with food, follow @adolescent.nutritionist for more tips and resources for helping kids and teens eat well free of guilt and shame 💖

Holidays are about so much more than food, but the

Holidays are about so much more than food, but they're so often where we get caught up in.

Preparing yourself and your kids for the inevitable diet talk is important!

Which tip is most helpful for you? Comment below and follow @adolescent.nutritionist for more tips on raising adolescents with a good relationship with food free of guilt and shame 💖

Teens and tweens are (generally speaking) being ta

Teens and tweens are (generally speaking) being taught nutrition and health from a diet perspective, where portion control, low carbohydrate, high protein, etc. rules flourish.

Being educated on the role of each nutrient...
Learning how restriction impacts the body...
Understanding how diet rules distance us from our inherent body knowledge...

Is an empowering experience for adolescents and simultaneously a disappointing experience as they learn how wrongly they've been taught and how misinformed so many people are.

If you're ready to raise adolescents free of diet rules, follow @adolescent.nutritionist for tips and education on raising adolescents with a good realtionship with food and body free of shame and guilt 💖

Convenience foods like prepackaged, ready to eat f

Convenience foods like prepackaged, ready to eat food, is super important for helping your adolescent build a good relationship with food.

Convenience foods have nutrients and health benefits, and are nourishing and satisfying. They don't need to be avoided, and on the contrary, make healthy eating so much easier!

Including convenience foods in your food preparation:

✔️ demonstrates that all food can be incorporated into healthy eating
✔️ neutralizes processed/packaged food
✔️ makes home-made meals more realistic and doable
✔️ minimizes the stress of food preparation and so increases mealtime enjoyment
✔️ helps foster adolescent independence around choosing food that is filling and satisfying

When we can neutrally incorporate convenience, packaged, processed foods into our homes, adolescents learn that all food is morally neutral. This helps them build a good relationship with food free of guilt and shame 💖

Having a newborn right now, it's clear to me how c

Having a newborn right now, it's clear to me how celebrated baby weight gain is.

People want to know his birth weight and are impressed when it's a high number.
I've gotten compliments on his big cheeks and not-skrawny legs.

And because Baby J had significant weight loss after birth, every gram he regained was a sigh of relief and celebration.

Could you imagine that response with adolescent weight gain?!

When every growth spurt is met with excitement
Growing out of clothing represents a step closer to adulthood
Visible weight gain is a sign and celebration of development and growth

That would significantly positively impact how adolescents feel about their body!

Too often, however, weight gain is seen as a negative thing and as something to fear and to avoid.
This has very harmful repurcussions that can very often last long term.
(See @overtimecook recent highlight on childhood body shaming)

And if you're not yet ready to *celebrate* your adolescent's weight gain, can you try seeing it as a neutral (or positive) change?
Can you try not making negative comments to or about her changing body?
Can you allow him to eat the food that feels right in the amounts that feel right to him?

How can you support your adolescent's changing body while creating and supporting a GOOD relationship with body?

If you're struggling with this, follow @adolescent.nutritionist for tips and resources for raising adolescents with a good relationship with food and body, free of guilt and shame 💖

One of the fun things for me to see on social medi

One of the fun things for me to see on social media is the slew of creative cookies people make for the holidays.

One of the challenging things for my adolescent clients is going to holiday parties and having a slew of cookie options available, and feeling out of control around the options, plus experiencing all sorts of negative emotions for eating them.

You can help your adolescent feel more confident and comfortable around cookies by the way you talk about them.
Rather than framing them as a guilty pleasure, a task you need to check off your holiday list that you'd rather avoid, or trying to "healthify" the recipe, frame them as a form of connection and tradition.

Help your adolescent recognize that food is enjoyable, and that's a good thing! We should be satisfied from the food we eat, and that comes from food that tastes good!

Remember, all food serves a purpose for us, and celebration is definitely one of those!

But also, for helping your adolescent feel comfortable around holiday special foods, they need to be exposed to these foods year-round.
Not sure how to do that?
Follow @adolescent.nutritionist for tips and resources for raising adolescents with a good relationship with food, free of guilt and shame 💖

The Chanukah donuts (sufganiyot) have made their a

The Chanukah donuts (sufganiyot) have made their appearance in stores!

Which side will you be presenting this year?

The left will promote feelings of shame and guilt for eating (and enjoying) a holiday treat.

These negative feelings can lead to sneak eating, eating past fullness, and/or harmful behaviors to "make up" for eating.

Whereas the right side demonstrates that food plays a greater role than it's nutritional content.

Food is celebrations and social interaction and cultural connection.

It's allowed to be "JUST" tasty with no added benefits.

Modelling this type of eating demonstrates to adolescents that ALL food is good. Resulting in a good relationship with food, free of guilt and shame 💖

Now tell me below 👇 what's your favorite donut flavor??

It's hard for adolescents to make changes when the

It's hard for adolescents to make changes when they see their parents modeling something different.

Parents generally provide the food that's available at home, prepare and serve it. And the way you present it can affect how your adolescent FEELS about that food.

Are you creating an environment or restriction or abundance?
Is there guilt or shame associated with eating?

Think of the WORDS you use around food and bodies. Those are really important influencers is how kids feel about food.
Are they neutral or judgemental?

Take an honest reconning if your own relationship with food and how you wish your kids and teens to experience their food relationship. Are there any changes or tweaks you can make?

Follow @adolescent.nutritionist for education and tips for raising adolescents with a good realtionship with food and body free of guilt and shame 💖

Intuitive Eating isn't the hunger/fullness diet an

Intuitive Eating isn't the hunger/fullness diet and shouldn't be used to put down an adolescent eating when they're not physically hungry.

There are many times adolescents need to eat even when they're not physically hungry.
This can be due to schedules, refeeding a restricted body, or not experiencing physical hunger.

Eating in the absence of hunger can be difficult- physically and emotionally.

Read my new blog post *linked in bio* to learn how you can support your adolescent eating intuitively WITH scheduled/practical eating.

And follow @adolescent.nutritionist for more tips and education on raising adolescents with a good relationship with food and body free of guilt and shame 💖

Talking to a client recently, we were discussing t

Talking to a client recently, we were discussing the various challenges she has had over the last few years:
puberty, covid, social ups and downs, family concerns, social media influences...

And we realized that it's been a turbulent bunch of years!

Puberty alone can be a traumatic event for kids, as they move into the unknown and try to navigate a new normal.

Compound that with having more access to friends and other teens, more accessable knowledge (whether valid or not) AND the world navigating a "new normal"

Your puberty and your adolescent's puberty are totally different!

At the same time though, you have what to empathize with.
You experienced a changing body and emotions.
The social setting may have differed, but the crux of it is really the same.

Let your adolescent know you can handle their changes and experiences!

Offer your empathy and understanding, while being open to the possibility that you don't know all that they're going through.

Parents play an important role in their teen and tween's lives. You CAN be the support your adolescent needs with curiosity and compassion.

And if you or your adolescent is struggling, there's plenty of help available!

Follow @adolescent.nutritionist for more tips and information for raising adolescents with a good realtionship with food and body free of guilt and shame 💖

I very often talk about yogurt with my clients bec

I very often talk about yogurt with my clients because it's a protein-rich, filling, convenient, tasty option to easily add to meals or snacks.

A very frequent complaint I hear, however, is that parents are buying only plain Greek yogurt, and my clients don't like that.

My suggestion to you: Buy flavored yogurt!

There's no benefit to buying food your family won't eat.

Flavored yogurt, even sweetened, even non-Greek, HAS benefits to it.

✔️Protein
✔️Calcium
✔️Fat
✔️Enjoyment
✔️Satisfaction & nourishment.

Finding food your adolescents will eat and enjoy can be challenging.
Finding protein-rich foods that are school safe, transportable, and nourishing, can be challenging.

If your adolescent is willing to eat yogurt, don't prevent this by buying the "healthiest" yogurt, because it's NOT HEALTHY if it's not being eaten 💥

Want more tips on raising healthy adolescents with a good relationship with food and body? Follow @adolescent.nutritionist and gain the confidence of feeding your family free of shame and guilt 💖

Where and from whom are you getting your health ad

Where and from whom are you getting your health advice??

If it's mostly from social media, you need to make sure the content is coming from someone who knows what they're talking about!

Too many influencers give health and nutrition advice based on things that are trendy, products they're selling, or actions that "worked for them".
What they're not providing is non biased, science/researched data that can be widely applied.

Do you NEED to only follow evidence based health providers?
Obviously not, if you enjoy the content.
But if you're implementing changes based on what you're seeing online, you do want to ensure they're coming from reputable sources.

Unfollowing these content creators can often make you feel better about yourself as you lose the guilt or shame that so often comes with viewing this content, and in turn improve YOUR health and wellbeing.
And in turn, you can support your adolescent in doing the same with the media they consume.

For more tips for raising healthy adolescents, follow @adolescent.nutritionist and feel confident in supporting your adolescents' growth and development free from guilt and shame 💖

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