Everyone Has an Opinion About Food—Now What? | Ep. 208

Everyone has an opinion about food—but what do you actually do with all of it? This conversation starts to bring it back to something simpler, steadier, and real.

Transcript

Christie 0:00

there are as many ideas on nutrition as there are. People who think they're experts.

Speaker 0:08

You know, I think a lot of us really do care about what we're feeding our families, and at the same time, it just doesn't feel simple anymore. You hear one thing about what's healthy, then something completely different, and somewhere between the grocery store and your own kitchen, you're just standing there thinking what actually matters here? Not in a big dramatic way, just in the middle of a normal day. Trying to take care of your people. That's the space we're stepping into today. Not to add more opinions about food, but to start making sense of it in a way that actually works in real life.

Cheryl 1:11

Christie, I know that our listeners say yes, Cheryl, you say it all the time. I'm so excited about what we're talking about today.

Christie 1:19

Yes.

Cheryl 1:20

Because it is a passion of mine.

Christie 1:22

I know it is.

Cheryl 1:23

Mm-hmm. And also, I happen to really love the person that's in here. So TPP audience, you don't know, but this person has a lot to do with the fact that you can even hear our. Episodes. So this is Chloe Singleton. Welcome, Chloe.

Chloe 1:41

Hello. I'm happy to be here.

Cheryl 1:43

So it's your first time to actually be behind the microphone, but Chloe has worked with TPP before we existed from the very beginning. Mm-hmm. And she works alongside me. She helped me actually. Create and design our website, and then each week when we're getting ready to post our episodes, I just pass it off to her when it's edited and ready and she does the final touches. So. Welcome to the recording room. Chloe.

Chloe 2:13

Thank you. Excited to be here and you're giving me way more credit than I deserve. That's not a big job. Please do not get,

Cheryl 2:19

uh, she's so patient with me and I got Chloe. I'm sorry I'm not finished yet. Wait a little, so we're good friends. Alright, chloe has a master's in something I care about. Tell us about what you are pretty much an expert in.

Chloe 2:35

Well, it's a big passion of mine. Um, food and nutrition. Yes. I have a, um, master's in nutrition, and just, always a desire to learn more about nutrition and health and, eating,

Cheryl 2:47

how did you get into it? Who led you into getting that Master's?

Chloe 2:50

It really was my family. It started out, um, my dad has a family history, both my mom side and dad's side,, family history of cardiovascular disease.

Cheryl 2:59

Mm-hmm.

Chloe 3:00

Um, so really got into it around like. Middle school, high school, changing up our diet for our family. Um, just doing some different things and it really sparked my interest in nutrition and here we are.

Cheryl 3:13

Wow. So what do you do now?'cause I know this is your profession as well, so tell everybody the name of your company and then what you actually do.

Chloe 3:21

The name of my company that I work for is called Everwell Nutrition. It's a virtual private practice, um, nutrition counseling company. And I work with moms and families on food and nutrition.

Cheryl 3:35

Excellent. So for example. There are benefits to some insurance companies, right? Like you can go to a PT so many times. Mm-hmm. Or you can go to a counselor, you can actually have nutritional counseling

Chloe 3:46

yes. Yes. So really good things are happening right now with insurance companies. Yes, they're providing preventative nutrition services for kids and for adults. Um, we're often finding patients don't have to pay anything out of pocket for nutrition counseling benefits.

Cheryl 4:04

You know, that's like. The biggest no-brainer ever.

Chloe 4:07

Mm-hmm.

Cheryl 4:07

Like, why wouldn't you prevent disease rather than spend billions trying to fix it.

Chloe 4:13

Mm-hmm. Right. And it's a language like nutrition is a language that so many of us are not taught, and the benefits of, of providing the service to people so they can learn this, this lingo it's always available to them to learn. It's never too late to start.

Christie 4:29

Chloe? I am thinking back as a young mom. Um, I, I came from a family who did not necessarily prioritize nutrition. Everything was. Fried and not many vegetables that didn't come out of cans. And from

Chloe 4:43

Oklahoma, right

Christie 4:44

to Oklahoma. Right. Born and raised in Oklahoma. Yes. And so I knew I wanted to learn different ways of feeding my family

Chloe 4:52

Yes.

Christie 4:53

It was so hard when I was just a young mom sorting through everyone's opinions on what is the proper nutrition. Mm-hmm. How, how can a young mom or even established mom figure out where the path to health is?

Cheryl 5:09

Yeah.

Chloe 5:09

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Well, first of all, I wanna say great job that you had this awareness mm-hmm. Of you wanted to feed your family well and you wanted to impact them in a way, um, that benefited their health and their bodies through nutrition. Mm-hmm. I really believe that nutrition's foundational, um, we can do lots of things for our health, but I really think. Nutrition is the foundation for almost everything. Yeah. When it comes to our health. Um, and I wanna say you're not alone mm-hmm. In the, the thoughts, the feelings, the experiences that you had. Um. I hear that a lot from moms of, of this information overload. I've I've heard it. Yeah. I've heard it estimated that we are bombarded with 32 truckloads of information every day. Oh my goodness. Wow. In this age. So it's the age of information. Yes. And there's so much information out there, and I really want to build empowerment in moms that. You know, some things, you know, your family, you know your children really well. Um, and not to. Provide more noise out there, um, through this conversation today. But maybe pick up something that maybe you can implement an experience. Um, I love, I've heard it said, we don't need new information. We need new experiences. Wow. And, um, creating those new experiences for your family, whether good. Whether they're not so good. Mm-hmm. The curiosity that comes through that experience and that, um, investigation, I think is the most beneficial thing.

Christie 6:40

Mm-hmm. That is so good. It's a process of learning and like, I love how you called it a language.

Chloe 6:47

Mm-hmm.

Christie 6:47

Yeah. The nuances of it take time to learn.

Chloe 6:50

Absolutely. Absolutely. And with any language you'd give it time.

Christie 6:54

Sure.

Chloe 6:54

You wouldn't say. I am gonna learn French tomorrow.

Christie 6:57

Right.

Chloe 6:57

But you know that it takes time and it takes investigating and that's what it takes with nutrition too.

Christie 7:02

That's good.

Cheryl 7:03

And that's really wise'cause everybody would say, no, I can't speak French tomorrow, but we just think we can completely flip and suddenly have this great, healthy lifestyle without any effort. so besides the fact we need to be learning? When you deal with all these families, what would you say you see as the biggest struggles that a lot of families are encountering?

Chloe 7:25

I, I feel like a big struggle is, uh, choosy eating. Picky eating. Mm-hmm. A lot of beliefs that my child won't eat that, so I'm not gonna make that or my child will only eat this certain food. A lot of restriction, a lot of, um, moms feeling like they have to make five different meals for each of their children and a. A lot of work and then also a lot of under fueling for moms, um, that are these caretakers for their children as well.

Cheryl 7:54

I want hear about the picky eating, but tell us, you just said under fueling Yeah. About that. Expand that, what do you about whole conversation?

Chloe 8:01

Yes. I'm sure it all comes from a place of love, of wanting to take care of your kids really well and, and feed them, fuel them, give them what they need. But I truly believe mom's health is, is of vital importance. Mm-hmm. Um, and the way mom fuels her body feeds herself, is very influential and impactful about the rest of the family. They're always watching, right? Yeah. Our kids are always watching, picking up. And I think a really big influence we play in our household is how we fuel ourselves as adults.

Christie 8:33

Wow. That you just hit on something that I feel like, I don't know that I've heard anybody address that, but I can remember for years, lunch for me might have been the leftover pretzels and cheese cubes off my kids' plate as I'm cleaning up from lunch. So it's a real issue.

Cheryl 8:49

And I love the term fuel, rather than take care of yourself.

Christie 8:53

Mm-hmm.

Cheryl 8:54

My car would not leave the parking lot over here if it didn't have fuel. I agree with you, it's probably out of a misguided love and care for our family that we overdo that we're not taking care of ourself. And I am guilty too. And then I love the encouragement of what you said because. I do care about nutrition. I have my whole adult life I mean, you can imagine we've had a lot of conversations together about it. Yes. Many. So what do you think about this and what about this and what about this supplement because I want to keep growing in it, but it is interesting because, hmm. I will say sometimes it feels as we live day in and day out with our children and they push back, and then here they are in college and they eat cocoa puffs and their cars littered with fast food containers and 48 ounce icy drinks. Mm-hmm. Or whatever. All of that, it kind of felt to me like. Oh wow. It just didn't matter, you know? And yet and I'm just gonna encourage you parents out there listening to this. Here we are fast forward to where my kids are all in their full adulthood, and most of them actually really prioritize nutrition with their families and with themselves. And. It's so encouraging. Mm-hmm. Because it was caught.

Christie 10:18

Mm-hmm.

Cheryl 10:18

Although I actually taught it.'cause we taught, you know, this is why we eat like this and this is why I do this, and this is why I'm making this choice over this choice. So I fed them the information.

Christie 10:28

Mm-hmm.

Cheryl 10:29

But the way I fed them and what they saw. They came to the conclusion, oh, by the way, maybe mom wasn't crazy after all,

Christie 10:37

which really mirrors all of the other areas of parenting that we're creating a culture in our home. They may veer from it for a season, but given the foundation that they have to come back to, then the proof is in the pudding.

Cheryl 10:50

Yeah,

Christie 10:51

a lot of times. Not always, but a lot of times that's how it works. Mm-hmm.

Cheryl 10:54

I continue to, they watch me in my older age

Christie 10:57

mm-hmm.

Cheryl 10:58

Watching what I'm doing and it's very encouraging. It was worth it.

Christie 11:03

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. It's a long game for sure. Yes. Of pushing, pushing the needle, and, um, trying to make, like I just told you how I grew up eating and my kids are light years away. Yeah. And so just in one generation, we've made a big change in habits and I, I call that a win.

Chloe 11:21

Absolutely. And it's never too late to focus on nutrition, to make changes, small, big, whatever they may look like.

Christie 11:30

And big changes made up of lots of small changes. Right. Of small

Chloe 11:33

changes, absolutely.

Cheryl 11:34

Atomic habits in eating

Christie 11:35

uhhuh.

Cheryl 11:36

Okay, well let's go back to picky eaters because I, I've been asked that by a number of moms over the years. Talk about it.'cause the problem is, is this a preference or is this a need? Um, for example, and the kids go, mom, you just don't care. That's true. I'll just pile things on top of each other. It doesn't bother me. But I had certain children, I have certain grandchildren, I've had people visit my home and they go, no, the green beans are touching, you know, the potatoes and I don't want them to touch. Or, ah, you put. The whatever on top of the other. And I don't want it like that. I want it separate. Help us to know how to love well, but also how to discern need and wants and how to navigate that kind of sticky route.

Chloe 12:25

Yes. So big, big issue. Um. Picky eating, choose eating, feeding your family, um, with a lot of different preferences like you're describing. Yes. Because if we think about it, we have preferences as adults. Mm-hmm. I like spicy food. I, I don't like as sweet foods or I like this. Type of spice.

Cheryl 12:44

Yeah.

Chloe 12:45

And I do believe that children have those preferences too, and that they can be honored, um, to an extent, like maybe allowing that autonomy where they can express their needs, what they're needing. But sometimes that takes asking good questions and giving them the opportunity to make those choices. We all like choices, right? Um, in whatever we're doing. Yeah. And so asking about like you, you described, do you want this here on your plate? Do you want your bell peppers in your quesadilla, or do you want them raw on the side? Giving opportunities for that autonomy I think can be really beneficial. So they can tell you their food preferences and we can have less. Distress at meal times. But definitely we are in an age of some more severe issues, with, maybe feeding difficulties. Maybe children have, difficulty getting, uh, protein, protein foods. I think about meats that are more tough. We really need to get those to our back teeth to be able to masticate chew those and swallow them effectively. So potentially if kiddos are not eating a lot of protein rich foods, there could be like some oral skill issues or maybe even some zinc deficiencies.'cause we need adequate minerals to be able to taste and crave these specific foods that we need., So I would think about the patterns maybe that you're seeing.

Cheryl 14:11

Wow.

Chloe 14:12

See if you can ask questions about why you don't like. This food, do you feel like you can't chew it very well? Do you feel like it just kind of sits in your stomach? Do you have some constipation, difficulty, stooling issues? Um, and then kinda bringing that piece. And then if we are really struggling with eating foods in general, like our diet keeps limiting maybe to about five foods. Or less then I would say that that's, a real issue that we need to get some referrals and team.

Cheryl 14:44

Growing up No one asked questions about food. No. Nutrition was not discussed. I mean, we ate a lot of farm to home because that's, it was a more. Uh, whatever our society used to be back in the fifties and sixties, and then things changed.

Christie 15:01

Mm-hmm.

Cheryl 15:01

But no one talked about why you don't want this or would you want a preference? Yeah. Or, you know.

Christie 15:08

Yeah. That's light years from you're not getting it from the table until your plate is clean.

Cheryl 15:12

Yes.

Christie 15:13

Right. Yeah.

Cheryl 15:13

You have to clear your plate.

Christie 15:14

Right

Cheryl 15:15

Mm-hmm.

Christie 15:15

So once you've discerned some of the challenges your child's having or some of their preferences are revealed, how do you go forward navigating that? How do you, um, you know, say you have a kid that you just can't get past these certain, um, nutrients that they need to get? What are some suggestions you have?

Chloe 15:36

I would say also. I would love to encourage moms and that kids are pretty resilient. Um,, they have a pretty in tune awareness of what they need, um, maybe more so than we do.

Cheryl 15:49

Wow.

Chloe 15:50

As we have grown and we have all this infiltration of information and you shouldn't eat that. You should eat that. So I would try to encourage moms to listen to kiddo as much as you're able to, and, and maybe. He's going through a growth spurt and he's eating more than,

Cheryl 16:06

yeah,

Chloe 16:07

than normal. Or maybe he is not eating as much or, but we're still drinking fluids and we're still like maintaining hydration or we're in a,, huge developmental leap. Maybe we're at that two years of. Where everything's scary, you know, like, yeah. Uh, back in, you know, paleolithic days, that would be the time kids are walking. They're being a lot more cautious about what they're putting into their mouths. So I'm kind of thinking about their developmental age as well.

Cheryl 16:37

this is so encouraging. I like this because it is what's going on inside their body.

Chloe 16:44

Yeah. Mm-hmm.

Cheryl 16:45

You know, we used to be so frustrated'cause we couldn't see inside, you know, what's really going on. And it's so encouraging with your studies and the expertise that you have to say, listen to children because they're in tune with their bodies.

Christie 16:59

Mm-hmm.

Cheryl 17:00

I mean, not everything. No. I only want ice cream and cookies. Right,

Christie 17:03

right. You know?

Cheryl 17:04

But to really listen. And to take the time and have conversation about food to try and discern what's really going on and the ebb and flow of their lives. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Uh, where they, are they drinking enough? I love that. Hydration is so important. We never talked about it. Mm-hmm. When I grew up,

Christie 17:24

Yeah. Im thinking especially of the toddler years. Yes. When sometimes it just felt like they ate like birds. They wouldn't eat anything for a whole day. Mm-hmm. And you can really get wrapped up in that. But you're saying that. It may just be a season and it'll pass, and that they're probably taking in exactly what they need.

Chloe 17:40

Yes. As we are trying to do the best that we can as caretakers to have that opportunity to give them what they need, when they need it. Um, and then also thinking about. Maybe can we think about in terms of like the environment, like can we eat together? Can we, focus on those things, as opposed of just the food piece?

Cheryl 18:01

Mm-hmm.

Chloe 18:01

Wow. Cultivating that.

Cheryl 18:02

Yes, because, uh, I remember someone who spoke about parenting when I was in my active parenting years, and their recommendation was, don't make meal times a power struggle.

Christie 18:17

Mm-hmm.

Cheryl 18:18

Okay. And a lot of families, it

Carol 18:19

is a real struggle. So speak to that. How can parents navigate this? Be parenting well, but not have a power struggle over the food.

Chloe 18:31

It's a real struggle. Um, and I feel for you parents that are experiencing this, and what I would say is good job, like you, keep going, keep persevering, pressing forward. Um, and I'm thinking about. That environmental piece of, okay, can we eat together? Can we make sure that. The atmosphere that we're eating at is a calm atmosphere. Ah, to allow,, kiddo to be able to explore foods and not feel like they're stressed or like they, are not in a comfortable environment.'cause you know, we think about how, how do we eat? We like to eat when we're in a rest and digest. Ready to eat state, not on the run. I mean, we're doing it. I do it. Um, it's, but it's not ideal.

Cheryl 19:17

You know, Chloe, I love what you're saying because this is kind of the totality of parenting that we talk about, that the environment is good, but you know, i've had friends in a, well, a lot of moms that say, well, they just absolutely refuse their vegetables. They won't eat that. If I don't do this, they won't eat. And they're just come to the table, just arm wrestling over what they're gonna do every night.

Christie 19:41

And sometimes it's not even about the food. It's about, like you say, the power struggle of it all that they wanna be in charge. And I think you mentioned earlier, wanting kids to have. Their autonomy.

Chloe 19:53

Mm-hmm. But

Christie 19:54

you

Chloe 19:54

have to eat. Yes. Yes. And that is a real struggle. I want to encourage parents in kind of removing the labels that maybe are, in the vocabulary.

Cheryl 20:06

Give us examples..

Chloe 20:07

my child is a picky eater. Uh, you just won't eat. Mm-hmm. Um, she doesn't like. Um,

Cheryl 20:12

and particularly in front of the child, oh, she's a picky eater. I mean, I can remember hearing many times we label about everything, but particularly I think a lot of people feel like it's a safe place. You can't label about some things, but you can label about food. Oh, they're eating, then they eat vegetables, they won't eat their meat, whatever it is.

Chloe 20:34

Mm-hmm.

Cheryl 20:35

Um, I love that. What else?

Chloe 20:37

So I would say encouraging in that and saying, okay, this is my child's food preference for now. Maybe he's just not ready for this particular protein. Mm-hmm. Um, or this, or the broccoli or the carrots. Um, kids, they do require, um, quite a bit of steps to fully accept something, accept a food, and sometimes, sometimes it's like. 30 different exposures of one food before a a kid will be, comfortable with that food and accept that food. 30 is pretty severe. Most of the time it's like 10 to 15 different exposures. So I would say, call the wins that you have of, maybe it's on the table and. Tommy looks at it and he maybe touches it, um, but doesn't go completely in his mouth. But maybe he puts it on his plate. Maybe he kind of plays around with it., But there's something that we know he can grab and eat. The bread, the pasta. Mm-hmm. So that he'll get his nutrient needs. Um, but keep offering it. I would say keep offering it to them. And it may just surprise you about that. Wow. With that exposure and that variety.

Cheryl 21:45

Okay. One of the things, over the years, I've talked to a lot of people about nutrition and one of the things,

Carol 21:51

they asked about Well, how do I begin? I would love to eat more vegetables And you tell me, I don't know if this is right, And so one of the things I said is. go ahead and have a big thing of ranch dressing and they can dip their vegetables, coat'em, you know, three quarters, ranch dressing, one little tiny piece of vegetable. And then I said, and then slowly go down on that till, you know, like the little cups that they give you, like with pizza.. Yes. Then I said, then start moving where? This is your cup of your ranch dressing. And so you move down on it, acclimating them to more vegetables, less ranch dressing. Was I off on that or what would you say? Think

Chloe 22:34

that's a fabulous strategy because you're pairing something that's familiar, that they like say ranch ketchup with something that they're not so familiar with. The vegetable. Um, and I, I'm along the belief of how can they create that food to be more acceptable to them. If that's a dip

Cheryl 22:51

Oh good.

Chloe 22:52

Then that's a dip. And I'd say. The more dips, the merrier and it allows them to bring back that autonomy.

Cheryl 23:00

Uhhuh

Chloe 23:01

Get to do something, dip that, um, broccoli into the ranch, and then, hey, they're eating it. That's an exposure. That's a win.

Cheryl 23:07

Yeah. Yeah. Oh good.

Chloe 23:09

That's good.

Cheryl 23:10

This is so

Cheryl New 23:11

interesting Isn't it?

Christie 23:12

It is.

Cheryl 23:13

Okay. Chloe, one of the things I love because, your expertise, you're not just saying, let me tell you about vitamin B and this and this and zinc and da, da da, and instead, I love this positive, loving, embracing of. The autonomy of our children, yet we're parenting, directing'em in something that's really important.

Christie 23:35

Mm-hmm.

Cheryl 23:35

Okay. Can you come back again, we've kind of philosophically and nutritionally talked about the subject. Can you come back and give us a whole bunch more practical ways?

Chloe 23:45

Oh, 1000% I'll be here.

Cheryl 23:47

Oh yes. Okay. This is great., So parents remember, hang in there. Keep loving, keep persevering because it's worth it.

Speaker 2 23:57

It is interesting. After sitting in this for a bit, even something like food starts to feel a little simpler again, not because it doesn't matter, it does, but it doesn't have to carry all the weight we tend to put on it. So maybe this week. Instead of trying to sort through every opinion about what's healthy, you just come back to your own kitchen to one or two choices that make sense for your family and start there. Not perfectly. Just steadily enough that it begins to shape something over time. We're going to keep building on this and make it really practical as we go. And if you wanna reach out, you can find us on social or at contact@theparentingpodcast.com. I'm really glad you're here for this one.