#70: Meal Prep for Moms and Feeding Older Kids with Sally Kuzemchak of Real Mom Nutrition

Sally Kuzemchak is a registered dietitian and mom of two who believes that every mom can feel successful and confident about feeding her kids, let go of the stress, and enjoy mealtime again. She offers practical advice to parents about picky eating, meal planning, and feeding kids on her blog, RealMomNutrition.com.
In this episode, Sally shares about the struggles many moms face when it comes to properly nourishing themselves. She gives tips to help moms find ways to nourish and care for themselves amidst busy schedules and caring for others. We also talk about her experience with raising teenagers and the issues that come up with food as kids get older. She gives advice based on how she handled feeding two teenage boys and how parents can manage that stage of their kid's life. Enjoy!

Sally's blog on food prep for moms:
https://www.realmomnutrition.com/food-prep-for-moms/
Sally's blogs on feeding teens and older kids:
https://www.realmomnutrition.com/category/feeding-teens/

Email: Sally@realmomnutrition.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/realmomnutrition
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/realmomnutrition/ 

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Transcript

[00:00:00] to the Plan to Eat podcast. Where I interview industry experts about meal planning, food and wellness. To help you answer the question. What's for dinner. 

Roni: Hello, and thank you for joining me today on the Plan to Eat podcast today. I have Sally from real mom nutrition. Sally is a registered dietitian and mom of two who believes that every mom can feel successful and confident about feeding her kids. They can let go of stress and enjoy mealtime again.

Sally has a really great tagline for, um, her business and for her website that she calls it a no judgment zone for feeding your family. And that's really something that she believes is that there's no shame or judgment in what you eat or how you feed your family. Um, because everybody's just trying to do their best with what they have.

Um, so we talked a little bit about that today, But we also talked about Sally's ideas around helping moms set time aside for [00:01:00] themselves in order to meal plan and meal prep food for themselves. So instead of getting caught in the cycle of just eating the leftovers from your kids lunches or just nibbling all day long and not being able to have, you know, a proper amount of energy to do the things you need to do.

Sally has some tips that she gives in this podcast for how you can actually set aside time to meal plan and prep for yourself. Because it's not a selfish thing. Um, it's something that helps you live your best life. And in the second half of the interview, we talk some about feeding teenagers and older kids, 

and some of the challenges that that poses, uh, we've talked about this on the podcast a little bit before, but it's a common, question and concern that we get from you guys as our listeners, that you'd like to hear more about how you can deal with older children and what happens when they are more in control of feeding themselves and you're less in control of what they eat.

And with that, uh, let's get into the interview. I hope you enjoy. Sally, thanks for [00:02:00] joining me today.

Sally: Thanks for having me.

Roni: Yeah. So let's just get started by having you tell our audience what you do for a living.

Sally: Sure, um, I'm a registered dietitian, author, I'm a mom of two boys, um, and I blog at realmomnutrition. com, which I call, um, a no judgment zone about feeding a family.

Roni: I love that. I love that. That's your tagline. Um, because I think that there's a lot of families and a lot of moms in particular that need that no judgment.

Sally: Yes, absolutely.

Roni: So how did you get started, um, in the nutrition field?

Sally: So when I was in college, I saw a registered dietitian for myself because I was sort of figuring out how to navigate eating on my own for the first time, and I just really enjoyed that whole process and I learned a lot and just sort of filed that away. I was majoring in English, um, and I graduated and I got a job at A couple of different magazines after college as an editorial assistant.[00:03:00] 

And, uh, one of them was at a magazine called Self. And it was working for the nutrition editor. And I just loved that so much. And kind of paired with my personal experience a few years ago, you know, before that, with working with a dietitian, I just decided to go back to school. And, um, I got a degree in nutrition and became a registered dietitian.

Roni: Oh, that's great. I love that. That was kind of a transformative process. Like you found a passion and then you were able to like work your way towards that. That's really cool.

Sally: Yeah, and I was able to sort of combine two things that I really liked, which was writing and communicating and then, um, nutrition.

Roni: So how did that turn into now this nonjudgment zone for moms and families? Was that, um, in your own experience of becoming a parent? Yeah.

Sally: Yes, so when I became a mom, I Kind of discovered how hard it was to not only feed yourself when you become a mom because you have, you know, no energy, no time. And then how [00:04:00] hard it was to feed my kids. You know, I thought that feeding kids would be a lot easier than it was, especially, you know, I was a dietician.

I had these initials after my name and surely, you know, it would be easier for me, but I So, um, I found it really hard, and I also found it harder than I thought it was sort of made out to be. And this is back in, you know, 2009, when blogs were really pretty new. So, I decided to start one, and, I called it Real Mom Nutrition because I wanted to sort of pull back the curtain and, and tell the truth and say, look, I'm a real mom.

I have these, you know, real challenges. I have a budget. I'm just like you and not everything is a success. So I decided to, you know, share my challenges and struggles, um, as well as my successes and, and just to show people that, you don't have to do things quote unquote perfectly, um, you know, to be a good mom.

Roni: It's so interesting having interviewed multiple people on the podcast who, are [00:05:00] dieticians who are also moms. And it, it feels like I've heard the similar story from multiple people in that, like they, they started their kind of, um, like parenting journey thinking that it was like, It's not a problem.

I've got like the, the basics down and then, you know, like kids are just such a different animal.

Sally: Yes. 

Roni: you know, I mean, uh, yeah. So it's just, it's really, uh, it's really cool to see that there are so many people who are like yourself, who are able to open up about the realness of what it is to be a parent.

And like, regardless of what, you know, the letters are behind your name, like. You're also a mom and that's, like presents its own challenges aside from your career,

Sally: Yeah, and you know, every kid can be different, too. You know, you can have one kid and be like, Wow, like, I'm so good at this. My kid eats everything. And then you can have a second kid and you're like, Oh, wait a second. Like it's, you know, you feel like you're back to square one.

Roni: [00:06:00] right? Yeah. So one thing that, um, I really wanted to talk to you about today is this idea of, as a mom being able to set aside some time and energy to be able to, you know, get meals made. For yourself, um, and not just only focusing on your kids because that's something that you're pretty passionate about.

And so I kind of, I want to hear a little bit about your, some of your ideas of like, how, how can moms, tackle this problem? Of, you know, like, you know, the things that they're eating are just like the leftovers from the kids snacks and things because life is just crazy and hectic and they don't really have time to make quality food for themselves.

Like what's, what's, where does somebody start to solve that problem?

Sally: Yeah, so, as you said, this, this has become sort of a passion for me because, um, several years ago I had this revelation, I saw this recipe for this sandwich that I thought looked so good and it had like arugula and pear and prosciutto and I'm looking at it thinking like, Bye. [00:07:00] Bye. Okay, nobody else in my family is going to want this, but it looks so good to me.

So I decided to go to the store. I bought all the ingredients and made just one sandwich for myself. It was delicious. And I realized like, you know, gosh, this is what I used to do in the old days when I wasn't thinking about like what everybody else wanted. And I thought, you know, I just need to do this more.

Um, because I matter too, you know, as moms were so used to like. You know, worrying what everyone else is liking and eating and doing and we kind of forget like, oh, wait, you know, what do I like? And what do I want to eat? So I decided that I needed to include myself and factor myself in when I was meal planning. You know, I'm such a proponent for meal planning. I think it's It's so important and can really, you know, help us as moms, but, um, we need to think about ourselves when we're doing that too. So I think kind of the first step in this, um, is thinking about sort of where your trouble spot in is in the day and that's going to be different for everybody.

So [00:08:00] maybe it's that you're skipping breakfast because you don't have anything that you actually like to eat for breakfast, or maybe you don't have time to make something, or like you said, maybe you're kind of grabbing the leftovers off your kids plates for lunch instead of like actually taking time to make a meal for yourself, or you know, maybe you're getting home from work and you're totally famished because you don't have anything that's It's kind of quick and easy to grab for a snack.

So I, I like to start with like, what would help you the most? Um, what would make your, your week easier, more delicious? You know, maybe it's just a general, like, gosh, I'm not buying the foods that I really like because, you know, maybe my kids don't like them or my, my partner doesn't like them. So maybe it's as simple as like, okay, I'm going to buy, you know, I'm going to add like one or two things to the grocery list every week that I really love.

And I'm going to, you know. Um, you know, factor myself into that meal planning and grocery shopping.

Roni: Yeah, I really, I like that as a first step, um, like kind of assessing even not [00:09:00] just, I'm thinking like assessing your week, but also just like assessing an individual day and realizing, you know, not only like, when are the times when I'm not feeding myself properly, but maybe also the times like, when have I, when am I getting really low energy?

And, you know, I'm not properly like nourishing myself in that moment or like, you know, maybe realizing that that low energy is a result of like, Oh, well I ate leftover crusts from my kids, peanut butter and jelly for lunch. So that's why I'm feeling hangry at 5 PM.

Sally: Yeah, I mean, um, you know, we function so much better just physically and mentally when we are well nourished. And so when you're sort of racing around in the day taking care of everyone, feeding everyone else, and you know, you realize, gosh, I haven't really eaten anything. I haven't sat down for a meal or I haven't really, you know, eaten a square meal I've just picked all day.

That can really, you know, impact your mood, your energy level, um, and all of that. So it's in everyone's best interest that we take care of ourselves, you know, as moms too.

Roni: Yeah, absolutely. And so then what tips, once you've [00:10:00] done that kind of discovery phase, what kind of tips do you have for moms to make that meal planning for themselves simple and easy?

Sally: Yeah, so I think, you know, don't feel like you have to do it all. So focus in on that, you know, first, that first problem area, because, you know, people might have multiple things in their multiple sort of trouble spots. So just just start focusing on one and just like prep one thing that would make your, your You know, your week better.

So maybe it's as simple as like whisking up a homemade, you know, sauce or salad dressing and you know, that would make that bagged salad like so much better. Or maybe it's hard boiling some eggs. So you have those for breakfast or to crumble on that salad. Or for me, I like to make something for breakfast.

Like I've been making these protein pancakes and protein waffles and I make a, um, a salad. You know, kind of like a treat that I, I give to myself as I make sort of a chai concentrate, so I can have like a [00:11:00] chai latte every day. And to me that's like, oh, that's the ultimate, like it's delicious. It feels like such an indulgence, but it's not expensive, you know, because I'm not going to like the coffee shop.

I'm making it at home, but it just feels like I'm being good to myself. Um, and just, you know, doing like one or two of those things when you're doing, you know, some other meal prep, for instance, on a Sunday, maybe, um, and having a stashing in the fridge and having that for the week, um, is, is just a great place to start.

And again, just, it doesn't have to be all of those things. It could just be one of those things. And once you see like, wow, this This really made my week better or easier or this allowed me to eat like a lunch that I actually enjoyed and was filling and nourishing. Then I think then you can start adding, you know, even more of that on.

Roni: I really like that you mentioned the example of the chai, because I feel like that is an important part in this too, like it's not just about Making sure that you get high quality [00:12:00] meals or, you know, eating on a regular basis, but there's also that aspect of like real, like enjoyment that comes along with this and find, yeah.

And finding the little things that actually kind of like fill you up because you're like, Oh, I got to take five minutes and like hold that warm drink. And, and, you know, let's sip on something that was really satisfying. Uh, I love that. That you threw that idea out there too, because, um, I think that's just as important as like having something.

Cause you know, maybe you're like, well, I'd be grudgingly at my salad today, but you know, really the thing that you enjoyed was having that warm drink and like maybe five minutes to yourself to drink it.

Sally: Yeah, yeah, absolutely. And you don't have to feel like, oh gosh, I went through the, the drive thru at Starbucks and I'm spending all this money or whatever. It's like, no, I made this at home and you know, I saved a lot of money and yet it still feels like a really special treat for myself 

because you know, we're worth it, right?

Roni: absolutely. Yeah. Do you have any, um, so, so you mentioned a couple of things there, but do you have any like specific recommendations? Like if somebody [00:13:00] is like, I just really don't know what I could make that would be fast and simple to prep. Do you have any recipe recommendations for that?

Sally: Yeah, I actually have a post on my site, RealMomNutrition. com, with like, I think it's seven or eight different ideas, and then I link to recipes, so I can definitely send that to you if you have show notes, but like, some of the things that I do, um, so like this week, I made, I have a recipe for, uh, crispy tofu on my site, and I made a batch of that, on Sunday, and I made, uh, just a A pan of roasted vegetables.

You can do that at the same time. And then I bought those rice pouches that you just put in the microwave for, you know, 90 seconds. And so, you know, during the week I can Make one of those rice pouches, you know, throw the tofu and roasted veggies on, microwave it, and then you have a lunch that's like super satisfying, um, really delicious.

You know, you can either buy or make like whatever kind of sauce you like, whether it's like a teriyaki or I made it a quick tahini [00:14:00] lemon sauce, um, in the blender. And just make a jar of that at the beginning of the week. You have it all week. Um, and like that's one of my favorite things to do. Um, I also like making some kind of a snack that I could also sort of grab, for breakfast.

So maybe that's like energy bites or, you know, homemade bars or something like that that, that, you know, I can just pull out. So it's made with like, you know, oats and nuts and dates. And that's, you know, really, wholesome and nourishing, but can sort of do double duty as like it's a snack or it's a breakfast or, you know, something you can 

grab on your way out.

I feel like if I have something like that in the fridge, Then I don't have to, like, grab pre packaged, you know, granola bars and stuff like that because I have something, um, that I really like and enjoy that's easy to grab.

Roni: right. Yeah. Those are great suggestions. I, I also really love that you're mentioning sauces here because, um, actually told one of my friends the other day, I feel like I'm like the sauce era of my life right now, because I've had this, I had this [00:15:00] revelation a couple of months ago that, uh, duck having a pre made sauce ready for the week, like elevates every meal, you know, like if.

Like, it can just be a simple, you know, chicken and rice and vegetables, and then you put a sauce on top of it and it's something totally different. So I really love that. I love that tip because I do, I think that goes along with this like enjoyment piece of, of your meals that just like having something that makes it extra yummy and kind of elevates the flavors.

Um, it makes a really big difference.

Sally: It really does. And don't just think, well, what does everyone else like? What do you like? You know, 

ask yourself, what do you like? And with sauces, you can mix up two different sauces, serve everyone the same meal, but maybe you have a different sauce. And that's, you know, that's perfectly fine. And then you're eating what you like, and the rest of your family's eating what they like.

Everyone's happy.

Roni: Yeah. That's great. Yeah. Like if you like spicy and your kids can't handle spicy, like make yours a little spicy.

Sally: Yes. Definitely.

Roni: Oh, that's awesome. I want to [00:16:00] transition here a little bit, but is there anything else that you wanted to mention related to this idea, um, around meal planning for yourself?

Sally: Yeah, just like, don't feel guilty thinking about yourself. I think as moms, we think, well, you know, like I remember when my kids were little, I would buy like this, you know, expensive package of like organic red raspberries. And I'd bring them home and be like, I shouldn't eat any of these. Like I should save them for the kids.

And then one day I'm like, Wait a second, like I deserve delicious, beautiful red raspberries too. Like, so sometimes I think as, as mothers, we can feel like, okay, you know, I got to put all my energy and focus on my family and, you know, I don't deserve, you know, it's almost like subconscious, like I don't deserve this, but we do, we do deserve it.

So just don't feel bad about factoring yourself in, um, when you're meal planning, when you're meal prepping, cause it's just, it's so important that we're good to ourselves.

Roni: Yeah, that's a beautiful reminder. Thank you for mentioning that. So the other thing [00:17:00] that, I really wanted to talk to you about, because this is another area that. I feel like you have some good expertise in and we get a lot of questions from our listeners about this is 

some issues that arise as your Children get older and their nutrition is no longer solely in your hands. Um, how do you, how have you in your kids getting older? How have you kind of dealt with, dealt with this? And, I don't know exactly what the right question is, but just like, uh, yeah. Figuring out like there's, there feels to me like there's, kind of two aspects of it.

Like there's like a, like a mental aspect of like changing your mindset around like your kid's nutrition isn't any in your control any longer. And then there's like a practical aspect of it. That's like, how do you continue to ensure that, you know, when your kids, um, have a little bit more of their own control and can make their own food decisions, that they're still having like a overall well balanced nutrition.

Sally: Yeah, this is, this is a great topic [00:18:00] because I have to say, you know, uh, once again, like even with, you know, my training and the education I had when my, my first child became a teenager, I was like, Whoa, wasn't ready for this. Like, just did not know what, what this involved. Cause you can know, you can read and study about something.

And then when it. when it's your, you know, you're in your own house, you're like, wait, I don't know what to do here. So I think a few things come up as kids get older that really change the game for, for us as parents. So first, teens are, you know, they have so much more independence. They're making more of their own decisions.

They have their own money. They're, they're away from the house, more eating, more meals away. Um, then there's like the marketing that's directed at them. So, you know, and like Fast food, soda, energy drinks, all these things that marketing, you know, these online ads and whatever that they're seeing that are directed to them saying, like, this is the stuff that, you know, that you should like, or that, you know, will make you cool, whatever the message is, um, you know, they have busy schedules, like some, maybe they're doing sports or different activities, [00:19:00] or, you know, maybe they have a girlfriend or a boyfriend or, you know, pack of friends that they spend a lot of time with.

And unfortunately, all of this kind of is a perfect storm for actually, uh, marketing. Diet quality, when they, when they survey people, diet quality is actually the lowest during the teen years, which is unfortunate because, you know, Kids are still growing and developing and, you know, when you think about teenagers who are active and busy, especially like an active teenage boy, it's an enormous number of calories and a lot of nutrients that they need.

And so you really have to. Like you said, you sort of have to let go, you know, and trust your kids a bit, and then also, you have to sort of make these allowances for like, Whoa, my kid is so much hungrier than he was, like, okay, a pound of chicken isn't going to cut it for the family anymore, or maybe I have to buy two gallons of milk or whatever, you sort of have to like, recalibrate everything around this, like, this new appetite, and these new sort of, you know, nutrition, [00:20:00] uh, food concerns that your, that your kid has.

Roni: Right. That, that was something that I wanted to bring up too, was like hungry teenage boys. Like that's a, that's an actual problem. I grew up with two older brothers and my husband is, uh, one of three boys and he constantly says like, my mom couldn't keep enough food in the house for us. Like it didn't matter how often she went grocery shopping.

We literally everything all the time.

Sally: Yeah, my husband talks about that, too, because he has a brother, and he says, like, you know, his mom would have, like, two grocery carts, you know, in the store, and then as soon as she came home, it was like a race to see who could, like, you know, who could get to the snack cakes first, or whatever it was, so it's, it's really funny, but, um, yeah, and I think, so there's the issue of an increased appetite, and, and you know, most teens will have this, these like appetite surges, whether, whether it's a boy or a girl or, you know, the, where they're, they're having, you know, these growth spurts and all of a sudden their appetite is big.

And, and that can kind of scare some parents too, where they're like, wait, like my kid is [00:21:00] eating so much more. Than he was or she was a couple of weeks ago So first sort of like trust your kids appetite a bit, you know when you're talking about um, I just mentioned earlier about trust is, you know, when maybe um parents are used to like Here's your plate of food that i've portioned out for you you know and and and we need to trust our kids to eat the portions that They're hungry for in that day and that could change week to week day to day month to month.

You know, trust your kids, um, with how much they need to eat, but remember that you still have some control like your kid may be, um, out in the world outside the house for a part of the day, but they're also in your house for a lot of the time and you can't control necessarily what they're doing when they're away from you, but you can control You know, what meals you make, what food is in the house.

So, you know, it can feel like a little bit of a helpless time, but remember that you still have, you know, you're sort of a gatekeeper in terms of what. what food comes [00:22:00] in. So I just wanted to mention that because, you know, some, some parents can be like, ah, you know, my kid, like, is eating fast food every day after school or whatever it is.

And, um, you know, to, to me, it's like, well, then focus on what you bring into the house. If your kid's, you know, having a lot of soda, With their friends then don't keep soda in the house, you know, same with like fried food or things like that It's like, okay, they're getting a lot of that outside of the house So what can you you know stock and make when you do have them, you know when they're when they are at your table So I did want to mention that.

Um, but as for the bigger appetite, so Like I said that totally through me for a loop. And, first you do have to adjust, like, the portions of food that you buy. You know, it might be buying two pounds of ground beef instead of one or whatever. But then also what I found with my teens, and I think that this is probably true for a lot of them, is that they will eat what's easiest.

And so you have to kind of make sure that [00:23:00] that food that you would like them to eat is really easy to grab and have. 

So, um, like my kids are not going to sit down and like take 10 minutes to like assemble a snack. They're going to open the fridge and like, okay, what can they reach in and grab? So I was doing a lot of things like, um, you know, taking mason jars and making like trail mix out of a bunch of different things.

So they can just grab that. dump some in a bowl or whatever. You know, smoothie packets I could dump in the blender and add some milk or water. Breakfast burritos I can just pull out and throw in the microwave or whatever it is. So I tried to make that stuff as easy as possible, like those snack, those snack balls or bars.

And then like tell them like, hey, I made you these, you know, snack bites, they're right here in this container, 

you know, so 

when you're hungry, or you know, like I kind of set up like a little, almost like a snack station on the counter with a bunch of things in a bin that's like, hey, you know, you, you know, grab whatever I have got all these things that are really easy, you know, for you to grab and eat [00:24:00] and And, and ask your kid, you know, what, what, what kinds of foods would they like, you know, what, what do they like and what they don't like?

Um, so that's kind of some of the things. And I also have a post on my, my site where I talk about some of these, I call it like operation feed the hungry teen or something. And it was 

like all these ideas that I kind of came up with, um, because I needed to, it was like, Oh my gosh, like what, what can I do, um, that will give him these.

Filling foods, you know, like trail mix is very filling and you can put whatever you want in that jar, but it's easy for them to grab.

Roni: Yeah, that's a great, uh, reminder. And I like that the things that you mentioned were very, like, those are very simple, everyday things, you know, something like trail mix or breakfast burrito or whatever.

them eating a breakfast burrito at your house is still more likely nutritionally, like that's going to be a higher nutritional value than them getting, you know, taquitos from the, you know, corner gas station or something. Um, so I [00:25:00] feel like there's also like a weighing of like positives and negatives here.

Uh, that, that I feel like you kind of have to do of like, well, my kid really likes these kind of like, maybe more like junky foods or fast foods. It's like, how can I make potentially like a version of that at home that I'm able to, you know, add things in there that I know are going to still give them like a higher quality nutrition than if they bought it out somewhere.

Sally: I'm also a big proponent of make extra food at dinner. So you have, you know, containers of leftovers that, you know, cause I found what kind of surprised me is like, Oh, my kids are eating like an entire fourth meal in the evening.

You know, we, we finished dinner. And then a few hours later, they're eating another meal and, you know, I'm not cooking two dinners, but they're, you know, so what can I have in the fridge so they can. Pull it out of the fridge and heat it up in the microwave or whatever that is a meal, um, or when, you know, they would stay up late on the weekends, they would, you know, eat like a [00:26:00] dinner sized meal at some, you know, sometime during the night.

So having, you know, dinners dinner leftovers in like those sort of single serving or those glass meal prep containers. Those are really great. And you can say, Hey, I have, you know, these couple of containers of spaghetti. You can just throw that in the microwave, um, you know, for a minute or whatever. And then you have, if you're really hungry after I go to bed or whatever it is.

So I do think having extra dinner leftovers is great because I do think it's important for kids to know that like, you know, snacks are not just like. Salty things or, you know, cookies or whatever is, you know, the snacks are meal. I call them meal foods, too. So 

a snack can be, you know, some dinner leftovers or half a sandwich or whatever it is, you want to get your your kid used to eating those foods, those foods as well.

So double up on dinners as much as you can. And [00:27:00] that is, you know, just like super nutritious for your kid to have to grab and eat.

Roni: Yeah. Great advice. Do you have you found with your own children that, because I'm guessing that your focus in general was, like the foods that you made at home where at least the, you know, the majority nutritious, you're obviously you have your non judgment, side of this. So I'm guessing that you had pretty well rounded foods, but, um.

When your kids were, and maybe some of them still are in their phases of like eating out a lot, eating fast food, hanging out with their friends, doing those things. Did you find that that was like a phase and as they got older or maybe just had more of those experiences, it became less and less common.

I'm just imagining that there are parents out there who are like, like I set my kids up for failure and now they, all they want to eat is, you know, fast food and that's all they're going to eat for the rest of their lives.

Sally: Yeah. Yeah. No, I think there's something to that. Like, I think I found, and I mean, just looking at my two boys, um, I found that, [00:28:00] you know, when they had their own money and they were first going, you know, with their friends to the, to eat, it was like, Oh my gosh, I can have whatever I want because I have my own 

money and I could buy whatever.

So it's, it's funny. I watched my, um, my younger son when he's out with his friends, they all like go to the store and they'll buy something and they bring it back. Um, and it'll be like, Pop tarts or whatever. It's things that I don't, I don't normally buy, but it's like he wanted, wants to try different things.

And it's like, that's totally cool. But what I do notice is that over time they try different things and they kind of decide, okay, what do I like? Or wow, this, like this, um, you know, cookies and cream pop tart that I thought You know, what's going to be really good. I actually don't, don't love it that much or, you know, or maybe they do.

And that's okay too. Again, no judgments, but then I found my older son who was in college. He's kind of realizing what feels best for his body. Like 

what gives him, you know, good energy levels or, you know, what doesn't make him want to go to sleep [00:29:00] or what, you know, what's most filling for him. So even though he has access to a cafeteria where it's like all you can eat and you can have soda for and dessert for every meal of the day, he's, you know, I talked to him about it and he's like, yeah, you know, I try to only do like soda a couple times a week because it kind of makes me feel gross or, you know, it's, it's interesting to watch him kind of figure it all out.

And I think when you've, when you've given your kids like really positive messages at home and not shame them for things, I think that they sort of come to those realizations. Um, you know, with and also, you know, even though your kids are teenagers and and maybe you think like they don't care what I do, 

you know, they're, they're sort of focused on their friends and and I'm just embarrassing to them.

They're still watching what you do. And so you're really powerful model in your home for, you know, what you're eating and drinking and how you're talking about food or what you say about food. So I think, you know, continue those like positive messages, continue [00:30:00] modeling those good habits and serving those like healthy foods, but also not shaming anybody for, um, you know, wanting cookies or chips or whatever.

And I, I do think that kids can sort of come to those. Yes. And I'm gonna, I'm gonna, uh, I know I did as a teenager. I remember sort of, you know, eating. Lots of different things as a teen. And as early college student that I was like, Oh my gosh, I can have six doughnuts at breakfast. One in the dining hall.

And then it was like, okay, wait a second. Like I. I don't feel good when I do this or, you know, what would make me. feel better. And that was, you know, part of the reason I went to see that dietician in college. But I think again, getting back to trust, I think we do need to, to trust our kids and trust the, the, positive messages we've given them, um, around food and eating and, um, you know, let them kind of explore and, and trip up and make mistakes and figure it out.

It's sort of a trial and error. You know, I know I'm, I'm still figuring [00:31:00] out like what, what foods, um, you know, feel the best to me.

Roni: Yeah, I was actually gonna mention the same thing that, um, I, I feel like that, that I had my first experiences with, realizing how food was affecting, you know, me physically, um, and how I felt that that really started when I was in college, but it's still an ongoing process. It's still an ongoing process.

You know, there are some nights where I, you know, didn't sleep well or something. And then I'm like, okay, well, what did I eat right before bed? Maybe that, that could have caused that. So, um, I like that reminder that, not only to trust your kids and, you know, the message, the messages that hopefully you've been trying to give them throughout their lives, but also that like, it's a process and like, it's a, uh, a learning process for everybody.

And you know, like you said, like even us as adults, like we're still trying to figure this out sometimes.

Sally: Yeah, and you know, I always emphasize on on real mom nutrition that like there is no such thing as perfect eating for you or your kids or your family. Like nobody's doing it perfect. There's no such thing as [00:32:00] perfect. So I think we need to be, you know, have some give ourselves some grace, give our kids some some grace to in that area.

Um, and there are no, you know, there are no like medals handed out for like, you know, you know, healthiest meal or whatever it is. It's, it's, um, you know, we just have to have to do the best that we can and, and cut ourselves some slack and our kids some slack to

Roni: Yeah, that's a great reminder. Well, before , I have you, uh, tell everybody where they can connect with you online. Was there anything at all that we missed that you wanted to mention?

Sally: No, I think that we we covered. You know, we covered it all with, um, with teenagers. I have a lot of posts on my site. So hopefully people can go over and check those out. I have a lot of different ideas about, you know, snacks. Snacks are a huge thing with people with teens. Um, and so hopefully you can head over and find that stuff.

Roni: Yeah. So why don't you tell everybody what your website is and any other places that, um, you might want them to connect with you online.

Sally: Sure. My site is realmomnutrition. com. [00:33:00] And then you can find me at Real Mom Nutrition on Pinterest and Instagram and Facebook.

Roni: Awesome. We'll make sure that we link to all those things in the show notes. Um, and I'll definitely link to at least a couple of these blog posts. So they're easy to find. And they do have a lot of really like your, your blog posts have a lot of great information on them. Um, yeah. Well, thank you for joining me today.

This has been a really great conversation, Sally.

Sally: Thank you. 

Roni: Thank you for tuning in to today's episode with Sally. I will have links to multiple blog posts in the show notes. I'll have links to her social media as well as just her website overall. And if you'd like to support the podcast, please subscribe wherever you get your podcasts, leave us a review on, Apple podcasts or Spotify.

Um, those reviews really help other people see that you like the Plan to Eat podcast and what you like to hear on the podcast. So thanks so much for taking the time to do that. And I will see you again in two weeks with a new episode. [00:34:00]