10 - Q&A Time! You Asked, I Spilled (The Nutrition Tea)

Welcome to the first Q&A episode of the Nourished Living Podcast! I’m answering questions straight from you—my amazing listeners—about sugar, soda, supplements, fiber, cravings, and so much more. These are the kinds of real-world questions that come up all the time in my practice, and I’m breaking them down in a clear, practical way so you can take action and feel more confident in your health choices.

Here’s what I’m answering in today’s episode:

1. When you do not have access to fresh produce, is canned produce or frozen produce better?
2. How do I begin reducing sugar? How do I stop sugar cravings?
3. What are the best tips to make healthy choices and not have it feel like a chore or negative?
4. Diet soda or regular soda?
5. What does a balanced meal actually look like?
6. Are supplements necessary?
7. How do I know if I’m getting enough fiber?
8. What is one food you always have in your house?

This episode is jam-packed with real advice you can start using today.

If you enjoyed this episode, please take a moment to subscribe and leave a review, it helps more people find the show and stay empowered on their health journey.

Connect with Courtney: 

Instagram: @nourished_living_

Work With Me: Nourished Living

Transcript

0:00

Welcome to the Nourished Living Podcast, where I'll be diving deep into nutrition, holistic wellness, and practical tips to help you live your healthiest, most vibrant life. I am Courtney Podany, a nutritional therapist, certified personal trainer, type one diabetic and mom. And I'm here to help you take charge of your health with ease and confidence. Together we'll explore how to nourish your body, mind, and soul in a way that feels good and sustainable. So grab your favorite beverage. Take a deep breath, and let's get into the episode. I. Welcome to the Nourished Living Podcast, first q and a episode. I am your host, Courtney Podany, and I thought it would be fun for a little change of pace this time. I opened it up to. All of you to get your questions answered, so I wasn't just overloading you with information, the whole episode, and I wanted to see what you guys are struggling with so I could try to help and support you. So you guys asked and I answered thank you to everyone who participated. I really appreciate it. I have eight questions for you today, so let's get into it. Question number one, when you do not have access to fresh produce, is canned produce or frozen produce better? This is a great question and I'm so glad that you are preparing yourself for possibly like the winter and making sure to include produce even though it is not readily available, because we all know how important it's. With canned produce, there has to be some type of preservative present for it to be able to stay good for so long. So if you think about cans, they usually hang out on your shelf for quite a while, so there has to be something there to keep it good. It's likely that the preservative used is either sugar or salt, and if you are trying to stay away from sugar, then that would need to be considered here. If I want green beans or something, I typically don't want sugar on them. However, you can wash the produce, which would absolutely help to remove some of it. But the canning process includes high heat, which opens up the potential for nutrient loss. So my choice here would be frozen produce. Frozen produce is still picked at its peak ripeness, and then it is frozen very, very quickly after being picked. So you do not end up losing. Any of the nutrients along the way, even though you might have it in your freezer for a while. I like to always have frozen fruit on hand to be able to make smoothies whenever we want. My daughter absolutely loves smoothies, especially in the summer and whenever she gets even slightly hot, she needs a smoothie to cool her down. So if you have your choice of either canned or frozen. I would choose frozen, but at the end of the day, canned vegetables is better than no vegetables. You gotta just work with what you've got. Question two how do I begin reducing sugar and how do I stop sugar cravings? So everyone is different. So I have a few approaches here, and you just have to do what works best for you. Your approach might look different than your partners, your friends, your sisters, and that's okay. We have to honor what is going to be best for you. If the approach feels too hard or restrictive right out of the gate, chances are you won't stick with it. You'll fall off, feel defeated, and end up right back where you started. But if we want real success, we need to start with a plan that sets you up to win one that is doable, sustainable, and fits your lifestyle. I. If you're someone who does well going cold Turkey, that might be your best route. You could start by clearing out the sweet treats at home and simply not bringing them back from the store. That clean break works for some people, so if that's you, go for it. But if a sweet treat after dinner has become more of a comfort or emotional habit, we may need a gentler approach. And that's totally valid too. In that case, try slowly cutting back. Start by going from every night to every other night. On the off nights, you can still give yourself something sweet, but with more nourishment like an apple with peanut butter or a square of dark chocolate. Then we go down to twice a week, then once a week, then maybe not at all. And here's the good news with sugar, the less you have, the less you crave. So once you start cutting back, it often gets easier, not harder. This isn't about willpower or doing it perfectly, it's just about finding what works for you and doing it in a way you can actually stick with. Yeah, but also I am a very firm believer that if you are craving something, you just cannot stop thinking about a brownie or a cookie or even a burger for that matter. You have such a strong craving by depriving yourself, that craving just gets worse and worse and worse. So in that case, you just need to have the brownie or the cookie or the burger, right? It's almost worse on your mental health when you just deprive yourself and then that's all you can think about. So just have the food that you're craving and then you can move on with your life and not think about it anymore. You know, if that's the case, it is better to eat the food than be absolutely miserable. So hopefully that helps. Question number three, what are the best tips to make healthy choices and not have it feel like a chore or something negative? Okay, I am just going to prepare you right now. This question was a little long-winded, but I have, multiple factors that go into it. But I love this question because the truth is healthy should not feel like punishment. You don't need to white knuckle your way through solids and skip every fun food to feel good in your body. Here's how to make it feel more life giving and less like a chore. So first focus on adding, not just taking away, instead of obsessing over what you can't have, think about what you can add to your plate. More protein, more color, more energy giving foods. That mindset shift, I promise you, changes everything. I talk about this more in depth in episode five, eat the Rainbow. So if you haven't already listened to it, I would definitely go back to it. But just another note, I think one of the places we go wrong is when we begin trying to become healthier, we immediately think of what we need to eliminate or give up. But this is just what has been conditioned into us. I am not hating on these diets, but for example, the Atkins diet is low carb, so you are eliminating carbs when you go to the grocery store. You're bombarded with, marketing that says low fat or non-fat on products, and that would be elimination of fat. So it's not necessarily our fault that we think this way, but I do want to encourage you to begin looking at things differently and instead of thinking, what do I need to eliminate, think, what should I add in? Rather than eliminating Cheez-Its because you absolutely love them. No hate on Cheez-Its those were like my go-to for so long, but maybe you've noticed that you don't eat any fruit. Well, how about you keep eating the Cheez-Its, but then you add an apple in with your breakfast or some blueberries with lunch. There are so many ways we can incorporate healthy foods rather than elimination. That could ultimately put us into a bad head space. Okay, next up, make meals simple and satisfying. So healthy does not need to mean complicated. Think protein, carbs, and fat, and build your meals around that. When your food tastes good and keeps you full, it's easier to stay consistent. Next, stay ahead of hunger and cravings. Skipping meals or undereating during your day will often backfire at night. So we need to be eating enough throughout the day to support our energy and avoid that all or nothing cycle. One of the biggest reasons we can feel out of control around food is not a lack of willpower, it's that we are under fueling during the day. So when the late afternoon or evening rolls around, your body is just trying to survive. You're not weak, you're not broken, you are hungry, your brain is smart, and it will start pushing you toward quick energy. Um, hello, carbs and sugar to fix that energy dip. You should not be going five to six hours between meals, especially if you're active or trying to heal your metabolism. When you go too long without food, your blood sugar drops, your stress hormones rise, and your cravings intensify. That's when you'll find yourself standing in front of the pantry wondering why you can't stop snacking. Cravings are often physical because you need fuel, but they can sometimes be emotional or mental. You're bored, you're stressed, or you're not satisfied by what you're eating. So again, make meals that you enjoy. Don't eat plain grilled chicken and steamed broccoli if it makes you feel deprived. Add flavor, texture, and variety. You are allowed to enjoy your food even if you are working on a health goal and consistently sip water throughout your day. Sometimes our dehydration cues can simulate hunger cues, so you might feel like you're hungry when in actuality you are thirsty. Okay. Two more things here on this question. Pair habits with things that you love. So you could prep your lunch while listening to your favorite podcast. You could take a walk after dinner while checking in and calling a friend. You could sip your water in a fancy glass because why not? So try to attach your healthy habits to something enjoyable and make it fun, however that looks for you. Get excited about these habits and romanticize small things like having your water in a fancy glass. And lastly, remember your why. You are not doing this to punish your body. You are doing it to feel your best with more energy, better sleep, clearer thinking, and less of these annoying symptoms holding you back. Okay, hopefully that helped. That was quite long-winded, but I had a lot to say on that one. Okay. Question number four, the age old question, which is better diet soda or regular soda? Well, honestly, neither is ideal, but we're gonna break it down. Regular soda is loaded with sugar. Like 35 to 50 grams in one can that is wild. So that is a ton of fast absorbing carbs that will immediately spike your blood sugar and crash your energy and probably leave you craving more. If you're working on blood sugar, balance, fat loss, or reducing inflammation, you should not be drinking regular soda. Diet soda on the other hand, skips the sugar, but replaces it with artificial sweeteners. While it won't spike your blood sugar right away, it can still mess with your gut bacteria, appetite signals and cravings. Plus, there's emerging research showing it might still lead to insulin resistance long term. So, which is better if I had to choose once in a while, a diet soda might have less of an immediate blood sugar hit, but please don't let that fool you into thinking it's a health drink. It's more of a sometimes thing, not a daily habit. If you would like a better option, you can try sparkling water with fresh lime, a splash of real juice, or one of the clean ingredient, sparkling water brands like Oli Pop or Poppy. So this still gives you the fizz without the junk, or you can invest in a soda stream and make your own. Question number five, what does a balanced meal actually look like? Well, there is no one size fits all approach, but there is a recommended range that we can be in. Your plate should consist of 19 to 35% of protein, 22 to 40% of carbs, and 28 to 58% of healthy fats. But again, this is just a guide, not a rule book. Your needs will shift depending on your season of life, your stress levels, sleep, workouts, or even your cycle For women, that's why it's so important to stay in tune with your body and check in regularly so you can make adjustments when needed, but instead of obsessing over numbers, ask yourself, am I satisfied after meals? Do I have steady energy between meals? Am I experiencing cravings, bloating, or energy crashes? Your body is always giving you feedback. We just have to listen and learn to decipher what it's telling us, and if something feels off, it's okay to tweak and adjust. That is not failure. That is flexibility. Question number six, are supplements necessary? This one kind of piggybacks off of the well balanced meal question because I just wanna say first that everyone is bio individual and there is no one size fits all approach to supplements either, however, are supplements necessary? No, but they can be beneficial. Ideally, we would just get everything we need from food, but the truth is most of us don't. Myself included, our soil isn't as mineral rich as it used to be. We're under more stress. We're exposed to more toxins, and we're not always eating as consistently as we'd like to. So supplements fill in the gaps, but they do not replace a nutrient-dense diet, balanced meals or lifestyle habits like adequate sleep movement and proper hydration. I. I always recommend focusing on the foundations first, blood sugar regulation, digestion, minerals, stress, sleep, and activity, and then using supplements as support where it's needed. And like I said, not everyone needs the same ones. Your body, your stage of life, your symptoms, all of that matters and needs to be considered. What works for your friend might not be what you need. I've shared before that I do not eat the recommended amount of fish, so I supplement with a fish oil. But bottom line, no supplements are not always necessary, but they are often supportive. Get your basics dialed in first, then supplement with intention, and please check with your doctor or nutritionist, dietician before beginning a new supplement. Question number seven, how do I know if I'm getting enough fiber? This is a great question as well, and truthfully, most people are not, but fiber is key for digestion, balanced blood sugar, hormone support, and regular bowel movements. But unless you're paying attention, it's easy to fall short. So how can you tell if you're getting enough? Well, you are going to the bathroom regularly. We are aiming for at least one, like the bare minimum complete bowel movement per day. If things are slow, inconsistent or uncomfortable, you probably need more fiber and possibly more water. You will feel full and satisfied after meals. If you're hungry an hour after eating, that's a sign that your meal was probably lacking fiber or potentially protein or fat. But fiber really helps meals stick with you. You're not bloated or gassy all the time. So while low fiber can lead to sluggish digestion, like I mentioned, jumping from low to high fiber to quickly can cause bloating. So I would suggest gradually adding it in, and of course, always staying hydrated. Your blood sugar levels will feel stable. If you are getting enough fiber, you'll have less crashing, fewer cravings and sustained energy. That is the power of fiber slowing down our glucose absorption. For women, it is recommended to eat 25 grams of fiber each day. And for men, it's recommended to eat 35 grams of fiber each day. So what would that actually look like? Well, two cups of cooked broccoli is 10 grams of fiber. So in that case, if you were just. Getting all of your fiber from broccoli, you would need five cups of cooked broccoli throughout the day. One medium apple is four grams of fiber. One cup of strawberries is three grams of fiber. A half a cup of cooked lentils is eight grams of fiber. Two tablespoons of chia seeds is 10 grams of fiber. Half a cup of almonds is eight grams of fiber, and one medium banana is three grams of fiber. So if you are not including fruit and vegetables, nuts and seeds, you can almost guarantee that you are not hitting those goals each day. So you will need to add in fiber. Remember, you don't need to obsess, but being mindful makes a difference. A little here, a little there, and you'll start to feel the shift. Better digestion, fewer cravings, and more energy. All right, to wrap everything up, I got a fun personal question. What is one food? You always have in your house? Well, I had to break this up into categories because it was extremely hard for me to just narrow down one food that I always have. There are a lot of non-negotiables for me so for pantry foods, I always have old fashioned peanut butter, so it's just like the peanuts and salt, no sugar or anything else. Added peanut butter is a quick way to get a little fat and a little protein, and I like to add it on toast oatmeal, Greek yogurt, and that helps me stay fuller longer. I also always have vital proteins, unflavored collagen peptides, so I can add some protein into my coffee each morning with being diabetic, this helps to stabilize my blood sugar rather than it skyrocketing after the caffeine and creamer that I use. But it also ensures I get a big dose of protein right in the morning because it will add 20 grams in addition to whatever breakfast I eat that day. For cooking, I always have avocado oil on hand. As I mentioned in the Fats episode, episode seven, avocado oil has one of the highest smoke points, so it can withstand up to 500 degree Fahrenheit. So that encompasses all of the oven cooking that I do. For baking, I always have almond flour. I like to use this in place of white flour. For refrigerated foods, I always like to have eggs because worst case, I'm running short on time in the morning I can just throw a few into a pot of water and a hard boil those bad boys and not have to tend to them while I am feeding my kids or whatever else I need to be doing. And that way I start my day with protein and fat. And then for snacks, I always have meat sticks, so this is a quick source of protein and something that I can bring with me on the go. I like the archer or chomps brands. I. But a lot of times protein sources need to be refrigerated, like eggs, meat, cheese, so it can be hard to take them with you. But these do not need to be refrigerated, and I can just store a handful in my purse at all times, so I'm never without. Okay. So as you can see, that was definitely not just one food item that I always have. There are multiple, but I feel like this kind of gives a well-rounded depiction of me and how I eat. Whew, we did it. Hopefully there was something there that resonated with you or you're now able to see something in a different perspective. I will absolutely host more of these q and a episodes, so if you have a question you would like answered, please DM it to me over on Instagram. I am at nourished underscore living underscore because I would love to help. I had so much fun doing this. Thanks for joining, and I will see you in the next episode. Thanks for hanging out with me today and tuning into the Nourished Living Podcast. I hope you enjoyed today's episode and found something you can start implementing right away to kickstart your nourished transformation. If you loved this episode, don't forget to subscribe, leave a review, or share it with someone who could benefit from these insights. You can also connect with me over on Instagram at Nourished Living for more resources and support. Until next time, stay nourished.