Episode 15 - Nourishing Moms: Real-Life Nutrition Without the Pressure

Motherhood can make nutrition feel overwhelming, exhausting, and honestly… impossible some days. Between feeding kids, managing the mental load, and surviving on coffee and leftover snacks, many moms end up putting themselves last.

In today’s episode, we sit down with Ana Sofia — registered dietician, founder of Balanced Nutrition, creator of The Balanced Mom Method, and mom of 3 under 4 — to talk about realistic nutrition for motherhood.

This conversation is all about simplifying food, releasing perfectionism, and helping moms feel supported instead of judged when it comes to nourishment.

We talk about:

• Why nutrition feels so hard during motherhood
• Feeding yourself while caring for little ones
• Picky eaters and reducing mealtime pressure
• What “good enough” nutrition actually looks like
• Simple ways moms can support their energy without overcomplicating things

Ana brings both professional expertise and lived experience to this conversation, creating such a validating and encouraging space for moms in every season.

Whether you’re in survival mode, postpartum, or simply trying to take better care of yourself without adding more pressure, this episode is for you.

Connect with Ana Sofia:
@balancednutrition.rd

If this episode encouraged you, be sure to subscribe, leave a review, and share it with another mom who needs this reminder today. 

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:12

Welcome to Messy Minded Mama, a podcast for moms who look managed but might feel a bit messy on the inside.

SPEAKER_01 0:18

I'm Kate, and I'm Jen. And we are here creating space for real talk about motherhood, mental health, and the invisible load so many women carry. Welcome back to Messy Minded Mama. Last week we had our moms on, which was such a fun conversation. Yeah, I think a good kickoff to kind of our real mom series. We've been wanting to just bring on real moms, have real conversations, as well as some expertise. And today's episode, I think, feels so needed. Yes. We talk about motherhood in this space every time we're here. We talk about the burnout, mental load, the survival mode, all the things. And we really got to thinking that nutrition is just such a huge piece of that. So today we're so excited to introduce and have our first, I don't want to say real guest. Sorry, moms.

SPEAKER_02 1:15

Not family, not our kids, not our moms, but our first guest for the real moms, real stories, but also a professional take.

SPEAKER_01 1:24

Yeah, yes. So today we're happy to introduce Anna Sophia. She is the founder of Balanced Nutrition and the creator of the balanced mom method. So welcome, Anna Sophia.

SPEAKER_00 1:37

Hi guys, thanks for having me here. I'm so excited and honored to be here with you. So I'm very excited. Let's do it.

SPEAKER_02 1:45

We're so excited. Thanks for thanks for coming on and coming to talk to us today about nutrition. Because as moms, nutrition for ourselves is key. We have so much energy that we're giving to our kids, to our lives. But then how do we feel ourselves? And also for those of us that have picky eater, me, my kids, you know, unless it looks like a chicken nugget, they're not gonna lick it. Yep. Kind of a thing. You know, nutrition is something that we all worry about. And so we're really excited to have you on to ask you a bunch of questions. We want to hear a little bit about your story and your background. So, what tell us about you? What led you to become a dietitian?

SPEAKER_00 2:26

Yeah, so it goes all the way back to when I was a teenager. Back then I was dealing with my own health issues, and I had the privilege to grow up in a pretty healthy household, but not until then that's when I realized how powerful food was. Like what we put in our body had the power of either making us feel better or worse. So I think since then I started paying a little more attention to it, and I got very interested in that power that food has. Like to, it has a lot of power over us. So that's how I got into nutrition.

SPEAKER_02 3:11

Love that.

SPEAKER_00 3:12

Did it shift at all for you when you became a mom? Great question. So yeah, it actually did. I didn't think it was gonna shift that mu that much. But at first, I started working as a clinical dietitian in a primary care setting. And then I did, I mean, I really enjoy what I was doing, kind of like helping people with chronic health conditions live a better quality of life. But then I also realized how powerful prevention is. And also that I did notice a lot, a lot of the patients or clients I saw through the clinic. I noticed that it was not only lack of knowledge, but the how am I gonna do it? Like nowadays I feel we all uh live a very busy lifestyle, like we have no time. And a lot of us do have some access of to learning or knowledge, but the how it's what's like did got a lot of people stuck. So I think that's what um kind of like now being a mom, that you guys probably know, or I shouldn't say probably you know how BC and chaotic and messy it is. So that's what got me thinking like I know it can be possible to be healthy and be a mom at the same time. It's a little hard, but it's doable, right? Um, so yeah, I'm like I wanna share these with people and I want mums to know that it's possible, it's doable. It doesn't have to be perfect for us to be healthy and not only us, but also our families. Because I do also wanted to focus, like at some point of my career, I wanted to focus on kids. But then I'm like, if I focus on moms, yeah, that's also like getting to a kid. Like kids are gonna grow healthier if they have healthy moms, if we as moms are healthy, so yeah, that's kind of like where or how I got to where I where I am today.

SPEAKER_01 5:14

I love hearing that history for you and kind of a passion that existed for a long time, but how you've been able to kind of like transform that and reach others through it. I'm curious, tell us more about what you're creating at Balanced Nutrition and within I know you have a membership program. Tell us about that.

SPEAKER_00 5:32

I as I said, like my mission here it's to let moms know that it's possible. Because even for me as a dietitian, I have I have all this knowledge. And sometimes I'm like, how am I gonna cook a healthy meal for my family? Are my kids having enough nutrients? Are they eating enough? Am I eating enough? Why am I not eating? So I created these systems that make everything more simple because that's the reality. A lot of us think like nutrition or eating healthy needs to be complicated and counting grams and macros and having this perfect meal, like that we do need to cook from scratch every day, and that's not the reality. I do want to make sure that people, especially moms, know that it's doable to have a healthy meal in front of us most days, and it's fine if it's not most days. If some days we do give in on our cravings, I think that's that can be part of a healthy diet as well. So, yeah, that's what I'm creating here. Like, I do have a membership that where I guide moms to through these simple systems to make nutrition simple and doable.

SPEAKER_02 6:46

I love that. And there is a difference between knowing something and living it, and so you're not only providing the education, but providing the step-by-steps, which I know I need totally because it feels overwhelming, right? It's like eat healthy. It's what it what does that mean? You know, we're told eat the rainbow is what we're told all the time, which is great in idea land, but it to put that into practice of what my three or seven-year-old will actually eat is really hard. If it's green, they're gonna be like, Yeah, no thanks, right? So knowing how we can actually implement the knowledge that you're providing is something that I'm really excited about.

SPEAKER_01 7:24

Yeah, and for ourselves too. I think it'll be so relatable to so many moms out there. I know it hit home with me when you said moms remembering to eat, like actually feeding themselves too, and how important that is. So it's about the kids, but it's the whole family system is included in this. And I love that you're opening up space for this and giving good tools. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 7:43

Eating the leftovers off your kids' plate does not count as a meal.

SPEAKER_00 7:47

It does. I mean, if it's only that, it's it probably will not be enough to fuel you throughout the day. But hey, that's also like what I wanna give you the tool to have. If you have the la your kids' leftovers in front of you, you're probably gonna end up eating that. So instead of just eating that, like how else can you like how can you complement that? I actually did that yesterday. I ate my kids' oatmeal leftovers, but I'm like, this is not enough calories, like, not enough energy, not enough proteins. So, what can I add to it? So instead of just having my regular black coffee in the morning, I added milk and like a protein scoop and made it a little more. And to the I also added like a tablespoon of peanut butter to the oats, so it was a more complete meal, and it took me less than five minutes to make those modifications. So those are the tools that I want moms to know. Yeah, that it doesn't have to, you don't have to go and make yourself a complete different breakfast, because that's reality, right? We do not have that time many times, right? Especially in the mornings. So, yeah, you can have your kids leftovers. Yeah, because I also do not like to waste food. So I'm always gonna end up being my kids leftovers, but how can you add stuff to it to make it an actual meal that's gonna fuel you throughout the day, that's gonna give you that energy to feel better and to be better for your family.

SPEAKER_01 9:17

Yeah, I hope, moms, I hope you're listening loud and clear because such easy hacks that you just mentioned. It's like, okay, I am gonna finish their oat milk. Yeah, I'm gonna add some peanut butter, I'm gonna add like the things that I need to fuel my own body too. So we can't eat their food. We can eat it.

SPEAKER_02 9:32

We just have to add to it. Eating the leftover chicken and just like four bites of chicken is not enough as a meal, but add to it. Yes. I will say I was really proud of Sawyer, my three-year-old, the other day. We gave her some choices of like it's like what's in the fridge night. Yeah. And she goes, I want grilled chicken and rice and strawberries. And I was like, Who are you, girl? Right? I was so excited. She ate the rice and two bites of chicken, but it was still, she picked that, which is such a shift for she's my like mac and cheese and chicken nugget kid. So that was such a big thing that she was like, This is what I want. And I was really excited. I'm pretty sure Brynn wanted a fruit roll-up, so it's fine.

SPEAKER_01 10:19

You take the small ones along the way, right? Exactly. So I think we're diving already into like nutrition and motherhood, but maybe if you could tell us what does day-to-day nutrition actually look like for most moms?

SPEAKER_00 10:33

For me, like my reality, and at least the moms that I have around, I know it's a lot of us are underfeel, as you were saying, Kate, like your meal, it's gonna be your kids' leftovers. And before I become a mom, I'm gonna be honest, I did not understand how people could forget to eat, right? Like, I had all these people coming to me saying they skip breakfast or lunch. I'm like, how do you do that? Food is so good and so necessary. But now that I'm a mom, I'm like, I completely get it. Like, you're running around, have so many responsibilities that sometimes eating it's it does fall under like the very low on your list, so you end up either skipping it or not eating enough. So I think I should start by saying that that a lot of us are underfueled, and that has become our normal. And when we are not getting enough energy, enough calories, enough food, we're probably not gonna feel our best. Although our body adapts, they're smart, right? So we might not notice how underfueled we are until we know something different, different, right? For example, I was talking to this mom uh recently, and I was like kind of like breaking down her nutrition needs, and she's like, That's so much food. I'm like, I know that's the food you need. You're it does look like a lot because you're probably being very underfuel for so long. So I think I should start saying that that a lot of us are not eating enough. We're eating on the run or like under stress, like either standing up or in the car. We do not have that time for ourselves to sit down and like actually enjoy our foods. Because yes, food is a need, a physical need, but it also should be something that we enjoy, right? Like it's not just the physical need. So I think a lot of us that's that's been taken away from all us, unfortunately. But I think we do have that power to take it back and like maybe tell our husbands or our kids, like, okay, now I'm gonna sit down and it's my time. I mean, I sh easier said than done, right? Like, I'm struggling there as well, I'm not gonna lie, but yeah, I think that's uh part of motherhood and our eating habits, they do change a lot. So that's another thing that I've experienced and I've seen with other mothers as well.

SPEAKER_02 13:06

The sitting down to actually eat your food is like such a foreign concept to me because I'll sit down and then it's like, mom, I need this. Mom, can I have this? Mom, can I have that? And so I'm like up, down, up, down, up, down, and like trying to eat a bite in between, or like you're saying, not eating through the day. Like, I'm pretty good at having something, but it's not a full meal a lot of times because I'm in between so many things, but I will notice my my I get hangry, right? That crash, and I'll get real hangry, and so I know I need it. My husband will go all day until dinner and not eat. And like, how? Like, I would be so hangry all the time. But then when we're eating the he's standing, and my husband does a lot of the cooking, it's not me. I'm not a good cook to save my life, but he will eat his while he's still cooking or like cleaning up, and then I'm running back and forth with the kids. So, like sitting down to actually eat our food seems like such a foreign concept in my household, but one that I think would really benefit me to slow down.

SPEAKER_01 14:09

Yeah. Here's this piece for me that's coming up too of I feel guilty if we're not having family meals these days, and that just isn't always realistic, depending on the schedule and the evenings or even thinking back to early motherhood of I never got my hot meal anymore, and I was always so frustrated that like I didn't have the time. So being able to give this permission to if it's after everyone else has eaten and you've taken care of everyone else because that is the priority for most moms, then do that and then give yourself the time afterwards to eat, but maybe slowing down in a different setting, like later on, I think would have benefited me so much in those times. Me too, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 14:48

I mean, and you touched a very good point, Jen. Like overall, like the book advice is like, yeah, make sure you're sitting down to eat as a family because that's gonna model very healthy eating habits for your kids, right? And yeah, that's great, but I'll also like is it the reality for some of us? In my case, as like I have very young kids, it's not a reality, right? So I think that's also very important to note that yeah, you might hear some advice, but does it fit your life? It might not, right? So, and it doesn't mean that you're wrong or that you're not healthy. Like it's important to mention that it's okay if not all the in-between quotations, healthy advice fits your life. That's also like one of my missions to kind of like make sure nutrition meets you at where you're at in that point of your life, and to make moms like realize that it doesn't have to be perfect by just doing something that you would have done a little better, that's already counting, you're already healthier. I think those small changes, it's what's gonna take you to a healthier lifestyle.

SPEAKER_01 16:04

Yeah, do one thing better today than you did yesterday, and you're off to a wonderful start, right? It doesn't have to be big changes, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 16:11

That one percent, right? We strive for a one percent improvement. And I love the idea of the small things. And what are some of those like small habits that we could maybe implement, right? Without doing a full overhaul of throwing everything out in the fridge. But what are some of those small things that we could maybe implement?

SPEAKER_00 16:30

I mean, great question. And I think that would that's gonna be very personalized for each person, right? But like as I was saying, the adding a little bit more to your plate, right? Or what you said, um you serve your daughter that plate, I think that's already a win. That even though that she didn't eat the whole thing, that she took a bite of it. That could be a little something, or even if we know they might not eat the fruit, just putting it in the plate and see, like maybe five times they're not gonna eat it, but maybe the sixth time they will. So, or what were you you? I heard you saying that your other kid would prefer the candy or roll-up. Who wouldn't, right? But like maybe giving him the fruit roll-up, but also the sandwich. And I've been trying that with my kid lately because he's on that on a candy. Um he loves candy right now. I mean, who doesn't again? But I've noticed that I if I tell him, like, okay, I'm gonna put the candy in your plate, but also your food. Yeah, he's might take a bite of the candy, but then eat his food as well, rather than if I just gave him the candy. Yeah. So that could be one just adding a little bit more to their plates, but bringing it back to us moms, like what can we do? Like, I feel a lot of us think of cooking healthy or making healthy meals as something we need to uh prepare from scratch. And yes, that could be an option, but also knowing that maybe some chicken fingers could be a healthy option. They have some proteins, they have some nutrients. How can we make them healthier? Maybe throwing a salad or maybe baby carrots or maybe an apple as a syrup. Like just thinking of those simple things that can add more to her plates, literally speaking, not to her mental load, but more to her plates and less to her mental load, adding little things that it's gonna be make our meal simpler.

SPEAKER_01 18:38

Yeah, I love that. You're making it sound so easy too, which I love because it doesn't have to be complicated, and I think releasing just some of the guilt that might come with making this home cooked meal and doing that every day and focusing on it's not necessarily about that, it doesn't have to be about that every time. I heard you starting to touch a little bit. We're talking about picky eating too. When we talk about like along with the for roll of like give a sandwich, right? So I am curious for all the moms out there. I'm looking at Kate when I say this. For the moms, for the moms that worry about nutrition and like what if how do I make sure my kids are getting the right things? Any guidance for us to just not feel so stressed when it comes to these decisions?

SPEAKER_00 19:23

And you said for the moms that we worry about this, right? I feel it's all of us, including myself as a dietitian. I do too.

SPEAKER_01 19:30

I'm just looking at you guys.

SPEAKER_00 19:31

Yeah, of course, because we want to make sure kids are healthy, right? Like, so I think a lot of us are in that boat. So the first thing I want to say is that kids' appetites is they're gonna go up and down, up and down, and they they're gonna have better days, better months, and that's completely normal because many times the appetites do go like with the gross birds. Sometimes they're gonna have a better appetite than others, sometimes they might be a little more peaky than other times. So I just want to put that out there, and also to let you know that many times they're getting what they need. And I think we have a lot put a lot of pressure in ourselves to make sure that they're getting what they need. Because we all want to see our kids being healthy, right? And nutrition is that very important part in their development that that's what we have it in our mind all the time. Um, but what else? I think also letting you guys know that they don't need that much. Because many times I've heard my friends, some other moms, saying, like, oh, they don't eat their whole plate. Many times we expect them to eat as much as we're eating, or maybe not that much, but like a very large amount, and they need very little, like they don't need that much, just to put it in context. For example, the protein, like the chicken or the meat, the fish that they need, it would be the palm of their hand. So yeah. The carb, the carbohydrates, it would be the size of their fists, like it's not much that they need. Sometimes they're gonna eat like triple that amount because sometimes they do eat a lot, but that doesn't mean they need to eat that much all the time. So sometimes, as moms, including myself, we worry if they don't eat that much. But I want to put that out there as well that they do not need to eat that much. So I think that's something very important to acknowledge.

SPEAKER_02 21:39

Yeah, that's really helpful too. Because I think Sawyer is so my my youngest daughter, she's three, she's so tiny, and getting her to eat is like a battle all the time. But knowing like that that context is helpful the size of her palm, the size of her fist. Um, she's also like she's a snacker girl, so she'll take like five bites of her meal. And then like 20 minutes later be like, I'm hungry. I'm like, well, you're so we started leaving her plate on the table and being like, you can go back and do that if you want. But like last last night, prime example, I can't even remember what was what she was eating. But she took like five bites per usual, said my tummy's full. And I said, Okay, then you know, be done. And then it was about 30 minutes later, we were upstairs, and she's like, Well, I'm hungry. I need a snack. Like, and then it was I need another snack, and I need another snack. I'm like, You gotta eat your dinner, sis. Yeah, but that's that's pretty common for her of wanting to snack through the day rather than actually sit and eat like a meal type food. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 22:41

This is easier said than done, right? Because I do experience that with my kids too, but setting those boundaries and those limits, even if they're little, like they do learn and understand pretty quickly. So again, easier said than done, because who would want their kids to go to bed uh hungry, but they know, like, oh, if I don't eat my dinner, but then I ask for a snack, and then another one, and then another one, mommy's gonna give it to me, or daddy's gonna give it to me. So they are very smart. So I think like just working on setting those boundaries can be helpful for them to kind of like get in the rhythm and not just around bedtime, but I mean, this is the overall recommendation having like set snack times, eating times. I know again, easier said than done, but like that's the whole idea to have that schedule, and then you can ask them like if they know, like, okay, we get back from school and it's snack time, and if she asks for a snack and it's not that time, you can ask her, Is it did we just came back from school? And she's gonna be no, and then it's not snack time, or like maybe snack time after dinner can be after bath, or I don't know, just setting that very clear, linking that snack time to a very clear action that you guys are already doing in your routine can help them realize because sometimes kids do not have that much um good sense of time, yeah. So, but like if they're already doing something very like in our routine every night, maybe linking that to the snack time so they start learning and knowing what to expect.

SPEAKER_02 24:28

Yeah, yeah, I love that. She calls it her bed snack. So she said, I need my bed snack.

SPEAKER_00 24:34

And hey, that's completely fine. But if she's doing what I heard you say and doing like asking for more than one and not having enough dinner, I think like that could be something good for you to incorporate and see if that works.

SPEAKER_02 24:48

I love that. Thank you. Good tips along the way. We need the yes, we we definitely do. What you know, we've we've talked about the kids too. And so when we come back and look at, you know, if the mom's healthy, a lot of times those habits within the family change too with the kids. And there's a lot of trends and a lot of advice out there. You know, you should be getting this amount of protein or you should be drinking juice or whatever, right? There's so many different things out there that feel really overwhelming and are unrealistic. What are the ones that you are like, love this? Or on the flip side, you're like, no, no.

SPEAKER_00 25:25

Um, I mean, I gotta say that it all goes back to like being very personalized, right? Because we all we are all different and we have different needs, although I do like taking it back to pretty basics, right? I don't know if you guys are familiarized with the healthy plate method. Now I'd switch to the pyramid, but I do like the plate method a little better because it's very easy to visualize. If we are aiming for plates to be or to look similar to that graphic, and for the ones of you out there that do not know what I'm talking about, this healthy plate method um recommends half of your plates being filled with vegetables, one-fourth of your plate, proteins, and proteins are gonna be anything that comes from animal, like meats, eggs, dairy. There are some plants' proteins too, like beans, and I'm not gonna go too much into details of that, but yeah, one-fourth of your plate being filled with that those proteins, and then another one with the carves. Cars are gonna be all your grains: rice, pasta, tortillas, bread, um, I said beans already, right? And and then fruits are gonna fall into the carb group as well. So if we do trying to fill our plates back in um with those nutrients, I feel we're gonna be pretty sad. But going back to like how do we identify some of the trends out there, um, it's hard, right? Like knowing what to like, what's true or what it's not. I think it's just like your common sense, I wouldn't like because me like thinking back prior to all my nutrition education, like how do you identify? Like, I remember one time somebody told me, like, oh, beans are bad for you because they make you gain weight. Like, I want to put out there that no one food's gonna make you gain weight, right? So I think like that's what I mean, like common sense, like also like the protein. I think like protein needs to be glorified, which yes, it's very important, but also everything else, all the other nutrients are important too. And many times we hear like, oh, we need 80 grams of proteins per meal, and that's completely not true. So I think that's that could be a little hard for somebody to know if you do not have these nutrition backgrounds to know how much is too much or too little. But going back to that plate method, that's what I'm saying. Like, if you're eating a regular amount of protein with most meals, a regular amount of carbs in most meals, I think you're pretty sad for um just kind of like to know what you actually need, if that makes sense.

SPEAKER_02 28:22

Yeah, absolutely. And that's helpful to visualize, right? I'm a visual person, and so I hear a lot of like, like you said, you need to get, you know, a hundred grams of protein a day or whatever. And I'm like, what is that even right? What does that mean? And how do you get there? But then to just think about it in a smaller way, yep, feels less overwhelming to me.

SPEAKER_01 28:43

Yeah, agreed. Although I'm picturing my kids have these little plates we've been using forever, and it has the split of like the half the plate and then like the two-quarters of the plate. We have those two. Have I been filling this wrong? I think we have we put a lot of carbs on that plate. We do put a lot of carbs on the plate.

SPEAKER_00 29:00

It's even everyone, like including myself, like, but again, doing what we can, right? But when we're talking about ourselves, that we do have a little bit more of that consciousness, like, okay, even if it's not the hot half of the plate, but as we were talking about earlier, like what's something that we can do better, right? Like, even if it's just like three baby carrots versus no vegetable at all, like that's already a healthier meal.

SPEAKER_01 29:28

Yeah. So, yeah, and what you said earlier in the conversation about exposing them, right? Like putting things in front of them. So just because they didn't have it the first five doesn't mean they're not gonna have it the sixth times. So I think just trying to have that reminder too of we're adding to their nutrition by just exposing them to more things every day. Yeah. And same for me. I ate way different as a kid than I do as an adult, and a lot of it was I wasn't always exposed to all these other things as I grew up and met new friends and families and was a part of just different environments. I tried new food, right? So I think exposure is what I'm hearing too is a healthy piece of it all.

SPEAKER_00 30:04

I mean, that makes me think uh about these funny things that just happened. My brother just gave me some dog eggs. Oh. And that they're like look very similar to chicken eggs, but it's just something new that I've never tried before. They've been sitting in my kitchen for two weeks. I'm like, I'm a little intimidated to eat them if I'm being honest. I ran out of eggs yesterday and I did not eat them, even though I wanted eggs. It's because they were dog eggs. So I'm like, so yeah, that's completely real. Like I and if that's something that intimidates us as adults, now think about kids. Like it can be very intimidating trying new things. So yeah, just giving them that space and doing it little by little and not putting that pressure of like, here's your eggs or here's your carrots, you need to eat them, creating that curiosity. Like instead of telling them you have to eat them because they're good for us, maybe asking them, are they crunchy or are they soft? Like that's something that has worked very well with my kid. If he doesn't want to eat something, I just ask those questions. Is it warm or is it cold? Is it salty or is it sweet sweet? And that create like that instantly creates that cure curiosity in him and he will try it. He might not eat the whole thing, but he would take a couple bites. So yeah.

SPEAKER_02 31:29

I love that idea. We usually do the like take a no thank you bite, but that becomes then a battle, even sometimes. And so I love the idea of coming at it from the curiosity to kind of see if they will try it out of that curiosity rather than the pressure.

SPEAKER_01 31:45

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 31:47

So we talked to a lot about the busyness, right? We're moms, we're running here, we're running there, we're doing all the things on that 47 browser checklist that we hold in our heads. And so I'm in and out the door all the time. And so I'm curious for you, like, what would be some easy like go-to meals or go-to snacks, even of like I used to carry a bag of almonds in the car to like have a quick snack. But like, what are some snacks that you would recommend that we could, you know, grab and go or keep in the car?

SPEAKER_00 32:20

Yeah, yeah, that's a great question. It could even be like a snack or a meal, right? Because I do believe that having like same as the kids, having that schedule, like your breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and maybe some snacks in between. For example, before running out the door to come here, I'm like, oh, it's almost lunchtime. I'm gonna grab something quick. So, for example, yogurt or dairy, like a bowl of yogurt with bananas and maybe some granola or some nuts. That can either be a snack or a meal, depending on how much you eat of it, right? And it was like uh literally took me less than five minutes to put it together and maybe another five minutes to eat it. And I I'm seeing that as my lunch, or it could also be a snack, but if I had eaten a little less of it. So I think that's a good one, like dairy pair with something. And I said pair with something because you mentioned the almonds. Yeah. From my nutrition point of view, I'm always gonna encourage you to mix two different nutrients, like if either like maybe the almonds, which is a healthy fat, with a piece of fruit, or maybe a string cheese that's the protein, and the fruit's gonna be the carbs, just to make it a little bit more balanced, and it's giving you a little more fuel, more nutrients to hold you over for longer. So, yeah, nuts are gonna be a perfect one, or like a really good one too, mixed with something else. Yeah. Dairy, such as cheese or like cottage cheese yogurt mixed with something else. And then, of course, I'm like a big fan of wraps or sandwiches on-the-go meals, because you can put a lot of different things in them, right? Not just like your regular like turkey lettuce tomato sandwich. You can put many different things in that sandwich, and you can make make it a pretty balanced meal as well, or the wrap as well. Yeah, and then for the vegetables, I am a big fan of those ready-to-eat uh vegetables, for example, like the salad bags, and there's nowadays you can find them like with many different toppings or dressings, and it's a very easy way to kind of like quickly and yeah, sometimes you they get old, but and by that I mean like it it can get boring to eat the same thing over and over again, but maybe like some other thing, like the baby carrots, or for me, and cucumbers are like no, like I don't have to think about eating them because I love them. Um, so yeah, just thinking for each of you, like what are the things that you're gonna like, and that bring us back to what do we have available, right? Like that's gonna be another very important topic, like having those things available at home to be able, or like in your car, in your per purse, as you said, Kate. So, yeah, just those easy, easy things that are gonna give you some fuel, some nutrients, even granola bars. Like, I know sometimes like we hear out there, like, oh, granola bars have like a lot of sugar, which some of them do, but some of them can be like pretty good and have like very balanced, or like the nutrients can be pretty balanced. So that brings us to like it's another whole different topic, read reading labels and all that, but just like trying to aim for some that are gonna be whole grains, maybe have some knots in them. Those typically are a little more balanced and not as high in sugars.

SPEAKER_02 35:48

Do you have a favorite one?

SPEAKER_00 35:50

Ooh, what's my favorite? I I've been eating the I think they're called so good in Target that they're kind of like knockoffs from the RXB bar, I think it is. Yeah. And they do have some like protein ones that it's kind of like just dates and cashews or dates, cashews, and blueberries. So there is like regular ones, and then they have the ones that are uh protein added to them, which I feel they're like pretty balanced of affordable for compared to many other ones. And even my kit likes them. Sometimes I have just to cut it kind of like in gummy size. Yeah, here you go, gummies, candy. I like those. Um, what are others? I like some from Costco that are kind of like chewy style, but they do have a little bit more protein. So I do pay a little attention to that because I know I'm gonna be using them as like to go sometimes for breakfast or a snack. So I do want to make sure they do have a little bit of all the nutrients.

SPEAKER_01 36:57

Yeah, I'm just hearing so many good, like easy tips and tricks. I should have met you sooner in my life, I get a Sophia, because it would have been so helpful. So we appreciate you answering all the questions around that. When I think about moms taking on the caregiver roles and nutrition being such a big piece of our days for us personally, finding time for it, the worry that we've talked about that we place on kids' nutrition, I think shifting a little bit into that mindset of moms might be struggling out there. And I think all these tips that you shared are super helpful. But I'm curious if you had to tell a mom who feels like she's failing in this area and just needs some support, like what words of advice or encouragement would you give?

SPEAKER_00 37:43

Yeah, that's a great question. And just hearing you what you just said, that I gave you so many good advice. I know it for many of you out there, it might feel even overwhelming, like hearing that there's so many good things that you could be doing and you might not do them because I've been there. So I think like the advice that I would just give moms out there, like to keep it simple, right? And kind of like go back to the basics. Like just maybe pick a couple to go snacks that you like, or easy meals that you know you are gonna eat and your kids are gonna eat, and keep it very basic. My mission here is to make moms do less rather than more, right? Because I think that's what's gonna feel doable and that's what we're actually gonna be able to do rather than here's all these things that you can add to your life. I want you guys to do less but better, if that makes sense. So, yeah, just like my final advice, just keep things simple and know that simple can be healthy. It doesn't have to be too complicated or too fancy or too time consuming to be healthy. Just let's take it by back to the basic. As you were saying, Kate, at the beginning, eating the rainbow. I I do think that's important, just adding more color to our lives and or to our lives in our plates, right? That's it. But yes. Um, so yeah, just let's keep it simple. I know sometimes that can be not as simple to do, easier said than done as I said it. But also like maybe find somebody to get advice from. Like, I'm not saying to go follow me on Instagram, but yeah, like go follow somebody that you can that you relate with, and then just take the simple advice they might give you and or what fits your life.

SPEAKER_02 39:39

And if someone wanted to follow you on Instagram or reach out to you.

SPEAKER_00 39:44

Well, you can find me at balancenutrition.rd in Instagram, and then in there you can also like find how to join the balance mop method. Um, so yeah, thank you guys so much for having me here. This was so much fun. I hope it was helpful.

SPEAKER_01 40:02

I definitely found it so helpful. Me too. Yeah, it's such a valuable conversation, and like we said at the beginning, I think a very needed one when we think about how this connects so deeply into the day-to-day of motherhood and the worries we carry and all the things that we want to do, quote unquote, right. I think simplifying it and just hearing and having this conversation is very helpful.

SPEAKER_02 40:24

Yeah, I agree. And I think the biggest takeaway from today is that moms don't need more pressure around food and nutrition. It's support, it's flexibility, it's grace, and you don't have to do it perfectly. Like you said, sometimes good enough is just really enough, right? And so we couldn't be more thankful for you coming on today and sharing all of that with us and to all of you for listening in. Um, and as always, you can look managed and feel a little messy on the inside. Yep. And just remember to feel yourself walking away with that.

SPEAKER_01 40:58

Thank you again, Anna Sophia, for joining us. We will be in touch with you again soon because we will continue these conversations, I think, in weeks to come. But thanks for being our guest. And for everyone out there listening, we'll see you next time. Thank you for being here with us today. If something in this episode resonated, we're really glad you listened. Messy minded or not, you're not alone in this, and you don't have to have it all figured out.

SPEAKER_02 41:24

If you'd like to stay connected, you can follow Messy Minded Mama wherever you listen to podcasts. And follow us on Instagram at messy.minded.mama. We'll be back to connect again soon. Thanks for being here.