Fresh Focus

Fresh Focus Episode #90: Top 3 questions asked to an Intuitive Eating RDN

If you are asking whether intuitive eating means you can eat whatever you want, whenever you want, listen in as VA Dietitians discuss the top questions they get asked by Veterans each day.    Learn about how intuitive eating isn’t a diet and doesn’t include food restrictions. It doesn’t mean just eating whatever you want whenever you want, either. Focusing on how foods make us feel often leads us to choose quality over quantity and can aid in fostering a healthy relationship with food.    

Fresh Focus Episode #89: Introduction to Intuitive Eating

Intuitive Eating is a non-diet approach to eating that focuses on our internal cues such as hunger, fullness, and cravings to help guide our food choices.  Tune in as VA dietitians dive into how Intuitive Eating can teach us how to listen to what our bodies are telling us and give us the tools to respond in a way that honors our bodies and our health. Intuitive eating not only has a positive impact on our nutritional choices, but also our mental state.  

Dr. Joel Hamilton brings awareness of the Juneteenth flag with this bonus episode highlighting the arc, which represents a new horizon.

For those with cancer, eating can become a frustrating task. Some foods can aggravate symptoms, whereas some foods can help. Your taste buds can begin to deceive you. Your appetite can vary greatly. There are many appropriate questions and concerns to have during this process, even in regards to snacking. 

In this episode of Fresh Focus, Kathy attempts to answer some of these questions, and also talks about some great snack ideas for anyone that may be dealing with cancer. 

Non-starchy vegetables can be a phenomenal go-to to when it comes to snacking. They are nutrient dense, provide a low calorie source of volume, and they are very affordable! Join Beth as she discusses the benefits of vegetables as snacks, and gives us five usable tips to incorporate more into our intake! 

• #1 – Eat your vegetables first!
• #2 – Try convenient, and easy, options. 
• #3 – Bring life to your sandwiches and wraps with vegetables!
• #4 – Go slow. 
• #5 – Expand your palate. 

Snacking for people with diabetes!? Yes, of course!  As with anything else, proper knowledge and the appropriate incorporation of snacks can absolutely be an option for someone dealing with diabetes. 

In today’s world, there are many advances to diabetes medication and insulin regimens, which allows for intake to be more individualized than ever before. Join Natalie as she shares her expertise on how to identify glucose patterns, understanding common diabetes medications, and determining when (and what) snacks are appropriate. 

Kerri knocks this topic out of the park by getting into the ins-and-outs of concession eats! There are many options to consider at sporting events, and not often are they the most nourishing. There are so many other factors that come into play as well, including what meal of the day it may be, if we plan to eat something small to keep us tied over before a meal, if we are eating just to be eating, are we trying to lose weight, and so on.  

Kerri takes us through the ringer of how we can plan ahead, listen to hunger cues, be mindful, and practice other strategies that can help keep your next sporting event outing a positive one! 

In this episode, Sieger leads us down the rabbit hole in regards to the potential downfalls of snacking. Snacks, although enjoyable and sometimes appropriate, can sometimes be more of a hindrance than a help. How can we identify the difference? 

Sometimes we do things that aren’t quite working in our favor. Sometimes we have bad habits. It’s all about optimizing our intake and improving our relationship with food, snacks included. Join us as we discuss the issues with common snack choices, variables that can influence those choices, and how we can improve our intake structure in a way that works better for us!

Contributors: The Fresh Focus is a team of Registered Dietitian Nutritionists out of the Marion VA Health Care System.. 

Whether you’re a parent with kids at home, or a grandparent, aunt, uncle, babysitter, or friend, this episode is for you! Lauren leads us through some practical tips and ideas to make your whole family’s snacks healthier.

The typical American child eats about triple the recommended amount of added sugars and about double the recommended amount of sodium per day. We can help reduce that amount by starting with snacks and learning how we can make them healthier. We may not have a win with every recipe, but we owe it to our families to find items that are enjoyable while still being good investments in our health!

Listen in as Yaqutullah and Hillary share practical tips to reduce food waste and help save you money and time with meal planning.  VA Healthy Teaching Kitchen provides numerous recipes and meal ideas to fit your taste preferences and nutrition needs.  Have a plan to use up items that you have on hand to make sure don’t end up in the trash as food waste.