Middleish

Salads seem to be the punchline of many health-focused quips. Referring to them as "rabbit food," our culture has unfortunately stereotyped salads as uninspiring, diet-focused bowls of boredom. We're here to challenge that notion and present salads in an entirely new light.

If you love foodie talk, this episode is for you! We've got recipe ideas, suggestions for adding color and texture to your salads and even tips for exploring greens in new ways (hello, grilled kale Caesar!) We hope you enjoy this light-hearted nod to one of the most under-celebrated meals in the food world today.

Erin Green is a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist, recovering professional triathlete and owner of Erin Green Racing and Nutrition in Boise, Idaho. After years of regimented training, she is rediscovering the joy of spontaneous movement, social runs and exploring unpaved bike routes. Check out her blog and videos at www.eringreenracing.com.        

Michael Gray is a personal trainer, nutritional coach, father of two and a sucker for a bag of gummy bears. See what he's up to at www.michaelgrayfitness.com.         

Let us know you like what you hear! Small donations from our listeners help to support Michael's gummy bear habit or go toward a new houseplant that will inevitably die under Erin's care. We appreciate all of our Middleish listeners! Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/middleish/support

One would think that with such a prolific diet and fitness industry our society would be well-versed in the basics of human metabolism. Surprise! There's a ton of half-truths and misinformation out there. We're here to help cut through the nonsense and provide you with a basic understanding of how your body processes food and nutrients.

This episode hits on basic physiology, digestion, calorie needs, the theory of "starvation mode," and much more. Hang with us, this isn't too science-y but gives you a good handle how a healthy body utilizes food and manages energy intake and expenditure.

Erin Green is a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist, recovering professional triathlete and owner of Erin Green Racing and Nutrition in Boise, Idaho. After years of regimented training, she is rediscovering the joy of spontaneous movement, social runs and exploring unpaved bike routes. Check out her blog and videos at www.eringreenracing.com.

Michael Gray is a personal trainer, nutritional coach, father of two and a sucker for a bag of gummy bears. See what he's up to at www.michaelgrayfitness.com.

Let us know you like what you hear! Small donations from our listeners help to support Michael's gummy bear habit or go toward a new houseplant that will inevitably die under Erin's care. We appreciate all of our Middleish listeners! Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/middleish/support

Parents, listen up! This episode is designed to help you avoid food fights with your kids. Picky eating, excessive snacking, lack of routine, too many distractions...the list of mealtime woes is a long one. In this discussion we dive into the Division of Responsibility, a term coined by child feeding expert Ellyn Satter more than 40 years ago. Through Michael's experiences as a parent (who works with lots of parents) and through Erin's expertise in child nutrition, we provide a framework from which to build healthful eating habits for your entire family.  

And before you think, "I don't have kids, this doesn't apply to me," be advised: we discuss many childhood eating and feeding experiences that shape the way we approach mealtimes as adults. You'll be presented with opportunities to explore your own eating behaviors, which could be just the insight you need to make meaningful change in your food relationship.  

Find Elly Satter's Division of Responsibility here.

Erin Green is a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist, recovering professional triathlete and owner of Erin Green Racing and Nutrition in Boise, Idaho. After years of regimented training, she is rediscovering the joy of spontaneous movement, social runs and exploring unpaved bike routes. Check out her blog and videos at www.eringreenracing.com.      

Michael Gray is a personal trainer, nutritional coach, father of two and a sucker for a bag of gummy bears. See what he's up to at www.michaelgrayfitness.com.       

Let us know you like what you hear! Small donations from our listeners help to support Michael's gummy bear habit or go toward a new houseplant that will inevitably die under Erin's care. We appreciate all of our Middleish listeners! Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/middleish/support

It's Earth Week and we couldn't be more excited to welcome back our good friend, Lance Davisson to discuss all things nature, community and connection. We love how Lance is so engaged in the community around him, weaving together his expertise in the natural environment with his passion for human connection and wellness. In this episode, we hit on how the pandemic has impacted our natural spaces and the ways the earth has provided us with several gifts to help maintain health and relationships over the past year. We even get a tad (gasp) political!

If this is your first introduction to Lance, we highly recommend listening to our first chat with him way back on Episode 10 where he shares his story and why community is one of his highest held values. You can find Lance on Instagram @thekeystoneconcept or on Facebook or LinkedIn under The Keystone Concept.

Here are the links we reference in the podcast:

The Boise Swing Tree - a short and touching story about how a tree in a local neighborhood lives on through the people who loved it and eventually laid it to rest

Earth Day

City of Trees Challenge

Lance's Website, The Keystone Concept and one of his main projects The Treasure Valley Canopy Network

Erin Green is a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist, recovering professional triathlete and owner of Erin Green Racing and Nutrition in Boise, Idaho. After years of regimented training, she is rediscovering the joy of spontaneous movement, social runs and exploring unpaved bike routes. Check out her blog and videos at www.eringreenracing.com.      

Michael Gray is a personal trainer, nutritional coach, father of two and a sucker for a bag of gummy bears. See what he's up to at www.michaelgrayfitness.com.       

Let us know you like what you hear! Small donations from our listeners help to support Michael's gummy bear habit or go toward a new houseplant that will inevitably die under Erin's care. We appreciate all of our Middleish listeners! Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/middleish/support

It might seem a bit odd to hear a dietitian and a personal trainer talk about emotional awareness. Granted, we are not psychologists nor do we claim to have expertise in neuroscience. However, we are humans who work with other humans and we see first-hand how emotional awareness impacts physical health, nutrition and overall wellness.  

How confident are you at identifying and naming your emotional state?   

Are you comfortable talking openly about emotions, or is it too touchy-feely and challenging?   

Why should you even care?   

Because our emotions often drive our behaviors, that's why. And believe it or not, those with better emotional awareness tend to adopt healthier habits, have healthier relationships and have an overall more optimistic outlook on life. Join us for this helpful insight into becoming more familiar with your emotions.   

Research Articles- https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0361684310388785 

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/erv.848 

https://www.6seconds.org/2021/01/08/getting-unstuck-power-naming-emotions/ 

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02699930801961798e 

Emotion Wheels- https://humansystems.co/emotionwheels/ 

https://positivepsychology.com/emotion-wheel/ 

Erin Green is a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist, recovering professional triathlete and owner of Erin Green Racing and Nutrition in Boise, Idaho. After years of regimented training, she is rediscovering the joy of spontaneous movement, social runs and exploring unpaved bike routes. Check out her blog and videos at www.eringreenracing.com.      

Michael Gray is a personal trainer, nutritional coach, father of two and a sucker for a bag of gummy bears. See what he's up to at www.michaelgrayfitness.com.       

Let us know you like what you hear! Small donations from our listeners help to support Michael's gummy bear habit or go toward a new houseplant that will inevitably die under Erin's care. We appreciate all of our Middleish listeners! Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/middleish/support

In a world of devices, schedules, meetings and endless distractions, the concept of eating quietly...mindfully...can be a bit daunting. We can totally relate! Which is why we want to offer some simple steps to infuse a little mindfulness into your next eating opportunity.

Join us as we present a case for tuning into the moment next time you're about to put food or drink in your mouth. Learn about the "Raisin Meditation" and feel free to practice it yourself in the link below. Don't worry, we spared you the experience of hearing Michael do the Raisin Meditation" on live recording...only because we didn't think of it sooner!

Raisin Meditation

Erin Green is a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist, recovering professional triathlete and owner of Erin Green Racing and Nutrition in Boise, Idaho. After years of regimented training, she is rediscovering the joy of spontaneous movement, social runs and exploring unpaved bike routes. Check out her blog and videos at www.eringreenracing.com.    

Michael Gray is a personal trainer, nutritional coach, father of two and a sucker for a bag of gummy bears. See what he's up to at www.michaelgrayfitness.com.     

Let us know you like what you hear! Small donations from our listeners help to support Michael's gummy bear habit or go toward a new houseplant that will inevitably die under Erin's care. We appreciate all of our Middleish listeners! Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/middleish/support

We all learn about food at some point in our lives, whether we like the process or not. It starts during infancy (actually en utero but we don't get into that here), proceeds through childhood and by the time we're adults we have well-established opinions on food.  

"That tastes amazing."  

"That stinks!"  

"Eeeeeewww I hate [insert gross-to-you food here]."  

Whether you have kids or not, we think this episode is for everyone! If you eat food, we think you'll glean some insight from this discussion. You're invited to step into the kitchen from the perspective of a child and revisit your own opinions on flavors, cooking and how we all learn about this complex world of food.  

Ellyn Satter's Division of Responsibility: https://www.ellynsatterinstitute.org/how-to-feed/the-division-of-responsibility-in-feeding/

Erin Green is a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist, recovering professional triathlete and owner of Erin Green Racing and Nutrition in Boise, Idaho. After years of regimented training, she is rediscovering the joy of spontaneous movement, social runs and exploring unpaved bike routes. Check out her blog and videos at www.eringreenracing.com.  

Michael Gray is a personal trainer, nutritional coach, father of two and a sucker for a bag of gummy bears. See what he's up to at www.michaelgrayfitness.com.  Let us know you like what you hear! Small donations from our listeners help to support Michael's gummy bear habit or go toward a new houseplant that will inevitably die under Erin's care. We appreciate all of our Middleish listeners! Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/middleish/support

Our faithful listeners are well-acquainted with "Meaning in the Mundane," included in every episode. We wanted to share the story behind this practice and why it has become an integral part of the podcast.   

Beyond its inclusion in Middleish, finding meaning in the mundane has unexpectedly rooted itself in our lives. It is interesting how we often overlook the most treasured aspects of our lives due to their monotonous, unexciting nature. We invite you to keep an eye out for the meaningful corners of your life that might pass by unnoticed.  

Erin Green is a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist, recovering professional triathlete and owner of Erin Green Racing and Nutrition in Boise, Idaho. After years of regimented training, she is rediscovering the joy of spontaneous movement, social runs and exploring unpaved bike routes. Check out her blog and videos at www.eringreenracing.com.     

Michael Gray is a personal trainer, nutritional coach, father of two and a sucker for a bag of gummy bears. See what he's up to at www.michaelgrayfitness.com.     

Let us know you like what you hear! Small donations from our listeners help to support Michael's gummy bear habit or go toward a new houseplant that will inevitably die under Erin's care. We appreciate all of our Middleish listeners! Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/middleish/support

Few things get people fired up like a good, healthy competition. But what if a perceived "healthy" competition is anything but? Yes, we're talking about weight loss competitions.

In this episode, we talk about the give and take with turning weight loss into a competition. Be it in the workplace, on television (hello, Biggest Loser) or simply within yourself, competing against the scale doesn't always equate to health. In fact, we present a case for focusing on daily behaviors rather than pounds lost. Join us for this fun and insightful discussion.

Resources:

Poodle Science

Race to 270

Erin Green is a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist, recovering professional triathlete and owner of Erin Green Racing and Nutrition in Boise, Idaho. After years of regimented training, she is rediscovering the joy of spontaneous movement, social runs and exploring unpaved bike routes. Check out her blog and videos at www.eringreenracing.com.

Michael Gray is a personal trainer, nutritional coach, father of two and a sucker for a bag of gummy bears. See what he's up to at www.michaelgrayfitness.com.

Let us know you like what you hear! Small donations from our listeners help to support Michael's gummy bear habit or go toward a new houseplant that will inevitably die under Erin's care. We appreciate all of our Middleish listeners! Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/middleish/support

We're willing to bet that most of our listeners have heard the phrase, "Abs are made in the kitchen." This and many similar proclamations swarm the internet under the guise of inspo or "wellness" motivation. 

The truth is, soundbites and memes leave no room for nuance or rational, evidence-based discussion. Furthermore, many of these phrases are nothing more than diet culture propaganda designed to get us to buy a product or service in order to placate our inner critic.

This episode unpacks several of these purportedly "inspirational" phrases that we hear often in the name of fitness and health. We offer reasonable, self-constructive rebuttals to help you silence the voices that cause you to feel less-than and rectify your relationship with food, your body and your mind. A little ranting, a little humor and a lot of logic and compassion are in store for you!

Erin Green is a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist, recovering professional triathlete and owner of Erin Green Racing and Nutrition in Boise, Idaho. After years of regimented training, she is rediscovering the joy of spontaneous movement, social runs and exploring unpaved bike routes. Check out her blog and videos at www.eringreenracing.com.   

Michael Gray is a personal trainer, nutritional coach, father of two and a sucker for a bag of gummy bears. See what he's up to at www.michaelgrayfitness.com.   

Let us know you like what you hear! Small donations from our listeners help to support Michael's gummy bear habit or go toward a new houseplant that will inevitably die under Erin's care. We appreciate all of our Middleish listeners! Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/middleish/support