Nourished Mamas: Nutrition, Weight Loss & Motherhood

Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas are three holidays. So why do we treat the entire last three months of the year like our health goals have to wait? 😂

In this episode of the Nourished Mamas Podcast, we're talking about why it's so easy to write off October through December and what it could look like to keep making progress without skipping the Halloween candy, restricting yourself at Thanksgiving, or turning down every Christmas cookie.

I'm also sharing how I've continued my own weight-loss journey while juggling motherhood, businesses, and travel, plus what I'd actually recommend focusing on if you came to me today wanting to feel better by January.

In this episode, we're talking about:

• Why three holidays can turn into three months of all-or-nothing thinking
• The difference between enjoying holiday food and abandoning your routines
• Why maintaining your weight can still be a win during a busy season
• How I'm navigating weight loss alongside travel, motherhood, and an unpredictable schedule
• What to focus on if you're struggling with nighttime snacking, takeout, low appetite on a GLP-1, or inconsistent exercise
• What could realistically change in the next 10–11 weeks beyond the number on the scale
• Two questions to help you choose one small habit to start this week

Ready to figure out where YOU should start?

Take my free Weight Loss Roadmap Quiz! It takes about two minutes and helps you identify your next steps based on your current season, whether that's postpartum, perimenopause, GLP-1s, or sustainable weight loss.

I'll also personally review your answers and follow up with recommendations, plus an invitation to a free Personalized Recommendation Call if you'd like to talk through your next steps.

--> Take the free Weight Loss Roadmap Quiz.

You don't have to make the rest of the year perfect. You just have to stop treating these months like they don't count. 🤍

What if some of the weight-loss advice you’ve heard over and over again is actually the opposite of what YOU need right now?

Eat less. Skip breakfast. Save your calories for dinner. Don’t drink your calories. Eat mindfully. Track your food so you don’t overeat.

None of that advice is automatically wrong. But depending on your body, your appetite, your life stage, and even the medications you’re taking, sometimes I’m telling my clients to do the exact opposite.

In this episode, I’m talking about why eating MORE earlier in the day can sometimes make nighttime eating feel easier, why I don’t want you saving all your calories for a big dinner, and why your sweet tooth may have a lot more to do with what you ate earlier in the day than what happens after dinner.

We’re also getting into the advice that can sound especially backwards when your appetite is suppressed by a GLP-1 or certain ADHD medications. Sometimes that means distracting yourself while you eat instead of being hyper-focused on mindful eating. Sometimes it means drinking your calories. And sometimes tracking your intake is less about restricting food and more about making sure you’re actually getting enough.

In this episode:

• Why “eat less” can turn into eating too little earlier in the day
• When eating earlier may make the rest of your day feel easier
• Why I don’t recommend saving all your calories for dinner
• What your nighttime sweet tooth may be telling you
• Why mindful eating isn’t always the right tool when appetite is really low
• How GLP-1s and some ADHD medications can change the nutrition conversation
• When drinking your calories can actually be useful
• Why tracking food can sometimes help you eat enough instead of less

Because weight loss isn’t black and white. The advice that works for one woman, or even worked for YOU during a different season of life, may not be what your body needs right now.

Not sure what YOU should actually be focusing on to lose weight?

Take my Weight Loss Roadmap Quiz and I’ll give you the roadmap that fits where you are right now, whether you’re postpartum, navigating perimenopause, taking a GLP-1, or simply looking for sustainable weight loss. You’ll get your roadmap right away, and I’ll personally follow up with what I think your next steps could be. You’ll also have the option to schedule a free strategy call with me so we can talk through what makes sense for you.

Working from home sounds like it should make it easier to stay active. No commute, more flexibility, and technically you could work out whenever you want.

But you can also sit down at your desk, spend four to six hours on Zoom calls, work on your computer the rest of the day, and somehow end up completely exhausted with barely 2,000 steps. 😂

In this episode, I’m sharing what I actually do to build more movement into my own work-from-home days, without turning my entire day into an elaborate wellness routine.

We’re talking about:

• Why being busy all day doesn’t necessarily mean you’ve moved much
• The 15-minute habit I use to get movement in before my workday starts
• Why simply standing up between back-to-back calls still counts
• How I use my walking pad while charting, working on Instagram + doing other computer work
• Pairing movement with things you’re already doing instead of finding another hour in your day
• Using lunch as an opportunity to get away from your desk
• What to do when your work schedule changes every single week
• The difference between scheduling a standing workout appointment and planning movement week by week
• Why I’d rather see you go from 4,000 steps to 5,000 than immediately try to hit 10,000
• How to use your watch or fitness tracker as data instead of another way to judge yourself
• Building your movement floor 1% at a time instead of constantly chasing a higher ceiling

The big takeaway: Working from home might give you more flexibility, but flexibility doesn’t automatically create movement. You still have to decide where movement belongs, and it doesn’t have to require overhauling your entire life.

Not sure what deserves your attention first?

If you’re trying to think about protein, steps, workouts, meals, water + approximately 17 other things at once, take my free Weight Loss Roadmap Quiz.

It takes about two minutes and gives you a personalized starting point based on where you are right now, whether you’re postpartum, navigating perimenopause, taking a GLP-1, or working on sustainable weight loss.

From there, you can also book a free strategy call with me so we can talk about what your next step should actually look like based on your goals.

Take the quiz here.

If your healthy habits only work when life is going perfectly, they probably aren’t going to work for very long.

In this episode, I’m talking about what consistency actually looks like when you have kids, work, changing schedules, injuries, travel, hormones, and all the other things real life throws at you.

I’m also sharing how I’m putting this into practice as I ease back into running after years away from it. Right now, that looks like one minute of jogging followed by two minutes of walking. It is excruciatingly simple on purpose. 😂

Because the goal isn’t to prove how hard I can push myself today. It’s to build something I can recover from and do again.

In this episode, we talk about:

• Why building habits around your most motivated self usually backfires
• The question I want you to ask: “What version of this could I still do on a pretty normal Tuesday?”
• Why trying to focus on 14 different weight-loss habits at once makes consistency harder
• How your priorities may change depending on whether you’re postpartum, navigating perimenopause, taking a GLP-1, or working on sustainable weight loss
• Why I want you to build your floor instead of your ceiling
• What “good enough” can look like with workouts, meals, meal prep, and hydration
• Why doing two workouts when you planned four does NOT mean you failed
• How perfectionism turns one imperfect meal into a week of feeling “off track”
• Why you should let a habit get easy and boring before making it harder
• How to build a plan that can actually survive your real life

The big takeaway:

Consistency isn’t doing everything perfectly over and over again.

Sometimes it looks like a 10-minute walk instead of the full workout.

Sometimes dinner is rotisserie chicken, microwave rice, and vegetables.

Sometimes you planned four workouts and did two.

Sometimes you eat pizza for dinner and simply eat breakfast the next morning instead of deciding you’ll “start over Monday.”

Your floor isn’t the most you’re capable of doing. It’s what you can keep doing when you’re not at your best.

Not sure what YOU should focus on first?

If you’re thinking, “Okay, but I still don’t know what my floor should look like or which habit actually deserves my attention,” start with my free Weight Loss Roadmap quiz.

You’ll get a personalized roadmap based on where you are right now, whether you’re postpartum, navigating perimenopause, taking a GLP-1, or simply trying to lose weight sustainably.

After you get your roadmap, you’ll also have the option to book a free strategy call with me so we can talk through what’s going on for you and personalize your next steps.

Take the free quiz + get your Weight Loss Roadmap:

If you keep saying you want to eat at home more, but somehow it’s 5:30 and you’re ordering takeout again, this episode is for you.

And before we get into it, I’m NOT here to tell you to stop eating out. 😂 Eating out is genuinely one of my favorite things to do, especially when we travel. We love trying different restaurants and enjoying food, and I still get takeout when I’m in a pinch.

The goal isn’t to cook every meal from scratch or never order food again.

It’s to make eating at home easy enough that it actually feels like an option when life gets busy.

In this episode, I’m talking about how I make that work in my own house, including why I use convenience foods AND cook from scratch, how I prep when I have more time to make busy days easier, and something my dad did when I was growing up that made it possible to get dinner on the table in less than 20 minutes without needing a new recipe every night.

In this episode, we talk about:

• Why eating at home more doesn’t have to mean giving up restaurants or takeout
• Why you probably don’t need more recipes, you need fewer dinner decisions
• Planning meals around the week you’re actually going to have
• Why convenience foods absolutely have a place in a realistic meal plan
• How I use higher-bandwidth days to prep things like rice, grilled chicken, soups, and other basics for later
• Creating a few simple backup meals you almost always have ingredients for
• Making dinner decisions before everyone is hungry
• What to do when the meal you planned isn’t going to happen
• Why eating at home more often is a much more useful goal than trying to eat out never

Want me to take some of the planning off your plate?

If your biggest problem is that you simply don’t want to keep figuring out what everyone is eating every week, check out What to Eat + Prep.

Every Thursday, I send you the next week’s meal plan so you know what to shop for Friday or Saturday, plus a prep plan designed to take less than 60 minutes so you can head into the week with food ready to go.

→ Check out What to Eat + Prep

Not sure if it’s for you yet? I also put together a Sample Week so you can see exactly what the meals and prep look like before joining.

→ Grab the Sample Week

Because eating at home more probably doesn’t require becoming a person who lovingly cooks dinner from scratch seven nights a week.

You probably don’t need more recipes. You need fewer dinner decisions.

If you’re a mom, caregiver, or just the person who seems to keep everything moving, you’ve probably heard the advice to “put yourself first.”

The problem is, that doesn’t always feel realistic.

In this episode, I’m talking about what happens when your own needs slowly become the easiest ones to postpone. Not because you don’t care about yourself, but because there is almost always something more urgent right in front of you.

I share a few examples from my own life, including labs that caught me off guard, a dentist appointment I kept pushing off, and a bra that hadn’t fit in months. I also share stories from clients who realized they were feeding their kids every day while regularly forgetting to feed themselves.

The goal isn’t necessarily to put yourself above everyone else.

It’s to start including yourself in the care you’re already giving everyone around you.

In this episode, we talk about:

• Why “put yourself first” can feel unrealistic for moms and caregivers
• How your own needs can slowly become the easiest ones to postpone
• Why knowing what to do doesn’t automatically mean you’ll do it
• What my own labs taught me about paying attention to my health
• The simple lunch habit that helped one of my clients start eating more consistently
• Why self-care doesn’t have to mean spa days or complicated routines
• How to start thinking about your own needs with the same urgency you give everyone else’s

Your next steps

Start by noticing one thing you’ve been putting off.

Maybe it’s making a doctor or dentist appointment, replacing something that no longer fits, eating lunch consistently, filling your water bottle, or finally handling something you keep telling yourself you’ll get to later.

Then ask yourself:

Where can I include myself in something I’m already doing?

If your kids are eating, eat too. If you’re filling their water bottles, fill yours. If you’re scheduling their appointments, check whether you’re overdue for one of your own.

And if you’re not sure where to start, join the free Routine Reset Challenge. It’s a five-day challenge with short videos designed to help you figure out the simple habits that make sense for your life right now.

You can also send me a message on Instagram at @MalloryYounglove and tell me what you’ve been pushing off.

The goal isn’t to become perfect at self-care.

It’s to remember that you’re one of the people you’re responsible for taking care of too.

I learned about GLP-1s in my undergrad to become a dietitian (very briefly and only in regards to diabetes care since it was over 9 years ago...) but learning the physiology of a medication and actually experiencing it are two very different things.

After spending months intentionally changing my habits while my weight stayed stuck, I decided with my doctor (and husband, because out of pocket cost is a real thing) to try a GLP-1 medication. Three months later, I've had an unusually strong response, and being both the dietitian AND the patient has changed the way I think about these medications.

In this episode, I'm talking about what I've learned from my own experience, including:

• The difference between understanding appetite regulation and actually experiencing it
• The emotional whiplash of losing weight quickly after a long plateau
• Why faster weight loss isn't automatically better
• Why protein and strength training have become even bigger priorities for me
• My experience staying on a low dose rather than automatically increasing it
• Why your individual response matters
• The importance of talking with your prescriber and advocating for yourself
• Why medication is still a tool—not a replacement for nutrition, movement and sustainable routines

I'm also sharing why I don't fall into either of the internet camps of “everyone should take a GLP-1” or “no one should.”

Your body, health, preferences and experience matter. And your plan should reflect that.

If you're taking a GLP-1 or considering one, I've also created a free GLP-1 Weight Loss Roadmap to help you understand the nutrition and habits worth focusing on along the way.

You’ve been eating consistently, getting your protein and fiber, moving your body, strength training, and then you step on the scale and somehow you’re UP 2 or 3 pounds.

What gives?

In this episode of the Nourished Mamas Podcast, I’m breaking down why the number on the scale can change even when you’re doing everything “right", and why a sudden increase doesn’t automatically mean you’ve gained body fat.

We’ll talk about:

• Normal day-to-day weight fluctuations
• Sodium, carbohydrates and water retention
• How your menstrual cycle can affect the scale
• Why a hard workout may temporarily increase your weight
• Digestion, travel, sleep and routine changes
• What it can mean when your weight is truly plateaued over time
• Other ways to measure progress when the scale isn't moving

I’m also sharing what I learned during my own months-long plateau, including one part of my evening routine I eventually realized was probably keeping me from being in a calorie deficit.

Because the scale gives you data, not a grade.

If you’re feeling stuck and aren't sure what to focus on next, take my Personalized Weight Loss Roadmap Quiz to get a starting point based on your current season.

How do you stay motivated to lose weight when motivation keeps disappearing?

The answer might be that you stop relying on motivation altogether.

In this episode, I’m sharing how I’ve used simple systems and habit stacking to make healthy habits easier to maintain—even when I don’t feel like doing them. We’ll talk about the nighttime routine I built from one tiny habit, a ridiculously simple solution one of my clients found for actually eating lunch, and how to create routines that make it easier to get back on track when real life happens.

We’ll cover:

• Why motivation naturally comes and goes
• How to attach a new habit to something you already do
• Why you shouldn't try to change everything at once
• How to make healthy habits easier and more automatic
• Why getting off track doesn't mean starting over

Plus, I’ll share how to get started with my free 5-Day Routine Reset Challenge if you want help putting this into practice.

If you've been breastfeeding and feel like you're hungry all the time, you're not imagining it.

Many new moms are surprised by just how much their appetite changes after having a baby. Between making milk, recovering from pregnancy and birth, and running on less sleep than you're used to, your body has a lot going on. Feeling hungrier doesn't mean you've lost your willpower or that you're doing something wrong. In many cases, it's your body asking for the energy and nutrients it needs.

In this episode, we're talking about why breastfeeding can increase hunger, what makes that hunger feel even more intense, and practical ways to nourish yourself without feeling like you're constantly fighting your appetite.

In This Episode, You'll Learn:

• Why breastfeeding often increases your appetite
• How sleep deprivation can make hunger even stronger
• Why skipping meals usually makes hunger harder to manage
• The role of protein, fiber, and balanced meals in staying satisfied
• Easy nutrition strategies for busy moms who don't have time for elaborate meals
• How to support your weight loss goals without ignoring your body's needs

Ready for Your Next Step?

If you're navigating the postpartum season and wondering what to focus on next, take the Personalized Weight Loss Roadmap Quiz. You'll receive a personalized roadmap based on your goals, your stage of motherhood, and the challenges you're facing right now.

Looking for simple meal ideas that fit into real life with a baby? What to Eat + Prep includes six months of meal plans, grocery lists, and the Nourished Mama's Meal Assistant to help you build meals that work for your family without starting from scratch each week.

Have a question about today's episode or a topic you'd like me to cover next? Send me a DM on Instagram @malloryyounglove.