Real Food. Real Conversations.

When you aren't vegan and living with a vegan partner, it can be tricky. Just because you are a couple, doesn't mean you have to eat the same!

Today's guest knows about this first hand. She is sharing her experience and all the tips and tricks to make it work!

Molly Patrick is from Clean Food Dirty Girl, where her mission is to help people eat more plants while finding joy in doing so.

Molly and her Dirty team custom create weekly Whole Food Plant Based Meal Plans to teach their subscribers how to shop, cook, and eat plants that taste damn good. 

Upon signing up for the weekly Meal Plans, subscribers gain access to a personalized and customizable online classroom that Molly and her team built from scratch. 

Molly has sent out a Sweary Saturday Love Letter to her email list since January 2014 where she celebrates human imperfections and all the messiness of life. 

Couples and Different Diets

When Molly met her partner Luanne, food wasn't something that centered their relationship. Molly was a creative artist and foodie, and Luanne was in the tech world.

From how they eat to their strengths, they are very different people. They don't take themselves too seriously, and like they don't use their areas of expertise to judge the other person, food never entered their minds as something that would be an issue.

Molly is plant-based and has never eaten meat. Luanne is a meat eater who will eat Molly's food when she feels like it will satisfy her. Food is something that they each individually choose for themselves. It's as simple as that.

Can a vegan live with a meat eater?

A vegan can live with a meat eater if they choose to live with a meat eater. When it comes to relationships, you choose what you can accept and what you can't.

You are in charge of your happiness, and your partners food choices, car choices, music choices don't decide whether you are happy. So when you meet someone, you have to make a conscious choice to accept the other person as they are, or not.

How to Be Vegan if Your Partner Is Not

It's pretty simple, you just do it. It's all in how you look at it, like when your partner decides to buy a car you don't love or blasts the country music when you're a rocker.

We are in charge of ourselves and we don't get to be in charge of others. We can control how we think of someone else because we choose our own thoughts.

If you want to eat plants, then do it. If your partner wants to eat meat, then they can do it.

Compromising on Values and Goals

When we look for a partner in life, values come into play. This is why you have to decide what your "why" is for eating a certain way.

If eating a vegan diet is part of a bigger vegan lifestyle and you cannot compromise in that, and must have a partner who shares that same value, then this is something you need to look for when looking for a partner.

It's a similar issue as religion. If your religion means so much to you that you can't live a life with someone who believes in something different, then don't.

Again, we control our thoughts and decisions. We make our own choices.

How to Cook a Meal for Two Diets

If you do end up in a relationship with someone who eats very different then you, the logistics of meals can come into play.

With Molly, she and her partner have a very simple system.

Molly follows the meal plans from her website. Each week, she gives Luanne the menu and Luanne picks what sounds good. These are the meals Molly makes for them both.Molly likes to batch cook, so everything is ready to eat when it's time for that meal.If it is a meal that Luanne doesn't partake in, since she doesn't like to cook she usually will pick up take out of something she prefers.

It's really that simple. But that's not the only way to do it. Sometimes you want to make a meal that everyone can and will eat. I talk more about this in my episode on making one meal for all eaters!

Learning how to smoothly transition to a plant based diet is key for long term success. Many people go into it quickly and with strict rules.

Whenever you take on something new, it's important to break it down into small reachable steps in order for the end result to be sustainable long term.

What is a Plant Based Diet?

A plant based diet is a diet with foods that come from plants. This means you don't eat animal products like meat, dairy, eggs and honey.

Plant based doesn't mean you are necessarily healthy, there are many plant-based foods that are processed and not nutrient rich. If you want to eat a healthier version of a plant based diet, you'll want to stick to a whole foods plant based diet.

A whole foods centered plant based diet is comprised of nutrient rich whole foods that are minimally processed.

How to Start

As a teacher of 14 years that spent a lot my career teaching students with learning disabilities, the number one thing I can teach when it comes to learning something new is take it slow.

Start by figuring out why you want to make this change. Eating a plant based diet is usually because of the following benefits:

HealthEnvironmentEthical (for the animals)Cost

For us, the reason was health. When you have your why, you can always turn back to it if you get to a point where you are struggling or trying to decide if you want to push forward.

Always bring fun into it. Share new recipes with family and friends and make trying new food about community and togetherness. Try new places to eat, get adventurous because you never know when you'll find something new you love!

Most importantly, don't stress. Learn to chill out and not let the pressure from the online world drive your progress. We are all different, and there is not right way to transition to eating a plant based diet, no matter what others want you to think.

Why you need small steps

Starting slow is really important for long term success. When you jump into something too quickly, you tend to add more stress and burn out in the end.

Here are a few ways you can start slow when transitioning to a plant based diet:

Add one new product at a time- start with something easy to make or buy.Think of it like learning a new cuisine- research recipes and pick one new one to try until that seems easy, then slowly add one more until you feel confident to transition fully or as much as you prefer.Seek support from experts- I love working with clients to help them slowly transition to eating more plants in a low stress way.If you feel stress, back off- remember taking small steps backwards doesn't mean you won't take a big step forward, it is not a race.Give yourself grace- food shouldn't be associated with negative feelings, if you didn't make the goal you set for yourself, it's ok!

Benefits of a Plant-Based Diet

There are many different benefits that eating more plants can do for you. For us, we saw a lot of health benefits, from increased energy, better sleep, improving his heart disease and even weight loss for my husband.

You can read more about the health benefits of a plant-based diet in this article by Harvard Health.

But there are also environmental and ethical benefits to eating less animal products. Reducing our carbon footprint is important for the health of our environment and eating more plants helps with that.

It also helps reduce animal cruelty and mistreatment of animals. If we reduce our meat consumption as a whole to occasional, then the big corporations won't have the consumers to drive their unethical practices.

Tips and Tricks For Long Term Success

The thing about a plant based diet, is that it isn't an all or nothing thing, no matter what the online world wants you to think. Not to say that some people can't do it full force, but many of us find that stressful and overwhelming.

Which is why I totally advocate for eating mostly plants,

Unless it is medically necessary, cutting out an entire macronutrient can be dangerous to your health. Our cells need them all to function.

Diet culture tends to push us towards fear of one kind of macronutrient or another. With promises of looking like a model, we blindly follow what is being sold.

What Are Macronutrients?

When we talk about macros, we are referring to macronutrients. Macronutrients are nutrients our body needs in large amounts (hence the prefix "macro").

We also have other nutrients our body needs. And then there are some that we only need in very small amounts, which are called micronutrients ("micro" meaning small).

The three main macronutrients are carbohydrates, fat and protein. Some say that water is also a macronutrient since we need it in very large amounts as well.

Why do we need macronutrients?

Macronutrients are needed in order for our cells to function. Carbs, fat and protein yield energy. Meaning they have calories that they provide to our body.

When it comes to energy, the first macronutrient our cells turn to is carbs. Carbs are stored for energy short term, so our body wants to use them first.

After the energy of carbs is used, our body turns to fat for it's energy. Fat can be stored long term, so any excess calories from carbs are stored as fat.

The last macronutrient that our body turns to for energy is protein. Once the calories from carbs and fat are used, the body turns to protein.

In general, different parts of our body function best using different sources of energy, so eating a diet with all types of macronutrients helps our body perform best. Again, unless you are guided by a medical professional to do something different.

Diet Culture and Macronutrients

The issue with diet culture is that many people that share diet advice are not licensed professionals. Instead of sharing sound information backed by science, they sell products to make money.

Much of the time, these diets cut out an entire macronutrient category all together promising weight loss, muscle toning, etc.

The diet world is loaded with fat free, carb free, high protein, high fat, etc diets. It's dizzying just thinking about it all.

Eating a Balanced Diet

The problem with following these diets, is you stop listening to what your body is telling you and instead listen to an outside source. This tells your body that it isn't important so eventually you stop hearing it's signals.

This is when people get into trouble. If you don't hear your bodies signals then you can't give it what it wants and needs to function at it's best.

While I don't subscribe to one particular diet (read all about me to see how we eat plants but don't put extreme boundaries on our food), I have had times when I overdo it with food that isn't the best nutritionally or drink too much alcohol.

When this happens, I find that I need to reset myself so that I can get connected to my body again. My Refresh and Reset Guide is my favorite way to do this.

This guide isn't a diet or a meal plan. It's simply a guide with ideas on how to almost clear yourself out so you can hear your body again. Because I believe that overall health is taking care of both your body and mind, I even have some self care ideas in it too!

When I am able to connect with my body again, I know that it craves carbs, fat and protein to be at it's best. I feel the moments that it needs the comforting carbs, those that crave the protein and when I need some good fat sources.

Carbs are not the devil, and neither is fat. You can eat both of those things in healthy amounts. While there are definitely times when I crave one or the other, it all balances out.

Just remember that listening to your body is so important, and sometimes we need to take the time to clear out the gunk (diet culture, overly processed foods to often, over-drinking for too long, etc) so we can hear it.

A plant-based diet when you are an athlete is doable and can actually be helpful. Listen to find out why protein isn't your main issue!

We worry so much about protein in our country. It seems to be the main focus in the diet world, especially when it comes to athletes. But Kayla tells us why we should focus on so much more!

Kayla Slater is a plant-based online nutrition and run coach. She is a Registered Dietitian and a plant-based runner. She has been a plant-based vegan for 5 years and runner for 10 years.

You can find all that she offers on her website Plant-Based Performance Nutrition and find her free resources here!

Is a Plant-Based Diet Good for Athletes?

Absolutely! And some evidence is even showing that a plant-based diet can help performance. They are seeing how all the nutrients we get from plants helps recovery and it may help with speed as well.

While different types of athletes need different things, overall a diet rich in plant-based whole foods gives your body great nutritional sources.

Eating for Performance

Overall, it's important to try to incorporate more whole foods, especially when you are active and want to perform well.

Here are some tips and ideas from Kayla:

It's best to eat about 1-2 hours before your run or workout so you have time for it to settle. You should eat something with a low glycemic index like a bagel and avocado. It's hearty but it won't give you belly issues.

Since everyone is different, it's best to experiment with this and see how your own stomach does.

Pre run/workout (about 10-20 minutes before):

You need low glycemic index carbs. Not high or too much fiberFruit is best because easy to digest, it gives you quick energy since it's fructose. Smoothie, piece of fresh fruit, or fruit based bar like a Lara Bar.

During your run/or long workout:

You want quick energy low glycemic index carbs as well. Energy gels, Kayla like Huma gels because they are made from chia seeds. Tailwind electrolyte powder has more carbs than a normal electrolyte drink so some like to use it.Ultra runners also use foods like dates and mashed potatoes. Potatoes are amazing for runners because they have carbs but are not complex carbs plus they are a great source of potassium.

Post run/or long workout:

You want carbs and protein with a ratio of 3 grams of carbs for every 1 gram of protein. Carbs replenish energy by replacing the glycogen stores you used up when you exercised. Protein is important because you are breaking down muscles during your running or work out and protein helps repair them. You want to eat within 1 hour of your workout. Smoothie or a protein bar are good quick choices. Quick.

After that, about 2 hours later sit down and have a well balance meal that includes carbs, protein and fat. Some plant-based meal ideas would be a veggie burger, burrito, taco, hearty salad or soup.

Protein and Athletes

Protein seems to be the main focus when it comes to plant-based diets and with athletic performance overall. When actually, people in the US do not have a protein issue but in fact are lacking in fiber.

While different kinds of athletes need different amounts of protein, depending on whether you are looking to focus on performance or building muscle, it is possible to do so with plants.

There are many sources of protein when eating a plant-based diet:

beans/legumesnuts/seedsvegetablesquinoagrainstofu/tempehstore bought items like protein powders and plant-based mock meats

Kayla has her runners eat around 1.2-1.4 grams of protein per kg of weight, and she finds that they get all they need through their plant-based diet.

In fact she had one client who needed to increase calories to meet her running needs, and she found that she was getting plenty of protein even with only increasing food intake with things like fruits and veggies.

Plant-Based Diet and Supplements

Life experiences can drag us down, or guide us to make a mark on the world. Listen to hear how this mom turned a problem into business!

We all face issues and we go through life, some with solutions and some that leave us feeling empty handed. It's those problems we need to solve that drive us to create solutions of our own!

KidsLuv: A Business Built through Life Experiences

Ashi Jelinek is a Los Angeles-based mother of three who found the market lacked innovative, health conscious children's products. Before becoming a stay-at-home parent, Ashi started her career in theatre in New York and attained her undergraduate degree in theater/communications at California Institute of the Arts.

In launching The Luving Company in 2018, Ashi brings her personal experiences as a mother along with her passion for health and wellness. Focusing on promoting a healthy lifestyle to her kids, Ashi set out to create a new brand for both her own and other families alike.

Ashi developed KidsLuv in 2018 upon realizing all kids' drinks were laden with sugar and little health benefits, and combined with pediatric dentists' recommendation to avoid gummy vitamins, KidsLuv was born.

She intentionally developed the product to meet almost any need: it's Certified Non-GMO, Vegan, Kosher, Gluten-free, and packaged in an 8 oz. recyclable, resealable, straw-free drink carton.

You can find her on Facebook, Instagram and her website www.kidsluv.com.

How Life Experiences Lead Us to Creating Solutions

Like many other parents, Ashi gave her son the gummy and chewable vitamins. After dealing with the multiple cavities he kept getting, and his dentist suggesting she stop giving him those vitamins, she new there had to be a solution.

Along with that, she was finding herself constantly mixing water with the juices her kids wanted to keep the sugar content low. Which is when the idea of a vitamin packed juice came to mind.

Her focus was less on the juice and more the vitamin enhanced drink. She wanted an easy way to get kids vitamins without struggle and cavities.

As an added bonus, she created this drink with a vitamin D calcium source that was vegan, which was inspired by her many friends who had children with dairy allergies.

Not only did she solve the problem she had with getting vitamins into her kids without the cavities, but this drink helps solve the problem for those of us that either have kids that won't eat vitamins or are always forgetting to give them.

How your upbringing leads to success in business

Ashi is the daughter of immigrants. Her mom was the main breadwinner and worked full time. She owned her own interior design business so from the time she was young she was surrounded by a strong woman as a role model.

She watched her mom build her own business, not only as a woman but as a minority. A strong work ethic was part of her life and a big influence in her building her own brand.

Ashi was also very creative, she san opera and danced as a child. Building a brand allowed her to use her creativity as an adult along with solving that problem she had no solution for.

Along with all this, Ashi grew up in a plant-based centered household with a strong focus on homeopathic and eastern medicine, even before it was the in thing. This developed her drive to look at alternative ways to deal with health.

When her son was very young, he got sick often. Because of her upbringing in a homeopathic home, it prompted Ashi to look into alternative ways to help him. This along with the issues she had with cavities, was the catalyst for her business.

Your Past and Life Decisions

How we grow up and the experiences we go through help guide us in our every day decisions. Both the things we go through and the adults we learn from help guide us.

Had Ashi not had a mother who built her own successful business, or been surrounded by alternative medicine,

Mindful eating is a start in the path to overall well being. The simple practice of being present with food builds our inner confidence.

When we ignore our body's natural cues, we are essentially telling ourselves we aren't trustworthy and placing control into outside sources. Being present with food helps start that positive confidence cycle.

Ashley Kitchens is a plant-based registered dietitian and nutrition coach, who works with clients all over the world. She reversed all of her chronic GI issues with a plant-based diet.

Now, she helps people mindfully and confidently choose foods that align with their health, their goals, and their taste buds.

Download her free Guided Mindful Eating Activity here!

You can find more about her and all she does on her website Plant Centered Prep.

You can also follow her on Instagram, Tik Tok, Facebook and her Private Facebook Group.

What is Mindful Eating?

Mindful eating is basically a form of meditation related to food. It's being in the moment with all things food and your body.

Whether it's being present when you eat, listening to your body and honoring what it wants, or being flexible when it comes to changing up what you had planned to eat because it doesn't sound good anymore, mindful eating helps you be in the moment and honor your body.

While it shares some similarities with intuitive eating, intuitive eating is more specific and follows a 10 principal structure.

Mindful eating focuses simply on listening to your inner wisdom, almost like kids. We are born with the ability to listen to our body, but as we grow and outside factors affect us, we slowly lose it.

How to Practice Mindful Eating

Whenever you want to make a change, you should start small. It doesn't happen over night. We are so used to immediate gratification in today's world, but mindfulness takes time and practice.

Ashley works with clients on mindful eating in her practice. She starts by assessing where her clients are with their food relationship. Because you need to know where you are starting.

Mindful eating is a lot of mental and emotional work. It's basically healing a relationship with your body. Much like you'd heal a relationship with another person.

She believes that you need to start by creating awareness, because awareness precedes change. So starting with figuring out triggers, documenting your feelings and emotions and asking yourself why are all things that can help.

Mindful eating isn't something that will happen instantly, especially if you have spent a long time jumping from diet to diet. It takes time and can take many months.

Examples of mindful eating

Some ways you can practice eating mindfully are:

Sitting down to eat away from work, TV, and devices.Focus on the actual eating, the flavors, textures, smells and even the process itself.Take deep breaths and feel relaxed.Ask yourself if what you have in front of you is something you actually want to eat.Be okay if what you had planned to eat, isn't what you crave in the moment and change it up! Honor what your body is telling you.

We aren't aiming for perfection. It isn't something you need to do all of the time. But the more you practice, the more it will come naturally.

Benefits of Mindful Eating

Any time you practice honoring your body, you are bettering yourself. Eating is just one way you can practice self respect.

When your body tells you something and you ignore it, it's like telling yourself what you want isn't good enough. And then giving control to an outside source.

But when you honor your body's natural cues, you are building confidence. You are telling yourself that you are good enough to listen to and that helps build up your inner self trust.

This will spill over to other areas of life. If we are confident inside, that confidence shines. And we are overall more successful with all we do.

Diet Culture and Mindful Eating

Mindfulness is more than just a passing moment. It's a practice that takes time to see results. With work, it can do wonders for your life!

My guest today chats with us about the process of setting up a mindfulness practice, the positive effect it can have in our life, and how it can be woven into our everyday being.

Lisa Druxman is a mom on a mission. She is the founder of FIT4MOM, the country's largest fitness program for moms, a noted speaker, author, podcaster and powerhouse of energy.

A self proclaimed idea monkey and #momboss, Lisa is passionate about helping women get out of overwhelm and in to a life of health and happiness. She shares her life hacks and experiences to help you live a more passionate and purposeful life.

A respected speaker and author, Druxman earned her Master's degree at San Diego State University in psychology with an emphasis in exercise adherence and weight control.

She created the weight management program, L.E.A.N. Mommy® (Learn Eating Awareness and Nutrition) which is also the name of her book, by Hachette Books. Her most recent book, The Empowered Mama is the "how to" guide to empower moms to live their best lives.

A well-published author, Druxman has written on business for Entrepreneur and on motherhood for magazines such as Fit Pregnancy, Shape and more.

Recognizing her entrepreneurship, Druxman has also been nominated for and received numerous honors from organizations such as the National Association of Women Business Owners for her unique and successful business.

Lisa has appeared on NBC’s Today Show, CNN, Access Hollywood, Hollywood Live Today and Home & Family to name a few. Druxman has been featured in print publications including Entrepreneur, Woman’s Day, Good Housekeeping, Self, Fit Pregnancy, American Baby, and more.

Druxman lives and relishes the FIT4MOM mission statement every day, “Helping moms make strides in fitness, motherhood and life.” She resides in San Diego with her husband, son and daughter.

You can find her on www.fit4mom.com, www.lisadruxman.com, https://fit4mom.com/on-demand, and Facebook.

Make sure to sign up for the 7 Day Free Trial for FIT4MOM On Demand

What is Mindfulness?

The simple answer to describe mindfulness, is just the state of being. It's learning how to practice being a human and to just be in the moment. Whatever it is you are doing, being present and focusing on that one thing.

Lisa had us do a great activity, for one minute simply pay attention to your thoughts. Whatever comes into your mind. That right there is mindfulness.

Practicing Mindfulness

When you first start, setting a time and regular routine to practice mindfulness will help it become part of your normal routine.

But eventually, being mindful will just happen. It will happen in every day tasks, activities, and just life.

Learning to be mindful and present when doing the simplest things, like chores or tasks you need to get done, will help you bring mindfulness into your everyday being.

Lisa started with a task she hated to do, emptying the dishwasher. She began focusing on what she was doing, putting away plates, cups, forks, etc. And what she saw was that being present in the moment helped with her mental well being overall.

She believes that you can turn these every day mundane things into an opportunity to be in the moment. ROE stands for return on energy. Let these chores and tasks be a time to focus on being in the moment or a time to learn and use it to listen to a podcast.

As you get better at your practice, you will be able to bring it into your every day life.

Meditation and Mindfulness

Meditation is part of mindfulness. When you meditate, you are practicing being in the moment. It's not about clearing your mind of all thoughts as much as it's about allowing those thoughts to pass by.

Meditation has been shown to decrease stress, increase focus, help your immune system,

Learning how to understand food labeling claims is so important for avoiding the marketing traps brands like to put on their products!

It's so easy to fall victim to all the fancy marketing on the front of products. Brands know how to draw you in and get you to think a product is filled with wholesome ingredients when that's not the whole story.

Food Marketing

My husband is the first person to fall for the claims on the front of food labels. I love his desire to bring home amazing wholesome foods, but brands love to use the front of their packages to draw the buyer in.

There are claims that brands are allowed to use that don't necessarily tell the whole truth. Here are a few I see a lot:

All naturalMade with whole grainsSugar freeLow fatNo trans fatUsing things like "gluten-free" as a tactic to make buyers think it's healthy.

There are ways you can check whether these food labeling claims are true and avoid falling for what's not fully true.

Importance of food labels

Labeling food packages are a requirement. They are meant to help consumers but they can also be very confusing if you don't know how to read them.

Which is why many simply look at what claims are put on the front. Many consumers read the claims and labels on food, but you need to know how to read them right.

How to read ingredient lists and what they mean

While it's easy to look at the front of packages, turning the food around and reading the labels on the back along with the ingredients is the only way to truly see what's going on.

Here are some tips with reading ingredient lists (you should also know what the rest of the food label means too):

The ingredients are listed by weight, meaning the first one is found in the highest quantity. Be cautious with foods that have a huge list of ingredients. Unless they are mostly whole foods or things you recognize like spices, etc., they could contain many additives that aren't great for you. If the first three ingredients are real whole foods, its made of mostly real stuff.If something is made with actual whole grains, then the you will see the word whole in the first two ingredients.Whole grains also provide at least three grams of fiber per serving so look at the label.Look for artificial sugars like sucralose, sacharin, aspartame and acesulfame.Preservatives can hide, things like sodium nitrite and sodium nitrate are found in processed meats.Three big ingredient categories that can have a variety of names are sugar, sodium and trans fat.Manufacturers are allowed to say something has no trans fat if it has anything under .5 grams per serving, so they will make the serving size super small to reach that. This is common in things like salad dressings.If you see hydrogenated vegetable oil in the list of ingredients it has trans fat.

How Food Labels Can be Misleading

Manufacturers want to sell products. So they often find loopholes in the way they can label their products so they can draw the consumer in.

Many of these claims are misleading and sometimes not true, like the trans fat example above.

Other examples are when they have high-sugar breakfast cereals claim whole-grains but they omit all the other ingredients that make them high in sugar and other added ingredients.

Manufacturers like to label products with things they do have to imply they are healthy. Like no sugar added, yet the ingredients in there are have plenty of sugar and calories.

There are some health claims that are not allowed on food labels though. These include things for treating, preventing, or curing diseases. These are considered drug claims.

Can you trust food labels?

Overall, throw caution to what's on the front of a food package. It's really important to look at the ingredient list and cross check things with the numbers per serving.

You need to know other names for things, especially when it comes to sugar, fat and sodium.

The need to support teen mental health is on the rise, especially when it comes to body image issues. Listen in for some great tips!

The behavior we model as adults, carries on to our children. The problem with body image, is that many of us adults struggle as well. So where does that leave our kids?

Today I am talking to Julie Pullman from Rise Wellness Coaching, a wellness coaching program that focuses on teens.

As a trained professional with a degree in Child Development and a minor in Psychology, and a decade in the fitness industry as well as mom of two teens, Julie offers an experienced and compassionate perspective in her coaching practice.

She had her own journey to overcome health issues and find wellness. She now coaches because that journey showed her what her true potential is and how good you can feel once you achieve it.

You can find her on her website, Rise Wellness Coaching and on her Instagram account.

Gender Differences in Body Image

Body image issues affect everyone. Adults, teens and even young children. It affects all genders and sexual orientations. It knows no bounds. It especially is prevalent in young women.

While most of the focus is on females, males struggle too. Maybe it's because males don't tend to talk about their emotions as openly, so it's not as common that they admit it, but it affects them.

Statistics from a variety of resources say that somewhere between 15 and 25% of eating disorders are in males. So while it isn't as high as females, it still exists.

Because the movement for support isn't focused on males, their feelings are often brushed under the rug.

Age and Body Image Issues

Some research shows that 40-60% of girls between age 6 and 12 are worried about their weight. That's girls as young as first grade!

So if this is a concern starting at 6, why don't we address this? Schools don't have education and support for issues related to body image in elementary, it seems it's assumed that this is dealt with at home.

But if adults also struggle with this issue, how do we support our kids?

It seems like we should start this education young, build them up before they fall. If we can give them the skills to be confident with themselves, this will transfer to so many other areas of life including school suuccess.

The exposure to social media, diet culture, moms that constantly jump from one diet to another, peers and learned behavior all set the stage for young adults with a spectrum of issues from extreme eating disorders to an unhealthy body image.

Eating Disorders in Teens

Eating disorders in teens is on the rise and very prevalent. Teen mental health is suffering and the statistics are alarming:

By 17 years old, 89% of girls have dieted.15% of young women have disordered eating42% of girls in grades 1-3 want to lose weight45% of boys and girls in grades 3-6 want to be thinner51% of 9 and 10 year old girls say they feel better about themselves when they are dieting81% of 10 year olds are afraid of being fat9% of nine year olds have vomited to lose weight

All of this can be helped with prevention. By teaching and addressing these issues with kids before the media gets to them will give them a solid background of knowledge.

The issue is that once young children get exposed to the online world, that becomes their source of information. The not only see photos of what they think they need to look like, they are also exposed to the wide range of diets being sold.

Diet culture is a huge precursor to body image issues. Young kids tend to believe what they see online.

Warning signs

If you are concerned about your young adult, teen or child and want to catch the issue before it spirals out of control, there are some red flags you can watch out for:

They are going from diet to diet.You notice they are restricting calories or whole categories of food.They are seeking constant attention based on looks.

Listen to find out why diets don't work for losing weight and for an overall happy relationship with food, while learning tips of what does!

It seems like everywhere you turn, there's a new diet being sold promising results with little effort and in record time. But the truth is, it's all in the name of making money.

My guest today, Randa Derkson from Randa Nutrition, is a mother of two littles and loves all things food. She's a Certified Holistic Nutritionist and Certified Sports Nutrition Consultant and it's her mission to teach nutrition without a deprivation mindset.

She teaches that you can have all the tasty things, you may just have to tweak a few things (bring on the pizza, chocolate, and wine). She doesn't believe in fad diets (been there, failed at that) or calorie deprivation.

Instead, she teaches you REALISTIC nutrition that you can apply to your family. Because no one wants to eat a salad while their family enjoys pizza.

You can find Randa at her website, Randa Nutrition, on her Instagram account and on her podcast The Healthy Mama's Podcast.

Check out her Real Food Real Life Nutrition Guide.

The Failure of Weight Loss Diets

While it seems like most of humanity is either on or has been on a diet of some sort, they still continue to fail when it comes to long lasting results.

Randa shares her reasons why this is:

There is an end date, you are only doing it for a certain time to lose a certain number.

It's restrictive, you must cut out something so it leads a failure theme where you get into a cycle of binging and feeling bad and being obsessive to get back.

You feel like you are under a microscope and guided by strict rules.

How long do you keep the weight off after following a diet?

The hard truth is until you stop following the diet and go back to your normal way of eating.

Because you are restricting yourself with a diet and not learning how to eat within your normal eating habits, once you return to those habits, the weight comes back.

Why people say it's impossible to lose weight

Losing weight is hard for many reasons, but most of all, it's because it's hard to change our habits. Habits are formed over many years, and changing something engrained in our life is not easy.

People tend to want quick fix, we don't want to give up our normal way of doing things. So we go extreme with a diet, then get overwhelmed and stop.

How to Lose Weight the Healthy Way

While it is important to have a positive body image, sometimes we do get to a point where we want to lose some weight.

Whether we have fallen into some bad habits or stopped our regular routines, it's okay to feel like you want to shed a few pounds if it's for a good reason.

So what do we do? Randa says the theme is balance. When you balance what you eat, you will be better satiated.

You don't feel like you're missing out, you can not only eat your favorites, like pizza, but if you have a slice you won't feel guilty.

This teaches you control instead of the all or nothing mentality. It's a mental game of learning to allow yourself to enjoy food again.

Tips to lose weight for long term success

Her are some of Randa's key suggestions:

Start with water, drink more!

Take small steps towards your goal.

Change habits slowly, it took a long time to form them.

Make small switches in your choices.

Make overall behavior changes, sometimes it's the big behaviors that are our underlying issues.

Losing weight is a mental shift, you may need some deep work. For example things like emotional eating can be based in our upbringing and things we experienced in childhood.

How many pounds is safe to lose a week?

Randa says it is safest to lose no more than 2 a week, but even better to stick to 1 to 1 1/2 pounds

When you lose more it is not fat, it is simple water weight that will come back.

Overall Tips for a Healthy Weight Loss Plan