Greetings!

You’re likely in the thick of it with back-to-school activities. But back-to-school isn’t just about packing lunches and adjusting to new schedules. It’s also a time when kids begin to hear harmful messages about food and bodies.

In this episode of Sunny Side Up Nutrition Podcast, we’re joined by Denise Hamburger, JD, founder and executive director of BE REAL USA, and Selena Salfen, MPH, RD, a public health dietitian working to shift systems toward size-inclusive, weight-neutral models of care.

Together, they share insights on BE REAL’s Let’s Eat curriculum, a nutrition program for middle and high school students that focuses on tuned-in eating teaching students to consider their body cues, nutritional needs, food preferences, and past eating experiences. The lessons are designed to be inclusive across cultures, neurodiverse learners, and varying economic backgrounds.

Click here to visit BE REAL USA, Let’s Eat

Key Takeaways

* Let's Eat is a new curriculum aimed at teaching nutrition without the influence of diet culture.

* The curriculum is free and accessible to all students and educators.

* Let's Eat encourages students to trust their bodies and make informed food choices.

* The curriculum includes cultural sensitivity and celebrates diverse food practices.

* A panel of 42 experts contributed to the development of Let's Eat.

* Educators can access Let's Eat through professional development training.

* BE REAL USA has ambassadors who are trained to deliver th.e curriculum

* Denise and Selena chat about their favorite foods.

Links to Resources Mentioned:

* BE REAL’s Let’s Eat Middle and High School Nutrition Curriculum

* BE REAL’s Body Kind High School Body Image Curriculum

* BE REAL’s Ambassador Program

* BE REAL’s Body Kind Peer-Led College Body Confidence Seminar

* National Alliance for Eating Disorders

* Lutz, Alexander & Associates Nutrition Therapy

* Pinney Davenport Nutrition, PLLC

More about Denise and Selena

Denise Hamburger, JD

Denise Hamburger, JD, is the founder and executive director of BE REAL USA, a nonprofit that imagines a world where every child can grow up with a healthy relationship to food and their body. In 2016, Denise created a professional development workshop for teachers called Body Confident Schools and has delivered this training to over 10,000 educators around the world. With over 250 conference, keynote, and school presentations, Denise has presented at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health to the National Association of School Psychologists; at the Center for Disease Control to their Healthy Schools Division; at the United States Department of Agriculture to their Food and Nutrition Services Group; and to Amazon’s Body Positive Peers Employee Resource Group.

Denise co-developed Be Real’s BodyKind high school, body image curriculum with a team of international body image academics, psychologists and teachers. BodyKind is the first body image curriculum developed for all students. It includes the body image experiences of people of different races, ethnicities, sexualities, gender identities, physical and mental abilities, and body sizes. BodyKind was tested in an 1150-student Randomized Control Trial in Ireland in 2024, and the program has proven to increase to student Body Appreciation, Self-Compassion and Body Appreciation. These aspects are associated with better self-esteem and better mental health.

In 2025, Denise--with Ramsey County, MN Public Health--co-developed and launched a weight-neutral nutrition curriculum called Be Real’s Let’s Eat for middle school and high school students. Let’s Eat focuses on Tuned-in Eating, which teaches students to integrate their own body cues, day’s nutritional needs, food preferences and eating experiences into their eating patterns. Let’s Eat lessons are relevant across cultures, neurodiversity, and economic status.

Denise has a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Michigan Law School and was an environmental attorney in her first career. She co-wrote the legal treatise Pollution in the United Kingdom. Denise is an Anti-Bias, Antiracist Certified curriculum writer. She has spent the last 25 years involved in education nonprofits, including Chicago’s After School Matters.

Instagram: @berealusa

Website: www.berealusa.org

Selena Salfen, MPH, RD

Selena Salfen, MPH, RD (she/her) works on chronic disease prevention in local public health, focusing on sustainable policy, systems and environmental change. Much of her work involves transitioning public health and healthcare systems from weight-focused to size inclusive, weight neutral models of practice. She also presents to educators and school-based health clinics on why weight neutral, eating disorder-aware education is vital to improving and protecting student health.

Transcript

Elizabeth: Welcome to Sunny Side Up Nutrition, a podcast created by three moms striving to bring you evidence-based information to help support you and the children in your life.

Your hosts are Anna Lutz and me, Elizabeth Davenport, both registered dietitians, and Anna McKay, a dietitian-to-be and certified personal trainer.

Anna Lutz co-owns Lutz Alexander and Associates Nutrition Therapy in Raleigh, North Carolina, and I co-own Pinney Davenport Nutrition in the D.C. metro area. And Anna McKay is in the process of completing her dietetic internship.

Just a note that this podcast is for informational and educational purposes only. Thanks for being here.

In this episode, we're joined by two of the co-creators of the Be Real Let’s Eat curriculum: Denise Hamburger and Selena Salfen.

Elizabeth: Denise Hamburger, JD, is the founder and executive director of Be Real USA, a nonprofit that imagines a world where every child can grow up with a healthy relationship to food and their body.

In 2025, Denise—with Ramsey County, Minnesota Public Health—co-developed and launched a weight-neutral curriculum called Be Real’s Let’s Eat for middle school and high school students.

Elizabeth: Selena Salfen, MPH, RD (she/her), is a registered dietitian in public health. Much of her work involves transitioning public health and healthcare systems from weight-focused to size-inclusive, weight-neutral models of practice.

Denise and Selena are two of the many experts who came together to create the curriculum. It focuses on Tuned-in Eating, which teaches students to integrate their own body cues, nutritional needs, food preferences, and eating experiences into their eating patterns. Lessons are relevant across cultures, neurodiversity, and economic status.

Anna: Denise and Selena, we are so happy you're here. Welcome.

Multiple speakers: Great to be here. Thank you, thank you.

Anna: Let's jump in. To start us off, can you each tell us a bit about yourself and the work you do?

Denise: Thank you. I guess I'll start. I'm Denise Hamburger. I'm the founder and executive director of Be Real USA, a nonprofit that focuses on providing the highest quality resources on body image and eating disorder prevention for schools.

I've been talking to educators and parents for almost ten years now about how to create body-confident environments in schools and in homes. We have a presentation I've been giving for ten years called Body Confident Schools, which helps the adults in young people’s lives develop language and understanding that supports raising kids with body confidence.

This language and understanding is very different from what we get in diet culture. In the last five years, Be Real added a new piece to its mission: curriculum development. Teachers had been asking us for better resources on body image and nutrition, and we felt compelled to develop them ourselves.

Our high school body image curriculum, BodyKind, was developed by a team of academics and tested in schools. We’ve tested it three times, and we’ve had four published papers on its feasibility, accessibility, and effectiveness.

We’re starting that same kind of testing now with our new curriculum, Let’s Eat. We also have 150 ambassadors across the country who present our workshops and share our curriculum.

Anna: Wow. We certainly need new curricula, so we’re so glad you’re doing this work and that you’re in this space.

Elizabeth: I want to hear more about the ambassadors, but we’ll leave that for later.

Selena: I’m Selena Salfen. I’m a registered dietitian, but I work in public health, so I don’t see clients one-on-one. I focus more on macro-level policy, systems, and environmental change.

I work on a chronic disease prevention grant, where we support schools in areas like food access, nutrition, and mental health. That’s how I ended up working on Let’s Eat.

I’m also very committed to bringing size-inclusive, weight-neutral work into public health and undoing some of the harm done since the 1990s, when public health began to hyper-focus on weight, weight control, and BMI.

I’ve done a lot of work with WIC, integrating weight-inclusive practices, and expanded that work into other community-based health programs.

I’m also a parent to a child with sensory needs around food, which shapes my perspective. And I’m a Be Real ambassador—that’s how Denise and I met.

Anna: That’s wonderful. I really appreciate the work you’re doing. I imagine it sometimes feels like swimming upstream in public health.

Selena: You know what? It’s been better than I expected—and actually really exciting.

Elizabeth: That’s great to hear.

Anna: We’re recording this episode just as school is starting across the country, and we’re excited to talk about this new curriculum. Denise, can you tell us more about Let’s Eat and what inspired you to create it?

Denise: Sure. I mentioned earlier that I’ve been speaking with teachers for the last ten years. They’d often ask me what curriculum they should be using—specifically one that doesn’t harm students’ body image.

We know from research that what’s typically being taught reflects diet culture and can be harmful. For example, a few studies have asked eating disorder patients what triggered their eating disorder, and 14% in both studies mentioned their “healthy eating curriculum” in school.

So at Be Real, we decided to develop a curriculum that focuses on body cues and interoceptive awareness—helping students learn to eat based on what their bodies are telling them.

Selena was reviewing our BodyKind curriculum when we started talking, and she mentioned she was looking for a weight-neutral curriculum for Minneapolis. A lightbulb went off, and we decided to create one together.

It’s been an amazing collaboration. I come from one angle, Selena comes from another, and we always land in the same place. I focus on making sure lessons are engaging and accessible, while Selena makes sure they reflect the needs of neurodiverse kids, immigrant kids, and food-insecure kids.

The result is a free, two-day curriculum for both middle and high school students. It aligns with the HECAT standards, comes in a 42-page toolkit with lesson plans, slides, and worksheets, and includes required professional development for teachers so they can shift away from diet culture before teaching it.

We were able to create this thanks to funders like the National Alliance for Eating Disorders, Ramsey County Public Health, and the Minnesota Department of Health.

Anna: Wow. That’s fabulous. We’re so excited that Let’s Eat exists. And I love that it’s a two-day lesson plan—not something overwhelming. Teachers often worry about how curricula fit with state standards, but as you said, this aligns well.

Elizabeth: Selena, what concerns do you have about how nutrition is typically taught to children?

Selena: First, I want to acknowledge that educators who teach “good and bad” foods mean well. They’ve been enlisted in what’s been called the “war on obesity” since the 2000s.

Good people want children to avoid chronic disease, but they’ve been told the way to do this is through weight control, calorie tracking, and restrictive eating. We now know this approach is harmful, not evidence-based, and doesn’t actually make kids physically or mentally healthier—or smaller.

Many existing nutrition education tools encourage weight or body fat measurements, food logs, calorie counting, or labeling foods as good/bad. This can trigger disordered eating, poor body image, and food obsession.

With Let’s Eat, we focus instead on helping students learn about food in a way that builds trust in their bodies and avoids shame, guilt, or fear.

Elizabeth: Denise, how does Let’s Eat differ from other nutrition curricula?

Denise: Great question. First, we don’t use body size as a proxy for health. Instead, we empower students to be the experts on their own eating.

We avoid shame-based language, rules, or fear around food. Instead, we use guidelines that leave room for nuance. We also encourage reflection on past eating experiences—like noticing how your body felt after eating—and using that information for the future.

Another big difference is the diversity of input. Thanks to Selena, we had 42 experts review the curriculum, including dietitians, doctors, teachers, researchers, body image experts, and students.

We’re proud of how inclusive it is, and how it focuses on empowerment, curiosity, and calmness around food.

Anna: I really enjoyed lending a little part to the project. What I love most is how you’ve taken weight out of it. Weight is woven through so much of nutrition curricula, but kids are supposed to be gaining weight. Their bodies are supposed to be changing. Let’s Eat acknowledges this and empowers students to tune in and trust that they are the experts of their own bodies.

Denise: Exactly. What we teach is Tuned-in Eating. It’s about helping students feel capable and confident when it comes to food. We encourage them to be curious about past eating experiences—what worked and what didn’t—and use that to guide future choices.

Instead of rules, we provide guidelines. Rules can encourage black-and-white thinking, but guidelines leave room for flexibility.

Selena: One big difference is how we approach foods that students are often taught to fear. For example, ultra-processed foods or sugar. Educators often feel pressure to talk about these, but fear-based teaching isn’t helpful.

Instead, we explain concepts like whole vs. refined grains in a way that avoids shame. If you prefer white rice, you can pair it with protein, fat, and fiber to balance the meal. We also celebrate cultural foods like rice and tortillas, which are often unfairly stigmatized.

We’re also committed to making Let’s Eat neurodivergent-friendly and trauma-informed. Not every student can rely on hunger cues, and that’s okay. Instead of insisting on “no distractions at meals,” we encourage students to experiment with what works for them—whether that includes a tablet or not.

We also acknowledge food access and insecurity. Not all students have choices, so we avoid presenting nutrition in a way that assumes unlimited access.

I’m also proud that we brought in such diverse perspectives. Reviewers included Dr. Whitney Trotter and Angela Goens, co-founders of the BIPOC Eating Disorder Conference, as well as Anna (you!) and many others.

Anna: It really shows. The diversity of expertise and voices makes Let’s Eat so much stronger.

Creating a curriculum like this must have been a challenge. It’s so much easier to be black and white—this is good, this is bad. But you’ve created something inclusive and nuanced.

Denise: Yes, that was one of the challenges. We had to decide how much detail was actually helpful. Thanks to Selena, we avoided going too far down rabbit holes and instead kept lessons high-level and practical.

We focus on the basics—carbohydrates, fats, protein—with a nod to vitamins, minerals, and fiber. Just enough to help students fuel their day without overwhelming them.

Selena: And credit goes to Allie Latvala, who did a beautiful job writing for the age range. It’s a big responsibility to protect young people, and while no curriculum will be perfect, we’ve done our best to make it safe and inclusive.

Selena: Yes, and we’ll continue to make adjustments as we receive feedback. We listened to students and teachers during evaluation, and we’ll keep listening if improvements are needed.

Anna: That’s so important. What did students and teachers say during the pilot?

Denise: We tested it with 250 students. Their feedback was invaluable—everything from whether the images felt too young or too old, to what activities were engaging.

One teacher, Sarah, had her students list reasons we eat, beyond hunger. They filled the board with 100 reasons—celebrations, traditions, comfort, fun. We added that activity to the curriculum, because it gets students thinking about eating as a multi-dimensional experience, not just fuel.

Anna: I love that. So many nutrition classes reduce eating to just nutrients or body size. Asking students to reflect on the many reasons we eat helps them appreciate the full picture.

Elizabeth: Denise, for parents and educators who want to bring Let’s Eat into schools, how can they access it?

Denise: There are two main ways. First, it’s free. At conferences, we hand out postcards with QR codes. Scanning the code takes you to our professional development training. After completing the training and a short test, teachers gain access to the full toolkit, slides, and worksheets.

Second, educators can become Be Real Ambassadors. Ambassadors get access to our presentations and resources, and they bring them into their communities. Right now, we have about 150 ambassadors around the world—teachers, dietitians, public health educators, and more.

We provide them with templates, letters, agendas, slides, and other materials so they can succeed in sharing this work locally.

Anna: That’s incredible. You’re not only creating a curriculum—you’re creating a movement.

Anna: What challenges did you face in creating a curriculum that’s both helpful and impactful without causing harm?

Selena: It was definitely tricky. We could have created a “masterpiece” that said exactly what we wanted, but it might not have been usable in schools. Teachers often have to align with CDC HECAT standards.

We worked hard to meet most of the knowledge expectations, but we were intentional about skipping some. For example, one standard asks students to “analyze healthy and risky approaches to weight management.” We didn’t include that, because it would reinforce harmful weight-focused thinking.

Another standard says to “avoid sugary drinks.” Instead, we reframed it around hydration—water, milk, and other options—while acknowledging that sugary drinks exist without making them forbidden.

Denise: Teachers don’t expect every curriculum to meet every single standard, but we wanted to cover most. And it was important that Let’s Eat still teach the core of nutrition—like macronutrients and hydration—just in a less fear-based way.

Selena: Exactly. We frame carbohydrates as “short energy” and protein and fat as “long energy.” It helps students contextualize food in ways that feel supportive, not restrictive.

Anna: That’s such a refreshing approach. All right, let’s move into our last question. We love to ask our guests: what’s one of your favorite foods right now? It doesn’t have to be forever, just what you’re enjoying at the moment and why.

Denise: I just made a summer fruit buttermilk cake with Michigan cherries, blackberries, peaches, and blueberries. We had four cups of fruit in it. My kids were visiting, and we finished the whole cake in under an hour. It was so good I’ve been waking up thinking about when I can make it again.

Anna: That sounds amazing. And you may not know this, but Elizabeth used to be a professional baker.

Denise: Oh, then I’ll have to send you the recipe!

Elizabeth: Please do. Selena, what about you?

Selena: I had to think about this. I love all foods, so nothing stood out at first. But then I realized I’ve been cooking a lot from the cookbook Curry Every Day by Atul Kochhar. It’s full of curries from around the world. I know it’s summer, but I still love making them.

Elizabeth: That sounds wonderful. I’m going to have to check that out.

Anna: Thank you both so much for joining us and for sharing your work. Let’s Eat is such an important resource, and we’ll link everything in the show notes so parents and teachers can access the training and curriculum.

Denise: Thank you—it was a pleasure.

Selena: Thank you so much.

Anna: And thank you to our listeners. If you enjoyed this episode, please take a moment to rate and review us in your podcast app. Just scroll down to the stars in Sunny Side Up Nutrition Podcast and leave a review.

We’d also love for you to join our 12-module membership, Take the Frenzy Out of Feeding. Visit our website and look for the Membership tab to join today.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit snutrition.substack.com

Hi Friends,

It’s that time of year again - Back to School! We’ll be sharing plenty of back-to-school content over the coming weeks to help you feel ready to start the school year. If you’re dreading school lunch packing, then this podcast episode is for you. Anna and I offer realistic advice to simplify packing lunches.

Key Points

* Why lunch packing feels overwhelming

* The pros and cons of bento-style lunch boxes

* Easy, practical ways to streamline lunch packing

* How to deal with uneaten lunches

* Ideas for lunches to pack

Resources

* Simple Black Beans and Rice Recipe

* Easy Black Beans, Corn & Tomatoes

* Sunny Side Up Nutrition: Lunch Packing Ebook

* Pottery Barn Bento Lunch Boxes

* Pinney Davenport Nutrition, PLLC

* Lutz, Alexander & Associates Nutrition Therapy

Transcript

Ep. 105 – Back-to-School Lunch Packing Tips

Anna: Alright. We're back. We're back. Elizabeth, this is so much fun. I'm excited to talk to you about lunch packing. Woohoo!

Elizabeth: And guess what? I'll start the episode by saying I am finished packing lunches.

Anna: Oh, I'm so jealous.

Elizabeth: because my youngest is about to go off to college.

Anna: Wow.

Elizabeth: So I'm a little sad because it's been a big—it's been a job that I've always done.

Anna: Yes.

Elizabeth: Not in the summers. They do their own lunches in the summers, but during the school year...

Anna: Well, you have a lot of wisdom to pass on. And I'm so jealous. I have another nine years of lunch packing. That's all. No big deal. Well, school is about to start for us, I guess at the end of the month. End of August here.

Elizabeth: Yeah, it starts, I guess, mid-August here. It starts August nineteenth, I think. Here.

Anna: Wow. Wow.

Elizabeth: In Alexandria City. I don't know about the rest of the DC metro area, but yeah, it's coming up. Summer has flown.

Anna: And I know when school starts approaching for me, I start to think, oh gosh, we've got to get back to lunch packing. My child's at a camp this week that they don't have to pack lunch, and it was like celebration time.

Why do you think it's so dreaded? Why do you think packing lunches is such a dreaded thing for so many parents?

Elizabeth: I think, in part, because you have to come up with ideas for what to pack. So it's one more thing you have to think about and manage as part of the mental load. Often we do it in the morning, and mornings for many people tend to be rushed. And I think other reasons that make it dreaded is it's just kind of a boring task and you do it over and over. I mean, if you think about the number of years your kids go to school, that's a lot of lunches.

Anna: Yes - so true.

Elizabeth: And as I always share, I opted—and I'm not saying people have to do this—but I opted to pack my kids' lunches all the way through high school. I felt like that was a job I could do. And in my mind, they were still learning what goes into lunch, because they would see what I packed.

But back to what you think people dread about it... I also think kids have different likes and dislikes. And if you have multiple kids and you're trying to keep things simple and pack the same things, that can be tough.

Anna: Can be, can be. You need to have the items on hand, right? There are all these steps: the items on hand, the proper packing stuff, the containers or lunchboxes—whatever that looks like. If there's utensils involved, there's just... there's a lot.

Elizabeth: And I'm going to say this—I don't know if I'm jumping ahead—but one of the things I’ll say is about the lunch packing supplies, the lunch boxes and bags. I think the bento boxes are great. I use a couple different ones for my younger daughter. However, I almost always have to pack something outside that bento-style box. It's very hard to give kids enough in those, and I'm not criticizing them. I'm just saying this because we see them so often on social media. Every time I see them, I think, oh, that can't be enough for a child. Maybe it's just the way it looks on the screen.

Anna: Right. Right.

Elizabeth: Again, they're great because young kids can open them up and see everything—they don't have to open a bunch of containers. So there are some real benefits. But you also have to think: what’s going to fit in there? Sometimes I have to change what I'm using because it didn’t fit.

Anna: Oh, totally.

Elizabeth: I'm like, what of this is going in there?

One piece of advice is to have a number of different things that you use so you’re not just restricted to one type of container.

Anna: Right. I agree. I think that makes total sense.

And, you know, of course we're talking today about school-aged children. So that could be anyone from age three—if they go to preschool or daycare—up to eighteen. And so, of course, there are different needs and different size containers.

But I'm with you. Some of those bento-style boxes are not enough for my older children. I do use—and we've written about this—the Pottery Barn ones for my younger child.

Elizabeth: Yes.

Anna: They're a little deeper, I think, than some of the others. But there are lots of lunches that don't work in that.

Elizabeth: Right? Can you still buy those? We'll look and see if we can link to them in the show notes.

Anna: I just bought our new Pottery Barn lunch box. We buy them because they have a strap, and she needs one she can throw across her body. And then the bento boxes they sell fit in there.

Anna: But again, we don’t work with Pottery Barn.

Elizabeth: Yeah. Not sponsored by Pottery Barn. Just sharing helpful information.

Anna: Yes.

Elizabeth: We keep this ad-free for you all.

Anna: Alright, so I'm kind of curious. Do you feel like there are some main pitfalls that make packing lunches harder for people than it needs to be? What are the things you commonly see when you work with parents?

Elizabeth: I mean, I’ve seen so many different things. Let me think of a good example. I've seen parents come in who are packing their child the same thing every day, and they're worried about doing that. And I think that's okay.

School cafeterias typically are very busy, noisy places. They have a short time to eat lunch. It’s not like a calm, pleasing environment. So just send what they'll eat.

I think parents also may feel pressure to pack some sort of perfect lunch. You see these on social media. And if that brings you joy, that’s great. It’s okay if it brings you joy to cut the veggies into little shapes and stars.

But in my mind, for some people, that’s a form of pressure for the kid to eat the food.

Anyway, I’m getting off topic again.

I just think parents are under so much pressure—to be perfect, to plan something different every single day—and it’s just not realistic.

Anna: That’s right.

Elizabeth: We're all about simplifying things.

Anna: Right. But I think you’re exactly right—that pressure of “It needs to be this. It needs to be this. It needs to be this…” It doesn’t. I think that’s the biggest pitfall: succumbing to that pressure.

Elizabeth: I think you’re right. And if your kid likes the school lunch? That is great. We're not saying in this episode that parents have to pack their kids’ lunches.

Anna: That’s right.

Elizabeth: We are big fans of school lunches.

Anna: Absolutely. I’m very excited when my child wants to buy the school lunch. Unfortunately, they prefer packed lunch.

Elizabeth: In some schools—honestly, like in my kids’ schools—the schools were just too big. I mean, the high school had 4,500 students. There’s not enough time to get in line, get lunch, eat, and get back to class. So it’s really hard to make that happen. Even in elementary school.

Anna: Yeah, that makes sense. I’m going to circle back to something you said a few minutes ago because I think it’s important: you said you packed your children’s lunches all the way through, which is great. Like you said, it was modeling, and they could focus on other things. And some parents do it differently.

So I’ll share what we’ve done. When they’ve gotten to a certain age—upper middle school, maybe—I might have them help me. I’d say, “I’m going to make the sandwich. Why don’t you grab a fruit and some chips?” So we’d do it together.

But what I’ve also noticed is that as my oldest child got busier and busier, I went back to packing her lunch.

Just to give you a picture—there’s no wrong or right. We get asked so often, “At what age should you stop packing your child’s lunch?”

Elizabeth: Exactly. And there’s no right answer.

Anna: Involving them in an age-appropriate way is fine. You doing it so they can focus on other things is great, too. There’s no wrong or right when it comes to that.

Now, I will say, something you and I have both seen is when a child is given these responsibilities too early—like making their own lunch or dinner—and they might not have the skills to do that, they still need their parents’ care when they’re young.

Elizabeth: Yes, there is such a thing as “too young.” The scaffolding is removed, the support is taken away too early—and that’s what we see in our office when we see clients, for sure.

In high school, I really think it’s one of the reasons I kept packing their lunches—because of the work I’ve done over these years. We see kids in our offices who need their parents to go back to packing their lunches.

As you said, high schoolers get busier. They still need a lot of sleep. Packing lunch is their last priority. It’s unlikely they’re going to pack enough or even remember to pack it. They may just leave with no lunch if they’re really busy.

If you have kids entering high school—or even middle school, as they start getting busier—that’s something to be mindful of.

Anna: I wanted to mention—we have an ebook on our website that’s about lunch packing. It’s called Reboot Your Lunch Packing... or Take the Stress Out of Lunch Packing. I can’t remember the exact name right now. But it has great resources, including items to purchase and steps to make lunch packing simpler.

Elizabeth: Yeah, if you want to do a deeper dive—ask questions, share things you're making for lunch, or get ideas—that’s a great resource.

Okay—tips for making lunch packing easier. One of the things that comes to mind—and this goes back to general meal planning—is: when you plan your meals for the week, include lunches in that planning. Also think about what meals might make good leftovers that can work for lunch.

That’s something I really relied on. Then all you have to do is pour boiling water in the thermos—I'm miming putting the lid on the thermos—let it sit for 10 minutes to heat up. Reheat the food in the microwave. I like to reheat in glass or microwave-safe bowls. Put the food in the thermos and you’re good to go.

Some people might say, “Ah, a sandwich would be so much easier”—and that’s great too!

Another tip can be: just pick two things you’re going to make for lunch that week. It doesn’t have to be different every day. I would even jot down the sides I planned to include—just to make it easier on myself.

They might have carrots, apples, and cookies five days in a row—paired with different entrees or sandwiches. I also love things like peanut butter crackers. That’s not as easy for really young kids, but for older ones, it works. Or salami, cheese, crackers, a yogurt, and then some sides—veggies, fruit...

Another thing that simplifies lunch packing is our meal formula. Think of it this way: an entrée, a fruit and/or veggie, and two or more sides.

Your high school athlete is going to need many more sides. Your growing elementary schooler may also need more than two or three sides.

:Another great tip: check in with your kids at the end of the day. Ask, “Was that enough lunch for you?” or “Are you staying satisfied through the day?” or “Are you getting hungry too early?” Just periodic check-ins like that.

Anna: That’s great. During the school year, when I’m planning meals for the week, I try to think of one dinner that can double as a lunch. It even helps me pick what to make for dinner.

Elizabeth: Yes! In the book, we have so many ideas for lunches you can make—and dinners that work well as lunch leftovers.

Anna: That’s great. Those are all really great tips. Do you think it would be helpful for us to talk a little bit about the steps we outline in the membership?

Elizabeth: Okay, one more simplifying tip: use prepackaged foods.

Now, we do try to be conscious of not using too much packaging, but we also need to be realistic about our bandwidth.

And I think I can speak for both of us on this—yes, it’s okay to buy the big box of individually bagged chips from Costco or the grocery store. Then all you have to do is toss it in the lunchbox.

Anna: Totally. That’s a great thing to consider.

Elizabeth: Or the pre-made peanut butter and jelly sandwiches or things like that.

Anna: Alright, so to think about what we share around simplifying your lunch packing… because I really want our listeners to be able to say, “Okay, here are a few things I can do.”

I know one major thing we talk about is making a master lunch list.

Elizabeth: Yes! Oh, I forgot about that.

Anna: So, make a list with three components: 1. entreés, 2. fruits and veggies, 3. sides

Sides could be crunchy things like chips or pretzels, or yogurt, cheese sticks, or even dessert. The idea is to build out a list of all the options in each of those three categories.

And what you highlighted at the beginning is one reason lunch packing is so hard—there are so many decisions. So by having a list, you decrease the decision-making.

Literally, if you can pull out your list and say, “Entrée, fruit or veggie, sides…” you’ve simplified the process. Or like you said—sometimes you even plan it all out at the beginning of the week.

Elizabeth: Right. We want to decrease your decision-making because we all know about decision fatigue. Once we’ve made a million decisions, our brain just stops—especially at 7 a.m., or 6 a.m., or even 5:30 a.m. depending on when your kid has to leave for school.

Anna: Exactly. So that’s a big one: make a master list. And when you’re dreading packing lunches, pull it out and just start—pick one category and get going.

And we’ve already talked about the second step—our simple structure of entrée, fruit and/or veggie, and two-plus sides. And the third step is including lunches in your meal planning—which we’ve also covered.

Elizabeth: Yep. Cook once, eat twice. That’s the way to do it.

Anna: And the last one—why don’t you talk about it? What do we mean by embracing the gray?

Elizabeth: Lunches don’t need to be photo-perfect. I think I touched on this earlier. We are bombarded with images of perfect lunches—especially bento-style boxes, which I’m not criticizing—but the ones we see are often filled with fruits and veggies cut into shapes, little food picks, and all that.

And then there's this pressure to pack something new and interesting every day. But it doesn’t have to be that way.

Embracing the gray is reminding yourself: keep it simple. Your kids need food they can eat quickly at school that will fuel them for the day. That’s it. It doesn’t have to be perfect.

Anna: That’s great. Take that pressure off.

I’m imagining there might be a parent listening who’s thinking, “Okay, but what if I make my child’s lunch and it comes back uneaten?” Or “What if I don’t pack this exact lunch every day and my child doesn’t eat anything?” Okay, so two questions: 1. What if they don’t eat? 2. What if you feel like you have to pack the same thing every day for them to eat?

Elizabeth: So let’s start with: what if they don’t eat?

You can just say, “Oh, I noticed you weren’t able to eat your lunch. What was going on today?” I’ve made the mistake of saying, “Oh my gosh, what happened?! You didn’t eat your lunch!” and that is a surefire way to get your kid not to tell you the truth.

Anna: Or to throw away their uneaten lunch so you don’t say that next time.

Elizabeth: Exactly! And it’s a natural instinct—you’re thinking, “They went all day without food!” But try to stay calm and be curious. Think of it as a chance to support them and learn what’s impacting them—especially if it starts happening repeatedly.

Anna: You never know what you’ll hear—it might not be what you expect.

Elizabeth: The second question was about packing the same lunch every day. If your child will only eat four specific things, I think it’s okay to rotate those. You’re obviously going to mix things up a little over time, but there’s no rule saying lunch has to be different every day.

I’d ask yourself: where is that worry coming from? Is it something internal—like feeling pressure to “do it right”? Maybe it’s an opportunity to ask your child if they’d like to switch from peanut butter and jelly to peanut butter and honey. You don’t have to change the whole lunch. A small tweak can go a long way.

Anna: Where that can really bump up against a parent’s stress is when they have multiple kids with different preferences. Now they’re making two or three different lunches.

Elizabeth: Yes. I was only thinking about making one lunch! That’s why this gets so complicated.

Elizabeth: Exactly. If you’re making multiple lunches, it’s important to remember: not everyone has to love every component every single day—and that’s okay. And just to note, we’re not talking here about someone with extreme picky eating or feeding challenges.

It’s okay if they don’t eat every part of their lunch—just like it’s okay if they don’t eat every part of dinner.

Anna: I don’t think that contradicts what you said earlier. I think it highlights the nuance. It’s okay to balance your needs as a parent with your child’s needs. And those needs change!

Elizabeth: They do. They evolve over time.

Anna: And in those cases—if your kids are older, or even if they’re younger and it won’t stress you out—you can involve them in packing their lunch. You can say, “I’ll make the sandwich, you grab the sides.”

Elizabeth: And if the sides are prepackaged, they can do that easily—even younger kids. They can grab an applesauce pouch or sliced apples, or a couple other pantry snacks. Simple.

Anna: To wrap up, what’s one piece of advice you’d want a parent to take away from this episode—especially if they’re dreading packing lunches?

Elizabeth: Whatever you can do to simplify it. Maybe that means asking your child to buy lunch one or two days a week—if they have enough time to get through the lunch line. Or maybe it’s doing some prep the night before while cleaning up from dinner.

Anna: Yes, that works really well for a lot of people. You’re already in the kitchen. It’s already messy.

Elizabeth: Exactly. Sandwiches, for sure, can be made at night. And that could be when kids help, too—especially younger kids who aren’t off doing homework or sports yet.I don’t know if that helps at all, but I hope so!

Anna: No, I think that’s great. Just think: What do you need to simplify?

Okay, last question. What’s one unique food item you’ve packed in a school lunch—either an entrée or something fun?

Elizabeth: Well, this feels a little extra, but we live in a neighborhood with a cheese shop, and my kids love these mini finocchiona salamis—“mini finies,” we call them. I’d slice those up with meats and cheeses. They loved it.

Anna: Yum! For me, I don’t know if this is unique, but we just had it for dinner this week—our Simple Black Beans and Rice recipe with tortilla chips. It’s on the blog. It goes great in a thermos, with avocado, shredded cheese... simple and satisfying.

Elizabeth: Exactly. And if you want to send avocado, here’s a tip: I send half an avocado, still in the skin, face down in a container with a slice of lime. They scoop it out and add some salt. It sounds extra, but it works!

Elizabeth: And if all they eat is avocado and chips, they’ll still be satisfied!

Elizabeth: One more: You’ve made another black bean recipe that’s on our blog—a black bean, corn, tomato mix with rice. I used to make it just for lunch, or as dinner leftovers. My kids now say, “You gave me that a lot,” but hey—they ate it!

Anna: Maybe someday they’ll feel nostalgic.

Elizabeth: Maybe! Another easy one: a batch of pasta with tomato sauce—or even plain pasta. Just reheat and toss it in a thermos. Super easy.

Elizabeth: Alright—this was awesome.

Anna: Good luck, everyone, as school starts! Bye!

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit snutrition.substack.com

HI Friends,

Elizabeth here. I was so excited to have a chance to chat with Anna Mackay for our latest Sunny Side Up Nutrition Podcast Episode. In this episode, we offer supportive, non-diet guidance for students transitioning to college life or boarding school. Our conversation draws from both personal and clinical experience working with teens about to leave home.

Transitioning from home to college (or boarding school) is a major life transition. And navigating food is a big part of that. How can students navigate dining halls, class schedules, and making sure they’re meeting their nutritional needs?

In our latest podcast episode, I’m joined by Anna Mackay, our 3rd host, to dive into simple, easy meal planning strategies designed specifically for college students on a meal plan. We chat about

* How students can maintain regular meals amidst their new lives as college students

* Easy snack ideas to keep in their dorm rooms

* Simple meals students can cook in a dorm kitchen

* How to confidently handle diet culture messages they’ll inevitably encounter

Tune in to get practical advice that supports a realistic and flexible approach to nutrition for students living away from home.

Transcript

Elizabeth: Hi, Anna. I'm here with Anna Mackay. If you're a longtime listener of ours, you know that Anna was really the person who started the Sunny Side Up Nutrition podcast as part of a project when she was in grad school. She's a certified personal trainer and recently earned her RD degree in Australia. So I'm so excited to have you here, Anna.

Elizabeth: We never record together anymore because Anna's been very, very busy and lives truly on the other side of the world from us, so it's hard to coordinate. We're excited that she's back here on the East Coast for a little bit.

Anna: Yeah, that 14-hour time difference really complicates podcast scheduling. Today we’re talking about teens, kids, and young adults who are moving away from home and might need support navigating nutrition and meal planning. This episode focuses primarily on those using a meal plan—college students and, less commonly, kids at boarding school. I have two kids in boarding school, so this is definitely relevant to me. We'll explore how parents can support kids who rely on a meal plan for most of their meals and snacks.

Anna: So, Elizabeth, what do you think are some of the biggest food-related challenges these students face when living away from home for the first time?

Elizabeth: It's a major transition, and I think we forget that sometimes. We often assume they'll automatically know how to navigate dining halls. One big challenge is managing their schedules and making sure they eat regularly—it's hard to catch up if they skip meals. Many students are still growing, especially younger teens in boarding school. Another issue is missing familiar foods from home, which makes it hard to find things they like. Scheduling also plays a role—sometimes students need to eat when they aren’t hungry just because that’s when they have time. And at home, parents typically handle the shopping and cooking, so students may be unprepared for that shift. Thankfully, a dining hall can ease that transition.

Elizabeth: Also, sleep often gets disrupted, which impacts eating habits too.

Anna: That's a really good point. And the food familiarity is something we might overlook—it’s not just about the food itself but the whole environment. Students go from the comfort of eating at home to a bustling dining hall, which can be overwhelming, especially if they’re sensitive to noise or smells.

Elizabeth: Yes, and if a student has a hard time with that, they can often work with the university to arrange accommodations.

Anna: What suggestions do you have for students when it comes to class schedules and planning meals and snacks?

Elizabeth: When we talk about meal planning as non-diet dietitians, we mean flexible planning that sets people up for success—not rigid or prescriptive plans aimed at eating less or being "super healthy." I suggest looking at the student’s class schedule and identifying times and places they can eat. If there are multiple dining options, figure out which ones they'll use. If they can’t get to a dining hall, maybe they bring a sandwich, fruit, and chips. It’s also important to think about weekends, when dining hall hours might be different. If the hall doesn’t open until noon, early risers need something on hand. Parents can casually ask about this, like, "What’s your schedule like? Where do you think you’ll eat lunch or dinner?"

Elizabeth: I also always remind students to have snacks available for late-night studying. Many are up until midnight or later, and if dinner was at 5:30, that’s a long time to go without eating.

Anna: That’s a great point. What’s your advice for students who want to plan meals and snacks without becoming rigid?

Elizabeth: Remind them the plan is just a guide—it's meant to reduce decision fatigue, not dictate everything. Having things noted in a phone or calendar can help. But if they don’t follow it exactly, that’s OK. Plans can and should change.

Anna: What staples can they keep in their rooms for quick meals and snacks?

Elizabeth: Ask them what they want to keep stocked before they move in. Mac and cheese cups, ramen, snack bars, dry cereal, peanut butter, crackers, nuts, dried fruit, and yogurt are great options. If they have a fridge, even more is possible—cheese, fruit, hummus packs, etc. Just be mindful of any roommate allergies.

Anna: Totally. I love those little Sabra hummus packs with pretzels. And classic granola bars—those Nature Valley ones in the green wrapper are great with peanut butter.

Elizabeth: Yes! Peanut butter is an easy staple.

Anna: What about small meals students can prepare themselves?

Elizabeth: Quesadillas with canned beans and pre-cooked chicken, grilled cheese, boxed mac and cheese with frozen peas, toaster waffles, bagels, scrambled eggs, toast with fruit—all simple and doable. With a shared kitchen or microwave, they can also heat up frozen ravioli and toss it with sauce.

Anna: Some students might not know how to do that. Should parents help with that ahead of time?

Elizabeth: Absolutely. It’s helpful if kids leave home knowing how to cook a few basics, but if they don’t, that’s not a failure. They can call home or look up cooking videos online. My kids still call me with questions, and that’s totally normal.

Anna: Cooking is a lifelong learning process—there’s always something new to learn.

Elizabeth: Definitely. That’s what makes it so rewarding.

Anna: Let’s shift to the diet culture messaging students are bombarded with—on TikTok, Instagram, and even in the dining halls where calories are posted. What advice do you have for students and their parents?

Elizabeth: Nearly all dining halls post calorie counts now, but I encourage students to ignore them. They’re often inaccurate and distract from more important cues like hunger and satisfaction. Focus on what you’re hungry for and what feels good in your body.

Anna: That applies to diet content on social media too. Just tune it out.

Elizabeth: Exactly. And regarding comments about weight gain—it’s normal for bodies to change during transitions. Gaining weight is not a moral failing. It doesn’t make someone less worthy.

Anna: Students may not hear comments directed at them, but diet talk is still common. What should they say or do?

Elizabeth: First, it’s OK if you don’t say anything. You can change the subject, say you’d rather not talk about dieting, or explain your perspective kindly. "We have different views—can we talk about something else?" can be effective. If said non-judgmentally, people are usually more receptive.

Anna: My niece is confident, but I imagine she’d be more comfortable changing the subject, and that’s perfectly fine. It’s a great strategy.

Elizabeth: Definitely. It works.

Anna: What can students do if they’re struggling with food or body image? And what can parents say if they notice something’s off?

Elizabeth: Point them toward resources—student health centers and counseling centers often have great support. I recommend walking them by those offices during orientation and making sure they know how to schedule appointments. They might roll their eyes, but it ensures they know where to go if needed.

Anna: What’s one thing you wish every student heading into a dining hall knew?

Elizabeth: That sleep and regular meals are foundational. Think ahead about your schedule and plan some easy go-to meals and snacks for when you don’t want to think about it. Put those ideas in your notes app or somewhere handy.

Anna: It’s not about perfect meals—it’s about feeding yourself consistently.

Elizabeth: Exactly.

Anna: Before we go, want to share what foods you’re enjoying lately?

Elizabeth: Ice cream and pie—especially coconut cream and strawberry rhubarb. We visited a favorite pie shop on vacation recently, and it was amazing.

Anna: Americans really do pies well. I’m currently loving pavlova—especially with berries and lemon curd. There are so many creative versions in Australia now, and I haven’t had a bad one yet.

Elizabeth: Pavlova is so satisfying to make, too. I love it.

Anna: I made it once and found it so much work—but maybe I just need better kitchen tools!

Elizabeth: A good mixer helps. Definitely one of the first things to invest in.

Anna: Thanks so much for this conversation, Elizabeth.

Elizabeth: Thank you, Anna. I loved talking with you.

Links & Resources Mentioned in This Episode:

* Pinney Davenport Nutrition, PLLC

* Lutz, Alexander & Associates Nutrition Therapy

* Sunny Side Up Nutrition

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit snutrition.substack.com

Hi Friends,

In our latest podcast episode, we’re doing something we don’t often do. We’re actually talking about nutrition. We’re dietitians after all and we do enjoy the science of nutrition, but we also know that the child nutrition information out there can be overwhelming and stressful for parents.

So, we’re all about keeping nutrition information simple.

If you’ve ever found yourself worrying (or wondering) whether or not your child is getting enough of the nutrients they need, this episode is for you.

In this episode, we chat about:

* A simple formula for putting together meals and snacks that will include the nutrients your child needs.

* What to do if your child won’t eat any fruits or vegetables

* Why parents don’t need to give children nutrition information

* The importance of empowering kids around food

Mentioned in this episode

* Our membership: Take the Frenzy Out of Feeding

* Blog post: The Berry’s Journey: Learning Where Food Comes From

* Instagram post by The Curious Nutritionist

* Pinney Davenport Nutrition, PLLC

* Lutz Alexander & Associates Nutrition Therapy

Warmly,Elizabeth & Anna

What do you worry about when it comes to your child’s nutrition?

Transcript

Episode 103: Nutrition Made Simple

Elizabeth: Hi, Anna.

Anna: Hi, Elizabeth. It's good to see you.

Elizabeth: Good to see you, too. I'm excited to talk about nutrition today. We're dietitians—let’s actually talk about nutrition for once!

Anna: I know, imagine that! So often we’re talking about parenting and how to approach food, but today we're going to dive a little deeper into nutrition. But our goal is to keep it simple.

Elizabeth: Exactly. And as a reminder to our listeners, what we’ve been doing in our latest episodes is highlighting topics from each of the 12 modules in our membership, Take the Frenzy Out of Feeding. We’re giving people a sneak peek and hopefully sharing some helpful info along the way.

Anna: Yes! There’s so much nutrition information out there for parents—so much parenting advice about nutrition. What do you think are the pros and cons of focusing on the nutritional content of food when preparing meals?

Elizabeth: I’ll agree that there’s just an overwhelming amount of information. And we create content for parents, right? But ours is designed to challenge a lot of that confusing, or honestly, often incorrect info. We want to help parents feel less stressed, not more.

Anna: Totally. That’s what we do with Sunny Side Up and in our practices. So, for the pros: focusing on nutrition can help kids get the nutrients they need. I hesitate to use the word “balanced,” but yes, balanced meals that meet their needs.

Elizabeth: Right, but not balanced in a diet culture sense—just well-rounded. The downside is that it can feel overwhelming for parents. Worrying about every meal, every snack, every bite—too much of one thing, not enough of another—it creates a lot of stress.

And kids pick up on that stress, which affects the feeding dynamic. I remember when my kids were babies, I stressed over giving them only organic food and making as much of it myself as I could, especially with my first. I got over that with my second.

Anna: Exactly. So yes, it’s good to be mindful of nutrition, but not to the point where it causes stress or anxiety. Totally agree. So let’s talk strategies—how can we simplify nutrition in a way that’s empowering instead of fear-based?

Elizabeth: What we teach in our membership and what we teach clients is to build meals with three simple components: a protein, a carbohydrate, and a produce. That’s it. Keep it simple. An example could be eggs, toast with butter, and fruit. Or BBQ chicken, sweet potatoes, and broccoli. This is directly from our meal and snack formula in the membership.

Anna: Yes, and once you offer those components, your job is done. It’s not your job to make sure it all goes into your child’s body. Over time, kids will get what they need. And of course, there are exceptions—like ARFID or other issues—and that’s when individual support from a dietitian can help.

Elizabeth: But for most families, zooming out and thinking about nutrition over the course of a week—rather than each meal—is a game changer. Like one day they eat a ton of broccoli, and then they don’t touch another veggie for three days. That’s totally normal. Nutrients are found in a wide range of foods, not just one.

Anna: The nutrients in broccoli are in lots of other foods

Elizabeth: Yes! Like Vitamin C —it’s in fruit, veggies, and even some grains. That’s the complexity of nutrition we’re trying to simplify and decrease stress.

Anna: We also use a snack formula: two items—usually a protein or dairy, and a carb or produce. Examples: cheese and crackers, yogurt and fruit, cookies and milk.

Elizabeth: And we often say, think of snacks as mini meals. That mindset really helps parents simplify things.

Anna: If you’re offering meals with 3 components and snacks with 2, think of how many opportunities your child has to be exposed to different foods in a week, even if they don’t eat them every time.

Elizabeth: Right. Exposure is key. If a child doesn’t eat any veggies but does eat fruit, they’re still getting a lot of those nutrients. Just keep offering and modeling.

Anna: If a parents says, “but what if my child eats no fruits or vegetables?”

Elizabeth: If that’s truly the case, than offer a multivitamin. To the parent whose child eats fruits and not vegetables, I would say there are a lot of the same nutrients in fruits and vegetables. And to keep offering the vegetables. And look for low-pressure exposures. Like the blog post you wrote about berry picking. Take them to the farmer’s market, let them help wash greens, unpack groceries, or taste samples. No pressure—just presence.

Elizabeth: My younger daughter didn’t eat green beans for years. Now she does. It takes time, and that’s normal. Some kids need professional support, but many just need time.

Anna: Absolutely. We often see kids labeled as “picky” who naturally grow out of it as they hit middle school or high school.

Elizabeth: Let’s shift gears. When we talk about nutrition, it’s easy to fall into labeling foods as “good” or “bad,” “healthy” or “unhealthy.” And now we’ve got euphemisms like “red light/green light” foods. Why do we avoid that?

Anna: Because it’s confusing to kids and moralizes food. And every family defines “healthy” differently. Plus, kids are concrete thinkers. Even teens can get stuck in all-or-nothing thinking.

Elizabeth: Yes! A kid hears “cake is bad” and wonders why you’re serving it. “Am I bad for liking this?” It’s not helpful—it creates shame and confusion.

Anna: And even “nutrient education” can be unhelpful if it’s not developmentally appropriate. I remember being terrified as a kid that if I didn’t eat carrots, my eyesight would suffer. That’s not empowerment. That’s fear.

Elizabeth: Exactly. The best way to teach kids is by modeling—offering a variety of foods consistently over time. They learn through what we do, not what we say.

Anna: And when kids hit the independence stage—high school, college—they’ll explore food in their own way. You can still model, offer, and support, but they’ll find their own path.

Elizabeth: That brings us to a great post I saw recently—something like: “Empower, don’t shame. Teach, don’t terrify.” That’s it.

Anna: Yes! I think it was from The Curious Nutritionist. We’ll link to it. It perfectly captures our philosophy.

Elizabeth: Empowering kids around food is eating disorder prevention. It’s helping them trust their bodies and navigate the world confidently.

Anna: That word—empower—is everything. If a child feels secure and confident around food, they’ll be able to handle any situation. No fear, no shame.

Elizabeth: It’s what we want for the parents, too, to feel confident and calm. And if today’s episode was just a taste, pun intended, there’s more in our membership. The Nutrition Made Simple module goes deeper with the goal of empowering—not overwhelming—you.

Anna: So good to chat, Elizabeth.

Elizabeth: Same here, Anna. Until next time!

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit snutrition.substack.com

Hi Friends,

In our latest episode, Anna and I get into a topic that brings up a lot of emotions for parents: How to navigate sweets with kids?

We talk about into:

* Why sugar has been demonized in our culture.

* Diet culture and beliefs about sugar and “good parenting.”

* What sugar is and why our bodies need it.

* Myths about sugar.

* The link between restriction and kids’ interest in sweets.

* Realistic advice on how to create structure around sweets.

* How we talk about sweets matters.

Anna and I also share personal examples from our own homes — plus our favorite sweets right now!

Mentioned in this episode:

* Let’s Talk About Sugar(blog post)

* Take the Frenzy Out of Feeding Membership

* Ellen Satter’s Division of Responsibility

* Leann Birch Research

* Pinney Davenport Nutrition

* Lutz, Alexander & Associates, Nutrition Therapy

We’d love to hear from you!

Have a question about sweets or a myth you want us to bust?

You can listen to the Sunny Side Up Nutrition Podcast on Substack, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Podcast Transcript

Elizabeth:Hi, Anna. It's great to see you.

Anna:Hi, Elizabeth. I'm so excited to see you and talk about this topic.

Elizabeth:Yeah! Today we’re diving into a topic that brings up a lot of feelings for parents: sugar.

We often get questions like:Should I limit sweets?How do I navigate sweets in my house?What do I do if my kids are asking for dessert all the time?

If that’s you—you’re not alone. Let’s jump in and chat about sweets and how to navigate them.

Anna:Great! Sounds good to me.

Elizabeth: So why do you think sugar has become such a villain, especially when it comes to parenting and feeding kids?

Anna:I think as a society, we like to put things into categories—good or bad—and the nuance gets lost. That’s gotten even more heightened with social media and how we consume information.

It’s easier to say, “These foods have lots of nutrition” and “These foods don’t, so they must be bad.” But the truth is, food is way more complicated.

Putting foods in these categories isn’t scientifically accurate, and it doesn’t reflect how we feel about food, who we eat with, our culture—there’s so much more to health than just nutrients.

Elizabeth::I couldn’t agree more. Social media really impacts how people think about food. Quick soundbites don’t leave room for nuance, and people click on sensational posts, not on ones that say, “Well, it’s complicated…”

Anna:Exactly.

Elizabeth:How would you say diet culture has shaped our beliefs about sugar and what it means to be a “good parent”?

Anna:Diet culture touches every part of our society—including parenting. There’s this idea that to be a “good parent” your child should eat certain foods, not eat others, and be a certain size.

But what I’d love the message to be is: as parents, we can strive to help our kids eat all kinds of foods, enjoy celebrations, and navigate different situations.

Elizabeth:Yes! It’s sad that it’s become so black and white when food is wonderful and fun—and sweets taste awesome. Sugar is necessary! Let’s talk about what sugar really is from a nutrition science perspective.

Anna:Great. We have a blog post on the science of sugar we can link to!

There are three macronutrients: carbohydrates, protein, and fat. Sugar is a type of carbohydrate. Our brains and muscles run on glucose, which comes from carbohydrates.

When people talk about sugar, they usually mean simple carbohydrates—1 or 2 glucose molecules linked together. These digest faster than complex carbohydrates (starches), which are lots of glucose molecules linked together.

Elizabeth:Exactly. Simple carbs give quick energy—which we need! And at the end of the day, all carbs break down into glucose.

Elizabeth:What’s a myth you hear most often?

Anna:That sugar makes kids hyper. The research doesn’t support that!

Kids might get quick energy from sugar alone, but it doesn’t cause hyperactivity. Often it’s the excitement of the setting—like a party—that’s at play.

Elizabeth:Right. And when sugar is eaten with protein or fat—like in cake or ice cream—it digests more slowly.

Anna:Another myth is that sugar has no nutritional value.

Elizabeth:Yes! Sugar gives us energy. And it’s usually in foods that contain other nutrients, like fruit (fiber, vitamins, minerals). Let’s touch on sugar “addiction.”

Anna:We need food to survive. We don’t say people are addicted to oxygen, right?

When people restrict sugar, it tastes especially good when they finally have it. That’s our body’s survival mechanism.

Anna:Yes. And brain scans showing activity when we eat sugar just show that food is rewarding—which it has to be, because we need it!

Elizabeth:Let’s talk about restriction and how it increases kids’ interest in sweets.

Anna:Restriction can mean not allowing sweets in the house or even commenting negatively when they’re eaten. Psychological restriction counts too—like, “You can’t have dessert until you eat your broccoli.”

And even things like putting just two tiny candies in a lunchbox can be a form of restriction that sends a message of scarcity.

Elizabeth:Exactly. We know from research that restriction makes kids want those foods more, and they may eat past fullness when they do get access.

Anna:Right. Instead, we can offer sweets in a structured way. For example:

* A small sweet in lunches

* A sweet after dinner most nights

* Occasionally offering sweets as a snack and letting kids eat until they’re full

The key is to help sweets be just one part of what they eat—not the forbidden prize.

Elizabeth:Why do we avoid demonizing language about sugar?

Anna:It confuses kids: If this is so bad, why does my parent give it to me?

It also can create shame. Kids think, I like this—am I bad for liking it?

Elizabeth:If a parent’s child is constantly asking for sweets, what’s one thing they could try today?

Anna:Offer sweets proactively—before your child asks. Maybe serve a small dessert with dinner. It helps shift away from the battle and reassures your child that sweets are available.

Elizabeth:And let your kids see you enjoying sweets too. That modeling matters!

So before we wrap up: what’s your favorite sweet right now?

Anna:Chocolate-covered cherries from Trader Joe’s—and I recently discovered seven-layer bars at Whole Foods! I also love baking pies in summer.

Elizabeth:Ice cream—especially Tillamook Malted Moo.

If you’d like to dive deeper into this topic and join a community focused on raising kids with a healthy relationship with food, check out our Sunny Side Up membership.

Thanks for listening!

Resources Mentioned:

* Let’s Talk About Sugar(blog post)

* Take the Frenzy Out of Feeding Membership

* Ellen Satter’s Division of Responsibility

* Leann Birch Research

* Pinney Davenport Nutrition

* Lutz, Alexander & Associates, Nutrition Therapy

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit snutrition.substack.com

Hi friends,

If restocking your pantry feels overwhelming, or it’s something you just don’t like doing, you’re not alone.

In our latest podcast episode, Anna and I chat about what it means to stock your pantry in a way that supports you and your family, without the pressure for a picture perfect pantry.

Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash

We chat about:

* Why restocking your pantry matters (and how it helps reduce stress).

* A few of our favorite convenience foods.

* What to do if you only have five minutes today to think about restocking your pantry.

Plus, we share the idea behind our No Recipe Required ebook and how it can help you simplify feeding your family.

We hope you find one helpful nugget in this week’s episode and that it leaves you feeling a little less pressure to do it all perfectly.

We’d love for you to share some of your favorite pantry or freezer staples in the comment section below.

In the episode we also mention:

* Take the Frenzy Out of Feeding Membership

* Pinney Davenport Nutrition (DC Area)

* Lutz, Alexander & Associates Nutrition Therapy (Raleigh, NC)

Transcript

Episode 101: Stocking Your Pantry

Elizabeth:Hi, Elizabeth. I'm so excited to talk with you today.

Anna:Yes, I’m excited to talk to you! Let’s jump in.

Today we’re talking about stocking your pantry—something that can feel either fun or kind of boring, depending on your perspective. We’re going to make it fun! I think for a lot of people it can feel overwhelming, like, “Whoa, stocking my pantry?! That feels like a big task.” Why do you think this is such an important topic?

Elizabeth:I agree—it can feel like a lot, and maybe even a little boring. But like you said, we’ll make it fun! I think the overwhelm comes from all the suggestions out there—so many different people telling you different things. Whose advice are you supposed to follow?

And then there’s the idea that stocking your pantry means spending thousands of dollars on matching containers and making it all look perfect. I’m a little envious of those pantries! I’ve even started trying to do that before getting sidetracked, asking myself, “Wait, why am I spending all this money?”

It’s absolutely fine if you like having a super-organized pantry and you’re able to keep it that way. But a lot of people just don’t know where to begin. They hear “stock your pantry” and wonder, “Do I need to go out and buy everything on some giant list?”

That’s not what we’re talking about. We're here to share suggestions that can help simplify your pantry—and reduce the overwhelm.

Anna:Exactly. And today, we’ll share a few ideas for how to stock your pantry. I also want to mention that in our Take the Frenzy Out of Feeding membership, we offer tools and templates that can help with this process. So if you’re listening and feeling overwhelmed or want more support, those resources are there for you.

Elizabeth:Yes! We’ve got our favorite frozen and convenience foods lists in there—really everything we use to stock our own pantries. Not to overwhelm, but to offer inspiration.

Another thing to remember is that keeping your pantry stocked can help reduce chaos. Fewer last-minute grocery trips!

Anna:Right. If you listened to our last episode, this is part of supporting yourself—building in a little structure so you’re not constantly wondering, “Do I have this ingredient?” The food is right there.

Elizabeth:Exactly. And when we think about stocking the pantry, something we always think about is having the ingredients on hand for your go-to meals.

We talked about that in our last episode, but could you give everyone a quick refresher, Anna?

Anna:Sure. A go-to meal is really anything that makes your life easier. Something you can put together quickly with ingredients you usually have on hand—maybe in 15 minutes, maybe 30, depending on your household. There’s no right or wrong here.

Elizabeth:Yes! Personally, I keep a running list in the Notes app on my phone. When I run out of something, I add it to the list right away. Before we had phones, I used post-its or scrap paper… but I always lost them!

Now, I look at my go-to meals list, decide what I want to make that week, and check what ingredients I need. I go through my fridge, freezer, and pantry and see what’s missing. I usually still forget something, but maybe only one thing.

Anna:You talked about that in our last episode, too. I think I’m a little less organized than you. I’ll take a few minutes to scan my pantry, fridge, and freezer. We’ve suggested before that once you have your list of go-to meals, you can create a pantry ingredients list from that. It’s a quick way to check whether you’ve got the basics before you head to the store.

But there are different levels of organization, and it’s about figuring out what works for you.

Elizabeth:Totally. And the simplest thing really is just taking a moment during meal planning to look through what you already have. Sometimes I think I have something and skip checking, then later realize I don’t.

Anna:Been there!

So, can you walk us through your steps for keeping your kitchen stocked—maybe a recap?

Elizabeth:Sure! It’s mostly just that I add things to my Notes app whenever I run out. That way, when I’m making my grocery list or placing an order, I can just check that one list.

Anna:We use a small whiteboard inside our pantry for that. My husband and I both write on it, but I have to remember to look at it! Your system is more streamlined.

Elizabeth:Yeah, my kids are 17 and 21, so they both have phones. I tell everyone to either tell me what we’re out of or text it to me so I can add it to my Notes app. It really helps to have one place to look.

Anna:That’s so smart. It’s always that mental checklist—“What am I forgetting?”—and this simplifies it.

You’re a big fan of convenience foods, and I’d love to hear about your go-to items. What makes cooking easier at your house?

Elizabeth:Definitely Rao’s Marinara. We buy it in a three-pack from Costco. Chad, my husband, keeps our Costco list. We use Rao’s for your spinach lasagna, pasta nights, pizzas—so many things!

We also love the Just Bare chicken nuggets. Before that, we were really into the Trader Joe’s Mandarin Chicken.

Frozen waffles, frozen dumplings, boxed mac and cheese—those are weekend lunch staples or quick dinners for the kids. And I love store-bought pesto for tossing with pasta and peas.

Oh, and Lundberg shelf-stable precooked rice is a big favorite. Also, frozen tortellini, pre-chopped broccoli, bagged salad, microwave green beans…

Anna:Yes! And single-serve hummus, little egg bites from Costco or Trader Joe’s, and toaster oven snacks like pizza bites. Cereal too—convenience foods aren’t just dinner-specific!

Elizabeth:Exactly. It’s okay—actually, it’s necessary—to use convenience foods. Life is full. Cooking from scratch every night just isn’t realistic for most people.

Anna:Yes! And we’d love to hear from listeners—what are your favorite convenience foods? Email us or leave a comment on this Substack post.

Elizabeth:Yes, please share! I also wanted to mention our No Recipe Required e-book that’s on our website. Can you tell everyone how that came to be and how it ties into pantry stocking?

Anna:Sure! We wanted to offer more than just a list—we created a book that walks people through our absolute easiest meals. You don’t need a recipe—just simple instructions.

It’s a reminder that not everything has to be made from scratch. We’re bombarded with messages telling us we should be baking our own crackers and growing our own veggies. And hey, if I had space, I’d totally have chickens! But that’s not realistic for everyone.

So this book offers real-life meal ideas—simple, doable, low-pressure.

Elizabeth:And the meals in it are mostly things you can make with a well-stocked pantry. Think: spaghetti and meatballs with broccoli. Pasta, jarred sauce, frozen meatballs, and a veggie—done.

It doesn’t have to be a gourmet salad. It can be sliced cucumbers in a bowl.

We want to model for our kids the kind of cooking they can do when they’re on their own.

Anna:Yes! Okay, I’m putting you on the spot again. Let’s say someone just listened to this episode and they have five minutes. What’s one thing they can do today to support their pantry?

Elizabeth:If they’ve made their go-to meals list, they could write down the ingredients needed for each one. Or simply peek in their pantry and see what they’re out of.

Anna:Yes, and sometimes the idea of shopping for a whole week feels overwhelming. You can just grab a few things. You don’t need a full grocery trip—just get what you need to feel more supported today.

Elizabeth:Totally. It takes some experimenting, but finding a system that works for you is the goal.

Anna:Exactly. We hope you’re leaving today with one small idea that feels helpful!

Elizabeth:Thanks for listening, and we’ll see you in a couple of weeks.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit snutrition.substack.com

Episode 100: Reboot Your Meal Planning

We made it to 100 episodes! Wow!! We’re grateful to you all for being here and supporting our work to challenge diet culture and make family nutrition less stressful.

In our latest episode, we’re celebrating with a topic that comes up a lot—meal planning. But not the Pinterest-perfect kind (no judgement here if you love that kind of meal planning). Anna and I are talking about realistic, flexible planning that supports you instead of stresses you out.

We share our personal routines, what “go-to meals” mean in our homes, and how diet culture can sneak into the way we think about food and planning. Whether you’re a an avid list-maker or more spontaneous, there’s something in here for you.

What are your “go-to meals”?

If you’re interested in a deeper dive into all the aspects of feeding your family, from navigating sweets, meal planning, assessing your child’s growth, to supporting your picky eater, join the Sunny Side Up Nutrition Membership: Take the Frenzy Out of Feeding.

Links we mention in this episode:

* Our Feeding Framework

* Easy Black Beans and Rice

* Spinach Lasagna

* Sweet Potato and Black Bean Tacos

* White Bean, Sausage & Kale Soup

* Black Beans, Corn, and Tomatoes —A 15 minute recipe 7 different ways

* Pinney Davenport Nutrition (DC Area)

* Lutz, Alexander & Associates Nutrition Therapy (Raleigh, NC)

* Photo by Gabrielle Henderson on Unsplash

Transcript

Elizabeth: Hi, Anna. So welcome, everyone. We are here today to chat about rebooting your meal planning. So, Anna, I'm just going to jump right in with the first question slash topic.

Elizabeth: Feeding Framework Step #1 is to provide structure, not perfection. In our previous podcast episode, we talked about the feeding framework—and we'll link to it in the show notes in case you didn’t have a chance to listen. How does that connect with our meal planning philosophy? And how does diet culture interfere with meal planning?

Anna: That’s two really important questions! I think a lot of people hear “meal planning” and immediately think it has to look a certain way. Like there’s a right way to plan and a right way to follow the plan. A lot of folks also associate meal plans with dieting. But the way you and I think about meal planning is more about support. It’s a structure that helps feeding ourselves and our families feel less chaotic.

Elizabeth: Yes—exactly. I always regret it when I skip meal planning. Everything feels more chaotic.

Anna: Totally. But diet culture can really mess with how we think about meal planning. On social media, you see these perfect plans that take forever to make, or these rigid schedules where every meal is pre-determined. There’s this assumption that you have unlimited time and resources. But that’s not how we define it. Everyone’s meal plan will look different.

Elizabeth: Absolutely. I mean, almost every week I end up making something different than I planned. Life happens.

Anna: Yes! And one more thing—we share meal ideas every week in our Substack newsletter. Five lunches, five dinners, three breakfasts. The goal isn’t to be perfect or different every day. It’s to make life easier.

Elizabeth: Right, we don’t make seven different breakfasts every week! That sounds exhausting.

Anna: We also say all the time: meal planning only needs to take 10–15 minutes. Let me walk you through what I do.

Anna: I start by looking at our evening activities for the week—soccer practice, concerts, things like that. Then I plan about four dinners. I don’t usually assign them to specific nights, but I try to think ahead to busy nights and plan something easy.

Anna: Next, I make a list of the ingredients I need and then check the fridge, pantry, and freezer for staples—like milk, bread, eggs, lunch stuff. Then I place a grocery order online, usually on Sunday.

Elizabeth: My method isn’t as structured! I go to the store more often and I’m lucky to have a farmer’s market nearby. I get meat, fish, and produce there in the warmer months. I also enjoy trying new recipes, so sometimes planning takes longer because I want to cook something new.

Anna: That’s what works for you! I’ll also do a Costco or Trader Joe’s run once a month. It’s a big day when I do both. I joke that I’ve been hunting and gathering all day!

Elizabeth: I feel that. And having frozen or prepared foods from those stores makes weeknights easier. I also plan four dinners and rely on my go-to meals to fill in the rest. Speaking of which—let’s talk about go-to meals.

Anna: A go-to meal, for me, is something I usually have the ingredients for and can make in 15–20 minutes. One of mine is Black Beans and Rice—it’s super simple. We’ve made it for years. You use canned beans, cumin, salsa or tomatoes, and rice. Great for leftovers too.

Elizabeth: Yes, for me it’s similar—easy ingredients I have on hand. Everyone’s go-to meals will look different. The key is they shouldn’t stress you out.

Anna: Exactly. We also both rely on the “cook once, eat twice” idea. If I’m making a bigger dinner on Monday, I want it to be something we can use for another night or lunches. Spinach lasagna is one—great for lunchboxes. Or grilled chicken becomes BBQ chicken salad or pizza. Everyone can build their own bowl.

Elizabeth: I do something similar with black beans and corn and tomatoes. It turns into burritos, rice bowls, even a topping for chicken. We also do Sweet Potato and Black Bean Tacos—I double the batch and use the extras for bowls with pre-cooked rice.

Anna: Love that. Soups and pasta dishes work well too. I like anything that helps with lunches.

Elizabeth: If someone only has five minutes, what’s one thing they can do this week to feel less stressed about meal planning?

Anna: Make a list of your go-to meals. Just write them down—stream of consciousness. Then you can build from there and even make a list of pantry staples to keep on hand.

Elizabeth: Yes! I always check my go-to list when I feel stuck. Anything else we should add?

Anna: Just remember: there’s no right way to do this. You don’t have to make black beans and rice. Find what’s easy and accessible for you.

Elizabeth: So true. What are you making tonight?

Anna: Actually, we have a school dinner event. But next time I cook, it’ll probably be tacos. Always a favorite in my house.

Elizabeth: I’m making coconut rice with roasted chicken thighs, carrots, purple broccoli from the farmers market, and a peanut sesame sauce. It’s a few components, but not a ton of work. The Lundberg coconut rice is already cooked and microwaveable. (not sponsored)

Anna: That sounds amazing.

Elizabeth: Let us know what you’re cooking! You can comment on Substack, DM us on Instagram, or email us at [email protected].

Both: Happy meal planning! Bye!

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit snutrition.substack.com

Diet culture loves to tell parents exactly how to and how not to feed their kids. What happens often is well-intentioned parents abandon their parenting style(s) and find themselves swinging on a pendulum between permissive feeding practices and urging their kids to “take 3 more bites, or no dessert”! In this latest podcast episode, Anna and I explain how feeding is parenting, how diet-culture creates misalignment, and simple shifts you can make to create calm mealtimes.

Takeaways

* Consistency is key: Kids do well when the support and boundaries they experience at bedtime and homework time are also part of mealtimes.

* Authoritative feeding vs. short order cooking — Learn how you can shift away from short order cooking.

* Learning doesn’t happen all at once- Gradually give tweens and teens planning, prepping, and packing instead of handing over all the responsibilities all at once.

* Notice the mismatch — If your food rules feel more harsh, or you find you’ve abandoned any structure, that may be a clue to experiment with a small shift toward a more supportive parenting style.

Resources & Links

* Take the Frenzy Out of Feeding – Our 12-module membership that walks you through stress-free family feeding step-by-step.

* Instagram – DM us your questions: @sunnysideupnutritionists

* Email the show: [email protected]

Full Transcript

Elizabeth:Welcome to Sunny Side Up Nutrition a podcast created by three moms striving to bring you evidence-based information to help support you and the children in your life. Your hosts are Anna Lutz and me Elizabeth Davenport, both registered dietitians, and Anna Mackay, a dietitian-to-be and certified personal trainer. Anna Lutz co-owns Lutz, Alexander & Associates Nutrition Therapy in Raleigh, North Carolina, and I co-own Pinney Davenport Nutrition in the D.C. metro area. Anna Mackay is in the process of completing her dietetic internship. Just a note that this podcast is for informational and educational purposes only. Thanks for being here.

Elizabeth: Hi, Anna. It's so exciting to be here again recording our now third episode back into podcasting.

Anna:Yeah.

Elizabeth: So, today we are going to talk about what we mean when we say feeding is parenting. It's easy to think of mealtime struggles as separate from how we parent, but the truth is they're very interconnected. Diet culture often pulls us out of alignment with the kind of parents we want to be, so today Anna and I are going to chat about how to identify what's working, what's not, and what small shifts you can make to reduce the stress around feeding as parenting.

Anna: Absolutely—that was great!

Anna:One of the things we say a lot is feeding is parenting. So let's unpack that, because listeners may be thinking, what in the world are you talking about? We can also share examples of how diet culture interferes in parenting.

Anna:In the introduction you said it so well: the messages parents get about how to feed children can push us to feed in a way that’s completely different from the style of parenting we use for everything else. Someone who’s normally supportive and structured—bedtime, homework, learning new skills—might suddenly feed in an authoritarian way because diet culture is very good/bad, right/wrong. That misalignment creates anxiety.

Elizabeth:Yes! The parent might wonder, Wait, this isn’t what I believe—why am I doing this around food? And all the online feeding advice may not align with how they actually parent, so they’re left questioning whether they’re doing a good job. It’s a lot to navigate.

Anna:Exactly. For example, telling a child, “You must eat all your broccoli before dessert.” That’s an authoritarian rule. Yet in other areas this same parent may be collaborative and supportive—like helping a shy child ease into a birthday party instead of forcing them inside. If we step back and apply that supportive style to food, we’d offer the broccoli, let the child decide to smell it, taste it, or not, and trust that over time they’ll learn to eat it without the hammer coming down.

Elizabeth:Makes total sense. Listeners, send us questions if anything feels unclear! Another place diet culture collides with parenting is the pressure to give tweens and teens full responsibility for their food—packing lunches, making dinner—without any structure. Kids are still growing and busy; they need scaffolding.

Tweens, Teens, and Scaffolding

Anna:Feeding oneself is a developmental task. We want kids to leave home able to feed themselves well, but we can’t yank away all support in fifth or sixth grade. Instead we build autonomy gradually:

* Elementary: You plate the snack, or give two choices.

* Middle school: They prepare the snack; you nudge balance (“grab a fruit with that granola bar”).

* High school: They pack their own food, but you ask, “What’s your plan for snack before soccer?” and check that they actually have one.

Elizabeth: And every child develops at their own pace. Some high-school seniors still benefit from a packed lunch. I make my senior’s lunch because her schedule is packed. She sees what I pack, makes her own lunches on weekends, and will be fine in college.

Anna: Exactly. Bottom line: “no lunch” isn’t an option. If the parent truly can’t help in the morning, brainstorm a Plan B—school lunch, or pre-packed foods like Uncrustables, chips, fruit, yogurt—so a balanced meal is always there.

Short-Order Cooking & Parenting Styles

Elizabeth: Another common pitfall is short-order cooking—making a separate meal when a child refuses dinner.

Anna: Right. That’s permissive feeding. The child misses exposure to new foods and struggles later at a friend’s house or the college dining hall.

Anna:Think of the parenting-style continuum:

* Authoritarian: “Clean your plate or no dessert.”

* Permissive: “Fine, I’ll make mac & cheese instead.”

* Authoritative (goal): Structure and flexibility—serve one family meal with at least one familiar food, no pressure to clean plates.

Ask yourself: Where am I now? What small step nudges me toward authoritative? Maybe you stop short-order cooking by ensuring a preferred side dish is on the table; over time you can phase that backup out.

Elizabeth: And sometimes you will make the alternate meal—life happens—just aim for the overall pattern to support skill-building.

Wrapping Up

Anna: Notice any misalignment between your overall parenting style and feeding approach, then take one small step toward alignment. We’d love your questions—DM us on Instagram, comment on Substack, or email [email protected].

Elizabeth: Thanks for listening, and until next time!

Anna: Bye.

Anna: Thank you for listening. If you enjoyed this episode, please rate it and write us a review wherever you listen. Go to Sunny Side Up Nutrition Podcast in your podcast app and scroll down to the stars. Also, we’d love for you to join our 12-module membership Take the Frenzy Out of Feeding. Visit sunnysideupnutrition.com and look for the Membership tab to join today.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit snutrition.substack.com

Anna and I are back with Podcast Episode 98! In this latest episode, we share our Sunny Side Up Nutrition Feeding Framework—our five-pillar framework at the heart of feeling more confident about feeding your kids. You’ll walk away with actionable steps you can take today to stress less about meal times.

* Support Yourself: Simple ways to reduce your own mealtime stress.

* Foster a Positive Environment: Practical tips to destress meal times.

* Trust: Trust your child to eat and grow.

* Respond: Why we encourage tuning out diet-culture and tuning into and responding to your kid’s cues.

* Model Behavior: How your own beliefs about food impact your child’s relationship with food.

Resources & Links

* Take the Frenzy Out of Feeding Membership:Get full access to all 12 modules, power tools, scripts, and more

* Feeding Framework Blog Post:Want to read more about our feeding framework?

* Pinney Davenport Nutrition, PLLC

* Lutz, Alexander & Associates Nutrition Therapy

Join the conversation—leave a question or comment below.

Thanks for listening! Be sure to share this episode with friends, family, and colleagues.

Podcast Transcript

[00:00:43] Host: Hi, Elizabeth. Hi, Anna. I’m excited to be here.Elizabeth: I am too. I’m so excited.

Anna: Today we’re talking about our Sunny Side Up Nutrition Feeding Framework. As a reminder, we took a little hiatus from recording the podcast, and now we’re back—starting off with a sneak-peek at some of the topics in our Take the Frenzy Out of Feeding membership. One of our modules covers this framework, so I wanted to ask you, Elizabeth: why did we develop it in the first place?

Elizabeth: I love it because it organizes everything we teach—both for parents and for us as providers—into five simple keywords. With so much noise out there about how you “should” feed your kids, this gives a quick go-to list moms and dads can pull up on their phone: Support, Foster, Trust, Respond, Model.

Anna: Exactly. We actually discovered these five themes while writing our modules—each one wove through every lesson. And if parents ever feel overwhelmed, they can just pick one keyword to focus on at a time.

1. Support Yourself

Anna: This one feels like the foundation. If feeding your family feels stressful to you, it’s going to feel stressful to them. You don’t have to tackle all five elements at once—just start by thinking, “What do I need to make meals less overwhelming?”

2. Foster a Positive Mealtime Environment

Elizabeth: Think about what makes mealtimes pleasant for everyone. Maybe one child needs to stand or fidget quietly. Maybe you set a 15- to 20-minute timer so they don’t feel stuck at the table forever. Avoid tense topics or food commentary while you eat—especially with selective eaters.

Anna: Ask your kids what helps them feel safe: a favorite toy, a weighted lap blanket, even a quiet corner if smells are hard for them. Mealtime doesn’t have to be a picture-perfect family dinner—it can be breakfast, a snack, or even a sandwich on your lap.

3. Trust Yourself & Your Child

Anna: We’re bombarded with messages that we’re responsible for our kids’ weight or that picky eating never ends. But most children instinctively eat what they need to grow—if we can tune out the outside noise and trust both ourselves and them, feeding gets easier.

4. Respond to Cues

Elizabeth: Every child has their own eating style. Some have big appetites; some hardly notice food. Respond by offering what they need: more structure for one kid, more freedom for another. Just like you’d accommodate a sensory-sensitive child at a loud party, you can make simple tweaks at the table to help them succeed.

5. Model a Positive Relationship with Food & Body

Anna: Kids learn by watching us. If we label carbs “bad” or obsess over diets, they will too. Showing a balanced, flexible attitude about food and bodies teaches them to respect theirs.

Elizabeth: You might notice that none of these pillars actually say what to serve—that’s intentional. What matters most is how we feed, not just what we feed. The right environment and mindset will naturally support kids in trying more foods and eating enough.

Anna: Parents who use this framework often tell us mealtimes feel calmer, fights about food happen less, and picky kids expand their plates—without any extra pressure from mom or dad.

Elizabeth: That’s exactly why we started Sunny Side Up Nutrition—to cut through diet-culture stress and help families trust themselves and their kids again. If you want to dive deeper, check out our Take the Frenzy Out of Feeding membership—twelve modules packed with tools, scripts, and power tools to help you feel truly supported.

Anna: Thanks so much for listening!

Elizabeth: Thanks, Anna—this was fun. Bye, everyone!

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit snutrition.substack.com

Episode 97: Understanding Your Child’s Growth

We're back! After a year-long break, Anna Lutz, MPH, RD/LDN, CEDRD-S, and Elizabeth Davenport, MPH, RD, LD, return to the Sunny Side Up Nutrition Podcast with an important conversation about how to support your child’s growth in a body-positive, evidence-based way.

In this episode, we talk about:

Tips to prepare for pediatrician visits and advocate for your child.

Why the 50th percentile is not the “ideal” plot point on a growth chart.

What does it mean when your child crosses percentiles?

The importance of focusing on each child’s own, individual growth history.

How body diversity plays a role in interpreting growth.

Why height and weight data on growth charts are just information.

Resources and Links:

 Sample letters to pediatricians (developed with Dr. Katja Rowell)

Our 12-module membership course: Take the Frenzy Out of Feeding

Blog Post: Understanding Your Child’s Growth and What to Ask of Your Pediatrician

Pinney Davenport Nutrition, PLLC

Lutz and Alexander & Associates Nutrition Therapy

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit snutrition.substack.com