Episode Summary:
In this honest and personal episode, April opens up about what it’s been like navigating pregnancy at 38 weeks - from body image challenges to letting go of control and perfectionism. She shares how doing the inner work before pregnancy helped her build confidence that’s no longer rooted in validation or aesthetics.

If you’ve ever felt like your body is changing and you're not sure how to handle it or you’ve been stuck in a cycle of extremes—you’ll walk away from this episode feeling seen, supported, and reminded that it’s possible to take care of your body without obsessing over it.

What You'll Hear in This Episode:

• How body image work before pregnancy made a huge difference
• The pressure to "prove" you're pregnant—and why April didn’t care
• The reality of competing, bingeing, and chasing compliments
• How she stopped body-checking, dieting, and chasing validation
• Preparing for postpartum without freezer meals
• What she’d tell her pre-pregnancy self and anyone TTC
• Why discomfort doesn’t mean you’re failing

Free Resources + Links Mentioned:

• Postpartum Pantry Staples Guide (Free Download)
  A simple list of shelf-stable meal ideas—perfect for postpartum, busy seasons, or just when you don’t feel like cooking.

  Join the 1:1 Coaching Waitlist
  Spots reopen in October! Be the first to know and get access to exclusive bonuses.

  
  

Connect with April:
Instagram → @the_addition_dietitian
Questions or thoughts? DM April—she’d love to hear from you!

Episode Overview:In this episode, we chat with Samantha McKean about her journey from struggling with diet culture to achieving a balanced, sustainable lifestyle.

Guest Introduction:

• Samantha McKean, 27, from Dallas
• Bachelor's from Texas A&M, Master's from University of Washington
• Former Texas A&M athletics employee
• Recently moved to Fort Worth with her husband, a medical student

Key Points Discussed:

1. Early Challenges:

   • Body image pressures from dance and cheer
   • Negative impact of a strict ballet teacher
   • Unhealthy eating habits developed at home and in college

2. Dieting Struggles:

   • Cycle of various diets and intense cardio
   • Unrealistic fitness goals during COVID
   • Transition to a sedentary lifestyle with a full-time job

3. Turning Points:

   • Engagement and body image dissatisfaction
   • Diagnosed with Hashimoto's disease
   • Grief-related weight gain and seeking help from dietitian April

4. Sustainable Changes:

   • Focus on tracking food intake and consistency
   • Navigating social events with better food choices
   • Shifting mindset to avoid food restrictions and embracing balance

5. Healthy Relationship with Food:

   • Overcoming restrictive dieting and binging
   • Importance of patience and long-term health over quick fixes

Connect with Samantha:

• Follow Samantha on Instagram and TikTok: @SamFinglass
• Samantha will start posting more about her balanced meals

Closing Remarks:Thanks to Samantha for sharing her story. Follow the Nutrition Podcast for more inspiring stories and practical tips!

In this episode, April shares her journey from tracking macros to intuitive eating. She talks about the drawbacks of solely relying on tracking, like developing disordered eating habits and losing touch with internal hunger cues. April also highlights the benefits of tracking, providing insights into calorie intake and macro distribution. She shares her personal experiences with transitioning away from tracking and offers practical tips for adopting a more intuitive and sustainable approach to eating. 

Throughout the episode, April emphasizes the importance of patience and grace in the transition process. Her personal experiences and professional expertise make this episode a valuable resource for anyone seeking to improve their relationship with food and develop sustainable eating habits.

In this episode:

• Embrace Food Freedom: Learn how to transition from tracking macros to intuitive eating for a more balanced and sustainable approach to nutrition.
• Liberation from Tracking: Discover the benefits of breaking free from constantly tracking macros and how it can positively impact your relationship with food.
• Master Meal Structuring: Explore techniques for creating balanced and satisfying meals without the need to meticulously track every calorie.
• Cultivate Mindful Eating: Uncover mindful eating techniques to help you tune into your body's signals of fullness and satisfaction.Guilt-Free Dining: Find out how to enjoy eating out without guilt and still honor your body's needs and cravings.

Resources Mentioned:

• Nutrition Coaching Waitlist

Instagram:

• ⁠@add_nutrition⁠
• ⁠@the_addition_dietitian⁠⁠

April takes you on a journey through her transition as a business owner and registered dietitian, sharing valuable insights and lessons learned along the way. With a background in competitive bodybuilding, April's initial focus on macros and aesthetics evolved into a holistic approach to nutrition, embracing mental and physical well-being, cultural aspects, and the joy of food.

She candidly discusses the challenges of starting a business, emphasizing the importance of clear systems and boundaries for success. Sharing her experiences and growth, April's story serves as an inspiration for fitness enthusiasts and aspiring nutrition business owners. By tuning in, you'll gain valuable knowledge on holistic nutrition, the need for clear processes in a nutrition practice, the value of healthy boundaries, the challenges of starting a business, and the power of pursuing your passion to make bold decisions.

Whether you're looking to enhance your nutrition practices or embark on your entrepreneurial journey, April's journey offers valuable takeaways to implement holistic nutrition practices for business success.

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In this episode of The Add Nutrition Podcast, you'll meet Catie Brown, a special guest who shares her inspiring health and fitness journey. Catie's story is relatable and powerful, as she went from being an athlete to losing her focus on fitness and health after college. However, a turning point came when her sister got engaged and she realized she wasn't happy with her body or self-image.

With the help of Add Nutrition, Catie embarked on a journey of self-improvement and made significant progress. She learned the importance of paying attention to what she put in her body and being accountable to someone other than herself. Catie's experience highlights the power of small changes, patience, and persistence in achieving sustainable progress. Her story serves as motivation for anyone looking to make positive changes in their own health and fitness journey.

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In this episode, we break down some common myths surrounding gut health and address the belief that probiotic supplements are necessary for a healthy gut and explain why a diverse diet is actually the key. We also debunk the myth that a gluten-free diet is necessary for everyone and provide clarity on who should actually avoid gluten.

A healthy gut plays a pivotal role in efficiently absorbing and utilizing essential nutrients from our diet. It is the home to a diverse community of microorganisms, known as gut microbiota, which aids in food digestion, pathogen prevention, and immune system support. Hence, maintaining good gut health isn't merely a wellness trend, but a prerequisite for your body's smooth operation and overall health.

We emphasize the importance of a well-balanced diet, share practical tips for maintaining a healthy gut, and provide valuable insights for anyone interested in optimizing their overall well-being. Because having a diverse diet significantly contributes to your gut health. Each type of gut bacteria necessitates different foods to flourish, rendering diversity in your diet crucial for cultivating a healthy and varied gut microbiota. To put it simply, the variety of foods we consume has a direct impact on the diversity of our gut microbiota, substantiating the old saying "You are what you eat."

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We're joined with Dr. Gary Mendoza to discuss the importance of focusing on overall health and well-being rather than just the number on the scale. Dr. Mendoza emphasizes that while weight loss is often the primary goal for many individuals, there are numerous other benefits to living a healthy lifestyle that should not be overlooked.

Instead of solely relying on weight as an outcome measure, Dr. Mendoza suggests setting other goals such as improved fitness and increasing energy levels. He advises individuals to challenge their negative self-talk by asking for evidence to support their discouragement. By questioning their beliefs and highlighting their achievements, individuals can start to recognize the progress they are making and feel more confident in their journey.

Overall, the conversation with Dr. Mendoza highlights the importance of focusing on overall health and well-being, rather than solely fixating on weight loss. By setting non-scale goals, celebrating achievements, and challenging negative self-talk, individuals can maintain a positive mindset and trust in the long-term benefits of a healthy lifestyle.

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In the current era of wellness trends, it's not uncommon to see people reaching for dietary supplements for various reasons. However, it's crucial to proceed with caution. Supplements should only be used when necessary, as a well-balanced diet should provide essential nutrients in most cases. During the course of discussion with Shalena, April voiced her concerns about the lack of supporting scientific evidence in functional medicine. In her perspective, functional medicine practitioners often deceive their clients into thinking that supplements can replace a balanced diet and rigorous exercise. The use of supplements should always be backed by science and prescribed on an individual necessity basis. The bottom line is simple: there's no magic pill for weight loss!

Are hormonal imbalances really to blame for your weight loss struggles? In this episode, we expose the common misconception and reveal the truth behind achieving sustainable weight loss. Get ready to question everything you thought you knew about hormones and discover the surprising lifestyle habits that could be the key to unlocking your weight loss goals.

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Losing weight and keeping it off starts with making a mindset shift. Once you’ve made a mindset shift, it’s important to understand that sustainable change comes with making a lifestyle change. Long-term weight loss is a slow process, and it’s one that you need to think about continually making for the rest of your life. Fad diets don’t work, having an all-or-nothing mentality won’t result in long-term change, and understanding that, realistically, your lifestyle is what caused you to gain weight – so you need to change your lifestyle to lose it.

In this episode, hosts April Dirteater and Shalene Casanova are joined by Dr. Gary Mendoza to discuss the reality of fat loss (versus weight loss), with Gary delivering some hard truths. Unless you’re willing to do something very different from what you did in the past, you’re going to end up with the same outcome. Whatever changes you now adopt, your mindset has to be that this is how you’ll be for the rest of your life. This is your mindset going forward.

We also talk about aspects of personal training and taking a client-centered approach. Gary also offers great advice for clients when starting a fat-loss lifestyle change. Start by finding a coach who will listen to you and doesn’t overload you with information and tasks. Sustainable weight loss is all about doing small things you can stick with, eating protein with most meals, and, most importantly, planning and preparing your meals.

In This Episode: 

Dr. Gary Mendoza’s background is in personal training. Gary holds both British and American qualifications in personal training. He represented GB at the first-ever IDEA personal trainer’s convention in Washington, USA. Whilst working as a personal trainer (PT), he studied nutrition, graduating with a first in Applied Human Nutrition from the University of Wales. 

He moved into training trainers and developed a successful nutrition and weight management course, teaching PTs the skills required to deliver a successful weight management program. These skills include nutrition, activity, and behavior change. This course formed the basis of his doctoral research. In 2006 he was awarded a Ph.D. in nutrition, specializing in a multi-dimensional treatment for overweight and obese males. A big part of this research looked at the psychology of change. Gary has since undertaken further training in Motivational Interviewing (MI) and was fortunate to be trained by Professors Stephen Rollnick and William Miller, the founders of MI.

Gary’s other area of expertise is sports nutrition. He was the program leader for sports nutrition and advanced sports nutrition at Massey University in New Zealand and trained with Sports Dietitians Australia (SDA). Gary lectures in nutrition for sport and exercise at Bath Spa and Cardiff Metropolitan Universities and is an Academic Associate member of the SENr. 

He is the director of Stages of Change Ltd and delivers the Behaviour Change Workshop; this workshop teaches personal trainers sound behavior change principles. Gary is passionate about raising the standard of nutrition education and behavior change understanding in the leisure industry. He wants the industry to move to a more evidence-based nutrition and behavior change education style. He wants trainers to be able to deliver effective and safe nutrition and weight loss programs that help clients make the necessary lifestyle changes required.

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