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When a child struggles with food, parents are often told one of two things:

“They’ll grow out of it” or “you need to push harder.”

But what if neither of those is actually helpful?

In this episode of The Livin’Sky Podcast, I sit down with eating disorder expert, educator, and speaker Jessica Setnick to talk about what’s really happening beneath picky eating, food anxiety, and eating challenges in children.

We talk about how to recognize red flags without panicking, why ARFID is often misunderstood, how stress and family dynamics shape a child’s relationship with food, and why parents’ own food histories matter more than they may realize.

This conversation is compassionate, practical, and incredibly freeing for parents who want to raise healthy, resilient eaters without pressure, shame, or control.

In This Episode, We Talk About

• Why Jessica prefers the term “problem eating behaviors” over eating disorders in children
• The difference between normal selective eating and something more concerning
• Early red flags parents should watch for
• Why a sudden change in eating is often more important than a label
• Stress, trauma, and how they can affect a child’s eating
• Why children should not be put on restrictive diets for weight loss
• What ARFID actually is and why it is often misunderstood
• Who should be part of a feeding support team
• The role anxiety plays in food struggles
• Small, practical ways parents can reduce food stress at home
• Why food exposure does not always mean taking a bite
• How shame around food develops
• How adults’ own childhood food experiences shape family feeding patterns
• Why kids need safety, autonomy, and trust around food
• What it really means to raise resilient eaters

Key Takeaways

• Picky eating is often more normal than parents think
• A child can be healthy without eating a huge variety of foods
• Red flags are often about change, growth, stress, and function
• ARFID is a descriptive diagnosis, not a root cause
• Food anxiety can be supported without pressure or force
• Family food patterns often go back generations
• Kids need safety and autonomy, not shame, around food

Resources Mentioned

• Jessica Setnick: https://jessicasetnick.com
• Healing Your Inner Eater: https://healingyourinnereater.com
• Discount code from Jessica: podcast

Connect with Lena

• Website: https://lenalivinsky.com/
• Podcast: The Livin’Sky Podcast
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lena.livinsky/
• Workshop: Beyond Picky Eating 

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Disclaimer: This podcast is for informational purposes only and is not intended as medical advice. Always consult with a qualified healthcare provider before making significant dietary changes.

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In this bonus episode of The Livin’Sky Podcast, I’m sharing a replay of my Beyond Picky Eating workshop.

If your child eats a limited number of foods, refuses certain textures, or mealtimes feel stressful, this episode will help you understand what’s really going on.

You’ll learn why picky eating is often not just behavior, but a reflection of the child’s nervous system, sensory experience, gut health, and overall development.

We’ll walk through a whole-child approach to help children feel safer around food and begin expanding their food choices naturally, without pressure, bribing, or mealtime battles.

🎥 Watch the full workshop replay (available for a limited time):

[WATCH HERE]

📍 Book your Personalized Feeding Game Plan session:

[BOOK HERE]

If you’re ready to understand your child’s picky eating and get a clear, personalized plan for what to do next, I would love to support you.

This episode is only available for a limited time, so be sure to listen soon.

Grab your Bon Charge gear here, code LenaL for 15% off your purchase 

Grab your SIGNALS shake at 10% off with code Lena10

Disclaimer: This podcast is for informational purposes only and is not intended as medical advice. Always consult with a qualified healthcare provider before making significant dietary changes.

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Most conversations around childhood apraxia of speech focus on one thing: speech.

But what if we’re missing the bigger picture?

In this episode, I sit down with Dhana Cohen, executive director of Apraxia Voice, to talk about a different approach, one that looks beyond speech alone and considers the whole child.

We talk about what apraxia really is, why so many families feel lost after a diagnosis, and how factors like nervous system regulation, nutrition, movement, and overall health may play a role in supporting better outcomes.

This conversation is especially important for parents who feel like they’ve been told to “just do more therapy” without being given a bigger plan.

We also dive into:

• What childhood apraxia of speech actually means in simple terms
• Why early diagnosis and awareness still need improvement
• The gap between traditional therapy and whole-child support
• How nutrition, gut health, and environment may impact development
• The role of connection, regulation, and daily habits
• A new functional health program designed to support families in a more accessible way

If you’ve ever felt like there has to be more you can do to support your child, this episode will give you a new lens to look through.

Connect with Dhana & Apraxia Voice:

• Website: https://apraxiavoice.org
• Email: [email protected]

🎧 Listen to more episodes:

The Livin’ Sky Podcast

✨ Join my upcoming FREE workshop:

Beyond Picky Eating – April 9, 2026 6pm EST

https://lenalivinsky.com/workshop

📞 Work with me:

Book a free Strategy Call

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Disclaimer: This podcast is for informational purposes only and is not intended as medical advice. Always consult with a qualified healthcare provider before making significant dietary changes.

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In this episode of The Livin’ Sky Podcast, I sit down with Linsey Knerl, author of Homeschool Hacks and a homeschooling mom of six, for a grounded and honest conversation about what homeschooling really looks like in real family life.

We talk about why more parents are considering homeschooling, how to make it work without burnout, and why homeschooling does not have to mean perfection, isolation, or doing everything yourself. Lindsay shares what she has learned from over two decades of homeschooling, including how to support different learning styles, balance work and home education, think about technology, create calm around mealtimes, and raise independent, resilient kids.

This episode is packed with practical encouragement for parents who are homeschooling already, considering it for the future, or simply wanting to create a more personalized and connected learning life at home.

In This Episode, We Talk About

• Why Lindsay first chose homeschooling
• What homeschooling actually looks like day to day
• Whether homeschooled children can get into college
• Supporting children with dyslexia, dysgraphia, and dyscalculia
• How to homeschool while working and managing family life
• What hybrid homeschooling can look like
• Why homeschool co-ops and community matter
• How many hours homeschooling really takes
• Why parents do not need to teach every subject themselves
• Technology, screen time, and homeschooling balance
• The truth about homeschool socialization
• Honoring each child’s unique learning style
• Why cooking, nutrition, and family meals matter
• Helping picky eaters feel calmer and more secure at the table
• Preventing burnout as a homeschooling parent
• Raising resilient and adaptable kids

Mentioned in This Episode

• Homeschool Hacks by Linsey Knerl
• Lindsay’s website: linseyknerl.com

Grab your Bon Charge gear here, code LenaL for 15% off your purchase 

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Disclaimer: This podcast is for informational purposes only and is not intended as medical advice. Always consult with a qualified healthcare provider before making significant dietary changes.

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Welcome to Season 4 of The Livin’Sky Podcast.

In this powerful opening episode, Lena Livinsky, M.A., CCC-SLP, shares a deeply personal story from her childhood in Poland that completely changed how she understands picky eating today.

This episode goes beyond typical feeding advice and explores the deeper root of picky eating: food stories.

Food stories are the emotional experiences children attach to food. They are shaped by connection, environment, sensory input, and nervous system regulation. And they influence how a child eats for years to come.

If your child struggles with picky eating, food refusal, or only eats a limited number of foods, this episode will help you understand what is happening beneath the surface.

You’ll learn why picky eating is not just about behavior and why pressure at the table often makes things worse. Lena walks you through how a child’s nervous system, environment, and emotional safety directly impact their willingness to explore food.

She also shares simple, practical ways to help your child build positive food stories so that eating can feel safe, calm, and even enjoyable again.

This episode is especially helpful for parents who feel stuck, overwhelmed, or tired of mealtime battles and want a more connected, biology-informed approach.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode

• What “food stories” are and why they matter in picky eating
• Why picky eating is not just about behavior
• How emotional safety impacts your child’s appetite
• The connection between the nervous system and eating
• Why pressure at the table often backfires
• How environment influences picky eating
• Simple ways to create calm, connected mealtimes
• How to help your child become more curious about food

Key Takeaways

• Picky eating is often a body-based response, not defiance
• Children eat better when they feel safe and regulated
• Connection is more powerful than control at the table
• Small environmental shifts can create big changes
• Positive food experiences build long-term eating habits

Beyond Picky Eating Workshop 👉 https://lenalivinsky.com/workshop

Lena's Website 👉 https://lenalivinsky.com

If this episode resonated with you, share it with another parent who needs support around picky eating.

And if you’re ready to understand the root cause of your child’s picky eating:

👉 Take the Root Cause Quiz™

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Disclaimer: This podcast is for informational purposes only and is not intended as medical advice. Always consult with a qualified healthcare provider before making significant dietary changes.

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This episode is different.

No guest. No polished lesson. Just me, reflecting honestly on the most transformative year of my life.

One year ago, I was 50 pounds heavier, deep in autoimmune flares, brain fog, lingering postpartum depression, and still trying to function through sheer willpower. My skin was inflamed, my nervous system was overwhelmed, and despite all my training as a feeding specialist, I felt stuck in my own body.

Today, everything looks different.

In this episode, I share:

• What actually changed my health after years of trying everything
• How gut health, nervous system safety, and environment reshaped my healing
• Why mold exposure was a turning point I could not ignore
• How ancestral nutrition and personalized testing shifted my understanding of “healthy”
• The moment with my son at the dinner table that completely reframed picky eating for me
• Why picky eating is not a behavior problem, but a biological signal

This experience did not pull me away from my work. It deepened it.

If you are a parent feeling stuck, overwhelmed, or wondering why nothing seems to work for your child or your own health, this episode is for you. Healing is possible. Safety comes first. And clarity changes everything.

KEY TAKEAWAYS 

• Healing is individualized. There is no universal “healthy.”
• Picky eating is a symptom, not a diagnosis.
• Nervous system safety must come before food exposure.
• Gut health, immune regulation, and sensory processing are deeply connected.
• Environmental inputs (light, air, water, stress) matter as much as food.
• Parents are not failing. Their child’s body is communicating.

If picky eating feels overwhelming or confusing, start here:

Download the Peaceful Plate Checklist

A practical, print-friendly guide grounded in my BLOOM™ Framework that helps you identify what may be driving your child’s picky eating and where to begin without pressure.

If this episode resonated, I would genuinely love to hear from you.

Send me a DM on Instagram: @lena.livinsky

Tell me what shifted for you this year or what you are navigating right now.

Lena's website

Mary Ruddick's Website

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Disclaimer: This podcast is for informational purposes only and is not intended as medical advice. Always consult with a qualified healthcare provider before making significant dietary changes.

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Motherhood has a way of cracking us open in ways we never expected.

In this episode of The Livin’Sky Podcast, I’m joined by Dr. Angele Close, clinical psychologist, author, and mom of three, for a powerful conversation about what really shapes the way we parent our inner world.

After becoming a mother herself, Dr. Angele realized that despite years of clinical training, parenting surfaced deep emotional patterns, reactions, and beliefs she didn’t know were still there. That experience led her to Internal Family Systems (IFS), a model that helps parents understand their inner “parts,” soften reactive patterns, and heal the generational cycles we unknowingly pass on to our children.

Together, we talk about:

• Why motherhood often feels harder than we expected
• The hidden myths of the “good mom” and how they fuel stress and shame
• How unhealed inner parts show up at the dinner table, especially with picky eating
• The connection between a parent’s nervous system and a child’s ability to feel safe, regulate, and explore food
• Why repair matters more than perfection
• How healing yourself creates ripple effects throughout your home

If you’ve ever found yourself overwhelmed, reactive, questioning whether you’re doing enough, or wondering why mealtimes feel so tense, this episode will help you see that nothing is wrong with you and that real change starts from the inside out.

Dr. Angele also shares more about her upcoming book, Unburdening Motherhood, which brings Internal Family Systems into everyday parenting and offers practical tools for releasing shame, softening survival patterns, and reconnecting with yourself.

This conversation is for moms who want to parent differently, support their child’s nervous system, and raise resilient, connected kids  without losing themselves in the process.

www.unburdeningmotherhood.com

https://www.drangeleclose.com/

https://www.instagram.com/drangeleclose

Lena's website

Lena's Instagram

Grab your Bon Charge gear here, code LenaL for 15% off your purchase 

Grab your SIGNALS shake at 10% off with code Lena10

Disclaimer: This podcast is for informational purposes only and is not intended as medical advice. Always consult with a qualified healthcare provider before making significant dietary changes.

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What if speech delays, feeding struggles, eczema, allergies, and sensory challenges weren’t separate issues but connected signals from the body?

In this episode of The Livin’Sky Podcast, I sit down with Tori Starling, holistic health and bioenergetics practitioner, health coach, and founder of Simply Holistic Solutions. Tori shares her powerful personal story of how her son healed from childhood apraxia of speech, severe eczema, asthma, recurrent ear infections, and food allergies, not through a single therapy or supplement, but by addressing the root causes affecting his whole system.

Fourteen years ago, when few people were talking about holistic apraxia or root-cause healing, Tori followed her intuition and uncovered the deeper layers influencing her son’s ability to speak, learn, and thrive. Today, she supports families navigating apraxia and autism by addressing total load, gut health, nutritional deficiencies, nervous system regulation, and bioenergetics, helping therapy work better, not harder.

This episode is a hopeful, grounded reminder that children are not broken and that when the body is supported, incredible healing is possible.

Tori's Website

Raising Voices: A Holistic Starter Guide for Moms Navigating
Childhood Apraxia of Speech e-book

Voice of Truth Book

Tori's Instagram

Lena's website

Lena's Instagram

Grab your Bon Charge gear here, code LenaL for 15% off your purchase 

Grab your SIGNALS shake at 10% off with code Lena10

Disclaimer: This podcast is for informational purposes only and is not intended as medical advice. Always consult with a qualified healthcare provider before making significant dietary changes.

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What if your child’s behavior isn’t the problem… but the message?

In this powerful episode of The Livin’Sky Podcast, Lena is joined by Jen McNerney, a trauma-informed somatic practitioner, former SLP, and nervous system expert, for a conversation that will change the way you see your child.

Jen blends science, intuition, and real-world motherhood to help families support kids with anxiety, developmental trauma, sensory issues, and more. Together, Lena and Jen explore what’s underneath behavior challenges and how emotional regulation, airway health, fascia, and nervous system safety are at the root of it all.

You’ll learn:

• Why nervous system dysregulation is often the missing piece behind picky eating, tantrums, and resistance
• What NeuroEmotional Technique (NET) is and how Jen uses it to transform stress in the body, including food-related anxiety and gag reflexes
• Why fascia, tongue ties, and airway issues often go undiagnosed in kids… and what to look for
• Simple regulation tools you can use right now to connect with your child and support healing

From one mom and SLP to another, this episode is packed with practical insight, lived wisdom, and the kind of real conversation our community craves.

Don’t miss Jen’s final piece of advice, it might be the most important reminder you hear all week.

Learn more about Jen at www.jenmcnerney.com

e-mail Jen:  [email protected]

Follow her on Instagram

To learn more about NET: netmindbody.com

TOTS Airway Provider Directory

Lena's Instagram 

Lena's Website

Grab your Bon Charge gear here, code LenaL for 15% off your purchase 

Grab your SIGNALS shake at 10% off with code Lena10

Disclaimer: This podcast is for informational purposes only and is not intended as medical advice. Always consult with a qualified healthcare provider before making significant dietary changes.

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Today’s episode is one that will stay with you. I’m joined by Mick Wienholt. He’s a devoted husband, homeschool dad of four and host of the When You Look podcast. His life has been shaped by near-death experiences, deep faith, unimaginable loss and a commitment to raising grounded, resilient, emotionally connected kids.

Mick and his wife live by a family philosophy they call “raising adults.” It means teaching kids life skills early, giving them meaningful responsibility and seeing childhood as preparation for adulthood, not an escape from it. This guiding belief influences everything from mealtime routines to communication, discipline and emotional development.

Mick shares how faith transformed his life after the stillbirth of their first son, Luke, and how grief became the doorway to a deeper relationship with God. His story is raw and moving and offers so much hope for families navigating heavy seasons.

We also talk about:

• building resilience through structure and connection

• supporting gut health and behavior through real food

• giving kids responsibility in age-appropriate ways

• raising confident communicators

• simple habits that create grounded, capable kids

• faith as a guiding force in daily parenting

• how grief changed everything about how he shows up as a father

• his miraculous survival of a devastating avalanche

• why parents should prioritize their relationship as the foundation for a stable home

This episode encourages you to slow down, zoom out and remember what truly matters. Whether faith is central in your home or something you’re rediscovering, this conversation will leave you feeling grounded and inspired.

• Raising adults means preparing kids for real life through small, daily responsibilities.

• Parenting isn’t helicoptering or laissez-faire. It’s situational guidance based on experience and readiness.

• A calm mealtime routine starts with connection, protein first and consistent boundaries.

• Gut health impacts children’s mood, behavior and resilience more than we realize.

• Faith can completely transform the way we parent and show up in our homes.

• Grief can soften us, deepen gratitude and reshape the entire trajectory of a family.

• Kids thrive when parents are emotionally regulated, connected and aligned.

• God uses unimaginable circumstances to bring us closer to Him and closer to purpose.

• Connect with Mick: whenyoulook.com

• Listen to the When You Look Podcast

• Download the Calm Mealtime Toolkit

• Follow Lena on Instagram: @lenalivinsky

• Explore holistic picky eating support at lenalivinsky.com

Grab your Bon Charge gear here, code LenaL for 15% off your purchase 

Grab your SIGNALS shake at 10% off with code Lena10

Disclaimer: This podcast is for informational purposes only and is not intended as medical advice. Always consult with a qualified healthcare provider before making significant dietary changes.