The Healthy Family Podcast

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Latest Episodes:

How to Empower the Picky Eater in Your Life with Katja Rowell and Jenny McGlothlin Jun 07, 2018

Show notes

Over 50% of families reporting picky eating problems at home. Not knowing what to do, parents may bribe, force and pressure their child to eat. The connection between parent and child can go south, eating often gets worse, and tension at the table grows. And it's not just children but older teens and adults who struggle with picky eating.

One thing is for sure, we all need to know how to respond to picky eating and remove the shame associated with it. Only then can we see real progress.

To dig into this topic we have two featured experts: Katja Rowell, MD, and Jenny McGlothlin, MS, SLP. Katja is a medical doctor with expertise in relational and responsive feeding, and Jenny is a Speech Language Pathologist whose responsive feeding program at the UT Dallas Callier Center combines oral-motor and sensory treatments with parent education. Together they wrote Helping Your Child with Extreme Picky Eating and their recently released book, Conquer Picky Eating for Teens and Adults.

The show starts from the very beginning (infancy) and touches on every stage including adulthood. You will discover the best way to respond and support the picky eater in your life, even if the picky eater is you!

The Power of Self-Compassion with Karen Bluth May 06, 2018

Show notes

You've been there, haven't you? Your child strikes out at a baseball game, bombs a test or messes up at her dance recital and acts like it's the end of the world. It seems in today's world, moving away from the limelight for even a second can stroke fear in kids.

The self-esteem movement took our culture by storm in the 1990s. Now experts realize this movement had some serious holes in it. We are finding out that striving to "be our best" 24/7 is not only exhausting but ultimately robs kids and adults of living authentic and healthy lives.

The antidote to the shortcomings of self-esteem is self-compassion. Like self-esteem, self-compassion generates a positive feeling about oneself but it has nothing to do with performance. It's about being kind to yourself no matter what -- especially when things don't go well. Teaching self-compassion is a must in today's world of ultra comparison-itis and competition. Plus, research shows its really good for us. It's one of those tools like gratitude, that boosts emotional health and well being.

On episode 19 of The Healthy Family Podcast Karen Bluth, Ph.D. explains the benefits of teaching self-compassion to adolescents. She is Assistant Professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a certified instructor of Mindful Self-Compassion. Karen has been a mindfulness practitioner for almost 40 years and frequently gives talks, conducts workshops, and teaches classes in self-compassion in educational settings and in the community. She is co-creator of the curriculum Making Friends with Yourself: A Mindful Self-Compassion Program for Teens, and author of the book The Self-Compassion Workbook for Teens: Mindfulness and Compassion Skills to Overcome Self-Criticism and Embrace Who You Are.

Food and Feelings. How to Prevent or Curb Emotional Eating with Karen Koenig Apr 13, 2018

Show notes

From the moment we are born food and emotions are intertwined. We get fed milk while being held and enjoy connection at the family table. But as time marches on, food can all too easily be used as a way to distract us from difficult emotions or fill an emotional void. This results in dysregulated eating -- eating too much or too little, and spending way too much time thinking about food and weight.

The problem is our quick-fix culture searches for answers by making up food rules, tightly controlling goodies, or to simply "thinking positive." Our expert today says it takes both a mindful eating approach and tuning in to our emotions to get back to what she calls "normal eating."

On episode 18 of The Healthy Family Podcast we have on Karen R. Koenig, LCSW, M.Ed., licensed psychotherapist specializing in the field of compulsive, emotional and restrictive eating. She is co-founder of the Greater Boston Collaborative for Body Image and Eating Disorders and a former member of the Professional Advisory Committee of the Multi-service Eating Disorder Association of Massachusetts. She is author of several books including The Rules of "Normal" Eating, Outsmarting Overeating and The Food and Feelings Workbook.

She will forever change the way you see food and emotions, and that's a good thing.

What Dietitians Know About Eating That Most People Don't Mar 07, 2018

Show notes

When over 18,000 registered dietitians were asked about intuitive eating, they got a majority of the questions right (71 percent). And those who work in weight management reported using nonrestrictive/intuitive eating more often than traditional/restrictive practices. In short, this is the how of eating: Sitting and paying attention during mealtime, honoring feelings of hunger and fullness, and saying goodbye to restrictive rules and diet practices.

In Episode 17 of The Healthy Podcast, I detail what's behind my latest op-ed piece about the direction the majority of dietitians are going when it comes to eating, and why it's different from the general public.

The Mindful Family. Using Mindfulness to Manage Stress with Stefanie Goldstein Feb 09, 2018

Show notes

We all have to deal with the stresses of modern life, and so do our kids. We have more choices, distractions, and unknowns than ever before. Stress is a major health issue in the modern world linked to the increased risk of many chronic diseases. It's normal to want to try and find an escape, but this only makes things worse.

Mindfulness has become a buzz word when talking about stress and the challenges of modern life. Today's guest helps us understand what mindfulness actually is and how it can help families buffer daily stressors and in turn live happier and healthier lives.

Stefanie Goldstein, Ph.D. is a Licensed Clinical Psychologist who works with adolescents, adults, couples, and families. She specializes in integrating mindfulness when working with stress, anxiety, depression, addiction, and trauma. Dr. Goldstein is a trauma specialist and has worked with traumatized teens and their families. She has also been trained in Cognitive Behavioral Intervention for Trauma in Schools (CBITS), Critical Incident Stress Debriefing (CISD), Interpersonal Psychotherapy (IPT), and is a Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) Teacher. She is co-creator of CALM (Connecting Adolescents to Learning Mindfulness) and teaches classes in Los Angeles.

In episode 16 of the Healthy Family Podcast, Dr. Goldstein shares her knowledge, experience, and tips for becoming a more mindful family.

Understanding Your Mind for a Healthier Life. Acceptance and Commitment Therapy with Shawn Smith, PsyD Jan 11, 2018

Show notes

We learn a lot about what it takes to be healthy throughout a lifetime. But strangely when it comes to our brain we know very little. We have these complicated machines that are talking to us constantly. And they don't always make life easy. They tell us we can't do this, or that we don't have time for that. That's because the mind's goal isn't to make us happier or more peaceful. It only wants to keep us alive which is why it creates so much darn resistance.

Today's' guest is Dr. Shawn Smith author The User's Guide to the Human Mind: Why Our Brains Makes Us Unhappy, Anxious, and Neurotic and What We Can Do About It. He is a licensed psychologist in Denver, Colorado working mainly in the area of anxiety treatment and relationship repair. He is a mindfulness-based psychologist specializing in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy. He has been in private practices since 2006.

In episode 15 of The Healthy Family Podcast, Dr. Shawn Smith helps us understand our mind so we don't fall into the modern-day traps that make us unwell and unhappy.

Preventing Eating and Weight-Related Problems in Your Child. Project EAT's Principal Investigator Dianne Neumark-Sztainer Dec 14, 2017

Show notes

We live in a crazy world where food and weight are concerned. On the one hand, we hear about an obesity epidemic that researchers predict will only get worse. On the other hand, making weight the focus only exacerbates the issue. This leaves many parents confused and unsure about what to do.

Today's guest Dianne Neumark-Sztainer, Ph.D., MPH, RD, has been studying the formation of eating habits in adolescents and young adults for many years. As principal investigator of Project EAT (Eating and Activity in Teens and Young Adults), her insights help us understand what we can do to help our child navigate their environment with success. Dianne Neumark-Sztainer is a professor in the School of Public Health's Division of Epidemiology and Community Health at the University of Minnesota. Her research focuses on adolescent health, nutrition, obesity and eating disorder prevention, and she is the author of "I'm, Like, SO Fat!": Helping Your Teen Make Healthy Choices about Eating and Exercise in a Weight-Obsessed World.

When the Quest for "Perfect Health" Makes People Less Healthy. The Stress-Centered Approach to Health with Dr. Steve Prentice Nov 24, 2017

Show notes

Nutrition has been a hot topic for decades now. But over the past several years extreme quests for health have become more commonplace. There are books about people who haven't had sugar for an entire year. Eating regimens that eschew entire food groups are the norm. And more and more people are involved in extreme fitness whether it's boot camps, spending hours at the gym, or running ultra-long distances.

As a chiropractor, Dr. Steve Pretence was not only in active pursuit of the perfect diet, weight loss, and exercise regimes, he was recommending them to his clients. Then he noticed a recurrent theme for himself and those he was trying to help: "The more people did to get themselves to the next level, the upper echelon of health and wellness, the worse they ended up." Not only did he stop his quest for health perfection, he wrote a book about it entitled Wrecked: Why Your Quest for Health and Weight Loss Has Failed and What You Can Do About It. In episode 13 of The Healthy Family Podcast, he's sharing his story and what he thinks is behind it all.

Falling in Love with Plant Foods. How to Live a Plant-Powered Life with Sharon Palmer Oct 26, 2017

Show notes

Most people understand that eating plants are good for health. But knowing this may not be enough to make plant foods a regular and rewarding part of you and your family's life.

Today we are talking about the key to eating more plant foods: falling in love with them. During October (vegetarian month), I spoke with Sharon Palmer, The Plant-Powered Dietitian. She shows us what "plant power" is all about and how these amazing foods make life better, more delicious, and healthier.

Sharon is a registered dietitian and accomplished writer on food and environmental issues. Her expertise is plant-based nutrition and she is author of The Plant-Powered Diet and Plant-Powered for Life. She is also the editor of the acclaimed health newsletter Environmental Nutrition, and nutrition editor for Today's Dietitian. Sharon regularly appears in the media as a nutrition expert and presents on food and nutrition at national venues.

Forget Having "The Talk" With Your Child. How to Normalize Sexual Development with Elizabeth Trejos-Castillo Oct 06, 2017

Show notes

Many parents plan to have "the talk" with their children about sex and sexual development at some point. In the movies, this is shown as a grand gesture that happens on one magical day (one parent ask the other "did you have the talk with him?").

Today's guest shows us why society has this one all wrong. There isn't one perfect day we realize it's time to set our child aside and enlighten her with information. It's something that should be a natural part of conversations that starts early. After all, the body's gradual transition from child to adult is completely normal, and younger kids need to learn to expect it while older ones need to understand what's going on. It sounds easy, but without role models and some type of guide, it's not.

In Episode 11 of The Healthy Family Podcast I speak with Elizabeth Trejos- Castillo, P.hD., associate professor of human development and family studies at Texas Tech University. She created Normalized Sexual Development, a curriculum for sixth-graders that explains all the changes that go along with puberty, including emotional, cognitive and relationship development. She is an adolescent and human development researcher, and author of two textbooks. She also is a leader in the Teen Straight Talk program in Lubbock and was associate editor of The Journal of Early Adolescence for seven years.

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