Veggies & Virtue

Latest Episodes:

72. Should you do the Switch Witch? Questions moms wonder when it comes to keeping vs getting rid of Halloween candy Oct 26, 2022

Show notes

So, your child has dumped out their Halloween candy and begun to sort their stash. They have found all of their favorites, maybe traded a sibling, parent, or friend for more, and now, they have the Halloween candy they plan to keep.

What do you do with all that's left?

In this episode, we chat about:

Places you can donate candy in your community (and how to transition to a spirit of Thanksgiving in doing so)
Ways to repurpose unwanted candy (so that mom can save money on candy come Christmas)
Swapping the unwanted candy for other fun rewards (using the Switch Witch)

Before you decide how your family wants to approach all of the excess Halloween candy, be sure you know how to share the joy (instead of stealing it...via your child's candy).

SHOWLINKS:

Join Mealtimes Made Easy: www.mealtimesmadeeasy.com

Schedule a session to chat one-on-one with Ashley: www.veggiesandvirtue.com/schedule

Leave Ashley a voicemail: www.veggiesandvirtue.com/ask

71. Sorting Halloween Candy: What to let your kids keep (without being a food cop) Oct 24, 2022

Show notes

Your kids come home from trick-or-treating, they have a mound of candy, and your mom-brain instantly starts to try to dissect what to do. You want them to have a healthy relationship with all foods - Halloween candy included. But the indecision of how much candy they can have on Halloween, in the days after, and how to taper their candy intake so they don't have an ongoing sugar high has historically caused both you and them stress.

In this episode, we chat about:

Your action plan for once you and your kids get home with all of the Halloween candy
How to help your child self-regulate after trick-or-treating
A simple approach to step in as a safety inspector instead of a food cop
The three-part framework to lead your kids through when deciding what candy to keep (and giveaway)

SHOWLINKS:

Join Mealtimes Made Easy: www.mealtimesmadeeasy.com

Schedule a session to chat one-on-one with Ashley: www.veggiesandvirtue.com/schedule

Leave Ashley a voicemail: www.veggiesandvirtue.com/ask

70. How much candy can my child have before, during, and after Halloween? Your blueprint to managing candy as a mom in the 72 hours before and after Halloween Oct 19, 2022

Show notes

On today's episode, I had a mom submit a question asking how much candy can her kids have not just on the day of Halloween, but also in the days before and the days following?

On Monday's episode, I addressed the first part of her question with the HOW we approach this. In this episode, we will get into spelling out the structure you may want to schedule into the days surrounding Halloween. With a clear approach to discerning how much candy to allow, you will walk away confident (instead of annoyed) the next time your child asks, "Mom, can I have candy?!"

SHOWLINKS:

Join Mealtimes Made Easy: www.mealtimesmadeeasy.com

Schedule a session to chat one-on-one with Ashley: www.veggiesandvirtue.com/schedule

Leave Ashley a voicemail: www.veggiesandvirtue.com/ask

69. What to do when your kid keeps asking for candy: a mom’s guide to taking action instead of feeling annoyed Oct 17, 2022

Show notes

Are you stressed out, annoyed, or simply just unsure how to handle it every time your child asks for another piece of Halloween candy?

If you have listened to the other episodes in this series on Halloween, you know that discerning how much is "too much" with how much is "enough," isn't always a black and white answer.

However, HOW we approach this is rather straight-forward. Rather than feeling the need to excessively control and restrict or uncontrollably let our kids have at their candy (in a way that disrupts their appetite for other foods and eating opportunities), this episode will walk you through how to add structure and predictably to a request that can otherwise escalate into an issue.

This how-to will help you to work together with your child to come up with a plan for how much and how often candy is enjoyed. This will lessen any stress, annoyance, and uncertainty on both sides of the feeding relationship.

SHOWLINKS:

Join Mealtimes Made Easy: www.mealtimesmadeeasy.com

Schedule a session to chat one-on-one with Ashley: www.veggiesandvirtue.com/schedule

Leave Ashley a voicemail: www.veggiesandvirtue.com/ask

68. Kid-friendly, candy-free ideas for Halloween. How to be considerate of food allergies, conscious of cost, and still keep it fun (with low to no added sugar)! Oct 12, 2022

Show notes

Based on the analytics for this podcast, one of my most popular episodes since launching in January was this one talking about non-candy Easter basket ideas.

With that, I made the assumption that many of you might also like to know some non-candy options for Halloween.

I'm going to give you some really fun novelty ways that you can still enjoy the holiday with less sugar offerings. So if you are wanting to minimize the amount of added sugar that's being passed out from your house or given to your kids or you are looking for more allergen-friendly ideas, this episode is going to be right up your alley.

SHOWLINKS:

Join Mealtimes Made Easy: www.mealtimesmadeeasy.com

Schedule a session to chat one-on-one with Ashley: www.veggiesandvirtue.com/schedule

Leave Ashley a voicemail: www.veggiesandvirtue.com/ask

The Teal Pumpkin Project: support kids with food allergies

67. True or False: sugar makes kids act crazy. Pointers for problem-solving if you feel your child is sugar-sensitive Oct 10, 2022

Show notes

Does candy make your kids act crazy?

For most adults, we assume so. We blame the candy, cupcakes, or sugar-coated culprit for being the root of our child's behavioral problems.

But what data do you have to support this? Observationally and anecdotally, most moms I speak to could come up with a laundry list of examples. So does it surprise you that studies looking at the association between sugar intake and hyperactivity are considered "case closed?"

With the exception of a small subset of children who have diagnoses ADHD, the research shows that sugar is NOT to blame for patterns of poor behavior in kids. Conversely, we see that often it is the perception of sugar as the problem that leads parents to defer accountability on what they can control (being what, when, and where a child is offered a variety of meals and snacks, including those that are sugar-sweetened).

To pinpoint the problem AND have a more accurate depiction of what you can do about it, this episode is going to force you to pivot with pointers on how to problem solve the ever-so-common concern of "sugar highs," right before Halloween gets here.

SHOWLINKS:

Join Mealtimes Made Easy: www.mealtimesmadeeasy.com

Schedule a session to chat one-on-one with Ashley: www.veggiesandvirtue.com/schedule

Leave Ashley a voicemail: www.veggiesandvirtue.com/ask

66. Is Sugar Your Friend or Your Foe? How to get yourself mentally ready for Halloween with kids Oct 05, 2022

Show notes

When we think back to Halloween as kids, hopefully each of us have some really fond memories and funny costumes that come to mind.

But for a lot of us, whether it started in childhood, came about in adolescence or early adulthood, or presented more once becoming a mom, we may have less-than-fond memories that are triggered this time of year by ghosts from our pasts.

Memories where we made ourselves sick on candy. Felt out of control around all the holiday treats. Experienced shame, guilt, or regret because of an unhealthy relationship with all the sweets and treats.

Or we grew up being so micromanaged around Halloween candy that we still don't feel the freedom to trust ourselves around it. And in that, we haven't learned how to trust our kids with it either.

Through these memories and the messages that have been engrained in us, we have learned that sugar is a less-than-friendly foe. It is the guest no one wants around and yet everyone invites, especially this time of year. It is the party crasher every parent resents and thus, often restricts. And it taunts us - especially at Halloween time.

But it is time to confront the very things we believe about sugar. Starting with,

Is sugar your friend or your foe?

No matter your past, present, or future relationship with food, I want you to walk away from this episode knowing that you hold the power; not candy. That you have the potential to rewrite the script around sugar in your family and for the next generation of trick or treaters. You have the ability to make impact - on healing old hurts and helping form healthy new habits.

And it starts now.

65. Scared of all the sugar ahead? What it takes to have a ”healthy” outlook this October. Oct 03, 2022

Show notes

Welcome to October! When the leaves are changing, weather starts cooling off, and moms everywhere begin wondering (or worrying!) about how to handle the upcoming season of endless candy and added sugar.

It can feel like a real nightmare, and yet, it doesn't have to be. Because as we discuss in this episode, you might feel like you have no vision or plan for how a "healthy" Halloween season should look. Is it an oxymoron we can't get around? An area of our life where we do a funny dance trying to dodge a sugar-filled landmind here or there? Or is there a way we can approach the innocence of childhood with the opportunity of all this season holds for small yet developing bodies and habits.

I believe so! And as a registered dietitian and mom of three navigating the upcoming month alongside you, this month is going to begin to show you how to have a healthy approach to the upcoming month(s).

SHOWLINKS:

Join Mealtimes Made Easy: www.mealtimesmadeeasy.com

Schedule a session to chat one-on-one with Ashley: www.veggiesandvirtue.com/schedule

Leave Ashley a voicemail: www.veggiesandvirtue.com/ask

64. What should you be focusing on in a season such as this? 4 Things that fall reminds us to do in anticipation for what is next. Sep 28, 2022

Show notes

In this episode, we talk about how do we prepare for seasons that we may be expecting?

I don't just mean literally with expecting a child, but it might just be that we're expecting change, or we're expecting our plans to pivot, or that our responsibilities will shift, that people will come and go, or that life will just be a little different than we know it now.

As we welcome fall (literally, last week), I want to ask this question because this is something I address within the bonus blueprint of the Mealtimes Made Easy Method. I want families to see that no matter what season of life you're in, you can still make healthy habits happen.

BUT...this is a big but...you need them to be ones that function for your family and where you.

Because our greatest action steps are not the lofty aspirations that get us what we think we ought to do or have, but they are those that help us get closer to becoming and to raising the children and the families that we have imagined in terms of fostering a healthy understanding of how to fuel and nourish our bodies.

So in this episode, we are going to go over four steps I suggest you take if you're in a season of looking ahead. Maybe you can see that there might be some potential change or challenges on the horizon and you want to do what you can now in anticipation of those events so that you can be as set up for success as possible as a family when that next season comes. Or, maybe like me, it is more just being intentional about the discipline of "preparing" so that if and when life throws you a curve ball, you will already have the habits in place to support you AND sustain you in it.

SHOWLINKS:

Join Mealtimes Made Easy: www.mealtimesmadeeasy.com

Schedule a session to chat one-on-one with Ashley: www.veggiesandvirtue.com/schedule

Leave Ashley a voicemail: www.veggiesandvirtue.com/ask

63. Do your family’s health goals feel unattainable? Make this ONE mindset shift (and your future self with thank you!) Sep 26, 2022

Show notes

Too often, we can get overwhelmed with all of our aspirations for healthy meal plans, easy weeknight meals, and a weekend with robust meal prep that we miss what we can do RIGHT NOW.

That's why, as we welcome the fall season, I want to help you see the small yet significant opportunities right in front of you. These start with what you're already doing. Find out how this one simple mindset shift will set your future self up for success! It is one of the best times of year to begin doing this one thing so that you can effortlessly habit stack more health goals as we get closer to the new year.

SHOWLINKS:

Join Mealtimes Made Easy: www.mealtimesmadeeasy.com

Schedule a session to chat one-on-one with Ashley: www.veggiesandvirtue.com/schedule

Leave Ashley a voicemail: www.veggiesandvirtue.com/ask

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