Veggies & Virtue: Feeding Help for Faith-Based Families Ashley Smith - Pediatric Dietitian & Picky Eating Expert

In today's episode, I share a real + raw recap of why I have chosen to pause the Veggies & Virtue podcast.
To all of those who have supported this show, thank you. It has been a joy connecting with you in this way. I look forward to continuing to support you on:
my social @veggiesandvirtue
my site Veggies & Virtue
and through my one-on-one services

This week, we are talking through - How do you handle adding variety when your child has a small “Love it (foods)" list?
 
Particularly at dinner, this can be challenging to know how to navigate our child's nutritional needs (and/or our perception of them) with what as a family we have on the menu.
 
We want to make one meal that everyone enjoys, and yet, as a mom alludes to on today's episode, that can feel particularly difficult when our child is really specific about the foods they like.
How do we meal plan when our child has such few preferred (love it) foods?
If we change from red apples to another kind, does it still work as a love it food?
Does milk count as a love it food?
We tackle these questions and more in today's episode.
 
SHOWNOTES:
Sign up for my free weekly meal plan.
Work through my five-step process for meal planning with my Meal Planning Playbook.
Looking for added support to your family's unique situation? Sign up for a free, 30-minute strategy session with Ashley to get started.

On today's episode, I am telling you the meal planning mistake I made last week!
I use my own free weekly meal plan for simple, healthy meal ideas for my family. But what I failed to do was actually work through step one from my Meal Planning Playbook.
The good news is, as I share on today's episode, we can always course correct midweek and learn from our mistakes next week. And I am thankful for the permission to grow in this area I have learned to give myself instead of setting unrealistically high ideals that exhaust me to try to carry out.
It's really, really hard to be consistent with those kinds of self-imposed demands amidst all the real-life demands we as moms carry.
So, take your meal plan this week and run it through a real run through, like that outlined in my Meal Planning Playbook. Doing so will help you identify ways that you can make your family's meal plan work smarter for you...so you don't find yourself needing to work harder than you already do!
Need one on one help with this? Schedule a free 30-minute strategy session!

On today's episode, I go over a topic that has come up a lot lately over on social. And that is - 
 
Do we let our kids choose?
 
This could be choosing what's for breakfast, when they have another snack, or if they eat any of their dinner.
 
Each of those items is, in fact, a choice. And with that, if our child isn't the one choosing the answer/outcome, then we as the parents likely already have or will.
 
That's why, I thought this was a helpful segment to reshare from a former group coaching call.
 
Because I know for many of you, you are likely amidst what I call, role reversal.
 
Your child is the one deciding what, when, and where they eat.
And you, loving parent, are deciding if/whether and how much they eat.
 
The challenge is this is backwards. And as I will talk through on today's episode, it is assuming too much choice from our kids in areas they aren't equipped to handle. Further, it is often perpetuating a lot of the nutritional problems and power struggles we see in feeding our kids because the role and boundaries are, well, backwards.
 
So, let's talk through how much choice is healthy to give our kids.
 
I am confident that after listening or reading through this, you will have a new sense of how to partner with your child (instead of experience the ever so common pushback of parenting or other feeding pitfalls).
 

On today's episode, I am sharing with you three of the steps outlined in my Meal Planning Playbook.
You can use these three things to take my free weekly meal plan, or whatever meal plan you choose, and make it work better for your family.
The key is to remember that a meal plan is only a useful tool if it works for you (not the other way around). So, learn how to meal plan smarter (and not find yourself working harder) with the three tips we talk about in today's episode.
For more help personalizing your family's meal plan, feeding picky eaters, or coordinating a menu that offers something for everyone, be sure you follow the Veggies & Virtue podcast, so you are notified each time a new episode drops.
Or you can reach out to schedule a free 30-minute strategy session so we can chat through your struggles with feeding picky eaters and raising healthy kids and together come up with a doable action plan.

Welcome to this episode where we dive deep into the common challenges parents face when their children want more food before finishing what's on their plate. Today, we're going to explore real-life scenarios shared by parents, starting with Erica's experience.
Erica opens up about her two-and-a-half-year-old, who insists on more bites even before completing a favorite love it food. On the episode (or in the transcript), we unravel the complexities of family-style meals and the introduction of new rules to minimize pushback and promote peace.
As we navigate through these scenarios, I want to highlight the importance of consistency, especially when there are recent changes in mealtime routines. Join me as we delve into practical insights on handling boundary testing and setting expectations, including portion sizes and addressing common concerns about children favoring specific foods.
Stick around to discover practical approaches and effective strategies to navigate these mealtime struggles with our little ones. Let's jump right in!
Ready to work together? Sign up for a free 30-min strategy session here!