by admin | May 28, 2019 | Body Acceptance, Body Image, Intuitive Eating, Nurtured Mama, parenting, Podcast, Role Model, Support for Moms
Busy Mom's Starter Guide to Making Peace with Food
Get the 5 day audio course!
We all want our kiddos to feel comfortable in their bodies, but we can’t always protect them from the cultural messaging and outside voices implying that there is a right and wrong way to eat. And for those of us who struggle with eating and body image disorders ourselves, there is the added worry that we might pass these issues on to our children. So, what can we do to raise body positive children with the confidence and autonomy to practice intuitive eating?
Karen Diaz is a registered dietitian certified in intuitive eating. She earned her BS in Dietetics from James Madison University in 2001 and completed her internship at the Cornell Campus of New York—Presbyterian Hospital in 2003. Karen spent several years working as a clinical dietician in the nutrition department at The Renfrew Center, one of the leading centers for eating disorder treatment on the East Coast, before creating The Free Life, a platform designed to support women in overcoming eating and body image disorders. She is also the author of Within: Making Peace with Food and Body Image to Create a Healthy Family and Home.
On this episode of The Embodied & Well Mom Show, Karen joins us to discuss the challenges moms (and parents) face in judging ourselves when it comes to body image and food. She shares the two overarching themes from her book on confronting eating and body image disorders, building yourself up first—and then opening a dialogue with your children. Karen also describes the value in developing a Family Manifesto around food and learning to practice ‘appreciative looking.’ Listen in for Karen’s insight on talking to your kids about cultural messaging and learn her top strategies for raising body positive children!
Key Takeaways
What inspired Karen to specialize in eating disorders
- Addiction issues in family, friend with eating disorder
- 8 years in nutrition department at eating disorder clinic
How we judge ourselves around body image + food
- Rules make it hard to be active participant in relationship
- Remove mom-guilt that we caused child’s issues
The two overarching themes in Karen’s book Within
- Build self up so strong that diet culture crumbles at feet
- Open dialogue in home to address struggles
Karen’s Family Manifesto around food
- Set of beliefs, e.g.: food shouldn’t be reward
- Don’t judge other families for different values
The value in facilitating an open dialogue on body image
- Ask questions to let kids be heard
- Avoid bringing own worries into conversation
The concept of appreciative looking
- Look at photographs 3X, find something like
- Learn to see self in different way
Karen’s advice on shifting negative cultural messages
- YOU determine your environment
- Choose foods that taste good, feel good for you
How to educate your kids on cultural messaging
- Point out lack of size diversity
- Discuss shows with personality based on body size
Karen’s insight on talking to preteens about body image
- Proactive strategies (i.e.: write letters to parts of body)
- Don’t panic about phases, doctor’s comments
Connect with Karen
The Free Life
Karen on Facebook
Karen on Twitter
Karen on Pinterest
Within: Making Peace with Food and Body Image to Create a Healthy Family and Home by Karen Diaz RD
Connect with Lindsay
Intuitive Eating Moms
Embodied & Well Mom Show on Facebook
Lindsay on Instagram
Lindsay on Pinterest
Lindsay on Twitter
Lindsay on LinkedIn
Resources
Wendy Yalom Photography
by admin | Feb 7, 2019 | anxiety management, Body Acceptance, Body Image, Breastfeeding, Community, Eating Disorder Recovery, Eating Disorders During Pregnancy, Eating Disorders Postpartum, Emotions & Food, Hunger & Fullness Postpartum, Mental Health Treatment, Mindful Eating, Nurtured Mama, perinatal mood disorders, Podcast, Postpartum, pregnancy, pregnancy wellness, Self Care, stress management, Support for Moms
Busy Mom's Starter Guide to Making Peace with Food
Get the 5 day audio course!
It’s Not About the Baby Weight Online Summit from Lindsay Stenovec on Vimeo.
SIGN UP FOR LINDA’S FREE ONLINE SUMMIT TODAY!
IT’S NOT ABOUT THE BABY WEIGHT – RECOVERY MAMA SUMMIT
During pregnancy and postpartum, your relationship with food changes and your body transforms. This shift is challenging for nearly all new moms, but if you have a history of anxiety, depression, or an eating disorder, that adds another layer of complexity to an already difficult process. So, what kind of support do you need if you are in recovery as you transition into motherhood?
Dr. Linda Shanti is a licensed clinical psychologist in private practice in San Francisco. She specializes in recovery from eating disorders, body image challenges, anxiety, postpartum depression, and new mom support. Linda is also a well-known speaker and author of the book The Recovery Mama Guide to Your Eating Disorder Recovery in Pregnancy and Postpartum. With 20 years of experience in the realm of compulsive eating, emotional eating, binge eating, bulimia, and anorexia, she is committed to helping women leverage expressive arts, mindfulness, and compassionate mirroring to support recovery in pregnancy and postpartum.
On this episode of The Embodied & Well Mom Show, Linda joins us to explain the proactive approach she took to get support during her own pregnancy, discussing the way her anxiety presented as irritability, anger, and hypervigilance. She shares her experience with both food and body image during pregnancy and postpartum and describes how she supports women in decoding the myths around ‘getting your body back.’ Listen in to understand Linda’s approach to working with new moms in recovery—and learn to quiet your overdeveloped self-critic in favor of self-compassion!
Key Takeaways
Linda’s proactive approach to getting support during her own pregnancy
- Brought up history of anxiety, eating disorder at first appointment
- Surprised by irritable depression, rage and hypervigilance
The challenge of supporting a partner with irritable depression
- Looks like pushing away, want to be alone
Linda’s experience with food during pregnancy and postpartum
- Disconcerting ravenous hunger
- Nausea in first trimester (calmed by eating)
Linda’s experience with body image during pregnancy
- Drastic hormonal shifts led to BIG feelings
- Fun to have baby bump in middle of process
- Very rough at end, ‘carting around boulder’
How Linda supports clients around postpartum body image
- Work through grief process
- Decode myths re: diet culture, getting body back
How Linda works with moms in recovery from eating disorders
- Reframe independence as interdependence
- Address overdeveloped self-critic
- Reassess schedule, lower the bar on expectations
Linda’s advice for overachieving first-time moms
- You will come back, have time to self again
Connect with Linda
Linda’s Website
Recovery Mama on Instagram
Recovery Mam on Facebook
Connect with Lindsay
Intuitive Eating Moms
Embodied & Well Mom Show on Facebook
Lindsay on Instagram
Lindsay on Pinterest
Lindsay on Twitter
Lindsay on LinkedIn
Resources
The Recovery Mama Guide to Your Eating Disorder Recovery in Pregnancy and Postpartum by Linda Shanti McCabe
by Ana R | Dec 12, 2017 | Body Acceptance, Body Image, Breastfeeding, Nurtured Mama, Podcast, Postpartum, pregnancy, pregnancy wellness, Self Care, Support for Moms, Uncategorized

Listen + Subscribe on ITUNES or STITCHER
We’d greatly appreciate a podcast rating and review so that we can reach more mamas and families!
– Search for the podcast in your podcast app (The Nurtured Mama Podcast)
– Scroll down and click 5 stars
– Tap “Write a Review” & enter brief review
– Press send
MEET THE GUEST:
Jennifer McGurk, RDN, CDN, CDE, CEDRD is a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist whose mission is to help people heal from diets, and find peace and balance with their food choices. She is the owner of Eat With Knowledge in Nyack, NY. She leads a team of dietitians who support the philosophy, “Feel fabulous about food!”
As a Certified Eating Disorders Registered Dietitian, Jennifer combines her expertise in medical nutrition therapy, psychology, and physiology to help clients understand their eating behaviors, and gain the insight needed to make positive changes for their health. She is an expert in the field of eating disorders, and a proud advocate for the Health at Every Size movement.
Jennifer has created the business, Pursuing Private Practice, along with authoring a book series of the same name, to help other healthcare professionals reach their goal of owning their own business. She also offers an e-course on Pursing Private Practice to help all healthcare professionals achieve their business goals. She offers supervision to other dietitians in the field of eating disorders.
Jennifer is a frequent guest in the media, often talking about positive nutrition, body image, healing from dieting, and educating others about eating disorders. She also loves to talk about all topics related to private practice! She has given presentations at conferences and workshops to audiences from 10 to as many as 1,000 people, and has been featured in news articles and on podcasts. For Jennifer, each presentation is an opportunity to share with her audience her positive message about food.
WHERE TO FIND JENNIFER ONLINE:
Websites:
www.eatwithknowledge.com
www.pursuingprivatepractice.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JenniferMcGurkRDN/
Twitter: @jenmcgurkrdn
Instagram: @jennifermcgurkrdn
EPISODE SUMMARY:
- Jennifer shares about her family’s experiences during their transition when they welcomed their second child at home.
- She also gives emphasis on giving assurance to the first child that nothing will ever change in how he/she is loved and cared for despite the fact that there’s a new addition to the family.
- Jennifer discussed how she planned differently for her 2nd birth, pregnancy and postpartum. She also shared a tip about not having so many expectations when it comes to the process of pregnancy, childbirth, and post-partum.
- For Jen, change is the only constant. She shares that she’s learned it’s okay for things not to fall into the timeline. It’s okay to take a step back and reflect. Later on, things will fall into their own place.
- She also gives advice to mothers on being compassionate with themselves. Leave guilt and shame aside. Whatever decision you make that you think is best for your family is okay.
- According to Jen, what your body needs is important. Yet, it’s also important to take care of your mind and soul. Motherhood is a tough job and it’s okay to ask support.



by Ana R | Nov 14, 2017 | Body Acceptance, Body Image, Body Movements, Exercise, Health at Every Size

Listen + Subscribe on ITUNES or STITCHER
We’d greatly appreciate a podcast rating and review so that we can reach more mamas and families!
– Search for the podcast in your podcast app (The Nurtured Mama Podcast)
– Scroll down and click 5 stars
– Tap “Write a Review” & enter brief review
– Press send
MEET THE GUEST:
Gillian Byers is an American Council on Exercise (ACE) certified personal trainer that has never fit in the fit box and won’t ask you to either! She discovered the joy of at-home body and free weight strength training, in her late 20’s, using small steps. She now thrives on personalizing exercises and programs to fit each of her amazing clients, helping them build strength in ways that feel good, safe, fun and supportive! As a highly sensitive extrovert, she loves meeting people and being in tune with the whole person and how that can affect movement and vice versa. After experiencing, and learning from others, the damage that a weight loss focus can cause she is committed to helping people build strength, ease of movement, function, and health without using the scale or measurements. Helping people move towards neutrality and even love for their body brings her joy. She’s also taken courses in Fibromyalgia and Arthritis and enjoys helping people ease into movement as gently as needed. She offers classes and one on one training both online and in person in beautiful Newberg, Oregon.
FIND GILLIAN ONLINE:
Website: www.MindfullyActive.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/mindfullyactive
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mindfully.active/
EPISODE SUMMARY:
- Gillian shares about how she started helping people find movement that feels good and enjoyable. She focuses on “The Feel Good Full Body Warm-Up” as her way of helping clients tune-in and to start listening to their body.
- One of the biggest things that Gillian works on is moving away from using weight loss as a motivator or indicator of progress. According to her (and I agree!), when weight loss is used as a motivator to move, it:
> Creates a barrier in listening to your body
> Makes it hard to get in touch with what your body is asking for – what actually feels good, what level and type of movement is sustainable
>Can impact the ability to take a break or prevent injury
- She also talks about the top challenges she sees clients face when they’re moving away from movements that are driven by the diet culture and weight-loss focused culture.
- She emphasizes kindness to the body and to also be gentle with yourself.
- Gillian also mentioned the importance of taking small steps towards movement and provides examples of how to do this.
PRODUCT:
Online training and classes tailored according to each client’s preferences and needs. http://www.mindfullyactive.com/offerings/
Free awesomeness from Gillian! http://www.mindfullyactive.com/free/
Share on Social Media



by Ana R | Nov 7, 2017 | Body Acceptance, Body Image, Community, Eating Disorder Recovery, Eating Disorders During Pregnancy, Eating Disorders Postpartum, Emotions & Food, Intuitive Eating, Mindful Eating, Nurtured Mama, Podcast, Postpartum Wellness Series, Self Care, Support for Moms

Listen + Subscribe on ITUNES or STITCHER
We’d greatly appreciate a podcast rating and review so that we can reach more mamas and families!
– Search for the podcast in your podcast app (The Nurtured Mama Podcast)
– Scroll down and click 5 stars
– Tap “Write a Review” & enter brief review
– Press send
MEET THE GUEST:
As a WordStylist & Business Strategist, Judy Tsuei works with wild hearted female entrepreneurs to brand their story beautifully — and to get seen! Being authentic is becoming increasingly important in our online world, and Judy shares the tips, tools, and insights on how to attract your ideal clients in a way that converts to genuine revenue — all by working happier, rather than harder through her signature programs. Learn more at www.wildheartedwords.com.
FIND JUDY ONLINE:
Website(s): www.wildheartedwords.com
https://www.facebook.com/groups/wildheartedwords/
https://twitter.com/awilderlove
https://www.instagram.com/wildheartedwords/
EPISODE SUMMARY:
- Judy developed an eating disorder in her teenage years. She shares her story of treatment, recovery, re-finding herself and how this carried over to her motherhood journey.
- Judy talks about her experience in finding the things that she wanted to do as a writer. Prior to becoming a writer, she had worked for big companies where she was doing well, yet she knew that her heart wasn’t in it. Her purpose of serving the world had to be tied to being authentic, open, and part of that is to keep sharing her and other’s stories.
- She also shared her experiences while living in Kauai where she met her husband, made it through a pregnancy with hyperemesis and also created a group to find community and support.
- Judy share her thoughts on how as a woman, by giving yourself the permission to be wild and free.
- Judy talks about her experience of going through depression and postpartum depression and how she overcame it. She makes an important point of seeking professional help (from a trained mental health professional) and how her family encouraged her to seek that care. Other complimentary experiences and treatments included acupuncture and returning to yoga.
- She ended the episode by giving a piece of advice :
“Do not beat yourself up. Took it with compassion and grace.”
PRODUCT:
“Create the Brand of You” and “Six Figure Storytelling” programs.
SHARE ON SOCIAL MEDIA!



by Ana R | Oct 24, 2017 | Body Acceptance, Body Image, Eating Disorder Recovery, Eating Disorders During Pregnancy, Eating Disorders Postpartum, Emotions & Food, Health at Every Size, Intuitive Eating, Nurtured Mama, Podcast, Postpartum, Postpartum Wellness Series, pregnancy, Support for Moms, Your Tribe

Listen + Subscribe on ITUNES or STITCHER
We’d greatly appreciate a podcast rating and review so that we can reach more mamas and families!
– Search for the podcast in your podcast app (The Nurtured Mama Podcast)
– Scroll down and click 5 stars
– Tap “Write a Review” & enter brief review
– Press send
MEET OUR GUEST:
Dr. Linda Shanti McCabe holds a doctorate in Clinical Psychology and is a Licensed Clinical Psychologist in the state of California. She has worked in the field of Eating Disorder, Chemical Dependency, and Codependency Recovery since 1999, in residential, intensive outpatient, and outpatient levels of care. Her doctoral research focused on re-image-ing the body using expressive arts with women recovering from bulimia, anorexia, and binge eating. She is a Licensed Soulcollage facilitator trained by Seena Frost, MFT, and am certified in Postpartum International’s Perinatal Mood and Anxiety components of care.
She knows the terrain of eating disorder recovery and “new mommy bootcamp” because she has been there. She recovered herself twenty years ago. She is a therapist that truly believes
“you can’t keep it unless you give it away, but you can’t give it away unless you have it.”
FIND LINDA ONLINE:
Website: DrLindaShanti.com
Twitter: @DrLindaShanti
FB: Recoverymama
Blog: Recoverymama.com
TRANSITION TO MOTHERHOOD:
Dr. Shanti shared a quote:
“The moment a child is born, the mother is also born. She never existed before. The woman existed, but the mother — NEVER. A mother is something absolutely new.”
The quote itself summarizes some of her transitions into motherhood. According to Shanti, the transition was like a whole new journey. As an individual in eating disorder recovery, it was like “a recovery beyond her wildest dreams, totally different in ways that she could never imagine.”
EPISODE SUMMARY:
- She discovered experientially the many overlaps in the journey of new motherhood and recovery for eating disorder: body image, shifts in recovery in new motherhood, sleep, food, hormones and mood, career transitions, relationships and partner transitions, identity transformation.
- She describes the feeling after pregnancy as like having a whole new self that has elements of your old self.
- Linda highlights the various support systems that can help mothers in their recovery after pregnancy. According to her, support may come in a lot of different ways. In some cases that may have to deal with a medical or psychological condition, seeking professional support would definitely be part of that.
- Another support that she mentioned is about being part of motherhood support groups that are tailored according to your situation. (Ex: corporate mom, stay at home moms, part-time working moms, etc…)
- Linda also encourages moms to find their “Mom Tribe.” Try to make new friends. And if you haven’t, give yourself time. She provides some great tips on how to test out new friendships and decide who you’d like to pursue deeper relationships with.
PRODUCT:
UPCOMING BOOK:
Good Enough Mama: Taking Care of Your Self and Your Recovery During Pregnancy and Postpartum
REFERENCED ON THE SHOW:
- Moms Helping Moms – http://www.momshelpingmomsfoundation.org/
- 4th Trimester Bodies Project – http://www.4thtrimesterbodiesproject.com/
- Mid Drift Movement – https://www.middriftmovement.com/


