Moods For Foods (2026)

15/09/2022

So many times we are more critical of ourselves than we would be on others. The same goes for how we view ourselves and our body/health.

If you are constantly saying to yourself, “you’re ugly”, “you need to lose weight”, “you’re not good enough unless you’re in a smaller body” etc. I encourage you to take a deep breathe and reflect on why, how long you’ve been speaking to yourself like this, and if you’re ready to change it.

If you’re constantly being critical of yourself about your health, happiness, food, body, etc. then how will you ever be satisfied and happy with health results? The way you talk to yourself MATTERS. It can change an entire wave of energy from negative to positive or vise versa.

Today, I encourage you to speak kindly to yourself. List out 2-3 positive affirmation. These can be about your body, or they can be about your personality. Whatever feels right to you. If you’re working to improve your body image here are some examples you could use: “I appreciate my body for allowing me to get up and see my kids today”, “thank you for allowing me to breathe”, “my body size does not matter”. Changing the way you talk to yourself is not an easy task, but overtime it gets easier and you’ll begin to feel better!

Let me know if you have any questions! ☀️

02/08/2022

Mindful movement can look so different for each person. This is why comparing what works for one person may not work for another. So, if your a person that loves orange theory or a Pilates class, GREAT but that does not mean it fits someone else’s movement goals/needs.

Movement is about what FEELS good to you. This may be different each day as well. Some days a run or hike sounds awesome, other days a good stretch and a light ab workout feels better and meets your energy level. Guess what, rest days are also needed. You NEED to give your body time to rest and recover.

One thing we love to do is hike, but going for a 4-5 mile hike everyday just isn’t doable. So we honor our time, energy and what our body needs each day. I encourage you to do the same! ☀️

29/06/2022

Are you a person that likes to eat the same thing everyday? Get burned out on it and then can’t touch it again for a year? Though it’s easy for grocery shopping and meal prepping, eating the exact same meals and snacks everyday isn’t serving your body as well as you thought.

Eating a variety of foods allows for different nutrients to enter your body. This allows your body to function at its best. A variety of vitamins and minerals everyday also helps to not have deficiencies in these areas.

Have you ever noticed that when you eat the same meal each day, some days it fills you up more than others? That’s because our bodies are different each day. We exercise differently, our stress levels are different, the environment changes so this causes a fluctuation in our hunger levels as well. This is another reason why eating the same thing each day is not a “smart” idea. If you honor what your body is hungry for you’ll be much more satisfied.

24/05/2022

Being a new mom has shed light on so many things for me. One of the most important being hunger cues. WOW, babies are incredible at honoring their hunger and fullness. It truly is amazing to watch.

It got me thinking about my clients and those that struggle with acknowledging what their body is telling them when it comes to this. We were all born as babies and we were all able to honor our hunger and fullness at one point in our lives. If we can go back to basics, think how much better we could all feel if we follow this simple (yet surprisingly hard) principle?

If you’re a mom/dad/guardian of a baby/toddler, they will not go hungry, continue to acknowledge and honor their hunger and fullness. If they are hungry enough, they will eat and they will stop when they are full. If this is a reoccurring issue - speak to a dietitian about your concerns!

If you’re working through some disordered eating patterns/an eating disorder, work with your dietitian on this or seek one out to help you find what hunger/fullness feels like to you. It’s hard, but you’ll be so much happier in the end!

If you need help with this - please reach out, you’ll be much happier in the end rather than yo-yo dieting, restricting/bingeing or battling with your baby/toddler every meal.

10/05/2022

How often a day do you check your body? This is more than just seeing how the new top you just bought looks. Body checking is where you’re evaluating your body based on your perception of what it “should” look like. This may look different for each person. How often a day do you look in the mirror and then immediately grab your stomach, thighs or arms to see if they look or feel bigger? When you walk past windows are you constantly looking to see if you look different? Do you grab your stomach to see if it feels larger after a meal and then beat yourself up if it does? These are just a few examples.

It’s OKAY if you’re reading this and realizing you do all of the above. It doesn’t mean you’re a bad person or doing a “bad” thing. Health isn’t good or bad, what I want to bring to your attention is that you may have some distortion with your body/health/food. You may have some “fat phobia” because of what society has deemed what “healthy” should look like. It’s okay to admit if you’re struggling with this, that’s what therapists, psychiatrists and dietitians are here to help with. Don’t hesitate to reach out if you feel like you are struggling with some body image problems. Finding peace with your body and the way it looks is such a freeing experience, everyone should know that feeling.

Remember health isn’t linear, recovery from an eating disorder/disordered eating pattern isn’t linear so don’t be too hard on yourself. Reach out if you need help or support.

30/04/2022

Life update: my husband and I welcomed this sweet baby boy into the world on April 13th. Calvin Zo Richardson has been the best addition to our little family. We have been enjoying sweet newborn snuggles and trying to figure out this parenting thing 💛 It is truly amazing watching this little guy figure out his body, sleeping, eating, etc. What a miracle and blessing babies are!

08/03/2022

What is Mindful Movement?

Movement that honors what your body is needing for that day and time specifically. Moving your body in the way that it’s telling you to, so you don’t feel “forced” to make it preform in a way that doesn’t feel good. For example: let’s say you love to run, but you had a rough day at work/school and a run sounds super draining and you’re actually dreading it. Can you change that run to a walk because a walk sounds more appealing? Odds are you’ll feel much better listening to what your body is telling you to do rather than fighting against it.

Movement is something to enjoy not something to fear. Just because you don’t do a super intense workout 5 days a week doesn’t mean you didn’t move your body. Changing up your exercise daily and doing different types of exercise is actually one of the best things you can do. So many individuals have a strain on what exercise or movement looks like because society has put a stigma that it needs to look a certain way. When I’m reality, that’s not true at all. Just like with eating, I always tell my clients to listen to their bodies, the same thing applies for movement. Honor what your body is telling you and it’ll make you feel more satisfied, happier, and less drained.

Please let me know if you have questions or feel like your relationship with movement/food has been strained! I would love to help you.

01/03/2022

Let’s chat dessert.

Diet culture has made us think that dessert has to be limited and can only happen on “cheat” days, or special occasions. Well my rebuttal to diet culture on that is, well what happens when someone finally allows themselves to have dessert? The most common answer I hear from clients is “well… I tend to over eat and then feel super guilty about it”.

So why do so many of us stay in this constant pattern of restrict then overeat cycle on things we enjoy? What happens if we allow ourselves to have someone sweet if it’s what sounds good? Good news for everyone - you can! Your mind and body will thank you for allowing it to enjoy the foods it wants!

Let’s use ice cream for example - I always recommend keeping it in the house. Yes, you’ll likely have it more nights than not that first week or two you have it in the house. But once it becomes normal to have it in the house, the urge to eat it all the time goes down. This is because you are not “depriving” yourself of it, you’re allowing yourself to eat it if it sounds good. It no longer becomes a food you over eat on because you’ve learned how to live with it instead of fearing it.

Also, dessert doesn’t always have to be ice cream. It can be as simple as fruit with chocolate chips and whipped cream. Simple, easy and delicious! Follow your bodies cues and once you learn to trust yourself/body again, the fear around food will begin to diminish.

As always, if you need help in this area or your relationship with food/your body. Please reach out! I’m always happy to chat and help!

24/02/2022

With this week being national eating disorder awareness week I wanted to touch on them briefly: Eating disorders affect about 9% of the population worldwide. Roughly 28.8 million Americans will have an eating disorder in their lifetime and less than 6% of the people with an eating disorder are underweight. Eating disorders are actually among the deadliest mental illness, which is frightening considering how little they are talked about.

There are several types of eating disorders, the most common being: anorexia nervosa
bulimia nervosa
binge eating disorder
avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder
body dysmorphic disorder

Eating disorders are a very serious health condition that often go undiagnosed for far too long. If you or someone you know is struggling with their relationship with food or their body, Please reach out to a local therapist and/or dietitian to get help.

Eating disorders take time to heal both mentally and physically. So give yourself this grace to allow yourself to heal properly. Recovery isn’t a one size fits all, it’s fluid and constantly changing based on your individual needs.

Please reach out if you need assistance finding a provider in your area, I am happy to help you. I am currently taking new clients along with my colleagues at Enhance Nutrition Associates ( ) if you feel we would be a good fit to help you in your recovery journey. ☀️

Statistics found on: anad.org

05/02/2022

Balanced meals: What does this look like? How do I achieve this at each meal? Well, odds are, each meal will not be perfect but with eating it’s not about being perfect it’s about progress and doing YOUR best.

Eating meals that allow you to honor what your body is telling you it’s hungry for is VERY important. Having a balance of carbs, protein and fats is extremely important in meals AND snacks. You can’t have one without the other two otherwise you’ll never be satisfied! Ever notice after you have a dinner that is protein heavy but lower is carbs and fat and you tend to be hungry and looking for a snack less than an hour after a meal? It’s because your body is missing those key nutrients and is now looking for them. Do your best not to feel “guilty” about looking for a snack if this happens, make a mental note that you may need other nutrients in your next meal to make you more satisfied.

Let’s take this meal for example - 2 eggs (complete source of protein), two different fruits (non-starchy carb sources), and chocolate milk (fat source). I could have added a piece of toast to this for a starchy substance but I wasn’t super hungry so I honored what my body was telling me. This is what I recommend you do as well. Take each meal and think “what will make me full and satisfied?” Try not to think “what is low carb” or “what will be the lowest caloric value I can get in this meal”. If you notice you’re having trouble switching your thinking to “what will make me full” vs “I need to cut carbs and eat a low cal meal” I encourage you to reach out to a dietitian, therapist, or loved one for some extra support.

Remember - food is about balancing what nutrients you need each day and it’s different each day! Remember to give yourself grace during the process of figuring out what to eat. Food should be fun, not stressful

30/01/2022

How often do you eat as a family?

Multiple times a week, Once a week, once a month? Family dinners are actually one of the most important things you can do with your child to help build a positive relationship with food and eating. Did you know only about 30% of families eat dinner together regularly?

You can start eating with your child when they are just MONTHS old. Once your child has started solids and eating what you are eating, this is a great time to start eating meals with them. Of course, life is busy right? So if this is just dinner a couple times a week, GREAT! You are exposing your child to what a family meal looks like, not making them eat by themselves or feel like you’re putting pressure on them around a meal.

How would you feel if your partner just stared at you while you eat your cereal and drink your morning coffee? Or if you just got started eating and someone got up from the table and Immediately starting doing the dishes and other household chores while you are trying to enjoy your meal? It’s a little odd right? Put yourself in your child’s shoes. It’s not fun eating alone so why do we make them do it?

Do your best to try and eat with your child multiple times a week and it’s okay if it’s different meals. The important thing is that you’re eating together, talking together and spending quality time together.

12/01/2022

Pregnancy: such a beautiful time in a womens life, also can be terrifying right!?

So many questions, worries, opinions, etc.

Let’s start by saying there’s a lot to know, and it’s hard to know everything while pregnant. So here are just a few tips to help you have as easy of a pregnancy as your body and growing baby will allow you to have.

1. Hydrate hydrate hydrate all throughout your pregnancy

2. Walks are your bff, good for you and good for the growing baby

3. 1st trimester: keep something on your stomach to “coat it”. This will help prevent some nausea. Things such as a nature valley honey and oats bar (even if it’s a half of a bar), a piece of toast, crackers, etc. Do your best to have a little something on your stomach a good portion of the day, do your best to not get overly hungry or go too long without eating. Of course consult your doctor if you are unable to get the nausea/vomiting under control

4. 2nd trimester: the hunger hits! Make sure you honor your hunger and your fullness here. Eat when you’re hungry, try to have a variety of foods as well (not just your cravings). This is a great time to introduce foods that didn’t sound so great in your first trimester back in. Try to start your day with a breakfast that has some fruit or veggie in it. Pre-portioned fresh fruit cups are one of my recommendations - easy grab and go!

5. 3rd trimester: small meals and snacks. As your baby grows so does your belly but not your stomach. In fact, your stomach gets a little “smushed” causing early satiety when eating. It’s important to know this so you make sure to still eat enough but also not eating too much to cause you discomfort. This is why small meals more frequently will be helpful.

More tips to come, these are just some quick tips! If you have any questions at all you always message me and I’m happy to help 🍉

Moods For Foods

15/09/2022

02/08/2022

29/06/2022

24/05/2022

10/05/2022

30/04/2022

08/03/2022

01/03/2022

24/02/2022

05/02/2022

30/01/2022

12/01/2022

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