MM Nutrition, Puyallup, WA (2025)

12/02/2025

3 Ways to Reduce Diabetes Risk with Diet

1. Reduce your consumption of red and processed meat.

Pro-inflammatory saturated fat consumption - but particularly consumption stemming from beef, pork, and cured and processed meats (including those derived from chicken and turkey- has been shown to disrupt the body’s utilization of insulin.

2. Increase fruit and veggie consumption.

Regular consumption of anti inflammatory fruits and vegetables reduces inflammatory load and quells existing inflammation caused by high levels of body fat. High fiber enhances and improves blood sugar control.

3. Reduce sugar and refined grains.

Habitual consumption of either taxes the body’s blood sugar regulation system, increasing insulin production and fat storage. As fat accumulation increases, so does hormonal disruption.

11/29/2025

FAQ: What is inflammation? Plus, Tips for an Anti Inflammatory Diet
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Inflammation is the body’s natural response to illness or injury. If you’ve ever witnessed the redness and irritation that accompany a hangnail or experienced the pain and swelling that occur with infection, you’re no stranger to acute inflammation.

Unlike acute inflammation, which occurs in response to specific injury or illness, chronic inflammation occurs when the immune system is pushed to its limits, often due to lifestyle factors that promote the production of free radicals- unstable cells that can go on to damage genetic material and cause additional inflammation and disease.

Chronic inflammation directly contributes to risk for chronic disease and serious conditions, including cancer, diabetes, heart disease, and dementia.

Individuals living with (or having a family history of) overweight/obesity, prediabetes, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, or dementia are at higher risk for chronic inflammation.

Luckily, just like lifestyle factors contribute to inflammation, lifestyle factors can relieve or prevent inflammation.

Eating an anti inflammatory diet, exercising consistently, and limiting/abstaining from alcohol can go a long way in preventing a vicious cycle of chronic inflammation and poor health.

An anti inflammatory diet is one that limits or abstains from inflammation producing foods and emphasizes anti inflammatory foods.

While it’s tempting to increase consumption of anti inflammatory foods without modifying consumption of pro inflammatory foods, doing so is rarely sufficient to counter the effects of chronic inflammation.

In order to reap the benefits of an anti inflammatory diet, reduction in pro inflammatory foods is essential.

Want to learn more about an anti inflammatory diet, or curious to know what a diet low in inflammation producing foods looks like?

Consider selecting 1-2 easy targets from each category below to help rebalance your dietary routine.

If you find yourself stuck in a proinflammatory cycle and struggling to gain traction in the direction of healthy habits, consider reaching out to a counselor, dietitian, or certified nutritionist to fortify your wellness practice.
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Pro Inflammatory Foods (Limit/avoid these):

01. Red and Processed Meat: Beef, pork, game meat, salami, pepperoni, deli style meats, bacon, sausage, and jerky.

02. Ultra Processed Foods: Breakfast cereal, snack foods, commercial bread and tortillas, protein bars and shakes, frozen meals.

03. Sugar: Desserts and bakery products, condiments, sugar sweetened beverages, honey, juice, candy, granola, granola bars, breakfast cereal, sweetened yogurt.

04. Saturated Fat: Whole and reduced fat dairy products, butter, red and processed meat, desserts and bakery products, snack foods, fatty cuts of poultry.

05. Alcohol: Even moderate alcohol consumption induces inflammation. Limit or avoid entirely.
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Anti Inflammatory Foods (Emphasize these)

01. Fruits and Vegetables: Prioritize fruits and veggies in their whole form. Dried and juiced are tasty, but they are higher in Calories and sugar and tend to be less satiating.

02. Seafood: Salmon and fatty fish provide the healthy Omega-3 fatty acids that tend to be lacking in the American diet, but each seafood variety wields unique benefits. Add oysters, clams, mussels, shrimp, scallops, and various species of white fish to your regular repertoire.

03. Beans, Legumes, and Tofu: Vegetarian proteins are economical and easy to prepare. Try beans or legumes for added fiber, or experiment with the adaptability of tofu.

04. Whole Grains and Healthy Fats: Most Americans over-consume both grains and fat, and they tend to consume the wrong types. When and where possible, choose whole grains over processed, and replace saturated fat with mono and polyunsaturated fats (olive oil, fatty fish, nuts, seeds, and avocado).

11/27/2025

Nutrition Standoff: Chicken Sandwich vs Crunchy Taco
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A Kirkland Signature Chicken Sandwich from Costco (1/4 container) contains 610 Calories and 69% of the maximum recommendation for saturated fat.

Meanwhile, a Crunchy Taco from Taco Bell contains 170 Calories and 26% of the max rec for saturated fat.

1 Sandwich = 3.58 Taco Bell Tacos*

*Caloric equivalency

11/26/2025

Patient Perspectives: Elizabeth’s Story
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“I’ve struggled with my weight for the past 20 years. Since college, I’ve been a yo-yo'er, trying a new diet and losing 10-15 pounds and before gaining it all back plus more.

I decided to get serious when I hit a number that I hadn't seen since I was pregnant. I buckled down but still ended up only losing five before losing momentum and gaining it right back.

I knew that, if I was going to have any lasting impact on my weight and health, I needed a lifestyle change , not a quick fix.

Looking at my life I realized I was treating every day as an indulgence and every weekend as a holiday, and I couldn't sustain that and stay healthy moving into my forties.

While I’m really proud of the 35 pounds I’ve lost, I think I am even more proud of the work I have done mentally. I have learned so much about the psychology behind my attachment to food and my cravings and why I over-indulge.

I am proud of how strong I truly can be if I make a plan and stick to it, while realizing that I personally need support and accountability to help me achieve these goals.

I was very afraid to start this because I knew I would have true accountability, and I was afraid of failure.

I remember crying the night I decided to join MM: I have been so resolute in my desire for weight loss in the past and have still failed, was this going to be just like the other times?

I also felt like I would be losing a big piece of who I was by changing my eating and drinking habits. We entertain a lot and spend lots of time with people that live similar lifestyles, and this was going to be a drastic change from how I was used to living.

I have since recognized that those habits are not who we are and that I defined myself way too much by what I did and not who I truly am.

The accountability of MM Nutrition has been a game changer. The number on the scale will almost always be correlated to what is on that food log and I think that really has been helping me stay focused. If the number goes up and I see that my food log has unplanned deviations, then I made that choice and now it is on paper, where I can't deny it.

I also really have been utilizing checking in with Morgan before an event or busy weekend so I can share my game plan. She challenges me to moderate my indulgences when I start to play a little too fast and loose, and although I don't always like the idea initially, the result and the mental progress that I make during those times has been amazing.

I really like the mental and emotional work of looking inward, sitting with my emotions and feelings and acknowledging them. That process has been very enlightening and has changed how I view a lot of my old habits of eating and drinking.

You have to be open and honest with Morgan as you identify the areas in your life that you have challenges: if you aren't honest you aren't going to get everything you need to get out of this program.

I definitely feel like MM has been empowering. When I hit 30 pounds lost I went to our weight set and picked up a 30 lb weight. I was astonished that I could just set that down and be done with it. I was like, holy moly, I did that! It feels incredible.

I am still working on developing consistency in my exercise routine: I’ve realized that if I can stick to a meal plan on a challenging week I can also stick to a workout plan.

I am also working on emotional and social eating and drinking. While I have made great strides in these areas, we do have a very busy social calendar and if I don't stick to my plans I could end up back where I started pretty easily.

It is ok if change is scary at the beginning, but it doesn't have to stay scary. It can be incredibly empowering to work through that change process mentally and physically and come out the other end stronger and more in touch with your true self.”

-Elizabeth Scott

11/25/2025

FAQ: I hate meal prep! Is it possible to eat better without it?

While spending one or two afternoons or evenings each week meal prepping is an effective and necessary strategy for many, it isn’t the only way to eat healthier. Consider taking a survey of what happens in the absence of meal prep: do you rely on fast food, delivery, or snack foods?

Identify the pattern and consider alternatives to meal prepping: perhaps you can eliminate snack foods to make your intentions of nightly cooking more likely.

Perhaps you can delete delivery apps to burn your less healthy bridges. Perhaps you can stock up on healthy, fast-cook proteins and vegetables to make nightly cooking less energy and time intensive. Find the strategies and supports that are most useful for you and employ them consistently.

11/22/2025

Nutrition Standoff: Pinwheels vs Hamburger
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A two piece serving of Costco’s Chicken and Swiss Rollers contains 320 Calories and 69% of the max recommendation for saturated fat.

Meanwhile, a McDonald's Hamburger contains 250 Calories and 23% of the max recommendation for saturated fat.

1 Serving Pinwheels = 3 Hamburgers*

*Sat Fat Equivalency

11/20/2025

Nutrition Standoff: Veggie Burrito Vs Chicken Nuggets
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A Veggie Burrito from Taco Time contains 760 Calories and 76% of the max recommendation for saturated fat.

Meanwhile, a six piece order of Chicken Nuggets from Wendy's contains 250 Calories and 26% of the max recommendation for saturated fat.

1 Burrito = 18.26 Chicken Nuggets*

*Caloric equivalency

11/19/2025

Patient Perspectives: Leslie’s Story
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“When I came to MM Nutrition I was at the heaviest I had ever been: I really disliked myself, and I didn’t have much love for myself, either.

I had tried many different programs to lose weight: Beachbody, Weight Watchers, LA Weight Loss, and Whole 30 were among many fad diets that didn’t last.

I hated taking pictures with my family. I was stressed, and I coped with all of my feelings with food.

I’ve always dealt with challenges by turning to food. It didn’t really hit until late adolescence and in college.

I ate like it didn’t matter, but it did. So, I decided that I was the funny girl, the fun to be around girl, the party girl.

I would do the occasional cycle of joining the gym, working out, and trying to eat healthier, but I was never really educated on nutrition, nor did I really or even understand why I turned to food. Until MM Nutrition.

I was at my lowest, and I kept reading patient perspectives from MM Nutrition on Facebook.

I have accomplished so much in learning to care for myself: everything from nutrition to physical movement to other aspects of self care (sleep, spiritual, etc.).

I am still learning, and working to create boundaries so that I’m not as dependent on the happiness of others; instead, I am doing things for my own wellbeing.

I continue to show up for myself everyday, and that is what I’m most proud of.

Initially, I was afraid that I would fail at yet another thing.

But this isn’t a “thing”: MM is a program centralized around behavior change, and if you don’t jump into the pool, you’ll never learn how to swim, right?

MM Nutrition is different, because Morgan is medically trained: she went to many years of school for this, and she understands the biology as well as the psychological changes that occur during a true behavior change.

This isn’t a “program” where you buy special food, or get coached by “someone”: instead, you truly go through a behavior change.

You learn how to do this for yourself, with support from Morgan. It is her constant support and continual education that has helped me.

I think that after trying so many things that don’t stick, a lot of people just resign themselves to being unhealthy or overweight.

It’s easy to believe that you’ll always be overweight or never change: these are the negative thoughts that we are all prone to, but we can't let them take over and win.

Morgan’s patience with me, and just letting me go through this process while gently guiding me has helped immensely!

To other women, I would say that there is only one you: as mothers, women, and caretakers, it is so vital that we take care of ourselves so that we may be our best selves for others. We need to be gentle and caring to ourselves.

There is no better investment than in yourself and your health.

Going through this process has taught me that hard work pays off, and that I am worth the work.”

-Leslie Hartley

11/17/2025

Question: How do I eat healthy if I don’t like healthy food?

Do you dislike healthy food, or do you prefer less healthy foods? This tends to be a more common scenario than disliking healthy food altogether. More often than not, a combination of our personal food history, exposure, environment, and our brain’s natural preference for foods high in Calories, fat, and sugar, predispose us to less healthy patterns of eating.

If you find yourself with a preference for less healthy patterns of eating, focus on optimizing your environment to make eating healthier easier and unhealthier eating more difficult. This may look like eliminating certain foods from your home, deleting delivery apps, or meal prepping the same day each week.

11/17/2025

Popular Beverages, Ranked by Sugar Content.
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As we head towards warmer summer days, hydration becomes increasingly important.

And while the occasional treat is by no means harmful, Caloric beverages are a critical “pause point”.

Caloric beverages account for more than 15% of the average American’s total caloric intake, providing a hefty wallop of sugar and Calories but little by way of actual nutrition.

The American Heart Association recommends a maximum daily consumption of 25 g added or refined sugar.

Whereas added sugars include items sweetened with sugar, brown sugar, honey, agave, or maple syrup, refined sugars are produced when fiber is removed from a natural product, eliciting the same sugar response in the body that we would witness in a product with added sugar (ex: fruit and vegetable juices).

In other words?

Regardless of whether a beverage contains added sugar or refined sugar, remember that the response in the body is the same, and choose accordingly.

We’ve lined up five popular beverages* for basis of comparison: how does your favorite stack up?

How have you reduced your sugar consumption?

Let us know in the comments section!

05. Starbucks Caramel Frappuccino: 380 calories 54 g sugar

04. Simply Lemonade: 240 calories 56 g sugar

03. Sharetea Classic Milk Bubble Tea: 470 calories 46 g sugar

02. Simply Orange Juice: 220 calories 46 g
sugar

01. Starbucks Iced Vanilla Latte: 190 calories 28 g sugar

*Note that all beverage stats reflect a 16 oz serving size.

11/16/2025

Maybe, but probably not in the way that you’d think.

Hormones are our body’s chemical messengers, either promoting or inhibiting various cellular processes.

Certain hormones involved in the weight management process are in large part responsible for hunger and satiety, whereas others are tasked with fat utilization and storage.

However, fixing “hormonal upset,” isn’t as simple as a visit to an endocrinologist, and “metabolic normalcy,” isn’t necessarily the gateway to easy weight loss. On a biological level, the human body is designed to prevent loss and promote gain (or at the very least, homeostasis).

While overweight and obesity are classified as chronic health conditions involving the endocrine system, endocrinological imbalances often arise as the result of our behavior, not the other way around.

For most (but not all) individuals, lifestyle and behavior changes can help restore some normalcy to the endocrine system (when performed consistently).

As always, if you have questions or concerns about your individual health status, always consult your healthcare team.

11/15/2025

Despite its increasing commonality, the majority of those living with metabolic syndrome has never even heard of the condition.

Metabolic syndrome is at once both simple and complex: a condition that reflects the presence of a group of risk factors associated with cardiovascular disease, metabolic syndrome now affects an estimated 36% of the US population.

Individuals with metabolic syndrome are typically (but not always) overweight or obese, and have an increased risk for diabetes, heart disease, cancer, and stroke.

While genetic propensity may play some part in individual risk, lifestyle factors play the primary role in the development (or prevention) of metabolic syndrome.

A diagnosis of metabolic syndrome is made when an individual has three of the following symptoms:

👉 Obesity or Abdominal Obesity: A BMI of 30+ or a waist circumference equal to or greater than 35 inches for women or 40 for men.

👉 High Triglycerides: A triglyceride level of more than 150 mg/dL.

👉 Low HDL: Low levels of “good” HDL cholesterol are common in individuals with metabolic syndrome. Levels less than 40 mg/dL for woman and less than 50 mg/ for men are cause for pause.

👉 Hypertension: High blood pressure is exceedingly common in American adults, particularly those with metabolic syndrome.

Regular readings of 130/80 mm Hg (millimeters of mercury) or higher reflect hypertension.

👉 Elevated Fasting Glucose: Fasting blood sugar equal to or greater than 100 mg/dL indicates prediabetes (100-125) or diabetes (126 +).

Individuals with metabolic syndrome are more likely to have (or develop) prediabetes or Type II diabetes, and vice versa.

Luckily, metabolic syndrome is highly treatable and responsive to lifestyle changes. In many cases, medication is used as an adjunct to address individual health factors (blood pressure medication, etc).

For those living with metabolic syndrome, practicing an anti inflammatory diet, exercising regularly, and working towards a healthy weight can prevent unnecessary health complications and improve quality of life.

MM Nutrition

12/02/2025

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11/15/2025

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