MM Nutrition, Puyallup, WA (2026)

02/26/2026

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).

02/24/2026

Patient Perspectives: Heidi’s Story
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“After turning 40 this year, I was frustrated with the way I felt, physically and mentally. I was tired and felt stuck.

I’ve been working to manage my weight since college. Throughout the years, I’ve tried a number of things: cycling on and off Weight Watchers, a few elimination diets, Whole 30, paleo, vegan eating, and Beach Body.

I always had some measure of success before falling back into my old eating patterns.

I had good motivation to do well and be on plan until something in life inevitably came up. Once I fell off the plan, I was never able to restart and keep going: consistency and longevity became my struggle.

Last year, a friend and her husband were working with MM Nutrition and I was seeing their success with the program. I remember going out with friends for lunch and saying, “Monday I’ll take sugar out of my eating and see how that goes, if I’m not successful in a few weeks, I’ll call MM Nutrition.”

Well, I went home and talked to my husband and he supported me in saying “Why don’t you start now if you want to do it” So I called Morgan that night.

Initially, my biggest concern was just the overwhelming nature of change and the self conscious nature of changing your behavior: I worried about people knowing what I was doing, because what would happen if I went back to my old habits and disappointed myself and others?

Luckily, I’ve had so much support from my friends and family in this journey and it has been so positive.

In the beginning, limiting my snacking and not eating as many processed carbs felt like a big challenge.

I’ve since learned that eating bigger, healthier meals keeps me full and I don’t need to snack or mindlessly eat like I used to. So far in my journey, I’ve lost 35 lbs.

The support from Morgan around behavior change has been instrumental for me, and I think it’s the defining positive factor in my weight loss: I needed to change the way I thought about food.

Food has always been something I have loved and used as a reward in many ways. I loved all sweets and treats and often described myself as a “foodie.”

I got covid in January 2021 and lost my taste and sense of smell. I actually went through the stages of grief as this happened. To love food and have the taste taken away was huge for me.

At first I went vegan for a month and felt really good. But then as time went on I became angry and frustrated that I had no taste and would reward myself with food because I deserved it for having gone through this.

I knew that I shouldn’t be eating food that was bad for me -especially if I couldn’t taste it- but I ate it anyway. That’s when I started realizing my food problems and issues were on a deeper level.

I feel like the work I’ve done so far with MM in changing food behaviors has helped me arrive at a different place in my relationship with food.

This process has also required that I shift the way that I view myself beyond just food.

As a busy mom, I always put my kids and family first and felt like anything else was selfish. Now it’s my time too: I deserve this, and I am thankful I’m on this journey to be a healthier version of me.

MM has been such a huge support for me in that shift. The accountability of checking in multiple times through the week is a huge help for me to stay focused and working toward my goals.

Morgan is always a text away if you need extra support beyond those check ins. The material and support provided has been super helpful in helping me learn and grow.

I realize now that weight management is a life-long transition: there is no ending point.

Once I reach my goal, I’ll still continue to eat on plan 90-95% of the time, and I realize that it’s ok to ask for help again down the road if I struggle again.

A misconception in life is that people who diet and lose weight should be able to keep it off forever.

No one should feel like a failure if they don’t keep it off: just ask for help, and work on the process again.

I am excited about being a healthy me! I have cancer, diabetes, Alzheimer’s, and heart disease in my family tree and I’m trying to eliminate the risk factors to prevent these diseases.

I’ve also come to recognize that things in life are a choice.

MM makes suggestions on meal plans and recipes, but you have the choice to eat what you want. If I choose to eat off plan, then I just need to be ok with the outcome of that. I do make the choice to indulge and have treats. I just plan them out ahead and they aren’t a daily or weekly thing like they have been in the past.

I am most proud of the behavior changes I’ve made mentally and emotionally with MM. I’ve never been this successful with any weight loss before, and I’ve never experienced this much of an emotional transformation: I feel like I’m learning so much that will help me keep going when my time with MM is over.”

-Heidi Richard

02/19/2026

Nutrition Standoff: Italian Sub vs Taco
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An East Coast Italian Sub from Jimmy John's contains 970 Calories and 169% of the max recommendation for saturated fat.

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

1 Sub = 5.7 Tacos*

*Caloric Equivalency

02/17/2026

Patient Perspectives: Niki’s Story
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“Prior to MM, my husband and I had long been caught in the yo-yo process. We were tired of pre-packaged programs and wanted to learn how to eat real food and still lose weight.

The yo-yo cycle was wearing us out physically, mentally, and emotionally.

We had two Aunts that had had great success with MM, and we reached out after seeing their success.

The structure and accountability of MM has been extremely helpful.

Without the accountability, we would have gotten discouraged several times. It also helps to have someone kindly call you out when you’re having a few too many extras.

We are proud that we can now go on vacation or have a holiday and get right back on the plan, whereas before we would have been discouraged and given up when we’d made mistakes or had moments of going backwards.

Through our work with MM, we now realize we need to take time to focus on ourselves.

Work and life easily take over, and if we don't make time for us our eating gets out of control in an attempt to soothe and manage the stress.

Fifty plus years of ingrained habits is a hard thing to change. We feel we will always be working on our goal not to over eat and eat excess sugar. Like all addictions, it will be a lifelong process of replacing bad habits with new thought processes.

Morgan is the best about keeping you accountable without placing any condemnation.

In today’s world, it is often very hard to get advice without it making you feel bad. Morgan has never done this to us, which is so appreciated.

We have been given the real food options, emotional thought processes and assistance to make better eating and health decisions.

We definitely feel very empowered with this process. ”

- Nikki Bryan, Bremerton

02/14/2026

Sugar Standoff: Kale Salad Kit vs Krispy Kreme Doughnut
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Taylor Farm's Sweet Kale Chopped Salad Kit contains 700 Calories and 98% of the max rec for added sugar.

Meanwhile, a Krispy Kreme Doughnut contains 190 Calories and 40% of the max rec for sugar.

1 Salad Kit = 2.45 Krispy Kreme Doughnuts*

*Sugar equivalency

02/12/2026

Popular Beverages, Ranked by Sugar Content.
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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.

02/10/2026

👉 What is MM Nutrition? MM Nutrition & Wellness is a concierge medical nutrition and wellness practice, specializing in weight management, behavior change, and individual wellness.

We support and empower our patients as they work to cultivate meaningful, person-centered change in their daily lives.

👉 How does MM work with patients? Is MM a health coaching service? Unlike large national programs or gym-based nutrition services, we never use nutrition coaches or uncredentialed professionals.

All MM patients receive personal, ongoing access to a certified clinical nutritionist and weight management specialist, ensuring accuracy and efficacy. Patients in our signature programs receive daily txt access, educational tools to empower and support behavior change, and monthly teletherapy.

👉 Does MM prescribe GLP-1 Medications? No. While some of our patients do take GLP-1 medications, we do not act as certificated prescribers. We work in tandem with a patient’s physician as needed to facilitate patient care.

👉 Want to learn more? We welcome any and all questions about working together, and are dedicated to cultivating a path of individual wellness for each of our patients.

To learn more, send us a txt at 253 651 9382 to schedule a phone chat to ask questions, gauge fit, and begin your path to well, wherever it may lead you.

02/10/2026

“Before coming to MM Nutrition, I felt like I had tried everything: Nutrisystem, Keto, Beachbody, Weight Watchers, calorie counting… you name it, I had tried it and failed.

I finally accepted that this was not a journey that I could take on by myself.

I needed someone to walk alongside me and hold me accountable every step of the way.

I have always prided myself on being a strong, independent person, so reaching out for help was not easy.

My family often talks about how even at a young age I would constantly say ‘I can do it all by myself’ whenever anyone offered me a helping hand.

I adopted that mantra and it became something I identified with, and even prided myself on.

I always thought that in order to preserve that part of myself I had to do everything on my own.

As I’ve gotten older, I now realize how silly it is to think you have to do everything alone.

While I have done all the work to get where I am today; I have never been alone during this journey, and that has made all the difference.

Initially, I was afraid of failure, but at that point, what did I have to lose?

MM has completely shifted my approach to nutrition and fitness.

One of the first things I remember MM saying in a session was “we don’t exercise to lose weight; we exercise because we want to be healthy, and healthy people exercise.”

For some reason, that clicked instantly for me and helped to shift my mindset.

On some level, I always knew that my nutrition was the main culprit, but I didn’t want to acknowledge it.

I just kept telling myself, ‘if I just work out more, I’ll figure out the nutrition later.’

After Morgan laid out the difference between nutrition and exercise so clearly, I completely separated the two (nutrition and fitness) and realized that-while they are both super important in overall health- nutrition is essential to weight loss.

All I ever wanted was to feel good. I was sick and tired of being sick and tired every morning.

I wanted to be proud of the person I saw in the mirror, and now I am: I have found a light in myself that I thought I lost.

I was very unhappy with myself for a very long time, and that impacted every relationship I had.

I stopped answering texts and phone calls. I stopped attending events because I didn’t have anything I felt good wearing. I couldn’t imagine seeing another photo of myself pop up on social media.

While I will never get those lost moments back, I have done the work to put myself back on the right path to feeling better about myself: I am a better wife, daughter, sister, friend, coworker, and support to others when I’m taking care of myself.

My journey has been empowering and transformative. Lean in: do the work and the transformation will come.

I would (and do) recommend MM to anyone and everyone who is struggling to find something that works for them. It is not some magical diet or pill that will take away all your problems, but it is a program that provides all the tools, support, accountability and roadmap for success.”

-Haley Arneberg

02/08/2026

Nutrition Standoff: Frosted Mini Wheats vs KitKat Bar
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A two cup serving of Frosted Mini Wheats without milk contains 380 Calories and 88% of the max rec for sugar.

Meanwhile, a KitKat Bar contains 210 Calories and 84% of the max rec for added sugar.

1 Bowl Cereal = 1.04 KitKat Bars*

*Sugar equivalency

02/06/2026

FAQ: Why is fish so good for you?

Fish is a high protein, low carbohydrate staple in many countries- unfortunately, consumption in the US is still relatively low. Depending on the variety, fish is also high in anti-inflammatory Omega-3 fatty acids, and low in the saturated fat and inflammatory molecules that promote carcinogenesis.

Working to be more fish-friendly? Start by replacing one serving of red (beef, lamb, pork) or processed meat (vegetarian substitutes, cured meats) each week with your favorite (non-fried) variety of fish and prioritize regular consumption to make it stick.

02/03/2026

Patient Perspectives: Laurie’s Story
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“Last year, I came to MM out of a desire to lose weight and develop a whole foods lifestyle.

My husband had passed away, and so I was just cooking for myself, often eating lots of random stuff. I lost 25 pounds and loved the simplicity of the program.

I’m disciplined, but I do best when I have someone to be accountable to.

After a few months away from MM and gaining a little weight, I’m back for a boost. Being able to hop back on the train is huge for me. I’m proud I made the choice to get a handle on it before I really got in the red zone. It’s good for me to get back to basics.

Change is hard, and we all have excuses: but that’s all they are.

Money and time were/are my most common excuses, but I’ve found ways to do what I need to do.

I live a nomadic lifestyle, traveling frequently, but I’ve learned that I can prioritize this even in the midst of my life’s moving pieces. Morgan follows me everywhere!

The process is as easy or as difficult as you make it- not every day will be a 10. Cut yourself some slack when you need to and push through challenging moments.

Don’t give up, and keep Morgan in your back pocket. You can work through tough spots and you can fall in love with this lifestyle.”

-Laurie Escott

MM Nutrition

02/26/2026

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