Healthy Eating for the Whole Family with guest Chelsea Crawford, Registered Dietitian

Truth be told, I'm constantly on a diet. Like, I'm— and they're never working and they're never doing anything. And you sort of build this weird relationship with food, which I'm trying to get out of.

Someone told me one time, you shouldn't reward your kids with cookies. I'm like, what's wrong with a cookie?

I really focus on supporting moms and their kids with is like, hey, let's, let's figure out the real facts here about these things. Let's not have a fear of food. And let's figure out a plan that's going to work for your family. You cannot do what everybody else does. It has to be individualized for them. Like, it's not as bad as they thought. It's not chicken and salad. Like, they can look forward to their food. They can enjoy it. Like, just seeing this relief sometimes on their face is the biggest win. And that is what, you know, makes me I love my job so much is just being able to take the stress of healthy eating and remove it, remove that stress from their lives.

We're Erika Radis and Marie Lifschultz, a San Antonio area realtor and lender, but most importantly, we're working moms.

The goal of this podcast is to provide support and a sense of community to San Antonio area working moms like us. So join us in trying to find a balance between career, family, and everything in between.

Welcome to the second episode of the Working Moms of San Antonio podcast. We have a super special guest today, Chelsea Crawford. She's a registered dietitian, and so we just want to have Chelsea introduce herself and tell us what she does.

All right, thank you so much for having me. It means so much to be on here. I'm a dietitian, and I really focus on helping moms and their kids lead healthier lives through the enjoyment of nutritious foods. So, like, really just finding the joy in healthy eating and not being just something that you should do.

Yeah, that's true. And I think that's how a lot of people probably feel about it. Yeah, yeah, we should, right?

Kelsey, how long have you been a dietitian?

I've been a dietitian for about 10 years.

Oh, wow.

Good deal.

So, um, how did you get into the industry?

Yeah, so, well, I, I started my nutrition— I started down that path to do nutrition. It just— I knew I wanted to help people. I just couldn't really figure out what it was until I had a dietitian come talk to a triathlon group I was in, and I knew immediately that's what I wanted to do. Um, I think after Growing up, kind of watching my mom struggle with her weight, her self-image, and all the thousands of diets, I knew that I, I didn't want to do that. I didn't want my child to see that. And, um, and with my own struggles, I think, with weight and self-image, I just really wanted to learn a little bit more and find how can we do things differently, because clearly those short-term diets aren't really working for a lot of people. Um, and so really, I've always wanted to work with kids. I've always, you know, really been able to, especially after becoming a mom, relate to them and understand how hard it is to make lifestyle changes. And so that's really why I focus on families so much and children and moms.

That's awesome, because we have a big, uh, you know, where it struggles for kids in school, right? A lot of kids are obese right now. I know that it ran in our family. I think I've been obese my whole, my whole life, you know, and ate at home, but having a family who did not know how to cook healthy meals, and then you learn as an adult like, well, I don't know how to cook that, you know. Um, but it was— it's something that I've been really interested in learning because I obviously to share with my children. To have healthy meals for our children, to keep us on the right path.

Right.

Yeah. So definitely interested. How many kids do you have?

Just one.

Just one.

How old? Yeah, she's 5. She's about all I can handle with my business is another big child, I would say.

Yeah, no, that's true. That makes sense. That's an interesting point that you brought up, though, about sort of what we do, our kids see us do, right? And that's how you said you grew up. And I teach myself all the time So I'm— truth be told, I'm constantly on a diet. Like, I'm— and they're never working and they're never doing anything. And you sort of build this weird relationship with food, which I'm trying to get out of. You know, I'm constantly like— my kids will be like, oh, are you allowed to eat that today? And I want them to see me like that, you know what I mean? Because I don't want them to get that unhealthy relationship with food. But it happens. Like, it's so hard to be cognizant of that all the time.

Well, we all— our lives are surrounded by food celebrations, right? You have cake, you have ice cream, you have— anytime you reward— I don't know, someone told me one time you shouldn't reward your kids with cookies. I'm like, what's wrong with a cookie? And they're like— and someone compared it to the sugar in the food was like a drug. And I'm like, well, I don't want to give them drugs. Paranoid. I was like, oh my God, what am I doing? And then also with water intake and stuff like that. So there's so much information out there and you don't know what's real and what's not.

Yeah, that's the huge problem with nutrition. You've got people who know nothing about it, who don't know how to decipher actual research studies, what's the quality, and also just critical thinking within those studies, being able to question methods. And, well, this wasn't considered and that wasn't considered, and you have all these things going on, social media, and it's just hard because those who want to make changes and do better for themselves and their family feel overwhelmed because this is— there you've got people saying, "This is bad. This is good. Don't eat this. Do eat this," you know? And it's just there's so many rules now around food. And that's what I really focus on supporting moms and their kids with is like, "Hey, let's figure out the real facts here about these things. Let's not have a fear of food." and let's figure out a plan that's going to work for your family. You cannot do what everybody else does. It has to be individualized.

Well, I truly believe that food that you, you, you eat, it might change also during stages of life. So I, I struggle with a picky eater. I have a son, yeah, he, he'll eat broccoli. That's— I, I love— I think I've eaten broccoli for 13 years now straight. Because that's what he'll eat. So I struggle with variety for him and he doesn't like fruit. So stuff like that. So tell us a little bit about your services and how your company helps working moms.

Yeah, so, well, especially when it comes to their kids, picky eating is probably the number one reason we see children. And that also stems from some picky eaters. We have a lot of kids who struggle with being overweight or obese, and that a lot of times comes from the picky eating. So, um, you know, I think helping moms help their kids and themselves to make mealtimes more pleasant is a big thing that we do, um, along with helping mom with their— her own goals, you know, to take care of herself, because that is so important. And I try to remind moms all the time, like, you can do this for yourself. You do not have to track your calories. You do not have to make it so time-consuming that you feel it's not feasible for for you. Um, so, you know, I think with kiddos and their foods and picky eating, it's like there's so much to tackle there. But I promise you, there's ways to get better. And I have seen so many kids improve so much. In fact, just, uh, what, what day is today? Friday? Uh, Wednesday, I sent a kid a little— I have these certificates I give out to my kiddos who really, um, do better, and I call them and send them a certificate for adventurous eaters because, you know, I have given them homework, which honestly they do really well with because it's one hard when— sometimes it helps to have an outsider, right, tell your kids or encourage your kids to do things.

Yeah, it's not mom telling them because what mom says, she doesn't know.

I mean, she never eats, right?

Exactly. Um, but also there's some things that you can do at home that will help those picky eaters too. So, you know, kids naturally have a fear of new foods, especially starting around age 2. You may be like, "My kid ate everything," and then all of a sudden, you know, they change. Yes, that's normal. You know, I know it's frustrating. It's normal, though. Some guidelines that I can give to practice now is try to do your best to keep mealtimes positive. As frustrated as you are that they're not eating that thing, It is important that they don't start seeing mealtime as this time where they're going to be forced to eat something. Um, and you know, it's kind of like the, the parent does decide what they're going to offer the child, but the kid gets to decide what they're going to eat on their plate. And there's ways— I know you're like, well, they're only going to eat that thing they want, but there's ways to help them get to and try the foods that you would like them to. And sometimes it's, you know, one structured meal times. Like, they can't— if they're snacking throughout the day, they don't have structure, they're going into meals never really hungry, and so they're going to be more picky about what they want. You know, they're not gonna try that thing, um, that new food if they're, if they're not that hungry. And so having that structured meal time is really helpful. The other thing is getting them, trying to get them involved, maybe being able to ask them out of these vegetables, you know, what would they be willing to take a bite of? And then also asking them and just knowing their preferences. Usually kids like crunchy stuff. Don't give them a very soft cooked zucchini. It's not going to happen for most kids.

That makes sense.

That's interesting. Yeah, our middle daughter, Isabelle, like, she will not eat any cooked vegetables hardly, but raw ones she likes. And so sometimes when I'm cooking, like, I'll— if I'm cutting like cauliflower, like we did this last night, I'll put like a little bit to the side for her. She's gonna eat it raw and then the rest goes in the dish or whatever. So that, I mean, that's one thing that I have found that sort of works. I didn't know that was like across the board, that kids just don't like cooked stuff sometimes.

Yeah, he's funny with texture. Yeah, it's very— he won't— if it looks like it's slimy or soft, he's not a big He just likes broccoli. Yeah.

Well, and sometimes, you know, there's a difference between a picky eater and a kid that has something a little bit more going on. And so that's what we decipher too, is like, are they true picky eaters, like your typical, or do they have something else going on, like texture aversions, which really are underlying? So you have to treat that and then work to treat the picky eating. So there's also variations that you have to be aware of because I've seen adults who never got treated for their aversions and they're still struggling and still eating the same handful of foods.

Yeah.

Wow.

I didn't even really know that was a thing.

He's always been funny, a little bit. Certain textures, he just doesn't like it. He won't even try it.

Yeah.

So I know, you know, taste buds change over time. Is that a true thing, Chelsea?

Yeah, they, they do. They do change and they do adapt. And that's why we try like Never offer something just a handful of times and never again. Don't give up, especially like I would say, if you're already making something, offer it to them and don't put so much like weight on whether they actually eat it because that's just stressing you out. And always offer them really small amounts, like don't overwhelm them. Like if they haven't had peas before, put 2 peas on their plate. Yes, it looks silly to you, But to them, it's a little more like, I might be able to do this, you know?

Yeah. I've always decided that, you know, I'm always going to give them— for example, pushing fruit for my youngest was something I really wanted to at least try it, and he wouldn't. I'm like, but I'm always going to offer it. I'm always going to put it in his lunchbox. I'm always going to have it cut up. And if it gets thrown away, I hate to waste food, but this is what happened. But eventually he might, you know what, I'm hungry enough, I'm going to try it. And he might like— which he, he did that with oranges for the longest time. He won't eat the orange, but he likes to suck all the juice out of it. I'm like, we're getting somewhere, we're going forward.

Absolutely. Yeah, I always tell this story about my daughter because, I mean, just because I'm a dietitian doesn't mean she didn't naturally hit that picky eating stage. But, uh, I've given her bell peppers. I mean, yeah, as an infant, you know, young, she would eat it, but when she turned like 2, I couldn't get her to eat, eat them. And I've been offering to her like for years. And, um, one day she went to the fridge, saw the mini bell peppers, and just started eating them. I was like, you've got to be kidding me. Like, and then ever since then, won't eat them again. I'm just like, this is ridiculous. But I still offer them. Yeah. And you know, sometimes I'll say, you know, at different ages you could do different things because she's 5 and can comprehend And sometimes I'll say, "Would you like to try a bite of this when it's crunchier or a bite of this when it's softer?" So sometimes I'm trying to push a little bit, not really giving her a choice of if she's going to try it, but like, "This way or this way?" Or, "Would you rather try this carrot or this broccoli?" You know, and that kind of thing. And sometimes after, you know, they try it and you're like, "Okay, well, what did you think?" And you can just tell them, "Oh, your tummy didn't like it this time. Maybe it'll like it next time.

Yeah, that was a big thing with my boys. They— it was like, I know you might not like it today, but you might like it tomorrow. So I'm always just try it each time. And they were like, nope, it's not today, Mom, it didn't work.

Yeah, I think, I think I have to get better about maybe giving choices. That's what I'm learning today. I feel like I'm one of those parents where it's like, this is what we're having, so you need to just have this. And I probably am getting negative results from my picky child.

Well, I got a really big surprise. I made, um, like an Asian chicken lettuce wrap last night, which I hadn't really done before. My youngest really likes Asian Chinese type food, and my other son doesn't. But I was like, I'm trying to find healthy ways to do stuff, and they both really liked it. I was like, holy cow, like, this is cool. They really liked it. So, and they're— I mean, they're, they're teenagers now, so they're liking more stuff. But my youngest typically would not— like, why is it in lettuce? Yeah, I don't understand this. Why is it in my— and he ate it. So I was like, oh, can we sprinkle a little bit of carrots? Like a little, you know? And he's like, no, not right now. I'm like, okay, this works.

So yeah, yeah, yeah, that's awesome. They'll surprise you sometimes, so just don't give up, you know? It's like, you never know, you know? Don't be a short order cook either, but it's important to give them some say, you know? Always have something on the plate that they know what it is, you know? Sometimes I'll just throw you know, some strawberries or fruit or something that I know she'll eat, or Goldfish, along with parts of the other meal because sometimes it helps them, like, once they start eating, sometimes it helps them keep eating. And sometimes when they're dead set, you know how kids are like, "I want M&M's now. I don't want anything else. I need those M&M's." Put a few M&M's on their plate. It's fine. It's not going to ruin their dinner. It's probably going to help them regulate themselves and be able to eat their dinner because they're not going to get too upset.

Yeah. Do you have any advice for the adults?

Should we—

and I know there's no should, but should we be eating more often? Should we be— some people say do 5 meals a day. Some people say do this, do this.

When you talk— yeah.

For your philosophy, do you have any tips that you recommend for sort of adult eaters that are trying to eat healthier?

Yeah, absolutely. So adults— with adults, I would say it's really important to know that someone else's way of eating and maybe the way they got to their goals doesn't mean it's good for you, right? There's no right or wrong. It's about what's going to work for you. You know, a teacher cannot eat 5 or 6 times a day, right? You know, and some people struggle to have, you know, their 3 meals a day. So it really depends on the person. But overall, what I see the most and what people really have to change and work on to be able to have the— and hit the goals that they want with their health, with their weight, is their relationship with food. And sometimes they don't even know it. Until I pointed it out, you know. It's like, it's the emotional eating, it's the not being aware of it, it's not eating at the right times, like maybe you're going too long without food, um, it's also not having that support to change it because that is what's missing. And all of these fad diets You know, yeah, I guess you can say maybe they work for some people, but really, what does work mean to you? Like, I've heard people say, well, you know, I did keto and I'm gonna go back on it because it worked. And I'm like, well, if it worked, why did you regain the weight?

Yeah, right.

You know, and it's the underlying issue was not tackled. Um, and sometimes it's also, you know, people need that support you're changing your eating habits. That's hard. Like, give yourself some credit and grace. Like, it's hard. It's okay. Support is out there. And sometimes people really just need to talk through things, get ideas, and kind of learn to decipher what's on the internet, right? Is this right or wrong? Should I be eating this or eating that or avoiding this or avoiding that?

Yeah, it's like everybody has an opinion.

Yeah, right.

Yeah, right.

I think each person needs to find what works for for them. So just because it works for you, well, you know. Yeah. And my part, my part was learning how to cook meals healthy, you know, making sure. And it's, as a busy mom, it's easy because we have practices. And I, I think I would leave the house about 6 o'clock every morning for a practice in the morning on the way to school. And then you don't get home to after 6 o'clock in the evening to go through a drive-through and say, you know what, we got homework, everything else to do, let's just pick up something and bring it home. And that's difficult. I noticed that the more, if we eat out It's more— well, we don't sleep as well, we have stomach issues, stuff like that. So finding stuff that works for busy moms' schedules is difficult. And they're like, oh, meal prep, well, that's great, but my weekends are full too. Yeah, yeah, it's hard, you know.

Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, I am— I'm the queen of a very healthy 10 to 15 minute meal. That's how I live my life. And so a lot of times it's the education piece, like teaching moms how to do that, what they could do instead of picking up food, because sometimes they don't want to, right? They don't want to go through the drive-thru and pick up food, but they don't want to cook. I totally get it. But there's a lot of healthy, convenient foods that you can, like, pair together to have a healthy meal really quickly. And, you know, I would say, yeah, meal prep is one thing, but kind of brainstorming your meals, like what you might throw together, is another. And that helps you buy the right groceries, have the right things available, and then you can have this list of meals that you just kind of heat up to have this nutritious meal at the end of the day, but you didn't drive through somewhere, right?

Are there any tips regarding grocery shopping and that sort of thing? I mean, we all know you go to the grocery store and sometimes things are packaged as healthy and they're absolutely not healthy. I mean, I've heard people say maybe you stay to the outside of the grocery store because it's like a little bit fresher. Do you feel like that's true?

You know, I think it kind of depends, right? Like, what is your interpretation of healthy, right? You know, and I think yes, we've got most of our fruits, vegetables, um, and like protein items on the outside, but on the inside there's still some really good stuff. There's some great like 90-second quick-cook grains that I, like, survive off of. Um, I think it's been a part of my lunch for, like, 2 years. And so, you know, you just— 90 seconds, heat it up. It's like a quinoa blend. They've got brown rice, they've got all these other things. And so, you know, those things are helpful. And so I think there's no good or bad. Nothing is black and white. It's just about learning, I think, maybe getting that education to know, like, how do I know if something is healthy when it's marketed that way, right? And it's hard to say without knowing what the item is because it's just— you can't trust the labels. But you can decipher that information, like, what is it that you're looking at, you know? And maybe flip it back and look at the nutrition label, like, how many added sugars does it have? It's fine if it has some, right?

Like, things—

sugar's fine, but it's all the dose is the poison, right? Like, how much are we gonna have of, of that? And so just being aware, I think, like, blindly picking something out and not wanting to look at the label, it's like, just look so you can be aware of what you're consuming. Like, how much sodium does it have in it? Do you need to watch your sodium? How much fat? Do you need to watch your fat? All these things. But It's different for everybody based off of their medical history and your genetics too.

Yeah, I heard that if it goes bad, it's good for you.

Yeah, that's true, right? I mean, there has to be some level of that.

In your cupboard. Yeah, that's kind of my rule of thumb. Like, if it goes bad, it's good for you. And I guess I was used to shopping once a week, right? But if you buy fresh fruit, fresh vegetables, sometimes they don't last all week. So it's okay to go to the grocery store twice and maybe not get as much when you're shopping, so you're not wasting food. Um, I learned habit and it made a little better difference. So I'm not, you know, my bananas aren't all turning brown because I bought too much on Sunday and now they're not good, you know, Thursday.

So it's okay.

Yeah, stop by the grocery store and get some more fresh vegetables for that day. And I noticed I had spoken with someone else before that, and they are fairly healthy, and they would go— because I go to the grocery store multiple times, so I have fresh you know, food for that day if I'm gonna cook it, which I'm like, I never thought of it that way.

Yeah, yeah, you know, and I think again it comes back to it depends, right? Like, it depends on the person. Like, what can you afford? What can you do? How much time do you have to go to the store? So don't put so much weight on what you should do or what would be better, right? Like, just focus on overall quality, and it's okay if you can't afford the fresh vegetables, or if they go bad, like, canned's fine. It's still much more nutrient-dense than a bag of chips, right? Frozen is actually fantastic. They have, you know, the really kind of the most nutrients because as your food sits on the counter, like your fruits and vegetables, they kind of lose their— I mean, they're very nutrient-dense regardless, but they do lose some over time. But those frozen fruits and vegetables are frozen at the perfect ripeness to really give you all the packed nutrients that you need. Um, but again, like, it's about doing what you can do.

Yeah, that makes sense. Yes, that's all very reasonable advice.

Chelsea, do your services teach people portion control?

Yeah, that is one of the big things I work on. But beyond portion control, it's how to achieve it, right? Like, you can Google what your portions should be, But there is a difference between knowing what they are and being able to actually attain that. And there is reasons why you struggle with that. And that's what I work with, you know, moms and families for is like, why do you think you're struggling? Let's look into this. Like, what else do you have going on? What did the rest of your day look like? What type of movement do you have in your day? Like, it's way more complex. Right. And so that's kind of where, you know, you got to give yourself some grace when you struggle with something because it's so much deeper than that surface level.

Yeah. It's not just about the food. There's like a psychological component as well that maybe we don't realize.

Yeah, absolutely.

I tend to go— if I go all day, like, I'm starving.

Oh, yeah. And then I overeat. Yeah.

Or I'll make good decisions. I just want that. And I'll be snacking and I'm cooking dinner. Like, what are you doing?

Yeah.

Absolutely.

Well, I want to know, what is your favorite thing about your job? Everybody's got a favorite thing and probably least favorite thing, but, you know, what is your favorite thing?

I think it's when I get this realization, I see the realization in people's faces that healthy eating is, like, achievable for them. Like, it's not as bad as they thought. It's not chicken and salad. Like, they can look forward to their food. They can enjoy it. Like, just seeing this relief sometimes on their face is the biggest win. And that is what makes me love my job so much, is just being able to take the stress of healthy eating and remove it, remove that stress from their lives.

Yeah, that's such a good way to put it because sometimes there is a stress. We're stressed because we're not doing it enough. We're stressed because we don't know what to do.

Absolutely.

Being able to remove that stress, that sounds great.

Nice.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Well, now I guess if you want to tell the listeners how they can get a hold of you for your services and where you are all over the internet and all that fun stuff.

Yeah, absolutely. So most insurances do cover nutrition at 100%. So a lot of times visits are completely free. So you can reach me and book an appointment or just reach out to me. Through my website, so it's www.fuel4liferd.com, all written out, no numbers in there. Um, and you can also call us at 210-591-3640. Um, I do have some social media that I do mainly for the mom side of things, and so I'm at weightloss.for.moms on Instagram and Weight Loss for Moms on TikTok.

Okay, got it. Yeah, and we can put some of that stuff in the episode description as well so people can see it written out.

Oh yeah, thank you.

Perfect. Thank you for mentioning about the intro diet. I meant to ask that earlier because I had been wanting— like, we had talked about, like, yeah, you know, nutrition is a big part of being healthy, and it might help with other things, you know, diabetes and stuff like that people go through. So why wouldn't a dietitian be available on your insurance? Because it might—

yeah, but I guarantee you people don't know that.

I know, I know they don't. And I really wish that's something that people knew. I wish that's something that doctors would tell people, you know. It's completely free to most people.

Yeah, yeah, that's awesome.

Yeah, and we take— we also take Medicaid, which, um, kids only. Unfortunately, adults are not free, but kids, um, with certain conditions. But for the most most conditions and things they struggle with are covered at 100% as well.

Oh, wow.

That's a great tip. I mean, most people wouldn't know that. I'm telling you, we wouldn't know that. Yeah, that's awesome.

Yeah.

Well, cool.

Thank you so much for being a guest.

This was great.

And I learned just a ton of information, so I'm going to take it back to my family now.

Yeah, we hope, you know, especially like I said, I really had thought about reaching out to a dietitian for our family just to learn portion control, how to prepare foods for a growing family, right? And yeah, um, the, the information you shared today was very, very helpful.

Well, thank you. Yeah, thank you so much for having me.

All right, well, that's the end of the second episode.

Yeah, the Working Moms.

So definitely tune into this one, and we'll see you guys then, you know, next week.

Next week.

All right, guys.

Thanks so much for tuning in to the Working Moms of San Antonio podcast. Be sure to follow us on social media at our respective Instagram accounts or join our Working Moms of San Antonio Facebook group. Those links can be found in our episode description. If you have an episode topic suggestion or question, please email us at office@radisagent.com and be sure to subscribe to the podcast and leave us a review. See you next week.