Episode 14: Simplifying Food for Stressed Moms with Jamie Truppi
Let's face it. Feeding our children can feel like a daunting task at times.
Feeding them healthy? Even more daunting. Honestly, sometimes just feeding myself regularly is too hard. Insert quick, convenient, junk food. Somehow food got so much more complicated as a Mom.
Is it easy to neglect this area of our lives? Definitely. Most of us do, myself included at times. Zero judgment. But needing to eat & feeding our children isn't going away, so it serves us to take a good look at what's important to us around food & meal times. And because we do food all the time, it is vital that it works for us. There simply cannot be fighting, pressure, drama at every mealtime. That just might kill me.
This is exactly why Irene brought Jamie Truppi, a friend & functional nutritionist, on today's episode to talk about all of this. For moms just like me.
This episode is, at once, liberating (you get to do it your way) and totally practical. It isn't necessarily about changing what you eat. It's more about honoring what Jamie calls our Food Values. The perspective she offers has been SO helpful for me and I think it might be for you too. It makes SO MUCH SENSE.
Honoring your food values is about connecting with what's important to you around food, which includes the experience you want to have & cultivate with your family. Is it that you serve mostly home-cooked meals? Is it that you just want to be at the same table, connecting with each other, regardless of what everyone is eating? Is that you just want it to be an enjoyable experience? Is it that you try new foods?
Okay, so who is Jamie Truppi, and why are we listening to her about food? Well, she is a passionate whole-foods advocate who truly walks her talk. She is a functional nutritionist, holding a Master of Science & Nutrition in Integrative Health & a post-masters board certification. She works with Moms & families to discover the root of their sneaky stress symptoms and to bring in the healing powers of natural, whole food from the earth. (Read her full, impressive bio below).
Jamie had a unique experience with food growing up. She was always connected to food from the earth her entire life, growing up on a farm and with plenty of gardens. As she grew into adulthood, she found a sense of control, a sense of agency over her life through high-quality foods.
"It wasn't control in the obsessive-compulsive manner that a lot of my friends were dealing with."
It was more of a healthy control. An area of empowerment for her. She would not eat crap. She found control in her food choices. She also found healing in food & she says it was the thing that got her through a very traumatic time of life, where she was dealing with her sister dying, giving birth & losing her job. Oh, boy.
"It wasn't about the mental control, it was about the physical well-being and the peace that I could bring to my body with the highest possible quality food that mother nature could deliver at that point in time in my life. That is where my food values came from."
Such an interesting perspective, because that has never been my default. My default has always been to find control in eating junk. But I am SO GAME to take on this perspective. It feels good. I can still have a sense of agency over my life through supportive, life-affirming actions vs. destructive, limiting actions.
"Focusing on something that I knew had some value in my life {healthy nutrition} was the thing that got me through. It was my anchor. It got me through all of it. And I got through that stage of my life without a disease. Without a condition. Without physical pain beyond the emotional grief & pain, and I could find the joy in motherhood through all of it."
Wow. Powerful. Really leaning into what we know is important to us & using that as something to hold onto when the situation is getting chaotic and unenjoyable. It immediately releases the pressure. It allows us to just connect with what's important and let everything else go.
I love Irene’s example: she values a joyful mealtime. She became a short-order cook for her kiddos and she loves it. She literally removed the fight. Okay, hear me out on this, because I know many of you are like “No way. I would never cook a different meal for everybody.” First of all, dinner does not have to be intricate. She makes a meal for her & her husband. Before cooking, she asks her kids if that’s what they want. If no, she offers to make them something else that is simple, healthy, AND is something they like/want. So what if most of what they eat is the fresh vegetables on the counter while talking with her as she cooks?
Think about it. The energy that she would have spent on forcing her kids to eat the same meal, creating disconnection along the way, is now spent on a little bit more cooking and a lot more joy & connection. And the kids are eating veggies. I’d say that works!! :) So rather than living in a “should” of how kids need to eat and be a certain way around mealtime, she made an empowered choice that allowed for the desired experience.
She made her own damn rules. Heck. Yes.
Jamie also talks about the distinction between food boundaries and food values, which I LOVE:
A food value being the thing that is important to you around food.
Ex: We nourish our bodies with healthy food.
A food boundary being what you will or won't do around food.
Ex: Not purchasing food with food dyes (Irene’s example)
The food boundary supports the food value.
(Side note: As with everything in life there is also an opportunity to let go here. We hold a boundary. Then we get to let go of the outcome. Will Irene’s kids consume food dye sometimes? For sure. But she doesn't have to be the one providing it. We do what we can within our control & in alignment with our values & then let go of the rest).
I honestly had no idea how food would become SUCH A THING as a mom, but I am seeing the sunrise on the horizon. It feels so good to stop worrying and instead sink into honoring my children’s autonomy while guiding them towards body awareness & healthy choices. That is one of my TOP food values. I get to focus on how to honor that value rather than stress about how I’m not doing it right, how I’m failing. Supportive & life-affirming vs. destructive & limiting.
What’s your top food value?
Make sure to grab Jamie’s great free gift to get you started with creating health & connection with your littles: 5 days of kid-friendly lunches & snacks delivered to your inbox
Connect with Jamie:
Website: https://www.jamietruppinutrition.com/
Personal Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jamie.truppi
Business Facebook: Jamie Truppi Integrative Nutrition LLC
Private Facebook Community: Conscious Food Community
Instagram: @jamietruppi
Linked In: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamie-truppi/
Jamie’s full bio
Jamie Truppi is a passionate whole-foods advocate who truly walks her talk. She holds a Master of Science & Nutrition in Integrative Health and a post-masters board certification. As a functional nutritionist, Jamie helps mompreneurs discover the root of their sneaky stress symptoms (you know, fatigue, depression, anxiety, irritability, insomnia, and total disconnect from their physical bodies, mental chatter, emotions, kids, relationship, and definitely from nature). Her mission to help moms and teachers become curious about Mother Nature’s version of food was the foundation for her early childhood nutrition education curriculum that transformed into Idaho's first Farm to Early Care & Education program. She is a key advisor for the baby-led-weaning company, Solid Starts, and writes a food column. When not researching food and toxins, Jamie likely is experimenting in the kitchen, adventuring outside with her two spunky kids, trying to meditate on an old cushion, or chasing chickens.