The Simple Roadmap To Holistic Nutrition For Busy Moms

[Wish you felt confident in providing holistic nutrition for your family? Here are some simple tips to make meal planning for busy moms a breeze!]

Do you struggle with eating healthy for yourself or preparing balanced meals for your family? We know that eating healthy is an important part of self care and taking care of our bodies. But navigating the world of nutritional self care and holistic nutrition can be overwhelming.

If you are nodding your head right now, you are going to want to settle in and soak in this value packed conversation. Today on The Soul Care Mom Podcast I chat with Bethany Gettis, a certified holistic nutritional consultant and real food advocate, all about self care, healthy eating, and simple ways you can bring it into your life as a busy mom.

Hi there, Soulful Mama.

Welcome to The Soul Care Mom Podcast. I’m Catherine Wilde of soulcaremom.com. I’m a mom of three amazing kids, a Soul Care Mom Coach, and a yoga and meditation teacher. I’ve helped hundreds of women, and I’m here to help you feel calm and find your unshakable confidence as a mom. If you’re ready to stop living in survival mode and you’re ready to drop the mom guilt and overwhelm, this podcast is for you.

Think of this as a lunch date with a girlfriend. Grab a cup of tea and get cozy. It’s time to get honest and vulnerable and shift the traditional mindset around motherhood.

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I’m here for you, Mama. Let’s get started.

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[Disclaimer: we are not health professionals. This chat is solely based on research and personal experience. If you have any concerns please seek out the help of your trusted health professionals.]

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Catherine Wilde

Hi, Bethany. Thank you so much for joining me today.

Bethany Gettis

Yeah, thank you for having me. I’m really looking forward to this.

What Is Holistic Nutrition?

Catherine Wilde

I am really excited to talk with you about holistic nutrition and how busy moms can practice nutritional self care. Could you start by sharing what is holistic nutrition and a bit about your journey with creating this healthy lifestyle as a mom?

Bethany Gettis

Definitely. So I’ll try to give you a bit of my background. First, I used to be a nurse in the diet and health space and help people lose tons of weight. Now I’m in a holistic practice basically where I’ve done this for my own business because what I noticed is that we came away in the diet industry away from holistic food. And we kind of went to more man made food that wasn’t good for people and there wasn’t a lot of education around that.

Bethany Gettis

And what I loved about what I did was that I talked about food, but I actually wanted to help people heal their guts, like their mental health, like everything. Because food can do so much for us, but we can also use it as a weapon against ourselves as well. Like food and drink and things like that.

Bethany Gettis

So it just really depends on the quality of food that you’re getting in and you’re actually getting in proper nutrients. And that’s where I think holistic nutrition comes in, because it’s wholesome, real food.

Catherine Wilde

Oh, I love that. Yes. And it is so powerful. What we put in our bodies and such an act of self are when we put things in that are really helpful and loving to ourselves.

Bethany Gettis

Definitely.

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Getting Started With Holistic Nutrition

Catherine Wilde

Yeah. So if there’s a mom listening right now and she’s really excited to lean into holistic nutrition, but she’s feeling overwhelmed with just all the information and she’s not sure where to start, what would you suggest? What’s a good first step for her?

Bethany Gettis

It’s pretty much the basics. Like you want to make sure that you’re obviously taking care of yourself. And I think a lot of moms struggle with that, especially around food.

Bethany Gettis

It’s kind of like you think about it. They’re usually eating the snacks out of the diaper bag or like the baby and the toddlers kind of get fed first. So we’re always prepping food for our children, but we never seem to prep food for ourselves. Now we’re doing snacks and meals and dinner for everybody else.

Bethany Gettis

So I usually just suggest to moms the first thing they do is actually put food aside for themselves as well, like meal prepping. It doesn’t have to be hard. It’s not like you’re training for a competition or anything like that and you’re having to weigh things out and check out your macros.

Bethany Gettis

But what you should be doing is if you’re making your kids lunch, you should definitely be making a plate for yourself as well. Which a lot of mums are like, oh, I’ll deal with myself later. No, that doesn’t happen. It ends up that you eat off your kids plate and then you’re kind of living off coffee the rest of the morning.

Bethany Gettis

And then you kind of hit that crash between sort of 3 pm and 5 pm, which most people do, and they’re drained and now they’re having to make dinner. So it’s like this constant repetitive cycle.

Bethany Gettis

So honestly, it’s basics. Like the first thing it’s just prepping out. Like if you’re making your kids breakfast, add a bowl, do something for yourself, like quick, easy stuff like oatmeal and slice Apple. Maybe add a little bit of peanut butter in there. Like it doesn’t have to be hard as long as you’re getting in, like real healthy food.

Bethany Gettis

Like you don’t want to be going through takeouts and things like that, which a lot of moms do because they’re driving around. They’re going from game to game, maybe with children or sport activities or preschools or whatever they’re doing. And they’re like, oh, I just can’t be bothered to make any food for myself. I’m going to hit this drive thru.

Bethany Gettis

You hit the drive thru it’s usually where your weight goes up and your children’s behavior starts to become erratic because it’s the junk food and the sugars and all the processed foods that their bodies aren’t going to actually, it’s not going to help them either.

Bethany Gettis

Right? So that’s what I see on a regular basis for moms.

Catherine Wilde

Yeah. That is such a great step. And I love that it’s simple, because we don’t need it to be more complicated. So thank you for sharing that.

Meal Planning For Busy Moms

Catherine Wilde

And over the past couple of years here, we’ve gone through a lot, especially as moms and navigating this new world with our families. And this pandemic as asked us to be flexible, which meant making more meals at home when restaurants were shut down. And in some ways that was a big challenge. But it was also an opportunity. Right? To really be intentional about the meals we make and serve. So what are some tips that you have to keep things simple when making nutritious meals at home for our families?

Bethany Gettis

So this one, I usually, myself included, do this, but I make a lot of leftovers. So if I’m making like a dinner the night before and I’m like, we’ve got no takeout, I know we’ve kind of had all this skip the dishes and delivery food that people have used instead of being able to go into restaurants and stuff.

Bethany Gettis

But a lot of the time people aren’t aware that you can just easily batch cook something. You’re making one meal already. So why not just add some extra food in there? It’s not going to take the extra time.

Bethany Gettis

And just make bigger pans of things, like just for example, like yam fries cutting up just like maybe two yams instead of one yam. And you’re going to roast those in the oven for fries for the family. Right?

Bethany Gettis

Or if you’re making like a spaghetti sauce and you’ve got a ground meat in there, you’re going to add a double pack of meat, do double veggies. And basically, then you’re going to have a couple of meals for the next day. Because then it’s like, oh, now I have to make lunch for everybody. Really? So again, a lot of moms kind of we’re gravitating away from being in the kitchen so much.

Bethany Gettis

And I think that’s why as a society in the Western society, for sure, we’ve leaned so much on takeout and food that it’s expensive. It’s not cheap to eat like that as a family. Like, I have a family of four, and I can tell you if I was eating that on a regular basis, my bill for food would be way higher. And as we know, the prices of food are going up in general. So that’s going to also impact, like restaurant eating and takeout and all that kind of stuff as well.

Catherine Wilde

Yes. Oh, my gosh. The leftovers make me so happy because I know that there’s something ready in the fridge just need to warm it up or whatever and serve it. I love that tip.

Self Care Healthy Eating Tips For Restaurants

Catherine Wilde

So we talked about eating at home. Now that the world is opening back up, what are your tips about restaurants? How do we approach it when we do go out? How can we make better choices?

Bethany Gettis

A lot of the times, people don’t realize that restaurants actually give you most restaurants give you two to three times portions that you should actually be eating as like an adult.

Bethany Gettis

So with restaurants, it’s usually they’re heavy on the dressing and the oils and the fats and things like that because they want their food to taste good. So first of all, that’s something that you can easily say, hey, dressing on the side, or can you not cook that in butter?

Bethany Gettis

Because that instantly will add like a good couple of hundred calories. The other aspect of eating out is a lot of people drink when they eat out, too. And I don’t know if you’ve noticed, whenever you’ve gone to a noisy restaurant, they’ve done studies on it. You eat more because you can’t hear the hunger signals. Like your brain is kind of like, I’m not hungry anymore.

Bethany Gettis

So I’ve been in a few restaurants where I’m like, I feel so full, I don’t get it, but it’s because the music is blaring. And actually, there are studies been done that make you eat more. So eating in a quiet environment actually is kind of a key thing for a lot of people.

Bethany Gettis

But yeah, they definitely give you usually a very big portion for adult size, typically. So usually the first thing I say is maybe cut your meal in half. Like if you’re eating a burger or splitting a meal, say with your partner because sometimes like a pasta dish can be really heavy.

Bethany Gettis

And I think a lot of us have that mentality of the clean plate dinner club. So you feel guilted into finishing your food and not a lot of people will box it up. So there are a couple of things you can split with another adult. You can cut it in half and take the rest home with you.

Bethany Gettis

Or even just like what I sometimes do if I’m just out with my boys eating. I’ll usually order a big thing of meal for myself. And I’ll split it between the three of us. Because I know that they’re not going to eat the entire thing. And there’s no point in me wasting kind of money buying all these extra things when I know how much they can individually eat.

Catherine Wilde

Oh, yeah, that makes so much sense. Those are really great tips. Okay, so you mentioned your boys. Sometimes I hear moms saying things like they struggle to get their kids to eat healthier.

Nutritional Self Care For Kids

Catherine Wilde

How can moms who are struggling with this approach the situation so they’re able to provide a balanced diet and holistic nutrition for their children without it being such a battle?

Bethany Gettis

This one’s pretty big for a lot of people and it’s honestly because it’s the example is set at home. So a lot of people that I know personally myself why my boys eat a lot of vegetables and don’t have any issues with picky eating is because we’ve introduced it at such an early age.

Bethany Gettis

There are obviously going to be things that they’re not going to like. For example, in our house, both well, actually, one of them doesn’t like tomatoes. And both of them don’t like mushrooms. And it’s something to do with the consistency of the texture.

Bethany Gettis

I don’t think it’s the actual food itself where it’s like I don’t really like the taste of it unless it’s really strong or spicy for them. So I find just always give the kids something at least to try and don’t force it.

Bethany Gettis

Because the problem is if you put like, say, I don’t know, peas and carrots on the plate and you’re like, you have to finish them. Now, you’ve kind of got a battle on your hands because they’re like, well, I don’t want to eat these. And it kind of becomes like a test of will at the table.

Bethany Gettis

So what I always used to do was when I introduced a new vegetable was I used to just offer it to them while I was cutting it up or cooking it and see if they liked it. And that was like an early age. Like, I’m talking like three or four years old. They’re kind of in the toddler preschool mode.

Bethany Gettis

And sometimes if they don’t like it, I come back to it later and I just don’t make a big deal about it. Like, so if I had something on my plate and they were little or even babies, they are loving to be looking at it and they always wanted what I was eating, not what they had.

Bethany Gettis

So I’d say, “oh, do you want to try some?” Knowing that it’s a new vegetable. And sometimes it’d be like “that was gross.” And sometimes they’d be like, “oh, I like that.” So then I start adding it to their plate.

Bethany Gettis

And I think a lot of parents have this notion that kids are going to, like, instantly eat vegetables and enjoy them. But not a lot of adults actually eat vegetables and have sort of been trained that way as well.

Bethany Gettis

A lot of us have been forced to eat our vegetables throughout childhood. And that’s kind of the notion that you see the kid with the broccoli on the plate and they’re like, “Ew, I’m not going to eat that.”

Bethany Gettis

But my eight year old, he asks for broccoli. Do you know what I mean? So just every kid is different, but you have to kind of start them early and almost take away that sense of having to eat it or just try at least a bite because then it becomes a battle at the table which a lot of families are dealing with.

Catherine Wilde

Yes, so true. And I think we all want to feel empowered about the choices we make when what we put in our bodies, it’s the same for them. Right?

Catherine Wilde

Being able to feel like I get to choose this. And I love that you bring them into the kitchen because I feel like that helps a lot when they feel like they’re part of it, the process and trying things and helping, and that’s so empowering, too. I love that.

Bethany Gettis

On that note, just in terms of, like, at the time, he’s seven now, but my youngest, when he was about three. He wouldn’t eat salad for a really long time. He kept choking on it, first of all, because lettuce is kind of one that kids can’t chew very well.

Bethany Gettis

But what I noticed was as soon as I got him to make it, he didn’t eat it if I gave it to him. But soon as I got him to make the salad with me, so I gave him a little blunt knife to cut up the vegetables. We put it together. And I’m like, “What dressing do you want?” He actually started to eat it.

Bethany Gettis

So because I got him to participate and see what he was putting in it. And then he’s like, “Oh, I like salad now.” So it was like he just discovered all of a sudden because he made it. It must taste good.

Catherine Wilde

Right? Yeah, I get to do this. I’m proud of this. Yeah. That’s so awesome.

Catherine Wilde

So there is so much information out there about what’s healthy. It can be hard to sort through everything. And we’re all unique and have different needs on different days.

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Intuitive Eating, Nutrition, & Self Care

Catherine Wilde

And I’ve found that taking time to educate myself has helped so much. But tuning into my intuition helps me to recognize what my body needs. What are your thoughts on that?

Bethany Gettis

Yeah, I’m very big on that because as a society, we’ve kind of been pushed into this like, “we have to follow this new trend” or “we have to eat this way”.

Bethany Gettis

Or for years we’ve had, like the milk and wheat industry pushed upon us because they make a lot of money doing that. And they’ve obviously seen now, that one of the biggest allergies that are out there is dairy intolerance and wheat intolerance because we’ve all been overconsuming these products.

Bethany Gettis

And we’ve actually not been able to digest them properly. So it is a very individualistic basis. If one thing doesn’t suit your body, don’t eat it. It doesn’t matter if it’s kind of claimed as like a health food or whatever if your body can’t tolerate something. And that’s where I think I am very different from other things out there. Is that I am very much an intuitive eater myself.

Bethany Gettis

And if I’m not hungry, I’ll let myself fast and I’ll be okay with that. And then there are days where I’ll eat like six times a day and I graze a lot throughout my food.

Bethany Gettis

And then there are some times where I’m like, “You know what? I actually don’t feel hungry at all.” So I do listen to my body and I listen to more so “do I need more salt or sugar?” And if I’m told what to eat? And I think a lot of people do this, it kind of backfires, and you end up almost doing the opposite because it’s that whole notion of you want what you can’t have. Right?

Catherine Wilde

Right. Yeah, right. Really restricting ourselves makes us just, like, think about that more. So true.

Catherine Wilde

So I love that you say “A healthy family starts with a healthy parent.” Self care is so important, and it changes the way that we show up as parents. So I really appreciate you sharing all of these wonderful tips about how to bring nutrition, self care, and healthy eating into our lives. And I’d love to know what are some of your other favorite ways to practice self care?

Bethany Gettis

For me, I like to sort of take little breaks. I like to sort of just turn off mentally. So that’s either maybe, like, I like to kind of go shopping on my own without my boys because I have a lot of males in the house.

Bethany Gettis

Or I like to have a bath and sort of rejuvenate. So for me, being an empath, I need a lot more sodium in my diet and stuff. So I have that through my bath salts and also these magnesium bath salts, too. And that helps people feel more energized.

Bethany Gettis

So if you’re kind of one of those people that you get to the end of the day and you’re sort of like, “Oh, I feel like I have no energy left but no emotional capacity,” which a lot of women do. A bath salt bath would be really beneficial for you as well.

Catherine Wilde

My gosh, I love that. And they resonate with that deeply because hot baths are my happy place. And I use magnesium salt in my bath. So can you elaborate on that a little? So you said being an empath you may need more sodium.

Bethany Gettis

Yeah. So I noticed there are a few people who come to me and I usually ask them if they’re craving sugar or salt. Usually, when people are craving salt, it’s because they’re drained, usually, from negative energy around them all the time, which we’ve had a ton of that in the last couple of years.

Bethany Gettis

So for myself included, I’ve really had to increase, like Himalayan salt, sea salt in my food, which I never usually do. And then bath salts because you’re absorbing that through your skin.

Bethany Gettis

Another good one for empathetic people is magnesium gel. So I use this as well. You’ll notice if you’re low in magnesium, if you get lots of headaches, you can’t sleep well at night. You keep waking up or you get severe leg cramps when you go to bed. And that was something that I constantly suffered with.

Bethany Gettis

So the reason I like the magnesium gel is because as soon as you put it on your skin about 20 minutes later, it actually helps you fall asleep, stay asleep, and the restless legs stop as well. When you take magnesium by mouth, which is what most people do, it takes about 4 hours for it to go through your whole digestive system.

Bethany Gettis

So you’re kind of eliminating it from going through your entire digestive system in order for it to be in your bloodstream. So that’s why I say topically, like on the back of your thighs, is a lot easier for your body to absorb.

Bethany Gettis

Now when people say they crave sweets, which is typically in the evening, it’s because people are crashed, like, they’re crashed and burned and they need a quick pick me up.

Bethany Gettis

So it’s kind of the same notion of people needing coffee all the time. Like, first thing in the morning, like, where they’re dependent on it to keep them awake. So it’s a bit like your adrenals that hold stress and things like that. They’re so taxed and they need that boost all the time.

Bethany Gettis

So typically, if someone’s eating a lot of sugar and a lot of caffeine, I would imagine that their adrenals are really fatigued.

Catherine Wilde

That’s really helpful. Thank you for sharing that. And I would love to wrap up this beautiful conversation by asking if you could go back in time. What advice would you give yourself as you started your motherhood journey, your holistic nutrition journey?

Bethany Gettis

That’s a tough one because I’ve had so much life experience. I think more than anything, I probably reassure myself and tell myself that everything’s going to be okay no matter what you go through. You’ll get through it. I think that’s probably the biggest thing for me. I don’t think I’d change anything, but more just know you’re strength like, you are a lot stronger than you give yourself credit for.

Catherine Wilde

Yes. Oh, my gosh. I love that. And it’s something that is a great reminder for us every day, right? Like, no matter what we’re going through, we’ve got the strength within us. And yeah, that’s so beautiful. That encouragement.

Catherine Wilde

So I love this conversation. Will you let us know where we can find you online?

Bethany Gettis

Yeah, definitely. Everything is on my website. I actually have a family recipe book that you can download as well. That’s on my website, too. It’s at www.ndilish.com. And you’ll find all my social media handles on there as well. If you want to follow.

Catherine Wilde

Oh, awesome. I will include that link in the show notes so everyone can find you. Thank you so much for sharing your story and all of your wisdom with us today.

Bethany Gettis

Thanks so much, Catherine.

Thanks for joining me. Mama. I’m over here smiling from ear to ear and giving you a big virtual hug.

I love spending this time with you. You are amazing for showing up and carving out this space to nourish your soul if you are loving The Soul Care Mom Podcast be sure to subscribe and leave a review.

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Sending you so much love, Mama!

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