Be Where You Are Today
Fitness expert Amy Kiser Schemper, MS, CPT, interviews guests and helps you make sense of the latest in the fitness and nutrition world. Amy is known for her positive energy and no-nonsense approach while encouraging her clients to show up, keep moving & be where you are today.
Be Where You Are Today
Navigating Kids' Nutrition with Hilary McMahon
In this episode of the Be Where You Are Today podcast, host Amy talks with registered dietitian Hilary McMahon. Hilary, a specialist in baby-led weaning and toddler nutrition, shares her personal experiences and professional insights into navigating the challenges of feeding young children. The discussion covers the importance of maintaining intuitive eating habits, avoiding labeling foods as 'good' or 'bad,' and fostering curiosity in children when it comes to nutrition. Hilary also introduces her courses, First Foods Academy and Toddler Foods Academy, designed to support parents in providing proper nutrition for their children. Tune in to learn practical tips and strategies for encouraging healthy eating habits in your little ones.
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nutrition.mamma/
Website: https://nutritionmamma.com/
First Foods Academy: https://nutritionmamma.com/firstfoodsacademy
Toddler Foods Academy: https://nutritionmamma.com/firstfoodsacademy
Your BLW Serving Guide E-Book: https://nutritionmamma.com/yourblwservingguide
Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/first-bites-baby-led-weaning-beyond/id1682943983
[00:00:00] Amy: Hey everybody, I'm Amy and this is the Be Where You Are Today podcast, where we connect with professionals in the fitness and nutrition space to help you wherever you are in your journey. Today I am talking with registered dietitian, Hilary McMahon. Hilary is a friend and professional colleague of our registered dietitian, Vivian, in our BodyFit Athletic Club.
[00:00:25] Hillary is a registered dietician specializing in baby led weaning and toddler nutrition. When her daughter was born in 2020, she became more aware of the true challenges that parents face when it comes to starting solids, navigating mealtime daily, and providing proper nutrition for their little ones.
[00:00:41] She founded her programs, First Foods Academy and Toddler Foods Academy as a way to help families find success in the area and also have the proper support they need to navigate what can be such a challenging and ever changing journey. Hillary's a mom to two kiddos and a dog mom to a golden doodle and she lives with her family in Pennsylvania.
[00:01:03] So we've been hoping to have Hillary on the podcast for a while because Vivian and I work with adults in the BodyFit Athletic Club and I work with adults through the YouTube channel and through all of BodyFit by Amy, but we have a lot of moms, which means we often get questions about baby, toddler, and childhood nutrition.
[00:01:22] So we're really excited to be talking with you today. So hopefully you can help answer some of these questions. I'm very excited because I have two kids of my own and that you will help. Provide some practical tips and information for our community. So welcome to the podcast, Hilary. Thank you so much.
[00:01:38] I'm excited to be here. Yeah. Very excited to be here. So let's start with just some intro questions, just for fun, just rapid fire, whatever first thing comes to mind. What is your favorite food, Hilary? Pasta. Oh. Any kind of pasta. Yum. Yes. Do you have a least favorite food? Olives. Ugh. Me too. Gross.
[00:02:00] Hilary: Really?
[00:02:01] Yeah. It's just the briny. I can't. I love like other pickle things, but olives, it's just. It gets me in here. Can't do it. Yeah,
[00:02:09] Amy: yeah. I'm not a fan of anything really pickled, but especially olives. And I don't understand how people have them in their drinks, especially.
[00:02:17] Hilary: Oh yeah, no thank you. No, no 30 martinis for me.
[00:02:21] Cooking or baking? I prefer cooking. Okay. I don't like measuring and doing all of the exact things. Yes. Yeah. And I hate rolling, using a rolling pin.
[00:02:36] Amy: See, I prefer baking because I want to be told exactly what to do when it comes to cooking, but Vivian says the same thing and my husband Kurt is the same way where it's like cooking is like an art form and you can be, flexible and try new things, but baking is like a science, right?
[00:02:52] Yes. You can change
[00:02:53] Hilary: cooking and make it your own. Making is more like. Nope. If you don't do it this way, it's not going to come out okay.
[00:03:00] Amy: Yeah. What is the nutrition myth that you wish would go away? There's so many. Right. But
[00:03:08] Hilary: probably that carbs are bad. Yes. Probably that carbs are bad. My favorite food is pasta.
[00:03:14] It just is what
[00:03:14] Amy: it is. And as a trainer. And I get a lot of good energy from that. Yes, exactly. It's delicious, but also we know, we need carbs but for some reason, even as we evolve in the, health space, people still have a fear of carbs. I'm right there with you. Do you have a favorite type of workouts?
[00:03:35] Hilary: I feel like running is my favorite. Just going for a good run.
[00:03:38] Amy: Yeah.
[00:03:39] Hilary: Air pod in one ear so I have a little bit of music, but also having like nature in the other ear, I love that.
[00:03:45] Amy: Okay. So now that we got those questions out of the way, let's talk a little bit about nutrition, specifically nutrition for kids and your specialty is baby led weaning and toddler nutrition.
[00:03:57] So I would love to hear, cause I know you have worked and do work with all types of clients. What led you to specialize in that? Let's. So
[00:04:06] Hilary: I had my oldest child, my daughter was born in 2020. You know, a time in the world, which was very interesting. And I, as a dietitian, I was like, Oh yeah, I don't know how to feed my own child.
[00:04:18] Like I knew I wanted to do baby led weaning. I knew that was the avenue of starting solids I wanted. But when it came down to learning how to do it, I was like, well, shoot, I don't, I didn't learn this in school. I don't know how to do this. I took a nutrition through the life cycle course, but I didn't learn the mechanics of how to feed a child.
[00:04:35] You know what they need, right? Nutritionally. But and I realized that I could use my nutrition knowledge to Learn more about it, but I still had a lot to learn and I actually at the time started an Instagram account specifically for documenting our baby led weaning journey just because I was like I don't want to spam my family with all these videos and pictures and Everything and before I knew it I was being shared on other baby led weaning accounts and then I had all these like 600 followers and I was like Well, shoot, again, I guess people need this information and they want to hear it from a professional, which I appreciated.
[00:05:10] Amy: Yes.
[00:05:10] Hilary: At the time I was looking to leave my former job and I was like, this is what I'm going to do. This is where I'm going to be helping because I've always been very interested in maternal and childhood nutrition. I have a background in human development and family science as my undergraduate minor, because I've always wanted to sort of dive into that realm.
[00:05:30] And I was like, this is the perfect opportunity to do that. So started with infant nutrition and doing all the starting solids, baby led weaning things. Then some of my clients were aging into the beyond 12 month phase. And, moms were saying, Hillary, just make a little, toddler bootcamp to add onto your course.
[00:05:50] But when I sat down to do that, I realized. No, no, no. This is a full blown course because toddlers are a whole different element. And so it just you know, evolved into now I have two courses and I'm stopping there. I'm committing to stopping there because I don't want to do the full child lifespan, but there's definitely a segue that happens.
[00:06:06] And I think that. Connecting them is helpful for most families.
[00:06:10] Amy: I, and I love hearing stories because we have a very similar organic story of me just Starting to post workouts online for family and friends and for clients when they weren't training with me and seeing that grow and realizing there is a need for something and that people are Not looking for someone random They're looking for someone who is going through it and has the background and the knowledge and I love because tons of us are out there posting beautiful pictures of our babies and funny videos.
[00:06:39] But to have a true expert sharing your journey and then sharing your knowledge. That's pretty invaluable. I love, I think that's the best side of social media, right? I love that it evolved for you in that way. So, your daughter is now a little bit older, but you have a new baby, right?
[00:06:55] So doing it all again. So are you just now in that starting phase?
[00:07:01] Hilary: So at the time of recording, I'm he's under five months. So we'll be starting in April. I don't know when you're airing this, but yeah, we'll be starting solids in April. So right around the corner. And I'm excited to have like my own organic new content to post on my account.
[00:07:18] Because yeah, right now I share clients. Videos and photos when I'm remembering, the new mom brain, my, my account has taken a hit. Right. We all understand. Yes, exactly. I'm here when you need me. But I'm excited to have that content to organically share again because I get to do it all over again.
[00:07:37] Amy: Yeah, how fun. All right, I'll be watching. And just so all of our listeners know, we will have all of Hillary's information in the description. So you can follow her, you can check out her courses. So, you know, I'll be really honest as a mom. I find nutrition for kids way more stressful than my own nutrition.
[00:07:55] I think that's a lot of us, right? So I would love to hear what, just generally speaking, my kids are a little bit older, they're out of the toddler phase. Thankfully it's a tough, it's a tough face, a fun one though, but what advice do you give parents when they're just saying, Oh, I'm so stressed out by this, or this is, I have a lot of anxiety about nutrition for my kids.
[00:08:15] Hilary: Totally understandable, right? We want what's best for our kids. And, us as the owner of our own body we're like, Oh, we can experiment on ourselves. When it comes to our kids, we're a little bit less likely to do that. And I think the biggest thing with understanding where you want to get your information is know that you're getting it from a reliable source.
[00:08:34] There are so many things you can find on Google. So many things you can find on, I even as a Instagram account. Holder and just professional. I have, I follow Facebook groups about baby led weaning and I follow random moms that share about baby led weaning and I'm like, no, that information is very incorrect and very unsafe.
[00:08:53] And if they have thousands of followers or they're in a baby led weaning Facebook group with 14, 000 members, all of those people are seeing that content and it's not always safe. I've seen some very unsafe things and them and tried to just. Gently correct and gotten kicked out of Facebook groups for no cost.
[00:09:12] So, it's just not everyone is an expert and I'm not saying that I'm the end all be all, right? But I think you want to know that the provider that you're getting the information from has your child's best interest in mind. And are they looking at it from the lens of nutritionally sound information?
[00:09:30] Taking care of your child's body, but also is your child going to be safe in this process?
[00:09:35] Amy: That's huge. I mean, we talk about that a lot, Vivian and I both do of just, there's, it's the wild west out there in, on Google and the social media space. And you can find a lot of really big accounts, people with a lot of followers who are just posting, Oh, this worked for me.
[00:09:50] That does not make them an expert. And that certainly does not mean that it will work for you. And I think. Experts in our fields like you and me will say here's the evidence, here's what we know, and here's, it still is not a one size fits all, but certainly safety I think especially with the littles that I remember having a lot of anxiety around choking and things like that.
[00:10:12] So, such a good point to make sure you know what the credentials are of the person that you're getting your information from. So that is very helpful. So we've talked about this before. So Hillary was a guest in our body fit athletic club a couple of years ago, I think, and talk to me and a lot of moms.
[00:10:29] And one of the things that we talked about is the importance of not labeling food or not giving food a moral value. I mean, this is something that, we all grew up with diet culture and we, we still hear. Or moms and grandmas and a lot of people labeling foods good or bad. Or now I think the bigger trend is toxic or inflammatory or things like that.
[00:10:52] So we talk about that a lot with adults, about like what that does, mentally and emotionally and also why it's inaccurate. But Yeah. Yeah. Why is that important when we're talking about food around and to our kids?
[00:11:04] Hilary: Yeah. I think first and foremost, it's important to recognize that when babies are born, they're intuitive eaters.
[00:11:11] They cry when they're hungry and then you feed them and you see them stop eating when they're full. They, if you're breastfeeding, they're going to take what they need. If you're feeding a bottle, they stop if they're full or they cry for more because they're hungry. And us as the parents were the ones influencing that.
[00:11:28] Understanding of hunger fullness. If we're forcing more, right, I think of when we spoon feed little ones, if we are wanting to finish the jar or even getting to the point of childhood and saying you need to take three more bites, right? That's right. Teaching them. You're not listening to your body when your body's full.
[00:11:46] Now, of course, there's distractions. That's a whole nother thing. But truthfully, us as the parents were the ones It's kind of interrupting that intuitive process and along the same lines, we are also influencing their opinions about food. So if we are in that, you know, pushing phase of saying, try more, you need more, eat the broccoli.
[00:12:08] It's healthy. Don't eat the cookies. Eat the broccoli before you had the cookies. We're creating labels for foods. We're calling them good versus bad. I have to eat this yucky broccoli to get to that really good cookie. Right? We're creating labels there and like you said, a lot of us or adults in this generation just have poor relationships with food because they were told they had to finish everything on their plate.
[00:12:33] They were punished for no dessert. If you can't do this at the finish your homework and those types of things. And, and food has been very tied to reward. And I think that is something that especially, I mean, we do this in our household, but I try to teach with my clients to pull that out, stop doing that and really disconnect that.
[00:12:51] And instead I like to insert curiosity, right? So not food is good or bad, right? But, oh, is that food crunchy or is it soft or like how many of those. Carrot coins. Can you stack up on top of each other before they fall over and teaching them how to be exploratory with food instead of labeling it because They can get that information at school or they can be influenced by peers.
[00:13:19] And we can't control those things, but as the primary teachers of our kids, when we're the caretakers of the parents, we need to be
[00:13:25] Amy: setting that example. That's so helpful. The curiosity factor. And I, we are definitely guilty over a year of as they get older, it does become a little more of it.
[00:13:36] Well, one day, you know, they just ask for a lot more things and they See their friends with different things at school and it does get harder in that way of not being like, or, or, we have had the experience recently where a friend told my son, well, I don't know that has.
[00:13:52] Artificial flavors or like it's already happening. He's just nine. But so having to navigate that of just yeah, some foods are different and some families eat different things. I've have a lot of stress around it. And I feel like as someone who is maybe more informed because I do work day to day with a dietitian and I follow you and lots of other you know, experts in the field, it can get hard.
[00:14:14] So it's helpful to remember One, what is my stuff? What is stuff that I grew up with that it's very hard to recognize that, but I think I'm getting better about it. And how can we just make them curious and also just not like if we know this, if we make things too precious or too oh, this is only on Halloween or this is only this.
[00:14:34] Yeah. That's one thing more and it becomes a thing that. That again, like they're going to grow up thinking, well, why is that? Is it because it's bad? Is it because,
[00:14:43] Hilary: well and to that point too, when you think about if there's foods that, your son's friend was saying something about the artificial dyes or whatever.
[00:14:50] Yeah. If there's something that you really don't want your kid to eat, you can't shelter them forever. Right. They might have it at some point. And if you completely restrict it, they're going to just want it more because when we, You know what kids bring when you told them they can't have something they just wanted.
[00:15:04] So do we as adults, right? So, it's allowing them to have that. But I think it's saying that, yeah, like some families see different things or if they see something on the shelf at the grocery store and you're like, yeah, no, I'm not buying that. You just say, oh no, it's not on the list today.
[00:15:17] Maybe next time, and provide that. No, it's not never happening, but it's not happening today.
[00:15:23] Amy: It is amazing when you see that it does actually work in terms of taking the novelty out of it. I think of this as like Halloween or we just had Valentine's Day when they get candy. We just, whatever happens that day, we let it happen.
[00:15:36] We have a candy bucket. It's up in the cabinet. Sometimes they ask for it and sometimes they completely forget about it. So it is one of the, but we don't make a big deal about saying, okay, time to put the candy away. Valentine's Day is over, even though it's really hard not to do that, it is hard not to say okay, you got to eat some real food now, or which again is a label, right?
[00:15:55] When I say real food versus, Oh, is that piece of candy, not food, you know? So having to catch myself in those moments. But then seeing like, they do have this like, Oh, sometimes I think about my candy. Sometimes I don't. And it's, it is amazing to watch. It's. It's still hard. It's a, ongoing battle of just trying to balance all of the things because we do all just want what's best for our kids and we want them to be eating things that are good, nutritious and See, I can, I'm even catching myself in the moment, right?
[00:16:24] Like of eating healthy things. Like there I am labeling food again, but it's very, so point, if everybody wants to take that away from this, we all struggle with this.
[00:16:35] Hilary: And I'll be honest. I do too. You know, every child is so different and you can have a standard of like, here's what to do, but every child's going to respond differently to it.
[00:16:43] And that's where, I know how my daughter responds certain things. She is it's like, oh my gosh, I can't get enough of this. But then some things we have in the house for a day and a half and she forgets. So the next child might be totally different. What motivates them? And that's where, leaning in on, listening to what experts have to say is so helpful in that sense because there's no one size fits all answer.
[00:17:04] Amy: My kids have definitely both gotten pickier as they've gotten older. I think they all go through those phases and then they also try more things, you know, than maybe they did when they were toddlers. But can you talk a little bit about those stages? And again, I know there's no one size fits all. I just heard somebody say, well, I thought at six, I read that they were supposed to.
[00:17:23] You know, try more things, but my kid is sick. That's not happening. So, are there certain stages that, you know, from the dietician standpoint that we see different things or that it's a good time to try new things. Just, you know, what advice do you give parents on the life stages?
[00:17:38] Hilary: You know, I think really that sweet spot, and this is why I love baby led weaning so much is that six to 12 month window, right? I call it the honeymoon phase of eating where everything is exciting. Everything is, Oh my gosh, I can't get enough of this. And you know, you're like, Oh my gosh, look, my kid's eating mushrooms and.
[00:17:56] lamb. And I don't know, just random foods that might not be normal, quote unquote, kid foods, then they start to develop that preference around 12 months. So the more you can get under their belt before they hit 12 months, that more variety and just Yeah. The more variety that you can give them before that point, you're going to have a wider base to start from, right?
[00:18:19] If you only introduced 10 foods before their first birthday and then they start to develop preference, you've got a lot less to choose from than if you did, let's say I love the whole hundred first foods concept. So if you have that many, maybe you're down to I don't know, 75 or 80, but that's still way more than like five foods.
[00:18:34] Right. Yeah. So starting there, is great. But if you're past that point, You can't go backwards. So I think the biggest thing to remember is consistency. Our kids are getting information about food from peers and from family members. Maybe a sibling doesn't like something. Maybe a parent's doing a Fad diet and they've cut out a whole food group.
[00:18:55] Yeah. Oh, now I think that fruit's bad for me. Right. You know, there's so many things in that sense that they're watching and seeing and learning through observing others, and so that creates pickiness in itself. But they also have their own preferences to deal with. So the biggest thing we can do to combat that, in my opinion, is provide that consistency.
[00:19:16] We can say, here's a, nutritionally sound meal where I'm providing proteins. I'm providing fiber, a variety of colors of fruits and veggies, and maybe not all in the same meal, but we're doing a variety over the course of their day is their weeks. And if we're providing that, they have the opportunity to eat that.
[00:19:34] If they don't want to eat that, that's their choice. Now, of course, there's nuances with that, children who have more sensory needs around food and things like that, so we don't want to discount those things, but being consistent with nutrition overall is important. And sometimes kids come back around to things.
[00:19:50] So even if they don't want something, putting it on their plate, or if they're not comfortable with it being on their plate, having it in a serving bowl on the table. It still needs to be present there. Right. I can use my own daughter as an example. She loved like seafood and tuna and shrimp and all those things when she was a baby.
[00:20:09] And then when she was about 18 months, that was just a no go anymore. And honestly, up until the past. I don't know, six months. She just still really didn't like it. And at Thanksgiving, we had seasoned cocktail shrimp, and she ate about ten of them. And my husband and I were like, What's happening? Yeah. And now, we just took her on a little belated Valentine's dinner the other day, and she was so excited to order a shrimp cocktail.
[00:20:38] Oh, but she didn't eat it for so long. And it's honestly, because when we eat shrimp or when we eat seafood, even if she doesn't want it, there's a little piece on her plate. And if she wants to eat it and interact with it, she can, but we don't force it.
[00:20:50] Amy: Yeah. That's so good to remember. And we've actually seen the same thing with our six year old, our daughter, and she, has.
[00:20:59] You know, always been a little, slightly more adventurous than her brother as we've gotten older, but she just in the last year just started eating peppers because we would put, we, they both consistently eat, carrots. with maybe hummus or ranch and she will eat cucumbers. And so there were already some things that she liked, but we would put the peppers out.
[00:21:19] And she just one day decided to try them again. And now we put them in her lunch almost every day because she really likes them. So, but that was so surprising to us of Oh my gosh, she likes another vegetable. You feel like, you're succeeding, but it wasn't something that we forced.
[00:21:36] It wasn't something that we said, you have to try this. But we had things available and we, I'm definitely guilty. I'm a picky eater myself, but but I do remind my kids, I do try things because your taste buds change and things change and you might like something, in a few years that you didn't like and vice versa, but I do cooking in a different way.
[00:21:56] Right. Exactly. Yeah. Or trying something, I, I always think about like as kids, I never liked Brussels sprouts, but now they're delicious because we make them in all of these new and different and fun ways. So that's such a good reminder of just access and not forcing and not making it a big thing or you have to try this or you have to eat this because of.
[00:22:18] X, Y, and Z.
[00:22:19] Hilary: And again, that curiosity there too. So again, I'm using broccoli as an example, but if you're looking at broccoli and you are, let's say you're serving roasted broccoli, they can look at it and be like, what does it look like? Ask them questions about it. Again, create that curiosity where it's, are, does it look like a tree?
[00:22:36] Is it crunchy? Is it soft? Ask them questions and maybe they want to just touch it and poke it and that's fine. But if they want to pick it up and taste it too. Awesome. Yeah. Just whatever you can get, right? Creating that curiosity and letting them interact with food in ways that are lower in pressure.
[00:22:52] Amy: Yeah. We've actually found that with the broccoli. My daughter loves it. And when she was little, and I think this was, this might've even been a tip from you, but something I saw online of like, it's a little tree. Do you hear the bird? Okay. Now the bird flew away. Let's chop down the tree. Like just making it fun and low pressure I think is has, you know, we have seen some success with that.
[00:23:11] It's still hard. We still have. Picky eaters, but at the same time you, you talk to friends and it's, a lot of it just seems to be the age and I'm trying to just be patient and not stress about it, but it does get stressful.
[00:23:23] Hilary: Remembering that you're not perfect either, and that's okay, right?
[00:23:26] You're not here to make the situation perfect, right? So if you are. going to just write off everything because you're like, Oh, well, they don't like it. It's no, we're just done. I can't do it. So I'm just not going to do it. That's also not the answer. But the other answer isn't forcing, right? So it's providing the opportunity and taking what you can get.
[00:23:48] Just with a lot of things in parenting. Yeah, I was going to say that.
[00:23:52] Amy: Yeah. Our metaphor for all of parenting.
[00:23:54] Hilary: Yeah. Exactly. Just taking what you can get and opening the doors to make it fun. Play, being playful, being curious.
[00:24:01] Amy: And I also think too I don't love to cook but I do and my husband does a lot and having them a little more involved in the process also seems to help a little bit.
[00:24:11] My daughter especially seems to really enjoy it. And just does seem to spike the curiosity rather than saying like, All right, we're going to make this and now you have to eat it of just like, yeah, look, look what we did together. You helped scramble the eggs or whatever it may be. Absolutely.
[00:24:26] Has been really helpful as well. So I would love to hear more. And so our listeners can hear more about your courses. You mentioned them a little bit in the beginning, but and just how, again, we'll put some links below, but what all they entail and what options you have available for parents.
[00:24:41] Hilary: Yeah, absolutely. So, my. sort of foundational program is First Foods Academy. That is my baby led weaning course. And I kind of call it like a course meets coaching program where you can, you have the online self guided course, but you also get one on one support from me. So you enroll, you get a full hour strategy call.
[00:25:03] And then from there, there's monthly office hours. Sometimes you're the only one there. Sometimes there might be. couple of their moms there or parents there and you're getting to hear from other people, but you're also getting the live support. If you're not on those office hours calls, you can also use chat support with me.
[00:25:18] I have that. But it's just honestly nice to have that support Avenue when you're walking through a new process. I'll use the example of, I just had a mom. Start solids with her son about two months ago, and he has now had two experiences with food allergies And she just said to me the other day I don't know what I would do if I didn't have your support in my back pocket because yeah, it's I'm not I don't want to Google this it's too scary.
[00:25:45] Amy: Yeah
[00:25:46] Hilary: So having that support is huge, especially starting solids, which is something that not a lot of us know a lot about when we're just handed a packet at the doctor's office. Right? Yes. So that's kind of where it stemmed from. Like I said earlier, I had moms that were like, Oh, let's, have a toddler bootcamp week, but it became a whole thing.
[00:26:01] And now I also have toddler foods academy, which is the extension arm of first foods. You don't have to be enrolled in first foods to hit toddler foods. I have a lot of families that say, Oh, I wish I would have done a better job with my infant. And now I have Quote unquote issues or concerns. So yeah, let's jump into toddler or maybe they did do first foods Academy and love that foundation Want to continue having that foundation and not just giving up on it or you know Ignoring the fact that once they become toddlers There's a whole new set of behavior and whole new world when you hit toddler hood And yeah, so now I have that program as well.
[00:26:35] It has the same structure online course one on one support, office hours. There's an online community, a Facebook community for the families, as well as, the course has tools, templates, recipe libraries, all kinds of things. So those are my main two avenues of support. But I also have an ebook that is basically how to serve all of your different foods safely for your little ones, as far as safe texture.
[00:26:58] structure, et cetera, shape, all of that. So I have over 130 foods in that ebook to teach people how to safely do baby led weaning and beyond. So, and I assume
[00:27:08] Amy: those are all available on your website, which again, we will link put all your links below. I
[00:27:12] Hilary: do also have a podcast, but it has sort of fallen by the wayside.
[00:27:17] Truthfully, with pregnancy and then newborn life. Again, we understand. Yeah. Not giving up on it. It's there. And honestly, the content is great. In fact, I just shared that earlier on my stories. I was like, you know what? I've been doing podcast interviews. But, I, mine is just sitting there. But it has great content, so you can go listen to that too.
[00:27:35] Amy: And I love that because I think, your courses seem a lot very similar to what we do in the body fit athletic club, where it's maybe somebody doesn't have the budget or the time to work with a personal trainer individually, but they want the structure and they want to have that support. So you get that and it feels like the same for you, like they're not, they're maybe not going to seek out, a pediatric dietician because maybe they don't feel like they need that or have the time for that, but to have the expert.
[00:28:01] in your corner where you get the information, but you also have the chance to ask questions and connecting with other people in your same life phase, I feel like can be really helpful as well. Yeah. I often quote you because I remember the first time when we had you in the BAC, when you said course meets coaching.
[00:28:17] And I was like that's similar to what we do. It's not one or the other. It's combining the two where you get the support maybe not at the one on one. All personal high level, but you get what you need from that. So absolutely, especially for busy parents, like we're all, running low on sleep and high on, all the different things that we have to be doing throughout the day.
[00:28:41] So it's nice to have that where it's, you can get your information when it works for you and not feel lost in the research. Yes. Yes. And I feel like even little things now I'm thinking back to my, baby phases of remembering like. When do I have to stop cutting the blueberries? When do I have to stop, like little things like that where I'm like, I could Google that and, but to have an expert say, developmentally, this is when, it's just little questions like that, that you think are so simple, but.
[00:29:12] Exactly. Because you can find an answer to support your, what you believe if you Google it. Like, exactly. You're going to get both answers. It's not the evidence based answer. Correct. Excellent. Well, last thing, and this is something that we do with all of our guests, so the podcast is called Be Where You Are Today, because That's sort of my catchphrase of be where you are today in your workouts and just in your life.
[00:29:32] Again, I think a good metaphor for parenting as well. But we would love to ask you where you are today. So where are you, you know, I know you have a toddler and a baby, so nutrition with them, but also in your own journey I love to ask. Workouts are my thing. So, if you've postpartum, as we know, that's a really hard time.
[00:29:52] Yeah. Where are you today?
[00:29:53] Hilary: Yeah, that's a great question. I feel like we are just in a very big season of transition, right? You know, Survival. A low sleep. A four month sleep regression, and it's real right now.
[00:30:05] Amy: Yes.
[00:30:05] Hilary: Um, teething at the same time. So, you know, just, I think, maybe I should say survival.
[00:30:10] Maybe I shouldn't say transition.
[00:30:12] Amy: Yes. Yeah. It feels like survival.
[00:30:15] Hilary: Yeah. We're going to go with transition. It's a more positive word. Right. But I think, just learning to adapt to a fa be a family of four and as far as, yeah, moving my body more. trying to fit it in where you can. You know, the days here in Pennsylvania are getting nicer.
[00:30:30] So I'm getting out and walking as much as I can and really hoping that my little guy eventually finds a solid morning wake up time so I can commit to a morning workout because right now I'm like, I can get up at five 30 and he gets up at five. So of course, yeah, we are just, in all of the thick of it.
[00:30:47] But I think just, yeah, living in that phase of transition, but yeah. Having so many little amazing things on the horizon. Yeah.
[00:30:56] Amy: Yeah. It is. It's that question of just juggling all of it. The kids running your own business. I'm in that space as well. Working from home, which is such a blessing, but also very challenging in its own right.
[00:31:09] Yeah it's tough, but it sounds like you're doing great. And listen, when you're ready to get back into regular workouts, you know, I've got you. So,
[00:31:16] Hilary: oh, I know they honestly like. When you reached out about doing the podcast, fangirling a little bit because I was like, oh my gosh, she gets me through my pregnancies, right?
[00:31:26] I know, I love it. I recommend your YouTube channel for almost every pregnant mom I meet because they're just really good supportive videos and my daughter loves doing them with me. Oh, good. I should come in in the morning and be like, you know, mommy, let, where are my weights? And I know. Oh,
[00:31:43] Amy: I love that.
[00:31:44] And it is, you know, it's very, just to have it come full circle, it is exactly what we talk about with food, right? What you model for them and what you introduce them to without making it a thing is. It's so important. Like she's enjoying working out because she sees you enjoying it and not making it all.
[00:32:01] Mommy has to work out to be skinny or, all of the things that we talk about. So, very similar in that way. So, I should send you some of the recent ones where my daughter, probably when she was around that age, like four and five, she's in a few of the videos because she just loved it and has, she always asked to be.
[00:32:18] So I should send you some of those cause you, your daughter might really enjoy them.
[00:32:23] Thank you so much for being here, Hillary. This has been so helpful, so helpful to me. As a mom of two kids myself, but I know helpful to so many of our listeners. As you know, many of the moms are finding me in the, their pregnancy and in the postpartum phases. So many of our community are in this infant and toddler stage and are, you know, going through the challenges that we all experienced. When we're trying to just feed our babies, so I think it's so important that we're providing, you know, good information from true experts where you're not only getting the information, the education, but you're also getting a lot of support and encouragement from people who've also been there themselves.
[00:33:04] So thank you for providing that for us today, and we hope to have you back.
[00:33:15] Hilary: Absolutely. Thank you again for having me. It was so much fun.
[00:33:19] Amy: Remember, you can listen to this podcast as well as our other episodes over on my YouTube channel and anywhere that you get your podcast. I'm Amy reminding you to show up, keep moving, and be where you are today.
