The Intentional Table

Feeding kids isn’t just about what’s on the plate - it’s about raising them to feel confident, capable, and at peace with food and their bodies. The Intentional Table Podcast is here to help you break the cycles of guilt, shame, and mealtime stress so you can raise kids who eat well and feel good about it. Hosted by Nicole Cruz, a registered dietitian and mom of three who has coached thousands of parents, this podcast gives you the tools, structure, and mindset shifts to create a positive, empowered eating environment at home. With guidance, compassion, and strategies that really work, you’ll feel more confident and less stressed while supporting your kids through 'picky' eating, 'overeating', struggles with sweets, and everything in between.

The Intentional Table is a kids podcast hosted by Nicole Cruz, MS, RDN, with 48 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80.

Nicole Cruz, MS, RDN hosts The Intentional Table, a kids show with 48 episodes published.

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  Episode #48

  What's Actually Making Kids More Anxious with Kristen McNeely

  Oct 1, 202645 minS1

  Worry and anxiety often feel like something is wrong. Like there's something we need to fix. But what if it's a normal human response to have these emotions? And what if we can teach our kids that they're completely capable of getting through them? On this week's episode, we have Kristen McNeely, a marriage and family therapist who specializes in helping kids and families work through anxiety, without ever sending kids to therapy. She works with parents to actually decrease the time it takes to see results, and believes that kids should be more focused on playing and just being kids. Kristen and I talk about: Why kids seem more anxious right now, and the reasons that go beyond screens The biological reason anxiety shows up in the body, and why it's not your child being dramatic The difference between validating your child's fear and accidentally making it worse A tool Kristen uses with her own son to help him feel braver, with food and beyond The exact language to use when your child is scared or overwhelmed Why anxiety is one of the most treatable things a child can experience, even when it doesn't feel that way If your child runs a little anxious, or a lot anxious, or you're just looking for another tool to help them feel braver at the table and beyond, this episode is for you. RESOURCES MENTIONED: ✅ Instagram: @childhood.empowered ✅ Website: kristenmcneally.com ✅ School Capable: schoolcapable.com Want to connect? Send us a text! CONNECT with Nicole: FREE Training: Raise a Balanced Eater AND Protect Their Relationship With Food - Instagram: @nicolecruzRD SUBSCRIBE & REVIEW: If you loved this episode, it would mean so much for you to follow, subscribe, share, or leave a review. Your support helps us reach more conscious and loving parents who need these insight! Thank you for tuning in and see you next week!

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  Episode #47

  Weight and Health Aren't Synonyms with Dr. Lisa Folden

  Sep 24, 202652 minS1

  Most of us grew up believing that being smaller means being healthier. That if the number on the scale went up, something was going wrong. And if it went down, we were doing something right. It's such a deep belief that we rarely stop to question it. But what if weight and health were never actually the same thing? Dr. Lisa Folden is a licensed physical therapist and body image coach who works with people living in larger bodies and folks in recovery from disordered eating. She came to this work through her own story, after years of believing (and teaching) that weight and health were one and the same, until she started pulling that belief apart and couldn't unsee what was underneath it. This conversation goes a lot of places. We get into our own bodies as parents, and we get into what happens when it's our kids' bodies that are changing and we start to panic. In this episode, we talk about: Why weight and health aren't the same thing, and the markers that actually tell us something about our health The one kind of weight change that's a true medical red flag (and it's not gaining) Why kids' bodies are supposed to change, especially through puberty, and what happens when we try to stop it What to do when a growing body makes movement harder, without making it about getting smaller How dieting early in life sets kids up for the very thing we're trying to protect them from What "joyful movement" really means, even on the days you don't love the workout If you've ever looked at your own changing body, or your child's, and felt that flicker of worry that something must be wrong, this episode is for you. RESOURCES MENTIONED: ✅ Instagram: @healthyphit ✅ Website: healthyphit.com ✅ Body Respect Journal (available on Amazon) Want to connect? Send us a text! CONNECT with Nicole: FREE Training: Raise a Balanced Eater AND Protect Their Relationship With Food - Instagram: @nicolecruzRD SUBSCRIBE & REVIEW: If you loved this episode, it would mean so much for you to follow, subscribe, share, or leave a review. Your support helps us reach more conscious and loving parents who need these insight! Thank you for tuning in and see you next week!

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  Episode #45

  It's Not the Sugar, It's the Shame with Crystal Haitsma

  Sep 9, 202650 minS1

  We think our reactions to how our kids eat are about the food. The sugar, the snacking, the fourth piece of pizza that makes us snap... "That's enough." But it's rarely (if ever) truly about the food. Crystal Haitsma is a life coach whose entire practice centers on shame, and how shame is basically at the root of all of our reactions. As a parenting coach, she kept noticing that parents already knew how they wanted to respond. That wasn't the problem. It was that they often couldn't do it. There's a trigger that fires before we can even think. In this conversation, we get into what that looks like around food and parenting, and what our reactions are really signalling. We can have all the logical information, but it doesn't mean that's what we'll necessarily rely on. In this episode, we talk about: The difference between guilt and shame, and why Crystal doesn't even know if guilt is really a thing Why staying calm on the outside isn't enough, and what your kids pick up on even when you don't say a word What's actually happening in the moment your kid's eating triggers you How to hold a boundary around food from a grounded place instead of a reactive one Why the work isn't about controlling your kid's eating, it's about what comes up in you If you've ever known exactly how you wanted to respond around food and found yourself reacting anyway, this episode is for you. RESOURCES MENTIONED: ✅ Podcast: The Art of Shame Free Living ✅ Instagram: @its.crystal.Noelle Want to connect? Send us a text! CONNECT with Nicole: FREE Training: Raise a Balanced Eater AND Protect Their Relationship With Food - Instagram: @nicolecruzRD SUBSCRIBE & REVIEW: If you loved this episode, it would mean so much for you to follow, subscribe, share, or leave a review. Your support helps us reach more conscious and loving parents who need these insight! Thank you for tuning in and see you next week!

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  Episode #44

  Oreogate Isn't About the Oreos

  Sep 3, 202618 minS1

  We all have reasons for the foods we choose for our kids. Maybe you'd rather they weren't eating Oreos every day, or don't want to buy Doritos. But then they start kindergarten, or go to a birthday party, or come home from a friend's house asking for the exact thing you don't keep around. And suddenly you're not sure exactly what to do. That's at the heart of Oreogate , the viral story of a mom asking the other parents in her kid's class to stop packing Oreos. If you've been anywhere near social media, you've probably heard something about it. It's easy to have an opinion about the mom, but also... what do you actually do when your kid wants the foods you didn't choose, in a world you can't fully control? In this episode, we talk about: → Why trying to control the foods around your kid tends to backfire, even when it works → The two extremes parents swing to, permissiveness and holding a hard line, and what each one does → Why "just teach them to walk past it" sounds empowering but sends a different message with food than something like alcohol → How restriction can turn a food into the forbidden fruit, and the consequences that follow → What it looks like to hold boundaries and also protect your child's relationship with food in these situations → How your kid's reaction tells you exactly how big a deal to make of it We don't live in a bubble, and if you've ever wondered how to deal with food you don't fully have control over, listen in! Want to connect? Send us a text! CONNECT with Nicole: FREE Training: Raise a Balanced Eater AND Protect Their Relationship With Food - Instagram: @nicolecruzRD SUBSCRIBE & REVIEW: If you loved this episode, it would mean so much for you to follow, subscribe, share, or leave a review. Your support helps us reach more conscious and loving parents who need these insight! Thank you for tuning in and see you next week!

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  Episode #43

  When Your Kid Asks If a Food Is Healthy

  Aug 27, 202620 minS1

  The other day my son asked me, "Mom, is my smoothie healthy?" And it would be so easy to just answer: Yes. No. Or, well, kind of, but it has a lot of sugar. But instead, I didn't answer him directly, because there isn't really a clean, absolute answer to that. Food is far more nuanced than yes or no, and that's also not how I want my child to think about food. So in this episode, I walk you through the actual conversation I had with him, and why asking a few questions did so much more to help him think about "healthy" or "unhealthy" and food in general. In this episode, I'm covering: → The real conversation I had with my son, question by question, that you can use with your kids → Why answering "yes" or "no" isn't accurate or helpful → How we can use this approach whether it's about a smoothie, cookie, or any food → How to talk to our kids about the different jobs that food does → What to do instead when your kid asks you a food question you don't have a clean answer to If you've ever frozen, unsure of what to say when your kid asks a question about food... or you're waiting for it to happen and want to be prepared, this episode is for you. Listen in! ✅ More on food neutrality - Episode 4, "All Food Is Not Equal" ✅ Related - Episode 42, "Unhealthy" Isn't a Fact (It's a Judgment) Want to connect? Send us a text! CONNECT with Nicole: FREE Training: Raise a Balanced Eater AND Protect Their Relationship With Food - Instagram: @nicolecruzRD SUBSCRIBE & REVIEW: If you loved this episode, it would mean so much for you to follow, subscribe, share, or leave a review. Your support helps us reach more conscious and loving parents who need these insight! Thank you for tuning in and see you next week!

  ListenShow Notes

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