Today, we are joined by Courtenay Fisher who is an FNTP Nutritional Therapy Practitioner located here in Charleston.  We had an absolute blast during our conversation today and I was fortunate enough to learn quite a bit about nutrient-dense foods, the SAD diet, and many other things involving nutrition.  I got a lot out of this episode and I think you will too.  Enjoy!

Topics Covered:

• 
  
• The SAD diet
  
• Where to start on changing your nutrition for the better?
  
• The individualization of a diet
  
• Do we over-complicate our nutrition?
  
• Courtenay's take on properly prepared nutrient-dense foods
  
• How effective are meal-prep services?
  
• Sorting out the research
  
• What it is like to be a client of Courtenay's
  

Reach out to Courtenay:

Via Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CourtenayFisherNTP/

1. Meal delivery option we mentioned: https://balancedbites.com

2. Two quick resources on why we should avoid incentivizing with food:

https://maryannjacobsen.com/what-rewarding-kids-with-food-looks-like-20-years-later/

Although written for schools, this resource (Food_As_Rewards pdf - attached) includes some great information and alternate suggestions, and a favorite quote on the subject, "Rewarding children with unhealthy foods in school undermines our efforts to teach them about good nutrition. It’s like teaching children a lesson on the importance of not smoking, and then handing out ashtrays and lighters to the kids who did the best job listening.” Marlene Schwartz, Ph.D., Deputy Director, Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity, Yale University.


3. What is Nutrient Density?  Facebook post: <iframe src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/post.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FCourtenayFisherNTP%2Fposts%2F2476619632663230&width=500" width="500" height="630" style="border:none;overflow:hidden" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowTransparency="true" allow="encrypted-media"></iframe>

4. More about the Nutritional Therapy Association: https://nutritionaltherapy.com/about/

5. Snacks - While I agree that some people need go-to, healthy snacks or small meals for certain situations, I also encourage clients to tune into eating enough of their best ratio of quality protein/fat/carbs at each meal so that they don’t regularly feel the need for snacks.  (Of course, those who train at a higher level or have specific medical conditions or lifestyle needs may require adjustments.). I particularly encourage parents to avoid feeding kids (or anyone else) snacks out of habit or craving as opposed to real hunger.  If kids aren’t hungry enough to eat quality, real food, they aren’t really hungry.  This can be a hard concept but helping kids to discern between hunger (or thirst, which is often confused with hunger) and cravings will contribute immensely to long term health.