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How to Use Nutrition Knowledge to Fuel Your Daily Energy, Focus, and Personal Progress · Stacked Intent: Your Guide to Authentic, Intentional Living

• 0:01
  SPEAKER_00: Hello all and welcome to the Stacked Incent Podcast.
• 0:05
  SPEAKER_00: I am Becca Stackhouse Morrison and I look forward to having you join us as we go along with relationships, finance, and nutrition.
• 0:13
  SPEAKER_00: We're gonna look at the DNA of how you can take those life and dreams that may be stuck scattered and help give you some resources for mapping out a plan.
• 0:25
  SPEAKER_00: My background is social sciences and I have a certification for Family Life Education.
• 0:30
  SPEAKER_00: So I look forward to sharing those with you throughout the podcast.
• 0:34
  SPEAKER_00: We're gonna have lots of fun.
• 0:36
  SPEAKER_00: As you tune in each week to become authentically you, you're going to look at the ways that you can be your authentic self and be intentional with yourself.
• 0:47
  SPEAKER_00: You'll laugh, you'll cry, and you're gonna finish each episode being motivated to live your life more authentically.
• 0:54
  SPEAKER_00: But in these specific episodes, we are gonna have a special co-host and we're going to let her introduce herself.
• 1:03
  SPEAKER_01: Hey, my name is Ashley Guerin, and I'm a University of Georgia Family and Consumer Scientist Extension English for both Kaimler and Evans counties in the southeastern part of the state of Georgia.
• 1:14
  SPEAKER_01: I'm excited to be here today, and I have a background in nutrition from an education standpoint and then also from a community standpoint.
• 1:22
  SPEAKER_01: And this is something I'm super passionate about, and I'm excited to work with Becca to talk more about being intentional in the food that you choose and the things that you put into your body.
• 1:35
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome back to our nutrition episodes of Stacked Intent.
• 1:38
  SPEAKER_00: Today we're gonna look at understanding nutrition for your daily progress.
• 1:43
  SPEAKER_00: So discovering how your nutritional knowledge can empower you to enhance your daily life.
• 1:50
  SPEAKER_00: This is important to contribute to your daily progress of knowing how to nutritionally fuel your daily through your nutrition.
• 1:59
  SPEAKER_00: So, Ashley, what are some of our objectives for today?
• 2:03
  SPEAKER_01: Today we're gonna talk about understanding the fundamentals of nutrition.
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_01: So we'll talk about the roles of different macronutrients, measure your carbs, proteins, and fats, and our micronutrients, which are our vitamins and minerals, and how they support your body.
• 2:16
  SPEAKER_01: This will include how different nutrients fuel your energy, support your growth, maintain body systems, and protect your overall health.
• 2:23
  SPEAKER_01: Understanding these basics can give you the foundation to make informed choices about what, when, and how much to eat.
• 2:29
  SPEAKER_01: Then we're going to talk about developing our skills to assess personal nutrition needs.
• 2:34
  SPEAKER_01: We'll talk about the ability to evaluate your own diet, considering your factors like age, activity level, health goals, and lifestyle.
• 2:42
  SPEAKER_01: This involves learning to read nutrition labels and using them as a tool, estimating portion sizes and recognizing nutrient-rich foods versus highly process options.
• 2:52
  SPEAKER_01: By connecting knowledge to your unique body and goals, you can create a diet that meets your specific energy and nutrient needs.
• 3:00
  SPEAKER_01: Then we're going to wrap it up with applying our nutrition knowledge to make practical, sustainable choices.
• 3:04
  SPEAKER_01: We'll translate what you've learned into everyday habits.
• 3:07
  SPEAKER_01: This could include planning meals, choosing healthier snacks, or adjusting recipes to increase our nutrient intake.
• 3:14
  SPEAKER_01: The goal is just to build confidence in making decisions that improve your health, maintain energy, and support long-term well-being, even when faced with challenges like busy schedules, limited access, or social influences.
• 3:27
  SPEAKER_00: So our first topic is looking at that fundamentals of your nutrition.
• 3:33
  SPEAKER_00: So it's looking at how you optimize your daily progress in that balance of your micronutrients, your macronutrients, hydration, and even considering that gut health that we've talked about.
• 3:47
  SPEAKER_00: It's how your nutrition plays an important role in your health, and this is in every stage of life.
• 3:53
  SPEAKER_00: So that's from infancy all the way to being an elder.
• 3:58
  SPEAKER_00: And so poor eating habits, they're gonna a lot of times contribute to certain chronic diseases and illnesses.
• 4:06
  SPEAKER_00: While there's still some debate about what the perfect diet might look like, it's getting the right balance of nutrition.
• 4:13
  SPEAKER_00: That's what your key concept is for your overall well-being.
• 4:16
  SPEAKER_00: We were talking about just a second ago of how you eat for contributing to diabetes.
• 4:23
  SPEAKER_00: Like it's something that once you've been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes or you're on that line, you've gotta make some changes, don't you?
• 4:32
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 4:33
  SPEAKER_01: And it's it's all about, you know, it's it's it's pretty individualized.
• 4:37
  SPEAKER_01: So to optimize your daily progress, there is a balance of macronutrients, micronutrients, hydration, consideration for your gut health.
• 4:45
  SPEAKER_01: So there's there's lots of different factors.
• 4:47
  SPEAKER_01: And so if you feel like you have not been able to kind of master the nutrition game, that's okay because there's a lot to it.
• 4:55
  SPEAKER_01: So nutrition plays an important role in your health at every stage of life, and poor eating habits can really contribute to certain chronic diseases and illnesses.
• 5:03
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and so, like Becca said, like it really depends on kind of where you're at, what's going on, um what your life stage is, but ultimately the foundation is the same.
• 5:15
  SPEAKER_01: So nutrients are the compounds that your body needs to function, and they do fall into two main groups.
• 5:20
  SPEAKER_01: So you've got your macros and your microbes.
• 5:23
  SPEAKER_01: Macronutrients are proteins, carbohydrates, and fats.
• 5:27
  SPEAKER_01: And so these are the ones that are needed in larger amounts to provide energy, they build your body structures, they produce hormones, they keep your metabolism running smoothly, so they play some big roles.
• 5:38
  SPEAKER_01: Your micronutrients like vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants, those are needed in smaller amounts, but they are just as important.
• 5:45
  SPEAKER_01: And they have um important roles in helping with things like enzyme reactions or gene regulation, protecting your cells from damage.
• 5:53
  SPEAKER_01: So, not necessarily the things that you would always think about that nutrients do for your body, but again, they're they play important roles as well.
• 6:02
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and all macronutrients give your body energy, but each one works a little different and it can help your body and your body compounds in its own ways, and so it's looking at considering things that might be treats or indulgence or even sweet beverages, they all provide us calories, but it may not be a good source, and so these are ones that we might want to limit.
• 6:26
  SPEAKER_00: It's why a lot of times, like cake used to be a special occasion thing, and so it's oh, we get to go to a birthday or we are celebrating something, and so here's our sweet treat.
• 6:40
  SPEAKER_00: Not necessarily having it every night, or a sugary beverage can be that same way of a soda.
• 6:47
  SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna have a soda with my weekend lunch versus having two sodas a day.
• 6:56
  SPEAKER_00: So it's finding that balance of things that, yeah, they're gonna give you calories, but how are they gonna help you in the long run of your nutrition?
• 7:07
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 7:08
  SPEAKER_01: And also the timing of your meals is really important for understanding nutrition.
• 7:12
  SPEAKER_01: Um this one has been something that recently I have realized how important it is in my life because I especially later at night, so if I I I was telling you, I got, you know, kind of one of those those help tracker rings.
• 7:26
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and so when I I realize that my heart rate and my digestion is affected by how late that I eat.
• 7:34
  SPEAKER_01: So um it's one of those things that kind of calculates like your resilience and your recovery and how well you sleep.
• 7:40
  SPEAKER_01: And so I realize that nights that I eat later and then have less time between when I eat my meal and go to bed, my heart rate does not lower until much later in the night.
• 7:51
  SPEAKER_01: And so that that affects how how quickly I'm able to go to sleep, and it affects like how much recovery that I'm able to get, because my heart rate's not at a point where my body's basically in that recovery mode.
• 8:03
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so the longer that it takes my metabolism to digest my food, my heart rate is still working as my metabolism is still working.
• 8:12
  SPEAKER_01: And so the longer it takes my heart rate to slow down, um the less recovered or like the lower my recovery score is for the next day.
• 8:21
  SPEAKER_01: So I tested it out the other night, and um, there are some times where like I'm able to eat later.
• 8:27
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, able to eat earlier, and sometimes just depending on my schedule, like for example, today's Wednesday, and so I know that I won't be home until after eight o'clock.
• 8:36
  SPEAKER_01: And so I won't be able to eat dinner until after eight o'clock.
• 8:40
  SPEAKER_01: So for me, I'm gonna have to eat a really light dinner um and give myself a little bit of time before I go to bed so that way my digestion is not um does not affect my sleep.
• 8:51
  SPEAKER_01: So if you eat a really heavy meal right before bed, uh it can affect how well you're able to sleep.
• 8:56
  SPEAKER_00: Oh yeah.
• 8:57
  SPEAKER_00: And I found that personally too of like it's really important for me to one, eat when I'm hungry, but two, if I eat the later I eat, I don't do well.
• 9:09
  SPEAKER_00: My body doesn't rest down, so especially if it's heavier things, but and so it's it's finding what works for you, and it may be different than the other people in your household.
• 9:21
  SPEAKER_00: Like every week, sometimes me and my husband may not eat dinner all week together because I've had to eat before he gets home because I'm just ready to eat, and so it's understanding that there might be that difference, and that's okay.
• 9:38
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, your body is your body, and your body's energy uses and use and appetite hormones are gonna be unique to you and they're gonna follow natural daily rhythms, and when those rhythms start to get off track, it can affect again your metabolism and your health.
• 9:54
  SPEAKER_01: So this is most obvious in shift workers.
• 9:57
  SPEAKER_01: So people that have to stay up really late and they sleep during the day and they eat late.
• 10:02
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but again, it can happen to anyone, case in point.
• 10:05
  SPEAKER_01: Again, on Wednesdays, I know I don't get home until really late, and so um, so that affects my schedule on our on a regular basis.
• 10:13
  SPEAKER_01: I'm eating not too long after I get home from the gym, so roughly around seven or so, um, which for most people may be too late, and for some people may be way too early.
• 10:23
  SPEAKER_01: So it's just gonna depend on what works for you and what you realize that your body can handle.
• 10:28
  SPEAKER_01: Um but small shifts in sleep or meal times, sometimes called social or eating jet bag, are common and can push your meals later, which may contribute to weight gain because your body doesn't have enough time to process and digest the food um before you go to sleep.
• 10:44
  SPEAKER_01: Eating earlier in line with your natural body clot can really help to manage weight and lower the risk of metabolic issues, which you know may not be possible every single day of the week, but if you can try to focus on making that um making that your routine for the majority of your days, I think you'll really see a difference.
• 11:03
  SPEAKER_00: Oh yeah.
• 11:04
  SPEAKER_00: So looking into it's developing the skills to assess your personal nutrition needs, and so that's going back to you may eat at a different time or knowing okay, Wednesdays you eat a lighter meal than you might on Tuesdays or Thursdays, which might mean you eat a heavier lunch.
• 11:22
  SPEAKER_00: So it's assessing what your diet need is in a smart way to take control of your health.
• 11:28
  SPEAKER_00: So this might be you track your eating, you can spot patterns and be able to identify the nutrition and see where you might be overdoing something like sugar or unhealthy fats.
• 11:42
  SPEAKER_00: And those can be in places that you don't even think you're having them happen.
• 11:46
  SPEAKER_00: And so that's where tracking it can help you.
• 11:48
  SPEAKER_00: It also can help you balance your meals that include enough protein, fibers, vitamins, minerals, so that your body and your mind are both being fueled.
• 11:58
  SPEAKER_00: And so it's keeping your eye on what your eating habits are and revealing those in certain food choices.
• 12:04
  SPEAKER_00: So whether are you doing it because you're hungry, or do you are you doing it because you're stressed?
• 12:09
  SPEAKER_00: Are you eating because it's convenient and you're at a lunch meeting in the meals provided, even though you may not be hungry?
• 12:15
  SPEAKER_00: And so it's figuring out how those health decisions work and comparing what your intake might be to what nutrition guidelines are so that you can have a clear picture of where you're tracking and why you're tracking, so that you can improve that and make it easier to set some realistic goals that you're sticking with.
• 12:37
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, your nutrition and your health are shaped by a mix of different factors.
• 12:41
  SPEAKER_01: So what you eat, how active you are, your metabolism, your gut microbiome, and there are other physiological measures too.
• 12:48
  SPEAKER_01: And thanks to technology, we can now analyze all this information together to create a more personalized nutrition um plan or more personalized nutrition advice that's tailored just for you.
• 12:59
  SPEAKER_01: So we've got different systems available to us that help track your meals, your activity, your health markers over time.
• 13:05
  SPEAKER_01: And these can help you make smarter choices that boost energy, prevent disease, and also improve your overall overall well-being.
• 13:12
  SPEAKER_01: And one of these, um, one of these tools doesn't actually require any technology, and this is just reading a nutrition facts label.
• 13:21
  SPEAKER_01: So this is on the food for the most part that you eat.
• 13:24
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and food labels are used to help us to make healthier choices.
• 13:29
  SPEAKER_01: So if you're at the grocery store, or maybe you're picking up something from a gas station, whatever it may be, um those those tools are there to help you make a healthy decision.
• 13:40
  SPEAKER_01: But the reality is most people don't fully use them, or maybe they don't understand them or how to use them.
• 13:46
  SPEAKER_01: So the nutrition information is available on almost all packaged foods.
• 13:50
  SPEAKER_01: It can be pretty complex and not necessarily the easiest to interpret, which means that people may overlook them or they don't necessarily use them to guide their purchases.
• 14:00
  SPEAKER_01: People started wanting clearer information on what was in their food, so a push for standardized labels picked up, which led to the Nutrition Labeling and Education Act in 1990.
• 14:10
  SPEAKER_01: And this introduced what we now know as the Nutrition Facts Label.
• 14:14
  SPEAKER_01: This helped shoppers make smarter and healthier choices.
• 14:18
  SPEAKER_01: Now, all of your packaged foods must have labels, while raw foods can use optional little shelf signs, brochures, um, or tags.
• 14:27
  SPEAKER_01: The first labels appeared around 94, which included serving size, calories, fat, protein, carbs, cholesterol, sodium, and a couple of vitamins and minerals.
• 14:36
  SPEAKER_01: But these are all based on a 2,000 calorie diet to show the percentage daily value.
• 14:40
  SPEAKER_01: Now we know that not everybody follows a 2,000 calorie diet, nor should they.
• 14:45
  SPEAKER_01: So it is important to make sure that you know what your personalized caloric intake is.
• 14:50
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and we can kind of talk about where you can find that information out.
• 14:54
  SPEAKER_01: But just know that the information that's on the label is based on a 2,000 calorie-a-day diet.
• 15:00
  SPEAKER_01: So over time, the experts that created these labels realized that they could be even better.
• 15:05
  SPEAKER_01: So they made some improvements and they included added sugars and they put in vitamin D and potassium instead of vitamins A and C.
• 15:13
  SPEAKER_01: They updated the serving sizes to match what people actually eat.
• 15:19
  SPEAKER_01: And these changes were finalized by the FDA in 2016 to make these labels easier to read and more helpful for consumers that were trying to make healthy choices.
• 15:31
  SPEAKER_00: And it's really, if you think about when you're it depends on how your stores are shut up, but a lot of times these labels are gonna be on your foods that are in your aisles.
• 15:40
  SPEAKER_00: You're gonna have these labels on what's between the produce and the milk, usually.
• 15:47
  SPEAKER_00: And so it's just being aware and not being afraid or intimidated at looking at it.
• 15:53
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, some of some labels have so many different ingredients that it might look a little intimidating, but it's just knowing what you're making choices on.
• 16:05
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and then lastly, we're gonna we're gonna talk about developing some skills to assess your personal needs.
• 16:10
  SPEAKER_01: So going back to that point that not everybody needs to consume a 2,000 calorie-a-day diet.
• 16:16
  SPEAKER_01: Some people may need more and some people may need less.
• 16:19
  SPEAKER_01: So, meal prepping um or preparing your meals ahead of time can help your help you with your nutrition um through supporting balanced eating.
• 16:29
  SPEAKER_01: When you have time to plan ahead, you're more likely to include a variety of fruits, vegetables, whole cranes, lean proteins, which can ensure that your body gets the nutrients that it that it needs.
• 16:39
  SPEAKER_01: So if you plan your meals um ahead of time, you can you can sit down and think about okay, I need to make sure that I have all five of my food groups in there.
• 16:48
  SPEAKER_01: If I don't have something, I've got time to go to the grocery store and get it and have time to prepare it.
• 16:54
  SPEAKER_01: So I'm not scrambling at the last minute.
• 16:57
  SPEAKER_01: It also helps you to control your portions.
• 16:59
  SPEAKER_01: So there are some um, you know, some specialized little containers that you can get that that have the portions already um prepared for you.
• 17:08
  SPEAKER_01: So all you gotta do is just fill it up, but you don't even have to have something fancy like that.
• 17:13
  SPEAKER_01: Like you can you can just measure out your foods and the amount that you're putting into your containers or um the amount that you're preparing to eat at each meal, so that way it can help you prevent from overeating.
• 17:26
  SPEAKER_01: And this in turn will support healthy weight management.
• 17:30
  SPEAKER_01: Um what about what about these processed foods?
• 17:34
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, how does how does meal prepping fall into reducing our reliance on those?
• 17:39
  SPEAKER_00: Well, meal prepping, at least like for me, meal prepping helps us to have some maybe freezer ready meals that we've prepared.
• 17:48
  SPEAKER_00: And so that processing, it's not gonna have the higher sodium or the higher sugar content that you're trying to maybe avoid because a lot of times ready-to-eat foods, though they may be good in taste and flavor, they may not be nutritious-rich meals.
• 18:07
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and so it can help us not go through the fast food line or snack on something that's a higher sugar because we've made sure that we have the fruit or other less nutritious, like the produced food, uh packaged foods.
• 18:22
  SPEAKER_00: But one way we do it in our house is we make sure we have fruit available to snack on.
• 18:27
  SPEAKER_00: And so you're picking that up rather than a bag of chips.
• 18:30
  SPEAKER_00: The other way to reduce some reliance on processed foods is to just not buy it.
• 18:36
  SPEAKER_00: If you don't buy it, you don't have it available.
• 18:40
  SPEAKER_00: And so that is one way that really helps.
• 18:43
  SPEAKER_00: And then when you're talking about supporting that balanced eating by planning ahead, you have to, when you're doing this though, remember that planning ahead does take some time.
• 18:56
  SPEAKER_00: And if it's something you've never really done before, don't try to jump in and do it all at once.
• 19:03
  SPEAKER_00: Choose maybe I'm gonna figure out my lunches this week and don't change your breakfast or dinners, or we're gonna try a dinner, and so it's figuring out that, or it's excuse me, it's making dinner and making enough to have seconds.
• 19:21
  SPEAKER_00: But the key to that is put your seconds away before you sit down to eat.
• 19:29
  SPEAKER_00: That way you've served your portion, you've you've gone ahead and made your portion in your pre-package of I'm eating this for lunch tomorrow, and then you don't go back and go, oh, I have more pasta, I'm gonna go eat it.
• 19:42
  SPEAKER_00: Well, then making the double serving doesn't help you anymore.
• 19:46
  SPEAKER_00: And so just being aware of it and knowing that it's okay for it to be hard at first.
• 19:52
  SPEAKER_00: It's also promoting some consistency.
• 19:54
  SPEAKER_00: So with meal plans and prepping, you are more likely to stick to healthy patterns that are day-to-day.
• 20:01
  SPEAKER_00: It's gonna help save you time, it's gonna help with mental energy because preparing ahead is gonna remove some of that stress of a last-minute choice or making it easier to focus on nutritionally dense meals over convenience foods.
• 20:15
  SPEAKER_00: Like for me, I really love having a menu.
• 20:18
  SPEAKER_00: And part of that is because it can get to Wednesday and I don't have to decide what I'm gonna eat.
• 20:24
  SPEAKER_00: It's whoop, it's taco salad tonight because that's either what's on the menu or it's what's already been prepared.
• 20:31
  SPEAKER_00: And so, really looking at how can you promote some consistency in your life and create some habits to giving you that healthy eating is really, really important.
• 20:43
  SPEAKER_01: So, so our our recap for today, if you want to run that through, I love I love the topics that we we went over.
• 20:49
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so if you want to give us our objectives one more time and then we'll finish up with our call to action.
• 20:55
  SPEAKER_00: So, our we really hope that you walked away with some kind of understanding of what the fundamental nutrition is, of knowing what those macros and micros are that fuel your body to support your growth and your health, and get that foundation to help you with smarter choices every day.
• 21:12
  SPEAKER_00: It's also we hope that you walked away with what your personal nutrition needs.
• 21:17
  SPEAKER_00: So learn how to check that, how to read a label, how to track your portions, support what your caps might look like, connecting with what this might be on your age, your activity is important.
• 21:29
  SPEAKER_00: So if your activity changes week to week or from time to time or season to season, then your nutrition might need to as well.
• 21:37
  SPEAKER_00: Looking at what your goals are and knowing that one thing does not fit all.
• 21:41
  SPEAKER_00: Like in our household, I prefer like, okay, I have a measurement of how much my food might be.
• 21:48
  SPEAKER_00: My husband likes to measure it down to the macro.
• 21:51
  SPEAKER_00: So, like learning what works for you.
• 21:54
  SPEAKER_00: It also is making um what your choices are gonna be.
• 21:58
  SPEAKER_00: So turn to what you know in everyday habits and plan based on your meals, your prepping snacks, tweaking recipes to boost nutrition, and taking small steps to build that confidence and help you stay engaged in your health and over time.
• 22:14
  SPEAKER_00: Like when you tweak recipes, I made a recipe the other week that takes the ozo pasta chicken broth, and then it had vegetables and it had meat in it.
• 22:25
  SPEAKER_00: Well, I made it one time and I didn't feel like it had enough vegetables at all, and so I made it again, and I doubled the amount of spinach I put in it, doubled the amount of tomatoes, and so I made it have more of that nutrition context from vegetables, and that's just how you can tweak it.
• 22:46
  SPEAKER_00: I also, instead of using chicken broth the first time, used bone broth that one of my cousins had made, and the richness that it added to it because it was a homemade bone broth was so incredible.
• 22:58
  SPEAKER_00: And so it's tweaking recipes to what works for you or what works in what you like to eat, but finding the way to boost that nutrition the best.
• 23:08
  SPEAKER_00: So, Ashley, what would you call our listeners to do in their understanding of their nutrition?
• 23:15
  SPEAKER_01: So, I would encourage you to use the tools that are available to you, like the nutrition facts label to make choices that really help you meet your best seller.
• 23:24
  SPEAKER_00: So, thank you guys so much for joining us today, and I hope that this episode really helps you look at that connection to yourself and how you can enhance your daily life through what your nutrition looks like on a daily basis.
• 23:44
  SPEAKER_00: That brings us to the end of this episode of Stacked Intent.
• 23:48
  SPEAKER_00: If you love this episode as much as I did, head on over and rate and subscribe so you will never miss an episode.
• 23:56
  SPEAKER_00: New episodes are gonna be dropped on Thursdays.
• 23:59
  SPEAKER_00: Until then, this is Becca, and don't forget, enrich your life by being intentional.
• 24:07
  SPEAKER_00: This podcast was created, produced, and recorded and edited by Staffed Integrity.