Mom Dishes It Out

A note to my readers:

By Laura Cipullo, RD, CDE on January 10, 2012

A note to my readers As I continue to share my stories, experiences and other “food for thought,” I am realizing that at times my entries extend beyond the experiences of my personal family. Each lesson is, however, always relevant to my family, since I am constantly applying what I learn toward raising my children. I see my blog as an opportunity for all moms, dads, and caregivers to unite, bond, and learn to become moderate in our [...]

Potty Training without M&M’s

By Laura Cipullo, RD, CDE on January 3, 2012

Many of you probably know that food shouldn’t be used as a reward. If you didn’t already know this, then, from the prospective of an RD, I am telling you now. As a mom, however, I also know that this is easier said than done. Food to a child can, after all, seem somewhat rewarding. Yet through my own experiences, I’ve slowly picked up on a few tricks on how to prevent food from becoming equated with success—and I think [...]

Mom, I don’t want to be fat.

By Laura Cipullo, RD, CDE on December 28, 2011

As I was walking home from Chelsea Piers last week, my 5-year-old son said, “Mom, I don’t want to be fat.” I thought about how to answer this. “Why do you say that?” I asked. “Were you talking about this at school last week or holiday camp?” He said no to the above, so I asked him what he thought it meant to be fat and how he thought someone could get that way. “You get fat from eating too [...]

Family Meals Bring Turkey to Bobby’s Plate

By Laura Cipullo, RD, CDE on December 21, 2011

Bobby reached another nutrition milestone this past Sunday dinner. My husband and I were eating turkey meatloaf with brussel sprouts and butternut squash. Bobby was insisting on his typical macaroni and cheese (whole wheat noodles with chopped spinach mixed in). I, of course was making the macaroni but it was not yet ready. I decided to offer Bobby the turkey meatloaf since he was hungry. I plated it with ketchup and he dipped right in. Phew. Bobby said it was [...]

37 Pounds Of Love

By Laura Cipullo, RD, CDE on December 14, 2011

This mom is not dishing on her kid’s food habits today. Instead, I am hoping to relieve moms of the new social mindset that pregnant women should sport a bump—and only a bump—during the most beautiful nine months of their lives. In recent years, pregnancy has become fashionable—an accessory to flaunt. With all the attention on celebrity pregnancies, of course, weight gain and weight loss post-delivery have surged into the spotlight. At times, it can seem like a competition between [...]

Guest Blog: Using Words, Not Food to Help Kids Communicate

By Laura Cipullo, RD, CDE on December 7, 2011

Helping Our Kids to Identify Their Feelings: Anonymous One of the things I appreciate most about Laura’s blog is the honesty she demonstrates in discussing the difficulties of applying her professional body of knowledge to real life situations that affect her children. As a psychotherapist, I can very much relate with that struggle. As parents, I find that it’s important to help our children to put their feelings into words and to understand and identify their feelings during any given [...]

The Pursuit of Happiness and Health

By Laura Cipullo, RD, CDE on November 30, 2011

This time of year is crazy for me, as I’m sure it is for many parents. There’s the holidays, both boys’ birthdays, volunteer work, Mom dinner nights (where all the classroom moms go to dinner), and of course, the never ending effort to feed our kids healthfully yet moderately through the holiday season. Herein, a glance at some of the recent accomplishments and challenges on the home front. Thanksgiving (without turkey) So I decided not to bring any food for [...]

Should You Buy That Organic Turkey?

By Laura Cipullo, RD, CDE on November 21, 2011

Organic Food: To Buy or Not To Buy On the quest to nourish our kids, the word “organic” has become a primary focus for many of us moms. Yet, despite all of the regulatory hype you read about in the papers and online, organic standards are far from universal. In fact, they can be downright confusing unless you aced high school biology or are familiar with foreign regulation policy, ultimately raising the question: When we dish out extra dough to [...]

Who are our children’s role models?

By Laura Cipullo, RD, CDE on November 16, 2011

Many of my clients, friends, and even the media magazines having been featuring certain celebs as scary skinny and or commenting on their recent weight loss. Everyone goes thru times and life changes that may cause one to use counterproductive “coping skills” such as restriction or binging. Most people have been touched by this is some shape or form. However, most celebs are not promoting their dieting. If you are in the media I do believe if you want to [...]

Guest Blog: Guidelines for Feeding Kids

By Laura Cipullo, RD, CDE on November 9, 2011

Dear Readers, I asked foodie, mother and blogger, Alissa Stoltz to share her food wisdom. Alissa has a great understanding of nutrition. She left the NYC corporate world few years ago to raise her two beautiful daughters in a simply wholesome and nutritious way. In addition to being a fabulous mother, Alissa has also been blogging recipes she uses to feed her family. Guest Blog by Alissa Stoltz, The Simply Wholesome Kitchen Being a food blogger can be a bit of [...]