Nicole Cruz RD

Nicole Cruz RD Diet-free family nutrition. Helping you & your child have a healthy relationship with food đŸ„‘đŸ§đŸ’

Do you worry your child doesn’t eat balanced meals or snacks?⁠⁠Maybe they only want the carb or fruit at some meals. Or ...
03/13/2026

Do you worry your child doesn’t eat balanced meals or snacks?⁠
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Maybe they only want the carb or fruit at some meals. Or maybe it’s mac n cheese or chicken nuggets but they won’t touch the fruits or veggies.⁠
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First, I want you to know that’s normal. I hear it from my clients & see it with my kids often.⁠
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Many meals only consist of bread & butter. Or they may go through a thing of berries or a cantaloupe and not touch anything else.⁠
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Often it feels concerning as parents because we think they need to eat a balanced meal. Or we might think, all they’ve eaten all day is carbs. And sometimes that does happen. Other times, we’re concerned about it & not noticing the other foods they are consuming.⁠
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Either way, when kids are offered a variety of foods to choose from, & encouraged to listen to internal cues, they tend to balance out their intake over multiple days.⁠
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If you’re concerned about your child’s intake take a look at their overall consumption over the course of a week, to see if it surprises you. Of course, if you’re interfering & demanding bites or not allowing them to choose, or if you’re not offering a variety, your results will be skewed.⁠
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Even when looking over a week, I caution you on a couple things. If you had been requiring bites or limiting foods, your child will likely react to your previous controls & not eat a balanced diet. They will probably eat MORE of the foods you were LIMITING & LESS of the ones you were REQUIRING.⁠
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And if your child doesn’t balance out their intake with a variety of food groups, even over the course of the week, it doesn’t automatically mean you need to step in & interfere. Kids go through phases where they’re drawn toward certain nutrients or more or less food. And some are very selective by nature and they will need lots of exposure to new foods, time, & patience before they’re ready to branch out.⁠
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This process takes trust & patience on your part too. Of course, if you have strong concerns, seek out the support of your pediatrician or a registered dietitian.⁠

For more on how to feed your child in a balanced way, grab my free guide: 5 Keys to Raise an Intuitive Eater.

Comment KEYS to download today đŸ©”

Just a reminder: Fed is Best. ⁠⁠It’s easy to get caught up in buying the ‘right’ products, making sure your kid isn’t ge...
03/11/2026

Just a reminder: Fed is Best. ⁠
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It’s easy to get caught up in buying the ‘right’ products, making sure your kid isn’t getting ‘too much’ sugar or ‘junk’, or that they’re eating their vegetables. ⁠
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But what’s really important is that they’re getting enough food. And that might look entirely different at different times or days. Sometimes we need convenience, sometimes we have a lot of time to cook from scratch, sometimes we need to just get out the door and take something to go. ⁠
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There can be so much pressure to get it all ‘right’. But remember, that feeding your child (and yourself) is enough.

03/11/2026

Let’s keep dreaming and maybe we can make it come true together đŸ©”

Kids thrive with structure and boundaries. It supports them in eating a variety, listening to their body, and having an ...
03/09/2026

Kids thrive with structure and boundaries.

It supports them in eating a variety, listening to their body, and having an overall healthy relationship with food.

It helps them feel safe and more comfortable, instead of overwhelmed with food.

But what they don’t need is pressure or restriction.

So we create overarching boundaries and then give autonomy within them.

For exactly how to do this, grab my free guide.

Comment KEYS and I’ll send you the link to download it đŸ©”

✹And share this with another parent who might also find it helpful

The way we think about food and view our bodies is deeply shaped by our environment.⁠⁠It’s what’s role-modeled for us an...
03/06/2026

The way we think about food and view our bodies is deeply shaped by our environment.⁠
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It’s what’s role-modeled for us and spoken aloud.⁠
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Growing up, I absorbed so much about food and bodies by watching the women in my life.⁠
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No one told me I had to eat differently or lose weight. But the way women spoke about their own bodies and interacted with food taught me something powerful: I was supposed to control my body.⁠
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I learned
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👉 You need to control your body⁠
👉 Women should be small⁠
👉 When you don’t like your body, go on a diet⁠
👉 ‘Big’ legs are not desirable⁠
👉 Weighing and measuring food is normal⁠
👉 Weighing and measuring your body is normal⁠
👉 Calories are bad⁠
👉 You have to learn how to eat to control your body⁠
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It’s not easy living in a culture that constantly tells us how we’re ‘supposed to’ look. On top of that, we’re bombarded with fear around weight and health.⁠
So if you feel the need to change your body or control your food, you’re completely normal.⁠
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You are not alone, and there’s absolutely no shame.⁠
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But it’s also worth reflecting on what our kids are absorbing from us
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What messages are we passing down, generation after generation?⁠
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Are we teaching them that food is something to control, bodies should be smaller, and self-worth is tied to appearance?⁠
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Or are we teaching them to trust their bodies, listen to their hunger, and feel confident in who they are?⁠
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If you’re ready to break the cycle and raise your child without food and body shame, grab my free guide: 5 Keys to Raise an Intuitive Eater.⁠
⁠
Comment below or DM me KEYS to download it!

03/05/2026

I’ve been seeing so many reels about clapping for moms who are choosing ‘discipline’ - not eating the Mac n cheese, not grabbing snacks from the pantry, not eating their kid’s leftovers.

And honestly, if that’s working for you, you do you!

But I also really want to celebrate the discipline it takes to eat f*ing ‘normal’ food, not beat yourself up, and move on with your day in this diet culture.

To celebrate moms working on healing their own relationships with food and wanting better for their kids.

I want you to know that you are strong and you are worthy and to keep going ❀

Let’s talk about what’s most important when it comes to feeding our kids
⁠We often think it’s about the perfect balanced...
03/04/2026

Let’s talk about what’s most important when it comes to feeding our kids
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We often think it’s about the perfect balanced diet, buying all the ‘right’ products, ‘healthy’ snacks and not too much sugar. But what’s far more important is how they think and feel about food and eating.⁠
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Not only do we just want our kids to feel good and not have stress or shame around food, but when they feel better, they’re also more likely to eat a variety, listen to their body cues, and be able to stop when they’ve had enough
 even with sweets and other ‘junk’.⁠
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When we focus more on their relationship with food, we also help them eat in a more balanced way.⁠
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So if I wanted to help my kid have a healthy relationship with food, this is where I would start!⁠
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And if you want to go deeper, download my free guide: 5 Keys to Raise an Intuitive Eater.⁠
⁠
Comment KEYS below and I'll send it over đŸ©·

03/04/2026

I don’t ever want to suggest that you’re under a constant microscope or going to ‘screw your child up’ based on one action or something they overhear.

And at the same time, our kids are so receptive, and they’re constantly absorbing what we say and do - including how we treat our bodies.

So this is an invitation to consider what your child might be noticing about the way you interact with your body


the words you use to describe it
the positive or negative energy,
whether you eat freely or restricted,
how you talk about food,
if you weigh yourself,
how you look at yourself in the mirror,
the sarcastic comments about your size or the food you shouldn’t be eating


And maybe ask yourself - what do you hope for your child’s relationship with food and their body? And how can you start to model that? ♄

When our kids learn these things now, we’re seeing them up to have a healthy relationship with food for life đŸ©”
03/02/2026

When our kids learn these things now, we’re seeing them up to have a healthy relationship with food for life đŸ©”

✹Save this reminder for when you need it!⁠⁠Our job as parents is to provide guidance and support, to shepherd our childr...
02/27/2026

✹Save this reminder for when you need it!⁠
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Our job as parents is to provide guidance and support, to shepherd our children and help them learn and grow. ⁠
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We’re not here to control them or try to mold them into someone we believe they should be. ⁠
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Even, or especially, when it comes to food and eating.⁠
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Our children will have their own relationship with food and need the space to learn and explore.⁠
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They need the freedom to understand and respect their own bodies.⁠
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When we focus on rigid rules and the idea of eating the ‘right’ way, we risk creating anxiety, rebellion, body disconnect, and food-related guilt and shame.⁠
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As kids, they need the foundations for eating, not the ‘perfect’ diet. They need to learn to explore and enjoy food and learn how their body feels.⁠
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If you want your child to have a healthy relationship with food and their body, grab my free guide: 5 Keys to Raise an Intuitive Eater. ⁠
⁠
Comment here or DM me the word KEYS to download it!

02/27/2026

If you think being a “good mom” means never feeding your kids processed foods or ingredients you can’t pronounce 🙃 this probably isn’t the place for you!

I totally get that we’re all want the best for our kids and also believe we have full autonomy to choose what that likes like.

And we take a different approach around here. So if you want your kid to actually enjoy food, eat without guilt, and have broccoli or a cupcake and move on - Welcome!!

I think you’ll like it here đŸ©”

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