Graze Savor Grow Nutrition & Wellness (2025)

24/04/2022

Welcome back to Sunday series with Samantha. Today, I want to talk about setting the bar lower when it comes to consistency (which, I know, is probably the complete opposite of what you’ve always heard).

👒 sure, consistency may be the 🔑 to creating habits but I’ve found that most people are trying to come out the gate running with 10 things they are trying to be consistent with at once. It becomes, I need to drink a gallon of water a day, have fruits/vegetable with every meal, exercise 5 days a week, journal every morning, stretch every night…..or else I won’t make it a habit and my health won’t improve.

👒 By stacking all this stuff on your plate at once, you’re setting yourself up for the very thing you’re trying to avoid.

👒 I propose setting the bar lower by focusing on one thing to be consistent with at a time. For instance, if you notice at the end of the day your gulping water because you never drink enough during the day….start here. Try to be consistent with drinking some water when you wake up in the morning, place your focus on this one task and build from there.

👒 Focusing on one thing you want to improve for your health at a time instead of ten, doesn’t make you unhealthy, it doesn’t mean you don’t care about your health, it means you’re being honest with yourself about what is realistic.

👒 As a reminder, most people don’t have it all together. Day in the life vlogs focused on health and wellness, aren’t even true depictions of every single day.

slow & enjoyable.

With love and compassion
- S

20/04/2022

I am a person who exists loudly by…
✨ upholding my boundaries
✨ showing myself and others respect
✨ speaking my beliefs and truths
✨ knowing I’m deserving of the things I want
✨ not confirming to what other people think I should be

Years ago, I was not those things. Years ago, I was so caught up in shrinking myself that I wasn’t able to exist loudly. As the portion sizes got smaller and as the rules got stricter, I became so disconnected from my own sunshine and individuality.

The thing is, when we you are in the thick of trying to shrink yourself it transcends into other areas of your life. Before you realize it, you’re doing nothing you enjoy, you don’t know what a boundary is, your relationship with yourself and others start to crumble.

I think one of the most special things about taking the approach I do with clients is watching how healing their relationship with food, movement and their bodies spills over into other areas of their lives, what starts out as wanting to change their relationship with food turns into existing louder than they thought they ever could.

I want everyone to exist loudly. 🤎☁️🤍

18/04/2022

Eating can be a nuisance.
🍳You work all week and that includes having some sort of flexible planning to keep yourself nourished. When your days off roll around you’re faced with the conundrum of wanting to rest and not have to deal with the chore of feeding yourself.

I get it. And I’m certainly not going to pretend that every time you need to eat it’s going to be pleasant.

But the fact of the matter is, you still need to eat regardless if it’s a day off from your usual work. Scroll through the tips I’ve complied and try implementing them one at a time to prevent overwhelm and burnout. Maybe pick one to focus on for a couple weeks and then move to the next.

If you’re currently struggling with overcoming roadblocks to eating consistently (whether during the work week or on days off). I have a few spots available for 1:1 virtual nutrition coaching!

I would love to support you if you are looking for guidance in navigating through trying to take perfectionism out of your relationship with food. The link is in my bio to apply for 1:1 virtual nutrition coaching. 🤎

10/04/2022

The Sunday series word today is imperfections.

You’re visiting a new place and are searching for a coffee shop that serves a satisfying cup of coffee and photo-worthy decor. You Google shops near by you, check Instagram to further your search. You decide on the one that your most drawn to.

You arrive and are swoon
- the cracks in the wooden tables that are “supposed” to be smooth and polished
- the upholstered chairs with coffee stains that are “supposed” to be free of any wear and tear
- the lighting fixtures with chipped paint that are “supposed” to be glossy and free of chips

You observe these imperfections for what they are, maybe even finding them a foundation of what makes the spot beautiful.

Imperfections are most times contextual. You can recognize flaws in inanimate objects via a neutral or positive lens, but flaws that are part of you are ridiculed, used to define your worth and attractiveness.

Imperfections don’t need to be contextual.

As you move into the new week, I invite you to try and reframe the way you’re meeting and speaking on your own imperfections one time over the next 7 days.

03/04/2022

Welcome back to my new Sunday series where I pick a word/words/phrase and write non-fully formed thoughts on it that will hopefully be helpful to people.

The word today is hose.

💭 when you bend the hose, making a kink in it, the pressure of the water flowing through that hose is building up inside the hose.

💭 When you release the kink in the hose the water pressure at the other end is going to shoot out with a lot more force than it would have, had the kink not been there.

💭 The kink in the hose is a form of mental food restriction or physical food restriction. The increased water pressure is your body being put into a perceived or actual state of starvation. The response of this is increased thoughts of food and increased desire to eat (otherwise known as hyperphagia).

💭 The kink being released, and the water pressure coming out the other end of the hose is your actual overeating experience or binge eating experience.

This is one of the many ways your body is constantly working to try and protect you. I think when you struggle with eating (no matter what form this is showing up for you), it’s helpful to think about situations in a more tangible way. In doing this, the thoughts like:
⚡️ ‘what’s wrong with me’
⚡️ ‘why can’t I just stop doing this’
⚡️ ‘I shouldn’t be doing this’

…become more manageable because you are able to observe them from a physiological stand point. If your struggling with this, I’m sending hugs. If you need someone to chat with, my DMs are always open.

29/03/2022

That it, that’s the Instagram post🎙

27/03/2022

A new Sunday series where a pick a word/words/phrase and write non-fully formed thoughts on it that may be helpful to people.

Todays words are: river banks

Think about eating experiences like rivers banks.
You are floating on a little raft down a river (this is the course of your life or day to day). Sometimes the river current is light and when this is the case it is accessible and easy for you you to hop off your raft onto the river bank and have a 10/10 eating experience.

A lot of other times the river current is rough and the speed the water is moving is too fast to hop off and fully enjoy yourself and your food. During these times, you do the best you can with what you got; a convenient meal, grab and go food items shoved in your bag as you rush out the door, take out, your kids screaming in the background, the dog begging for food. These may not be the most enjoyable 10/10 eating experiences and that’s OK, you still need to eat.

All eating is meaningful, not all eating is enjoyable.
🤎

23/03/2022

Moments of struggle or uncomfortably are….uncomfortable. It’s an easy slip to think bad days, weeks, months, or even years invalidate progress or past victories.

But what if we built our self compassion armor up so strong that we are able to say to ourselves “you know what, s**t sucks right now but how can I create space that allows me to focus back in on appreciating myself and all I have done? How can I amplify the small victories into large meanings?

A case of the Wednesdays, with love and compassion
-Samantha

22/03/2022

Calling all my all-or-nothing thinkers (again). We’ve covered the mental part of intuitive movement (if you missed yesterday's post, go check that one out before diving into this one), now it’s time to talk about the action portion of intuitive physical activity.

First and foremost, I don’t care how long you haven’t moved your body for; I can promise you it’s not too late to start if it's something you desire and have the accessibility to do. I've worked with all sorts of people who have been at different points in their intuitive physical activity /movement journeys, so the scenarios I've created in this post were inspired by conversations with my clients (aka, you're not alone).

Know no matter what type of movement you enjoy and are able to do, it’s worth doing and matters. Know that if the intentions behind the movement are rigid and if youre forcing yourself to do physical activity you hate, you’re not gaining all the benefits from it in the first place.
Know when I say intutive movement I don’t mean stop challenging yourself or stop having fitness-related goals. What I do mean is neatralizing all forms of movement, frequently checking in on the intention behind the movement, tuning into your bodys signals, motivators, and cues, getting curious about the types of movement you enjoy and why, and removing physical activity rules and rigidity that lead to guilt and shame.

I’ll say it again: The goal of movement is to have it be GIVING to you, not COSTING you.

If you resonated with this post like and save it for a gentle reminder when you need it!
If you are struggling with shifting your mindset around exercise to a more supportive one, send me a DM and lets chat.

21/03/2022

Calling all my all-or-nothing thinkers: let’s talk about intuitively moving your body. While the act of moving your body is physical, the why and ways you choose to move it are very much a mental process. Hence this post being part one of two, we got to dig into the mind before we dig into the physical.

If weight loss has historically been a core motivator for moving your body, you’ve likely developed some all-or-nothing thinking when it comes to movement. I know this all-or-nothing thinking can leave you with complete avoidance of physical activity. A glimpse of light in all this is that just as these thoughts were learned, they can be unlearned and replaced with more fluid thoughts.

You know how the saying goes, get your mind right…that holds true in this scenario.

To step into intuitive movement the first thing that I recommend is identifying and writing down what all-or-nothing thoughts are coming up for you with movement. Next, write down how these thoughts have supported you up until this point. Once these two steps are complete, I would go through and reframe each unsupportive all-or-nothing thought with factual statements. Lastly, I would start to think about the type of movement you’ve done in the past and what you enjoyed or didn’t enjoy about it. Piggybacking off this, start to think about what types of movement you’ve wanted to do but haven’t allowed yourself to.

The goal of movement is to have it be GIVING to you, not COSTING you.

Keep an eye out for part two tomorrow!

25/02/2022

Fridays are game days, you know the deal.

On a serious note, if you are someone who has been on diet after diet trying to get to the end rainbow to claim the pot of gold that’s promised to you with diet marketing and advertising, it’s very normal to have this sort of all or nothing thinking when I’m comes to food.

Many times that all or nothing thinking can lead to a complete avoidance of preparing, figuring out, and eating meals because the overwhelming pressure to do it “perfect” just becomes too much. While working through the trauma and baggage associated with this requires patience and help, it’s not impossible and it’s never too late to start.

These questions are some that you can ask yourself when trying to navigate eating experiences, especially if you are feeling that all or nothing thinking creep in. All of these questions are based on how you’re feeling and what’s realistic to you, building the foundation of interoceptive awareness & responsiveness (picking up on what you’re body needs and responding to it in a way that’s best for YOU).

How many of these questions can you work on in the week to come?

🍉I would love to support you if you are looking for guidance in navigating through trying to make eating realistic and free of all or nothing thinking. The link is in my bio to apply for 1:1 virtual nutrition coaching.

23/02/2022

I’ve been really working on recognizing joy and progress in the little moments of my life. I became in aunt in January to John William Breen Wholley II (JJ) and it’s been so special to experience the joy that a one month old little beb has given me.
I’ve had a lot of resistance to the amount of time I need to be on my phone to run a business and even moreso to the amount of content I need to be creating to market my business. I’ve found that almost of the time I’m looking at things I’m doing as content creation situations instead of just living and being present in the things I’m doing.
Hanging with JJ pulls me back into the present moment because I know there’s things he counts on me for that require my full attention. In a way, I think this is helping me become a better dietitian and entrepreneur.

Anyways, look for the little joys and progress today…they’ll always matter.
🤎

22/02/2022

You can be an over-achiever without needing to achieve weight loss. I do think it’s important to unpack where the desire for weight loss comes from and how it’s normal to want it, especially if you exist in a body that is constantly berated by fatphobia and weight stigma.

Think of never wanting to diet again but still having thoughts of weight loss as a road with road bumps. The road bumps don’t prevent you from driving down the road, you’re able to pass over them safely.

There are many nuances to intuitive eating, and navigating wanting to lose weight while knowing that, that being the driving force is not what’s best for you is one of them.
The process of working through this is different for everyone and truthfully you may never be able to get ‘but what if I lost weight’ thoughts out of your head, it’s normal to have them and the pressure to do so is omnipresent. But, building awareness to what these thoughts mean, their origin, why they come about, and creating thought and action pathways that are health promoting rather than harmful is achievable.

As always when speaking about these things, I would like to take a moment to acknowledge the many privileges I hold in the space. They will never be lost on me.

If you’re seeking support in navigating the nuances of intuitive eating, tap the link in my bio to apply for 1:1 coaching 💌

21/02/2022

How loud is your inner critic today?
As you feel those not so fun thoughts pop into your mind today, try pausing and directing your thoughts to a small victory you’ve had. Focus on your small victories, not the victories other people appear to be having.

18/02/2022

We love a helpful bingo 😎

If you feel trapped in the “perfect” eating box— where all of your thoughts & brain space are taken up by thinking about what you’re going to eat next, how to “make up” for eating something, what you “should” be eating, and calculating what you’re allowed to eat— and you want freedom from this, I am here for you!

Chelsea () and I created our nutrition coaching packages to help you let go of the perfectionism mindset with food, your body, nutrition, and your mind so you can experience enjoyment in all these areas. We would love to help you do this.

Doors to our nutrition coaching packages are OPEN 🥳

To apply to work with us, tap the link in my bio and select the 1:1 coaching option. Once you've filled out & submitted the short form, we will reach out to you to schedule a free discovery call. To apply to work with us, tap the link in my bio and select the 1:1 coaching option. Once you've filled out & submitted the short form, we will email to schedule a non-committal discovery call to see if our style of coaching is something that you can benefit from.

17/02/2022

The answer to all the above is always going to be no.
The factors that contribute to overall health are far more expansive than the nutrient density of a food itself. Economic stability, social & community context, neighborhood and environment, health care, and education are a few of the much more expansive players in the game health.

A few more thoughts on this:
- the mindset you have associated with the foods you like contribute to health. Whatever mindset that is will bring up certain behaviors around food. If your mindset is all or nothing thinking around certain foods you like, it’s more health promoting to address that.
- we can talk gentle nutrition but what good is telling someone to eat balanced meals if they don’t always have access to balanced meals. In these cases, foods that are accessible are what is healthy. In that same line of thinking, people with disabilities may have to rely on meals that are ready to eat or are hassle-free to prepare. These meals aren’t always portrayed as being health-promoting…but is it more harmful to make people who rely on these meals feel like they can’t achieve health? I think so.

My main points here being, no one has to choose between food and health because food can bring health in different ways to different people.

16/02/2022

If you consider yourself a perfectionist, know you don’t have to give up a part of yourself to embrace imperfect eating.

These are just a few of the ways that I've seen be helpful for my clients. Does this mean these things are applicable to every person who experiences all or nothing thinking when it comes to food? Absolutely not. If you try these things and they don't work for you, does that mean you are incapable of shedding some of that perfectionism when it comes to food? Absolutely not.

Sometimes, I may not have the solution for you. Sometimes, you’re going to need me to just listen, and that’s okay too. I can’t be a dietitian who preaches you know what's best for your body and then turns around and act like I’m going to have all the solutions for you all of the time, your humanity comes first.

I would love to support you if you are looking for guidance in navigating through trying to take perfectionism out of your relationship with food. The link is in my bio to apply for 1:1 virtual nutrition coaching.

15/02/2022

You may not realize it now but the thoughts and effort that go into feeding yourself use a lot of energy. If this is amplified by feeling like you should be preparing all your meals yourself, needing to know the exact amount of calories/macros in those meals, wanting control over the whole meal process, you’re putting yourself at risk of burnout.

It’s okay to start letting this control go little by little (in a way that feels the least scary as possible for you).

Allowing others to prepare meals for you gives you a little extra energy and space to do something else for yourself, you’re deserving of this.

You’re not falling behind or not on your A-game if you eat food not prepared by you. Think of it as a little rest break for you. We could all use a little rest break now and again. 🤎

Graze Savor Grow Nutrition & Wellness