The Intentional Table

Nicole Cruz, MS, RDN
  • 5.0 (9)
  • Parenting

Feeding kids isn’t just about what’s on the plate - it’s about raising them to feel confident, capable, and at peace with food and their bodies. The Intentional Table Podcast is here to help you break the cycles of guilt, shame,  and mealtime stress so you can raise kids who eat well and feel good about it. Hosted by Nicole Cruz, a registered dietitian and mom of three who has coached thousands of parents, this podcast gives you the tools, structure, and mindset shifts to create a positive, empowered eating environment at home. With guidance, compassion, and strategies that really work, you’ll feel more confident and less stressed while supporting your kids through 'picky' eating, 'overeating', struggles with sweets, and everything in between.

  1. 2d ago

    It's Not the Sugar, It's the Shame with Crystal Haitsma

    We think our reactions to how our kids eat are about the food. The sugar, the snacking, the fourth piece of pizza that makes us snap... "That's enough."  But it's rarely (if ever) truly about the food. Crystal Haitsma is a life coach whose entire practice centers on shame, and how shame is basically at the root of all of our reactions. As a parenting coach, she kept noticing that parents already knew how they wanted to respond. That wasn't the problem. It was that they often couldn't do it.  There's a trigger that fires before we can even think. In this conversation, we get into what that looks like around food and parenting, and what our reactions are really signalling. We can have all the logical information, but it doesn't mean that's what we'll necessarily rely on. In this episode, we talk about: The difference between guilt and shame, and why Crystal doesn't even know if guilt is really a thingWhy staying calm on the outside isn't enough, and what your kids pick up on even when you don't say a wordWhat's actually happening in the moment your kid's eating triggers youHow to hold a boundary around food from a grounded place instead of a reactive oneWhy the work isn't about controlling your kid's eating, it's about what comes up in youIf you've ever known exactly how you wanted to respond around food and found yourself reacting anyway, this episode is for you. RESOURCES MENTIONED: ✅ Podcast: The Art of Shame Free Living ✅ Instagram: @its.crystal.Noelle Want to connect? Send us a text! CONNECT with Nicole: FREE Training: Raise a Balanced Eater AND Protect Their Relationship With Food - Instagram: @nicolecruzRD SUBSCRIBE & REVIEW: If you loved this episode, it would mean so much for you to follow, subscribe, share, or leave a review. Your support helps us reach more conscious and loving parents who need these insight! Thank you for tuning in and see you next week!

  2. Sep 4

    Oreogate Isn't About the Oreos

    We all have reasons for the foods we choose for our kids. Maybe you'd rather they weren't eating Oreos every day, or don't want to buy Doritos. But then they start kindergarten, or go to a birthday party, or come home from a friend's house asking for the exact thing you don't keep around. And suddenly you're not sure exactly what to do. That's at the heart of Oreogate, the viral story of a mom asking the other parents in her kid's class to stop packing Oreos. If you've been anywhere near social media, you've probably heard something about it. It's easy to have an opinion about the mom, but also... what do you actually do when your kid wants the foods you didn't choose, in a world you can't fully control? In this episode, we talk about: → Why trying to control the foods around your kid tends to backfire, even when it works → The two extremes parents swing to, permissiveness and holding a hard line, and what each one does → Why "just teach them to walk past it" sounds empowering but sends a different message with food than something like alcohol → How restriction can turn a food into the forbidden fruit, and the consequences that follow → What it looks like to hold boundaries and also protect your child's relationship with food in these situations → How your kid's reaction tells you exactly how big a deal to make of it We don't live in a bubble, and if you've ever wondered how to deal with food you don't fully have control over, listen in! Want to connect? Send us a text! CONNECT with Nicole: FREE Training: Raise a Balanced Eater AND Protect Their Relationship With Food - Instagram: @nicolecruzRD SUBSCRIBE & REVIEW: If you loved this episode, it would mean so much for you to follow, subscribe, share, or leave a review. Your support helps us reach more conscious and loving parents who need these insight! Thank you for tuning in and see you next week!

  3. Aug 27

    When Your Kid Asks If a Food Is Healthy

    The other day my son asked me, "Mom, is my smoothie healthy?" And it would be so easy to just answer: Yes. No. Or, well, kind of, but it has a lot of sugar. But instead, I didn't answer him directly, because there isn't really a clean, absolute answer to that. Food is far more nuanced than yes or no, and that's also not how I want my child to think about food. So in this episode, I walk you through the actual conversation I had with him, and why asking a few questions did so much more to help him think about "healthy" or "unhealthy" and food in general. In this episode, I'm covering: → The real conversation I had with my son, question by question, that you can use with your kids → Why answering "yes" or "no" isn't accurate or helpful → How we can use this approach whether it's about a smoothie, cookie, or any food → How to talk to our kids about the different jobs that food does → What to do instead when your kid asks you a food question you don't have a clean answer to If you've ever frozen, unsure of what to say when your kid asks a question about food... or you're waiting for it to happen and want to be prepared, this episode is for you. Listen in! ✅ More on food neutrality - Episode 4, "All Food Is Not Equal" ✅ Related - Episode 42, "Unhealthy" Isn't a Fact (It's a Judgment) Want to connect? Send us a text! CONNECT with Nicole: FREE Training: Raise a Balanced Eater AND Protect Their Relationship With Food - Instagram: @nicolecruzRD SUBSCRIBE & REVIEW: If you loved this episode, it would mean so much for you to follow, subscribe, share, or leave a review. Your support helps us reach more conscious and loving parents who need these insight! Thank you for tuning in and see you next week!

  4. Aug 13

    "Unhealthy" Isn't a Fact (It's a Judgment)

    Last week, as we were gearing up for back to school, I made a post asking parents not to label foods as junk, bad, or unhealthy. And people got fired up about it. Way more than I expected. The comments kept coming back to the same idea: that "unhealthy" isn't a judgment, it's just the truth. That some foods are simply bad, and we should be teaching our kids that. I'm not sharing this to talk about the pushback I got. I'm sharing because those comments show how deeply we hold these beliefs, and how rarely we stop to ask whether they're actually true, or whether they've just become ingrained in the way we approach food.  Not to mention, do we ever look at whether these ideas about food are actually helpful? In this episode, I'm covering: → Why no single food is simply "healthy" or "unhealthy" → The comment from a mom of a child with ARFID → What actually happens to kids down the road when we ban and label foods (including a story from a dad who lived it) → Why the harm isn't just about the food, but about what kids come to believe about themselves → How to make a more informed choice about food talk in your home, wherever you are and however old your kids are If you still struggle with making food sound neutral, or wonder if you really should be teaching your child more about what's "healthy" or "unhealthy", listen in! ✅ More on food neutrality - Episode 4, "All Food Is Not Equal"  Want to connect? Send us a text! CONNECT with Nicole: FREE Training: Raise a Balanced Eater AND Protect Their Relationship With Food - Instagram: @nicolecruzRD SUBSCRIBE & REVIEW: If you loved this episode, it would mean so much for you to follow, subscribe, share, or leave a review. Your support helps us reach more conscious and loving parents who need these insight! Thank you for tuning in and see you next week!

  5. Jul 24

    How Do I Change My Kid's Food for a Medical Reasons... Without Creating Stress or Anxiety?

    We all want to take care of our kids' bodies. So when there's a real medical reason to change how they eat, whether that's adding something in or cutting something out, we want to do it to support their health and to help them feel good. And at the same time, we don't want food to feel more stressful. We don't want to put pressure on them, make them anxious, or create a whole new issue around eating. So we end up bouncing between two paths, either making the change happen no matter what, or tiptoeing around it and doing nothing. But it doesn't have to be one or the other. We can help our kids make changes to what they're eating for specific medical concerns, while still protecting their relationship with food. In this episode, I talk about: → Why changing food for a medical issue is different than doing it to "be healthy" → How to be proactive and shift what you're providing so you don't make it a "thing" for your child → The difference between adding foods in and taking foods out, and where to start → Specific tips for dealing with constipation, that are also applicable to other conditions → How to talk to your kid directly when you need to, in a way that's concrete instead of scary If you're navigating a medical need, and feel like you need to make some dietary changes but aren't quite sure how, listen in! ✅ Training: How to Talk to Your Child About Nutrition Without Guilt or Shame — $27, includes video + PDF, broken down by age group from 2 through the teen years Want to connect? Send us a text! CONNECT with Nicole: FREE Training: Raise a Balanced Eater AND Protect Their Relationship With Food - Instagram: @nicolecruzRD SUBSCRIBE & REVIEW: If you loved this episode, it would mean so much for you to follow, subscribe, share, or leave a review. Your support helps us reach more conscious and loving parents who need these insight! Thank you for tuning in and see you next week!

  6. Jul 16

    The Problem With the "No Thank You Bite"

    We all want our kids to try new foods. I mean, let's be real. It's soooo frustrating when they say "I don't like it" when they've never even tried it. So a "no thank you bite" seems like the perfect solution: You don't have to eat it, but you have to try it. Just one bite, and then you can say no thank you. It's low-stakes, it comes from the best intentions, and they might even like it. So why not do a "no thank you bite"? I got this question twice from clients in the same week, so I know you might be wondering about it too. In this episode, I break down what the no thank you bite actually does at the table, what the research says about pressure and kids' eating, and why the concept itself isn't the problem. In this episode, we talk about: What the no thank you bite is (and why so many well-meaning parents use it)The "finish your soup" study, and what it tells us about pressure at the tableThe real difference between a rule and an invitationThree paths forward depending on what's happening at your table right nowExactly what to do if you've been enforcing the bite and want to change the rulesIf you've ever sat at the table wondering whether making your kid take that one bite is helping or hurting, this episode will give you a clear answer and a next step you can use tonight. ✅ Research: "Finish your soup": Counterproductive effects of pressuring children to eat on intake and affect (Galloway et al., 2006, Appetite) Want to connect? Send us a text! CONNECT with Nicole: FREE Training: Raise a Balanced Eater AND Protect Their Relationship With Food - Instagram: @nicolecruzRD SUBSCRIBE & REVIEW: If you loved this episode, it would mean so much for you to follow, subscribe, share, or leave a review. Your support helps us reach more conscious and loving parents who need these insight! Thank you for tuning in and see you next week!

  7. Jul 9

    What I Actually Fed My Kids on Vacation (and how you can do it too)

    Navigating food during the summer can feel like a whole lot of stress. Vacations, eating out, swim parties, sweets galore, lack of structure... I get it! I just got back from a two-week baseball trip with my family - managing tons of restaurants, games ending at odd times, italian ice at by the pool. It's a lot! We had an eight hour drive to kick off the trip followed by four flights and two hotels in between.  In this episode, we talk about: How to help your kid eat in a balanced way even when eating out all the timeWhat to keep in your hotel room at the bare minimum (and the hotel tip I wish someone had told me sooner)How to think about your role at restaurants - and what to let them order or notMeal and snack ideas for on the go (especially when it's long periods)How to have a rhythm and hold boundaries around things like ice cream and sodaWhat I packed that sent people into a frenzy on Instagram and what actually ended up happeningIf you're in the middle of summer and wondering how to navigate the lack of structure and countless sweets, or if you're anticipating your next week away - listen in! Want to connect? Send us a text! CONNECT with Nicole: FREE Training: Raise a Balanced Eater AND Protect Their Relationship With Food - Instagram: @nicolecruzRD SUBSCRIBE & REVIEW: If you loved this episode, it would mean so much for you to follow, subscribe, share, or leave a review. Your support helps us reach more conscious and loving parents who need these insight! Thank you for tuning in and see you next week!

  8. Jun 11

    The Fastest Way to Make Your Kid Not Eat

    If you know, you know... The more we remind, encourage, and gently push our kids to do something, the less they want to do it. Even when they already know. Even when we're right. My daughter said it to me out loud last week. My husband asked her to clean her room before family came over, and she looked at him and said, "Ugh! know. And when you say that, it just makes me not want to do it even more." She wasn't being difficult. She was telling the truth. And it's the exact thing that happens with food all the time. Except it's usually unspoken. In this episode, I'm sharing a few things I've been sitting with lately, including a peek at what I've been building behind the scenes and two real moments from my family that might shift how you think about food with your kids. In this episode, we talk about: Why reminding, encouraging, and pushing kids to eat creates more resistance, not lessWhat my daughter said out loud that most kids only feel quietlyHow my daughter tried tomatoes for the first time and then asked for them again 🙌Why my son now puts lettuce on his burgers at home, and how a Big Mac made that happenWhat the research says about kids who find pleasure in food versus kids focused on nutrition rulesWhether you have a "picky" eater, a kiddo you're worried eats too much, one who's obsessed with sweets, or all of the above - this episode's for you! ✨ DM me 'BALANCED' on Instagram and I'll send you the link to my free training! Want to connect? Send us a text! CONNECT with Nicole: FREE Training: Raise a Balanced Eater AND Protect Their Relationship With Food - Instagram: @nicolecruzRD SUBSCRIBE & REVIEW: If you loved this episode, it would mean so much for you to follow, subscribe, share, or leave a review. Your support helps us reach more conscious and loving parents who need these insight! Thank you for tuning in and see you next week!

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About

Feeding kids isn’t just about what’s on the plate - it’s about raising them to feel confident, capable, and at peace with food and their bodies. The Intentional Table Podcast is here to help you break the cycles of guilt, shame,  and mealtime stress so you can raise kids who eat well and feel good about it. Hosted by Nicole Cruz, a registered dietitian and mom of three who has coached thousands of parents, this podcast gives you the tools, structure, and mindset shifts to create a positive, empowered eating environment at home. With guidance, compassion, and strategies that really work, you’ll feel more confident and less stressed while supporting your kids through 'picky' eating, 'overeating', struggles with sweets, and everything in between.

Information

  • Creator
    Nicole Cruz, MS, RDN
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    46
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2026 The Intentional Table
  • Show Website
    The Intentional Table

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