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Fresh Focus Episode #100 It’s hard to believe it, but we’ve made it to our 100th episode! This milestone wouldn’t have been possible without our incredible Veterans and their family members who listen to our episodes and support Fresh Focus. As we look back, we are filled with gratitude and amazement at our episodes that have been full of insightful conversations and inspiring stories. To celebrate our 100th episode, we have invited a special guest to join us that you won’t want to miss. Listen to the Marion VA Health Care System Executive Director, Mr. Zach Sage, as he shares his love of working with Veterans and his history with the VA. He discusses how Marion, IL VA is committed to providing Veterans with safe, high-quality care they have earned and deserve. He shares his story of working his way up to becoming an Executive Director and how he has made personal lifestyle changes to focus on his own health and well-being, so he feels healthier, is able to be there for his family and do the job he needs to do to support our Veterans. He is looking forward to embracing technology and improving standard of care for staff to be able to serve Veterans to the best of his ability. Thank you to everyone who has been part of and supported the Fresh Focus Podcast. Your support means the world to us. Our journey doesn’t stop here though, stay tuned for future episodes.

For today’s rewind episode, lets take it all the way back to episode one. This episode was titled “Keeping it Simple,” and it was our kickoff episode into the healthy plate method. Anyone that has worked with knows that I am a big proponent of simplifying nutrition, removing the unnecessary complications and confusing misinformation, and getting back to basics. We know that if we build a good foundation based upon getting a consistent, balanced intake of real food, then everything else becomes so much easier. So let’s take this trip back in time and listen to Beth as she helps us to keep it simple.

The Fresh Focus Podcast offers Veterans, their families, and caregivers' credible nutritional advice from VA dietitians. On this episode listen in as Victoria discusses food security and insecurity.   Food insecurity in the Veteran population is an important issue that affects millions of Veterans, impacting many factors of their health and well-being. If you are facing food insecurity, grocery shopping may be extremely challenging.  Tune in to find out ways to eat healthfully with many great shelf stable options and find out tips that can help with shopping on a limited budget.  Your local Registered Dietitians are eager to answer any questions, assist with shopping lists, and help you reach your nutrition goals. Give us a call, connect us with your Veterans, and check out more episodes on the Fresh Focus Podcast!

Being in the home versus the clinic setting allows us to have a hands-on approach to see how the patient lives from day to day, what they have access to regarding food for meals, and what they have available to prepare meals.   Find out ways the Home-Based Primary Care Inter-disciplinary Team can assess if the Veteran has adequate equipment to prepare the food in the home or adequate fluids in the home for hydration.   The team members can assess the Veteran’s strengths, limitations, internal/external supports and service needs to optimize the Veteran’s functional status so they can remain in their home, as independently as possible, for as long as possible.

Home Based Primary Care (HBPC) at the VA is unique because each member of the team works closely together to provide Veterans with the very best care. Listen in to this episode to find out more of what Dietitians and Occupational Therapists do overall, and as part of the Home-Based Primary Care program.  HBPC dietitians visit Veterans in their homes so they can assess nutritional status and identify any nutrition needs to improve their overall health. Occupational therapy is a client centered healthcare profession that focuses on promoting health and well-being through engagement in everyday activities, which could mean things like taking care of yourself, managing household tasks, going to work or school, or being able to participate in your favorite hobbies.

Are you a Veteran or do you know a Veteran that has a hard time getting out of their home for their medical appointments? Listen in to learn about a VA program called Home Based Primary Care (HBPC).  This program is for Veterans that have complex and chronic disease(s) for which routine clinic-based care may not be effective. HBPC is commonly referred to as a primary care clinic on wheels because we come to your home for your primary care needs versus you coming into the clinic. HBPC uses an interdisciplinary approach to meet the Veteran’s needs.  The team’s focus is the Veteran and how they can help, encourage, and educate the Veteran to meet their own health goals and needs.

Tune into this episode of the Fresh Focus podcast featuring Renal Nutrition, hosted by advanced practice renal dietitians Morgan O’Hara and Annelle Tschida. This episode filters through the latest in kidney health and the risks of chronic kidney disease (CKD). Did you know that 1 in 7 adults in the U.S. have chronic kidney disease, yet a staggering 9 out of 10 don’t even know it? Early-stage kidney disease often has no symptoms, which means it can sneak up on you without warning. Find out the importance of early detection, understanding lab results, and addressing key risk factors like high blood pressure and diabetes. The hosts explain the kidneys' crucial roles in filtering blood, balancing fluids and minerals, and regulating blood pressure. Get ready to discover practical, easy -to-follow dietary strategies for managing CKD- like cutting back on sodium, mastering the art of reading nutrition labels, and adding more whole plant-based foods to your meals for better kidney health. This episode encourages listeners, particularly Veterans, to proactively engage with healthcare providers and dietitians to preserve kidney health and delay disease progression.

Fresh Focus Episode #93:  Application of Intuitive Eating  Have you ever noticed any food restrictions that you follow but you are not sure where they came from or how they have impacted your relationship with food? Tune in to this episode where VA dietitian, Erin, provides 5 ways to start applying the principles of Intuitive Eating. Step one begins when you are able to notice strong emotions that come up during meal and snack times. Listen now to learn the additional steps to follow and how to incorporate Intuitive Eating into your health journey.

Fresh Focus Episode #92: Intuitive Eating Myths  There are a lot of myths surrounding Intuitive Eating.  VA Dietitians review one possible cause being that people can still be connected to a dieting mentality, which makes it difficult to change your thinking and reconnect with yourself.  Tune in to this episode to find out more information about how this journey may be for you.  Intuitive Eating involves giving yourself permission, focusing on self-care, and learning to be instinctual and more in tune with your body.

Fresh Focus Episode #91:  The Pursuit of Intuitive Eating Intuitive eating is a strategy to improve your relationship with food.  VA dietitians on this episode share the 10 principles of Intuitive Eating. Learn how intuitive eating can help you come back to yourself by relearning your own internal cues and signals while becoming better able to trust yourself, make peace with food, reject the diet mentality and to be able to respect your body.  Everyone is coming from different place with different experiences that influence your dieting history. Listen now to find out ways to slowly implement the 10 IE principles.

Fresh Focus Episode #90: Top 3 questions asked to an Intuitive Eating RDN If you are asking whether intuitive eating means you can eat whatever you want, whenever you want, listen in as VA Dietitians discuss the top questions they get asked by Veterans each day.    Learn about how intuitive eating isn’t a diet and doesn’t include food restrictions. It doesn’t mean just eating whatever you want whenever you want, either. Focusing on how foods make us feel often leads us to choose quality over quantity and can aid in fostering a healthy relationship with food.

Fresh Focus Episode #89: Introduction to Intuitive Eating Intuitive Eating is a non-diet approach to eating that focuses on our internal cues such as hunger, fullness, and cravings to help guide our food choices.  Tune in as VA dietitians dive into how Intuitive Eating can teach us how to listen to what our bodies are telling us and give us the tools to respond in a way that honors our bodies and our health. Intuitive eating not only has a positive impact on our nutritional choices, but also our mental state.

Kerri knocks this topic out of the park by getting into the ins-and-outs of concession eats! There are many options to consider at sporting events, and not often are they the most nourishing. There are so many other factors that come into play as well, including what meal of the day it may be, if we plan to eat something small to keep us tied over before a meal, if we are eating just to be eating, are we trying to lose weight, and so on.   Kerri takes us through the ringer of how we can plan ahead, listen to hunger cues, be mindful, and practice other strategies that can help keep your next sporting event outing a positive one!

In this episode, Sieger leads us down the rabbit hole in regards to the potential downfalls of snacking. Snacks, although enjoyable and sometimes appropriate, can sometimes be more of a hindrance than a help. How can we identify the difference?  Sometimes we do things that aren’t quite working in our favor. Sometimes we have bad habits. It’s all about optimizing our intake and improving our relationship with food, snacks included. Join us as we discuss the issues with common snack choices, variables that can influence those choices, and how we can improve our intake structure in a way that works better for us! Contributors: The Fresh Focus is a team of Registered Dietitian Nutritionists out of the Marion VA Health Care System..

Whether you’re a parent with kids at home, or a grandparent, aunt, uncle, babysitter, or friend, this episode is for you! Lauren leads us through some practical tips and ideas to make your whole family’s snacks healthier. The typical American child eats about triple the recommended amount of added sugars and about double the recommended amount of sodium per day. We can help reduce that amount by starting with snacks and learning how we can make them healthier. We may not have a win with every recipe, but we owe it to our families to find items that are enjoyable while still being good investments in our health!