Your weekly serving of expert, evidence-based health and nutrition advice. Leanne Ward is a world-renowned dietitian, nutritionist and health coach with over 10 years of nutrition experience and over 300000 followers on her Instagram (@the_fitness_dietitian) and 380000 on her TikTok (leanne_ward_nutrition). Leanne’s focus is gut health, emotional eating and sustainable fat loss. Leanne also interviews expert guests to give you the most accurate, up to date health and nutrition information available. Subscribe to never miss an episode.
Episodes
Saturday Sep 28, 2019
Saturday Sep 28, 2019
Who doesn't love a restaurant dinner, or some cheese and a wine, on a Friday night? What about a delicious café brunch on Sunday morning? I know I do! It's certainly not something I'm prepared to give up, and we shouldn't feel like we have to. A healthy lifestyle doesn't mean 100% clean, calorie controlled eating.
In fact, my philosophy is that, to achieve overall health and wellbeing, you need foods that nourish your soul (what I call "soul foods") in moderation. But, at the end of the day, food is energy for your body and when you're in these social situations it is very easy to ingest much more energy than your body actually needs at the time, and undo a lot of the 'healthy eating' you achieved throughout the week.
So how do we stay on track without sacrificing our soul foods? Well, in today's podcast I give you all my tried and tested tips and tricks that I have developed over the 9 years I have been practicing as a nutritionist and dietitian. These are some of the strategies I implement with my clients in my premium 1:1 coaching program, but I'll teach them to you for FREE today as I love you guys so much!
To apply for my premium 1:1 coaching program (exclusively for women with emotional eating, gut issues and who want to lose weight sustainably!) see www.leangutmindmethod.com Bear in mind I only accept 2 ladies each month so please only apply if you are 100% ready and willing to change your life!
If you enjoyed this podcast, please tag me and share it in your Insta stories and leave me a positive rating or review in the purple Apple Podcast app (in the rating & reviews section underneath the episode lists). This really helps my podcast get prioritised by Apple and helps me disseminate evidence based information to the people that need it the most! Don't forget to subscribe to my podcast so you never miss an episode!
Saturday Sep 21, 2019
Saturday Sep 21, 2019
It seems obvious when I say it, but you SHOULD NOT take the health advice you see on social media at face value. If you are going to act on advice that could affect your health or wellbeing, that advice should be backed by robust and well designed research that demonstrates its effectiveness. In short, whether it's on Instagram or otherwise, you should only take health advice from evidence based health professionals.
Luckily, when it comes to gut health, I've got you covered.
Today I'm chatting with Dr Megan Rossi PHD (@theguthealthdoctor on Instagram), a registered dietitian and gut health researcher at King’s College London who is investigating nutrition-based therapies in gastrointestinal health, including, for example, prebiotics, probiotics, dietary fibres, the low FODMAP diet and food additives.
Today, Megan and I take you through the latest research related to topical gut health issues. We talk about the effects of food additives on IBS and the gut microbiome more generally. We discuss the current efficacy of the emerging concept of personalised nutrition. Megan takes us through the latest research relating to the effects of probiotics and in what circumstances they may be helpful. We talk about the emerging understanding of the link between gut health and mental health through the gut-brain axis. We debunk the myths relating to "leaky gut" and explain exactly what it is and how it relates to coeliac disease. We chat about the latest research coming out about the connection between gut health, weight management and women's health. We talk truths about the effects of alcohol and dairy on gut health. Megan also gives you her tips on how to include beans, legumes and chickpeas into your diet if you suffer from wind and bloating. Finally, Megan and I talk IBS, misconceptions about the low FODMAP diet and the emerging evidence relating to non-dietary, holistic ways of managing IBS.
If you enjoyed this podcast, please tag us and share it in your Insta stories and leave me a positive rating or review in the purple Apple Podcast app (in the rating & reviews section underneath the episode lists). This really helps my podcast get prioritised by Apple and helps me disseminate evidence based information to the people that need it the most! Don't forget to subscribe to my podcast so you never miss an episode!
Sunday Sep 15, 2019
Sunday Sep 15, 2019
Today I chat with Nikki from Just Get Fit. Nikki is a certified nutrition coach and personal trainer who works exclusively with women. Her mission is to help women develop a healthy relationship with food and fitness and does so by providing practical and entertaining nutrition and training advice to her 200,000+ followers as @justget.fit on Instagram.
As someone who struggled with dieting since her mid-teens, Nikki helps her client make sustainable lifestyle changes which they can adhere to long term. She is also a meal prep guru with four years of experience in creating delicious and healthy meals.
In todays podcast Nikki and I discuss mental health and its impact on our health. We talk dieting struggles and finding balance between health and wellbeing. We talk motivation, finding your "why", perfectionism and playing the long game.
We then chat about meal prep. Nikki gives us her realistic meal prep hacks, we discuss types of meal prep and she shares her tricks to make meal prep last longer.
We move on to discuss fitness. We talk about turning failures into “failing forward”, when to work out and when to rest (especially related to sickness) and we discuss home workouts vs gym workouts.
Finally, we chat about how to find a reputable trainer online and why buying from a transformation photo online can be risky.
If you enjoyed this podcast, please tag us and share it in your Insta stories and leave me a positive rating or review in the purple Apple Podcast app (in the rating & reviews section underneath the episode lists). This really helps my podcast get prioritised by Apple and helps me disseminate evidence based information to the people that need it the most! Don't forget to subscribe to my podcast so you never miss an episode!
Sunday Sep 08, 2019
Sunday Sep 08, 2019
This week was Women's Health Week, and what better way to celebrate it than to chat to special guest Dr Libby Quinn.
Dr Libby is a Clinical Psychologist and founder of The Women’s Psychology Clinic, a boutique therapy space for women in Northern NSW. Dr Libby draws on her 8 years of university training (including a bachelor of psychological science, with honours, and a doctorate in clinical psychology). Dr Libby has been privileged to work for 10 years solely in private practice to assist women of all ages to live a more vibrant life.
Today Dr Libby and I talk about the various external pressures women face in 2019. We discuss societal pressure for women to succeed. We take a look at how women self-visualise and how that shape's their ego, beliefs and stories. We chat about how it is important for women to know their worth and how to build true confidence rather than superficial confidence. We discuss anxiety, self sabotage and strategies to deal with negative thoughts and emotions. Dr Libby breaks down the components of our brain and the way we think and how this neuroplasticity creates, and can be used to break, habits.
Finally, Dr Libby answers listener questions about shame, guilt, forgiveness and body confidence.
If you enjoyed this podcast, please tag us and share it in your Insta stories and leave me a positive rating or review in the purple Apple Podcast app (in the rating & reviews section underneath the episode lists). This really helps my podcast get prioritised by Apple and helps me disseminate evidence based information to the people that need it the most! Don't forget to subscribe to my podcast so you never miss an episode!
Sunday Sep 01, 2019
Sunday Sep 01, 2019
As you can see from the episode title, in today's podcast I am exploring two very emotional and sensitive issues, but I'm doing so with clinically qualified, and personally experienced, Nina Gelbke (@naturally_nina_).
Nina is a qualified clinical Nutritionist and health & wellness blogger, with a passion for all things nutrition, health and wellbeing. Through her instagram account and website she shares informative, evidence-based and relatable nutrition information and plenty of delicious recipes!
Nina developed her passion for nutrition after being diagnosed with type 1 diabetes and being a competitive athlete, but this passion took a downward spiral and led to a long battle with a severe eating disorder. Nina has since overcome this disorder and, as a result, now specialises in eating disorders and sports nutrition in her clinical practice.
In today's episode, Nina and I discuss advice and strategies for listeners living with chronic diseases like diabetes, coeliac disease and inflammatory bowel disease and how to not let these conditions define you.
We also discuss Nina's experience with, and recovery from, her eating disorder. In particular, we talk about what got her through and what the 'red flags' are which may indicate a person is suffering from an eating disorder. Nina also shares her advice for people who suspect they, or a loved one or friend, may have an undiagnosed eating disorder. We also talk about how to recognise excessive anxiety when it comes to food and exercise, what the effects of overexercising are, when to seek the help of a professional, how to support someone in recovery and how to define success and progress without the scale.
Finally, we share out tips to improve health and wellbeing without restrictive dieting and how to find credible health experts on social media.
If you enjoyed this podcast, please tag us and share it in your Insta stories and leave me a positive rating or review in the purple Apple Podcast app (in the rating & reviews section underneath the episode lists). This really helps my podcast get prioritised by Apple and helps me disseminate evidence based information to the people that need it the most! Don't forget to subscribe to my podcast so you never miss an episode!
Sunday Aug 25, 2019
Sunday Aug 25, 2019
Today I chat to Dr. Rachel Paul, PHD. Rachel is a nationally recognised registered dietitian based in California who helps college students and young professionals look and feel amazing by eating healthy, cooking on their own, and making good food choices in social situations. Rachel is known for her practical advice and easy-to-follow guidance, particularly with her 300,000+ strong Instagram following.
In our easy to listen to chat, Rachel and I discuss some of the mistakes students and new grads make when it comes to maintaining a healthy lifestyle. We discuss the importance of planning and accountability particularly in high stress/pressure situations. We discuss tips and tricks to recognise and avoid boredom eating. We give you hacks for eating healthy when time and money are tight. We explain how to read nutrition labels and make healthy choices in the supermarket. We discuss strategies to make healthy choices when on holidays, on the weekends and at social events (including with alcohol!). We talk about the best way to track progress and alternatives to the scale. Finally we give you our No. 1 tip for maintaining a health lifestyle that anyone of any age or budget can do right now!
If you enjoyed this podcast, please tag us and share it in your Insta stories and leave me a positive rating or review in the purple Apple Podcast app (in the rating & reviews section underneath the episode lists). This really helps my podcast get prioritised by Apple and helps me disseminate evidence based information to the people that need it the most! Don't forget to subscribe to my podcast so you never miss an episode!
Sunday Aug 18, 2019
Sunday Aug 18, 2019
Today’s episode is short and sweet. In it, I give you my tips for setting achievable goals to help you live a healthy life long term. Remember, true, sustainable health isn't a sprint, it's a marathon. It's not about how you'll look in 6 weeks, it's about how you'll feel in 60 years. So have a listen to this episode and think about what small changes you can make in your lifestyle. It's the small changes that tend to be the most profound. They add up over time and eventually you've changed your life without even realising it.
If you enjoyed this podcast, please tag us and share it in your Insta stories and leave me a positive rating or review in the purple Apple Podcast app (in the rating & reviews section underneath the episode lists). This really helps my podcast get prioritised by Apple and helps me disseminate evidence based information to the people that need it the most!
Sunday Aug 11, 2019
Sunday Aug 11, 2019
Today I chat with Michelle Theodosi, @thelifestyledietitian_au on instagram. Michelle is an Accredited Practising Dietitian and Sports Dietitian with a specialty in eating behaviours. Buckle up, because Michelle and I are taking a deep dive into the huge role psychology, thoughts and behavioural change plays in our practice as dietitians. In addition to her dietetics qualifications, Michelle has an undergraduate degree in psychology, so don’t worry… #wegotthequals. Advertising, social media, magazines, etc. place so much importance on what we eat (Is it sugar free?… Is it fat free?… How many calories?…). But at the end of the day, when it comes to achieving health and weight loss goals, an equally important question is ‘Why am I eating what I’m eating?’. To this end, Michelle and I discuss how important behaviour recognition and change is for sustaining long lasting health. We discuss the common behaviours and habits that hold our clients back from maintaining a healthy weight and how we work with our clients to recognise and change those habits and behaviours. Spoiler alert, the biggest tip we have is EAT MORE VEGGIES, so we discuss smart ways to work more of them into your diet... #guthealth. We give you strategies to combat those pesky night time sugar cravings. We give you the goods when it comes to combating workplace cultures or social events that put pressure on you to eat and drink. And finally, we discuss the big one, emotional eating, with tips and strategies to recognise it and overcome it.
If you enjoyed this podcast, please tag us and share it in your Insta stories and leave me a positive rating or review in the purple Apple Podcast app (in the rating & reviews section underneath the episode lists). This really helps my podcast get prioritised by Apple and helps me disseminate evidence based information to the people that need it the most!
Saturday Aug 03, 2019
Saturday Aug 03, 2019
Today, Jordan Syatt and I discuss back to basics truths about sustainable fat loss. Jordan is a fitness and nutrition trainer who has a Bachelors of Science in Health & Behaviour Science with a focus in Strength & Conditioning. He’s also the coach for Precision Nutrition and a 5 times world record power lifter. So don't worry, between the two of us we have the qualifications to give you the frank and fearless facts on fat loss in an industry that is just soaking in BS.
We start with the best way to track fat loss and how to avoid the scale mind f#%k. We talk about the basic things people tend to get wrong when it comes to losing weight and how to manage expectations (i.e. what is realistic progress when it comes to fat loss). We move on to the problems with rapid fat loss and metabolic adaptations and touch on the importance of behaviour (i.e. how the little things can add up). We discuss intuitive eating as the holy grail of sustainable weight management but we also touch on how macro and calorie tracking works for some people (at the end of the day it really comes down to you). Finally we talk about how to deal with the mixed messages bombarding you from every corner of the fitness industry and why, like most things in life, there is no black and white answers when it comes to fat loss and overall health (despite what many social medial "health professionals" would have you believe). Please be warned, there are a few sneaky F-bombs in this podcast so if you have little ears in the car please be mindful of this.
If you enjoyed this podcast, please leave me a positive rating or review in the purple Apple Podcast app (in the rating & reviews section underneath the episode lists). This really helps my podcast get prioritised by Apple and helps me disseminate evidence based information to the people that need it the most!
Monday Jul 29, 2019
Monday Jul 29, 2019
My Podcast today is a repost of the interview I did on The Kylie Camps Podcast (for Kylie's insta check out @kyliecamps). In Kylie's words, this episode "is a chat with the wonderfully direct and passionate Leanne Ward (a.k.a @the_fitness_dietitian on the gram). We explore why the gut is now commonly referred to as our second brain and what we can do to really optimise our wellness and health."
If you enjoyed this podcast, please leave me a positive rating or review in the purple Apple Podcast app (in the rating & reviews section underneath the episode lists). This really helps my podcast get prioritised by Apple and helps me disseminate evidence based information to the people that need it the most!