Dietitian Nancy joins Cody to unpack diet culture, food guilt, and why "cheat days" are hurting your relationship with food, plus a first look at their new Kitchen Reset offer blending nutrition and Feng Shui.
In this episode, Cody sits down with registered dietitian Nancy, founder of Health and Home Long Island, for a conversation about simplifying nutrition in a world full of conflicting advice. Nancy shares her path from a decade in clinical dietetics and behavior-change coaching at Noom to running her own practice focused on women and families.
Together, Cody and Nancy dig into why diet culture creates so much fear and shame around eating, why the word "cheat day" needs to go, and how stress and mindset affect digestion and nutrition just as much as the food itself. Nancy breaks down her real-world philosophy on balance, why the food pyramid still holds up, and how she helps clients build sustainable habits by starting small instead of chasing a "perfect" meal plan.
The conversation also covers feeding kids without creating food anxiety, navigating picky eaters, and why families need clear personal values (not more social media noise) to guide their food choices. Cody and Nancy close by introducing The Kitchen Reset, their joint in-home service for Long Island families that combines Nancy's nutrition and kitchen-organization expertise with Cody's feng shui approach to create a kitchen environment that truly supports how a family eats and lives.
Key Topics Covered
Nancy's journey from clinical dietitian to behavior-change coach to private practice
Why "cheat day" language damages your relationship with food
The connection between stress, mindset, and digestion
Is the food pyramid still relevant? Nancy's take on modern nutrition guidelines
How to build sustainable eating habits without a "perfect" meal plan
Feeding kids: avoiding food-as-reward and reducing mealtime anxiety
Getting clear on your personal food values (budget, time, convenience, organic or not)
Why the kitchen is the emotional "heartbeat" of the home
Introducing The Kitchen Reset: a joint nutrition + feng shui home service
About Nancy
Nancy is a registered dietitian with over ten years of experience, including early work at the digital health company Noom. She now runs Health and Home Long Island, a private practice helping women and families simplify nutrition, reduce food-related stress, and build healthier kitchen environments.
Connect with Nancy
Website: https://www.healthandhomeli.com/
Instagram: @healthandhomeli
Cody (00:01)
Hello friends, welcome back to Create the Space. I am so excited for this conversation today with my friend and collaborator, Nancy Sidnam. For 15 years, she's been helping people navigate food, nutrition, and their health. She's had thousands of conversations as a registered dietitian, hearing about the challenges people face and the healthier, happier lives that they are hoping to create for themselves. During this time, during this work that Nancy was doing, she really got interested in the intersection of health and behavior change and the spaces we call home. So she has been working with people around making their kitchens more efficient, making it easier for them to cook, making their spaces work for their family. We joined forces and we have been doing some really cool in-person work out in Long Island, calling it the "Kitchen Reset." You'll hear about that later. But anyway, I'm really excited for you again to hear this amazing conversation with my good friend Nancy Sidnam.
Cody (00:58)
Hi, Nancy. Good morning.
Nancy (01:00)
Hi, Cody.
Cody (01:01)
Hi, I'm so happy to have you here. And everyone, Nancy and I know each other. We've been connecting for a little bit, and we'll get into that later, how we met and all that stuff. Nancy, I'd love to just start with just a little bit about who you are, where you are, where you come from, and then we'll get into the conversation.
Nancy (01:18)
Absolutely. Well thanks for having me, Cody. I'm excited to be here and chat with you and glad we've connected. I feel like from the first time we talked, there was just so much aligned goals with what we're trying to help people with. Our energy is just really great together. So, I'm excited to chat. I've been a dietitian for a little over ten years now. My background, I had a very brief stint in the advertising industry when I first graduated from college. But you know, food and nutrition, I was in my twenties. I was living in the city and I think just becoming interested in food. Like I was, you know, going out to nice restaurants. I had friends that liked to cook and I was getting into cooking. And as advertising I was finding out wasn't really for me. I think food was just something I wanted to start to build a career around. Didn't really know what that would look like. And in my research dietitian seemed like a good path. So pursued that. It took several years to go through the schooling. I had to do my masters, I had to do an internship, take an exam. That's the traditional path for it. And, interestingly enough, and that was in California, I moved back to New York then and it was right around the time when health tech was a really big thing. And I actually started my career as a dietitian then. Working for Noom, which is a digital behavior change company, and it was really.
Cody (02:27)
Mm-hmm.
Nancy (02:29)
In its infancy at the time. So I went right from nutrition and essentially learning how to educate people and help them work through, whatever they might be struggling with, health-wise, nutrition-wise, to then this space where we were really focused on the behavior change part of things. And I got immersed in the psychology behind it and fell in love with it because I think.
Cody (02:51)
Mm.
Nancy (02:51)
There's something, you know, you need that, right? The knowledge is one part, but then you really need the implementation steps and plan to help people succeed. That's really informed a lot of my approach now is just the coaching approach, right? Being.
Cody (03:03)
Mm.
Nancy (03:04)
A partner with somebody, helping them figure out what's most important to them, and then taking steps to work towards it. So, after Noom did a couple other things, eventually started my own practice and I mostly work with women. And that's been an interesting because through working with women, the family often comes up, right? They come to.
Cody (03:20)
Mm.
Nancy (03:20)
Me to talk about their health. We inevitably end up talking about, family dinners and feeding their kids. And that became something I couldn't ignore. And I think, through sort of all of these different pieces, it just simplifying food and nutrition really became what I felt like has been my mission because you know, I if I had a dollar for every time somebody came to Hey, I heard this thing on TikTok.
Cody (03:43)
Ha ha.
Nancy (03:43)
What you think? It's just there's so much information, misinformation, confusing information out there that I feel like now that's something I really want to do is just take the confusion out of it. Help people feel confident in feeding themselves, feeding their families, and feel like they're taking care of their health ultimately.
Cody (04:02)
Yeah. Yeah. And I feel like, we really connect over that simplicity because we'll get into like what we're doing together, but also that's kind of how I approach feng shui, right? We could say the exact same words about feng shui. There's a lot of confusion, a lot of misinformation. A dollar for every time I heard someone talk about their wealth corner from TikTok. Like it's very.
Nancy (04:20)
Yeah.
Cody (04:21)
Similar, right? And I wanna say like, I don't know if everyone listening to this podcast knows this, but you know this, that I also come from not as a dietitian, but more as a coach from a nutrition and wellness coach background. That's how I got into feng shui. And the reason that I decided not to do that anymore was be because I personally felt confused. Like I was like, there's so much information out there. Who the heck really knows what is "right"? Actually, I don't think anything is "right." I think every single person is different. And it just felt to me like it wasn't a space that I could wanted to navigate anymore. So I'm curious sort of how you came to like trust yourself and trust that like let me say this in this way, you can correct me if I'm wrong, but my understanding is that the dietitian degree is pretty like Western medicine, right? Like, most of those people eventually work in a hospital setting or they start in a hospital setting and then like move into more of like a clinical setting, right? That's more traditional. So I'm curious, because you've made your way out of that for sure, and how you like reconcile here's the question, guys, it took me a while. How did you reconcile what.
Nancy (05:24)
Yeah.
Cody (05:25)
You learned in school, which is pretty traditional, I'm assuming, to like where you are now, which is a lot more open?
Nancy (05:31)
Yeah, that's a great question. And you know, really, first a lot of the Western training or my training is really looking at the evidence-based research. That's always.
Cody (05:39)
Right.
Nancy (05:40)
The starting point. And I think a lot of what we hear about today and sort of these new trends perhaps are stemming from emerging research, I would say.
Cody (05:51)
Mm.
Nancy (05:51)
So that's where even just through my training The basics were really what we focused on. You'd be surprised how many people don't even eat vegetables every day.
Cody (05:59)
Mm mm.
Nancy (06:00)
And I think we've come so far from the basics and we've and.
Cody (06:03)
Mm.
Nancy (06:04)
Everybody's become so fixated on optimizing for nutrients or what's the perfect way to eat and or fear, fear of well, if I can't eat the organic version of this, then I'm not gonna eat it at all. But we are really when we don't get those basic nutrients, carbohydrates, fat. Protein, fiber, the vitamins and minerals we need, we're really doing ourselves a disservice. So that's something that thankfully in you know my training and dietitian training, I'm glad I have that to lean on. Because it is so many people aren't doing the basics. So I think that's where I really just try and focus. And that's part of the simplification of it is the other stuff out there, I'm not going to say it's good or bad or whatever, because it all can have a place, but You have to start with the basics first. With anything, not just nutrition and food, but any change you're trying to make anything lifestyle wise you're trying to do, you gotta start with the basics.
Cody (06:51)
One hundred percent. I'm so curious. I have many questions, but one of them is do they still teach the food pyramid like the traditional American food pyramid? The standard American diet?
Nancy (07:00)
No, so there have been a few variations since. I actually kind of love the food pyramid to be honest, because it's just a visual that we've all had stuck in our brains for the last probably 30 years.
Cody (07:11)
Right.
Nancy (07:11)
It evolved into a different type of pyramid. Then it was a plate, now it's an upside-down pyramid. That's the latest version of it. But what I like about the food pyramid is that it very clearly highlights the food groups. And I think that's coming back to the simplicity of things, your grains, your fruits, your vegetables, your nuts and seeds, your legumes, your dairy. And the food pyramid did have recommended amounts of each of those, which I didn't think were terrible, to be honest. And I think it still gives that basic structure. And what's.
Cody (07:41)
Right.
Nancy (07:42)
The ultimate goal? Variety. You want a little bit of everything. That's how you get the nutrients that you need ultimately. Carbs are not bad. I have conversations about carbohydrates all the time. Like, please eat bread. It is our body's source of fuel. That's literally what carbohydrates are. Yeah.
Cody (07:56)
Yeah.
Nancy (07:57)
But I understand how diet culture especially has just made these things so scary.
Cody (08:03)
Yes. I think that's something I really want to highlight and talk to you about because I think that is really where I exited the conversation in a way. Because it's like I don't even know where to start. There's so much fear. And I think you and I were talking about this Nancy and I had this conversation at a local health food store and we were like so deep in it. This is kind of the origin of how we ended up doing this podcast. And this woman sitting next to us was like I just have to say, like, I love what you're talking about and thank you. And and so I think.
Nancy (08:29)
Yeah.
Cody (08:30)
This is an important conversation to have because you can eat whatever you want, but if you're terrified of that food you're eating, that I think is worse than any Dorito Frito, any ido you could eat, right? Yup. Like because you're eating that as well. Like your body is responding, is getting these messages, this is bad, this is dangerous. And I think so many people right now are living with that, right? Because we've been inundated with social media being so available, the internet, everything, all this information being so available that we're being inundated with this is bad and all of the stuff. And then it's really, really hard to digest properly and to get those nutrients when your body is in a state of fight or flight while you're eating. So I'd love to hear you talk about what I just said. There's no question in there, but.
Nancy (09:12)
Yeah, no.
Cody (09:13)
I'm sure you have an opinion.
Nancy (09:13)
I agree. I mean, stress, I think we know by now, stress can impact every part of the body. And that's something that I talk about with people too, beyond the food. It's movement, of course. So what are their stress levels? Are they sleeping enough? I mean, those four pillars really go hand in hand. But, yeah, the stress, the psychological toll, I see that a lot. Just the mindset that people have and the way they feel guilt and shame.
Cody (09:37)
Uh-huh.
Nancy (09:38)
Around food, like it's there's this this Morality.
Cody (09:40)
Morality.
Nancy (09:42)
Yeah, it's like if I am not optimizing every food choice I make for nutrition, I failed somehow. And I'm I'm.
Cody (09:47)
Uh-huh.
Nancy (09:48)
Just sort of like, we have so lost sight of the purpose of food. I mean, sure, nutrition or nourishment really is one part of it, but food is meant to be enjoyed too. You said this actually I was just listening to your podcast with Dr. Kirsten.
Cody (10:01)
Mm.
Nancy (10:01)
And Cody, you said this when your food experience became very narrow at a point.
Cody (10:04)
Yeah.
Nancy (10:05)
And then you asked yourself, like, is this really am I living? And food is such a part of life culturally, through celebrations, through just the taste and the experience of it. And I think that for some reason people feel like if the nutrition part isn't there, they've failed. I enjoy those conversations because when it starts to click for people, the stress, you can see it, like the weight is lifted off their shoulders and they feel so much so much better about food and eating.
Cody (10:33)
Yeah, I mean, we could talk for hours and I promise we won't, but.
Nancy (10:36)
Yeah.
Cody (10:37)
What is your philosophy? You know, I hear a lot of people talk about like this, 80/20. What is your actual nitty gritty philosophy? Because this is nuanced, right? Like there is a reality. Like most people, if they eat crap all day long for five to ten years, or even a year, they're not gonna feel great. I mean, not all people, because I do know some people that just somehow thrive and eat what what I would consider crap. But there's a je ne sais quoi here, right? But like.
Nancy (11:00)
Yeah, yeah.
Cody (11:01)
In general, the general public, we need to eat healthy food in order to be healthy, right? So there is.
Nancy (11:05)
Yes, yes.
Cody (11:06)
A little bit of like reality. And so how do you advise people like I believe you, I'm with you, like I I feel your calm, I feel your clarity when you talk about this, and I believe that you are walking your talk and y that comes through. And so I'm curious, like, how do you get people there? Do you advise 80/20? What is your philosophy?
Nancy (11:23)
That's a great question and I appreciate you asking about this. And you know, some of it is personal. I think so many people are so accustomed to just not feeling good that they don't even realize how much better they could feel until they s make any change, right? It's so y the starting point especially is so different for everybody, but whatever that one change is, whether it's just eating a vegetable every day, or maybe it's going for a walk, or you know, whatever behavior can start to ease them into making other changes. So certainly balance. Like that's the tried and true boring advice. Balance, moderation, enjoy the things. I mean, I am no judge of anybody. I love all food. I eat ice cream. I eat cheeseburgers and I love them. And I eat, you know, healthy whole meals lots of times too. And so there's the structure that we can put around it. And I like to focus rather on more about what are you accomplishing, like set it up as action. So at the end of the day, like you can look back and say, Did I eat at least two vegetables today? Did I have a couple of fruits? Did I have some whole grains versus this perfection all or nothing? It's wherever they're starting from, if they don't eat any vegetables at all, if I can get them to eat a vegetable with dinner most nights of the week. That's already a win to me. So it's so a lot of it is just where they're starting from and not creating this ideal meal plan because that's never gonna work. I think that's.
Cody (12:43)
Mm-hmm.
Nancy (12:45)
Something that I learned very early on as a young dietitian. Well, just eat this way and you'll feel great.
Cody (12:51)
God. Right.
Nancy (12:54)
And you know, doesn't go that way. So that's where it's really such an individual approach in well, where are you starting from and what are the little tiny actions or wins that we can accomplish because then they do start to feel better and and then they want to keep going with it. And I think what's more detrimental is there's a lot of this, you know, the restriction type language. Well if I'm good all week, then I'll have a treat on.
Cody (13:19)
Sheet.
Nancy (13:19)
The weekend. Yes, it's the cheat days. It's the Yeah. No.
Cody (13:21)
I hate that word when it comes to food. I hate it so much. I hate the like cheat sorry to interrupt you. I hate the like cheat day. Whenever Doug says that, like it my husband, if he he does this weird thing, which I guess works for him, but I don't think so. I mean.
Nancy (13:33)
Yeah.
Cody (13:34)
He has some issues around sugar, right? That's really hard for him. It's like this sugar monster comes alive and then he's like rah and it's just like sugar all the time. He doesn't d do moderation with sugar. So what he's doing now is he's like Does one month where he likes very strict with himself and he doesn't have any sugar and then he goes crazy for a month and he goes back. And he keeps referring to these as like, if if during the month of no sugar he decides to have sugar, he calls it like a cheat day. I'm like, stop saying that. Who are you cheating?
Nancy (13:57)
Yeah.
Cody (13:57)
You're cheating yourself. Like, I think some of the languaging around the way we talk about food, like it is all so detrimental. And it's just not serving our mental health, which is imp impacting our food choices at the end of the day. Like if you feel like crap. Mentally, what are you gonna reach for? You're not gonna reach for an apple, most likely.
Nancy (14:18)
Exactly. And it's just that perpetuating thing and that and a lot of that, well, I failed today, I'll just try again tomorrow. And it's but.
Cody (14:24)
Right.
Nancy (14:25)
You could still like make a healthful choice the next time you eat three hours later. It doesn't have to be this exactly. That's a.
Cody (14:28)
And what is failing? What does that even mean? Yeah. Who are you failing?
Nancy (14:32)
I I say that to people, I'm like, well, what does that even mean? Like, why do you think you're failing? What do you.
Cody (14:36)
Right.
Nancy (14:37)
Because even you know, a lot of how I think about food too is I do break it down in my mind into the nutrient components because all foods break down into pretty You know, just a handful of things ultimately that we digest. So yeah, I was just talking with a client about this yesterday. I was like, even if you eat a slice of pizza, it's not a failure because you're still getting carbohydrates, you're still getting protein, you're still getting nutrients. And sure, there maybe there's the grease and the saturated fat and the other things that come along with it, but it's not a waste of a meal because your body still needs that energy and those nutrients. So it's just sort of like a lot of those little reframings or the cheat days, I'm like put it on your meal plan. You know, if you're mapping out meals for a week, put ice cream on there as a Tuesday night dessert and just allow yourself to enjoy it and move on. Don't eat it and then feel terrible about it for two hours after because that's the.
Cody (15:29)
Totally.
Nancy (15:29)
Part that just meant to be enjoyed. It's okay to also enjoy food. It doesn't need to going back to the 80/20 or whatever that balance is. I think it's the moderation piece, eating the healthful foods along with the, you know, let's say empty calorie but maybe more enjoyable foods. And just being okay with it ultimately and still feeling confident that you are taking care of yourself well.
Cody (15:51)
Yeah. Yeah. And you know, like I don't really want to go here too much today because I think it's so important that people hear this message in a clean way. Like they hear the simplicity and how that can be so impactful. But also there's a modicum of this that is not fully in our control, which is we are all doing our best with what we have available to us and there's some.
Nancy (16:12)
Yeah.
Cody (16:12)
Much higher level issues that we have to deal with. And so at the end of the day it's like learning how to lower your stress levels and we're gonna get into what you and I are driving on, which is the environment that you're eating in and how you're setting up that. And also but just having like listening to what Nancy is saying about that it can just be simple again and it doesn't have to be this complex, like crazy thing all the time, is I think really, really valuable, especially with all the noise.
Nancy (16:39)
I think one of the first conversations we had about organic food. And.
Cody (16:43)
Mm-hmm.
Nancy (16:44)
A lot of the simplification process is getting clear on what your values are around food and what are the don't wanna say constraints because that feels like a negative word, but what are the the variables, the boundaries.
Cody (16:54)
Boundaries, boundaries.
Nancy (16:56)
Right? What realistically, what is your budget? How much time do you have? Are you looking for convenience? Cause that's fine. Like we all need quick, easy things or How many people are you feeding, right? There are so many variables then once you know those, you can figure out what works best. Organic, sure, you know, I I have a lot of thoughts on it. It's not good or bad. It if you can afford it and it gives you peace of mind or whatever, it aligns with your values, great. If you are eating conventionally grown fruits and vegetables, I would so much rather you eat those fruits and vegetables than not eat them at all. Like they are perfectly healthy, they provide the nutrients we need. And so I think it's just getting clear on that. If it's really meaningful to you to do one thing or another, then we'll build a plan around that essentially.
Cody (17:42)
Right.
Nancy (17:42)
Ultimately, I think that's where it's sort of like if you can get off social media and just get clear on what works for you and your family and your body, that will be much more sustainable long term too.
Cody (17:54)
Yeah.
Nancy (17:55)
'Cause we're not looking for quick fixes, quick changes, we're looking for what is the lifestyle that you're trying to build that actually works for you.
Cody (18:01)
Yeah, a hundred percent. And I think this has really been highlighted for me in motherhood because.
Nancy (18:05)
Mm.
Cody (18:07)
I'd love to talk about that 'cause I know that that's something you're working.
Nancy (18:08)
Yeah, same more.
Cody (18:09)
With now, right? With families. And I think for me, through becoming a mother, I've learned that I'm actually kind of a middle way person. And what that means to me is like most of the time or food that I choose to buy for the most part is organic and is a certain thing. And, you know, if I'm gonna give my daughter ice cream at home, I give her this like fancy, raw, blah, blah, blah ice cream, right? That's essentially like a super food, really, 'cause the ingredients in it. Happy to share that link with anybody. And you know, I like this and for me, like talk about values, I think it's important. It comes down to like I like to support farmers. I like to support we order.
Nancy (18:43)
Mm.
Cody (18:43)
A lot of our food from the Amish. I really appreciate what they're doing. And there's a circle there for me of it's more than just about choosing this because I think it's quote unquote better. It's more like where am I putting my resources and what am I feeding? What am I feeding that's then feeding me, right? So for the.
Nancy (18:58)
Yeah.
Cody (18:59)
Most part, that's how our family chooses to live. However, I'm a middle person because we're gonna go out to eat and I'm not gonna tell her she can't drink the tap water that's served at the restaurant or like you know, she's at a party and whatever. You know, like there are things that I'm aware is like I don't wanna for me personally, and we have friends on both ends of the spectrum, I feel like I need to allow her a little bit of freedom when when it's not like within our home so that it doesn't become this thing and I don't want to give her an eating disorder and because that to me is a real thing. Like if it's so tight.
Nancy (19:33)
Yeah.
Cody (19:34)
And so controlled, I'm worried what that could im how that could impact her, right? And also these messages in her body, like this is bad, this is not okay, we can't eat this. Like that to me, that doesn't align with like also the value of freedom and the value of living and the value of enjoying.
Nancy (19:49)
Mm-hmm.
Cody (19:49)
Life, right? But there's also another line, and I'm gonna stop talking, I promise guys. There's another line, which is like we went to this birthday, I swear this is the last thing I'm saying. We went to this birthday party a few months ago, and I was like in a trauma response, I swear. There was so much cake. And candy and sugar and this and that and that's all that was available and I was just like, I can't you know, I was.
Nancy (20:11)
Yeah.
Cody (20:11)
Like, What snacks do we have in the bag? You know, it's very interesting when you start to bring in the family dynamics and it stops being just about what you and you can control and starts to become like, Whoa, how am I parenting another human being?
Nancy (20:22)
Yeah, I don't have kids. But I do have a two and a half year old niece who I spend a lot of time with, so I've watched my sister navigate food and I mean all the things with her, of course. But I think the fear there, especially.
Cody (20:33)
Mm.
Nancy (20:34)
With other moms and from what I hear from friends, the judgment or I.
Cody (20:37)
Uh-huh.
Nancy (20:38)
I think it is especially and anything kid related, you have to be so strong in your own values and probably tune out the opinions and the noise what other people are doing. And it sounds like you've really found a way to do that, which is amazing. Because when you ask that question of, well, what is the better thing, like better compared to what? Like what are you laddering it up to? So so those.
Cody (20:55)
Right. Totally.
Nancy (20:58)
Values are really then become the guideposts that you use to make decisions. And kids we know, like they absorb everything. They will see and hear how you're talking about food and how you're eating food, even if there's never a conversation about it. And I think.
Cody (21:12)
Totally.
Nancy (21:13)
Just modeling that healthy relationship with food, whatever that means to you, is really what will set them up probably for the best success. And then of course, when kids then get on social media themselves and all these other factors come into play. They go to birthday parties and they're outside of the home environment. Hopefully then they'll kind of have their own, guideposts to help them choose and navigate those situations.
Cody (21:35)
Yeah. And you know, I'm curious the conversations that you have with families around that because I have certainly I'm finding my way and it's always changing. And it is challenging because I don't know if this is just my toddler, but I don't think so. Most I'm gonna say with many toddlers really would prefer to eat sweet things all day long. Like if she could just eat fruit all day, she'd be happy. But I don't.
Nancy (21:54)
Yeah.
Cody (21:55)
Want her to do that because I know that there you know th that lacks all the nutrients, right? Like There's only so many nutrients you can get from fruit, which is a lot, but not all. You know, she needs some protein.
Nancy (22:03)
Yeah, yeah.
Cody (22:05)
And some other things, so it is interesting because I had this illusion when I was becoming a mom where I was like, I'm just gonna let her follow her body and I'm not gonna intervene and then it's such bullshit. It's like, no, I am gonna intervene.
Nancy (22:16)
Yeah.
Cody (22:18)
Because I'm the parent and there have to be some boundaries and no, she cannot eat fruit and whatever all day long, right? So I'm curious sort of like how do you have those conversations? I think that from the time we've spent together that is a question I see you get asked frequently of like I don't even know what to cook for dinner, I feel like people ask you that all the time, or like, how do you navigate that with families?
Nancy (22:36)
It's just a trial and error a little bit, or starting with where they're at. I mean the things that come up a lot are certainly picky eaters or kids that just refuse to eat what is presented to them for dinner. And you know, you hear some parents, well, if they don't eat that, that's it and they're not getting anything else. Or some parents make two completely separate meals, like one for them and their partner and then a separate meal for the kids. I think what what are the ultimate goals, right? Okay, making sure they're getting enough nutrients some way or another. It doesn't have to be this perfectly balanced thing, but as long as they're getting enough. I think you see all these things again coming back. I keep coming back to social media because that's often what's on people's minds of all these.
Cody (23:14)
Mm.
Nancy (23:14)
Hacks. How can you sneak vegetables into the kids' meals? And.
Cody (23:18)
Yeah.
Nancy (23:19)
If you have the time to do that. Great if you don't you know, give them a multivitamin. It's okay. I mean.
Cody (23:25)
Right.
Nancy (23:25)
I think just exposing them to food, even if they don't touch it, right? Getting them comfortable with seeing different kinds of food, different textures, hopefully they'll taste it. But not forcing them to eat anything, forcing them to finish their plate, some of those basic guidelines. And even things like sweets, I think we so naturally talk about them as these special treat things. But otherwise if you present a two-year-old with an apple or a cookie, the sweet response, they might still like the cookie more, but we make it this special, untouchable thing that then I think again psychologically, it's like, well, that's the thing I want, and we use it as a reward.
Cody (24:01)
Totally. Mm.
Nancy (24:03)
I think the more we can just for adults too, not use food as rewards. Separate food.
Cody (24:07)
I love that, yes.
Nancy (24:08)
Is just food. It doesn't need to be this thing that, well, if I coming back to the cheat, like If I work out go and go to the gym all week, I can have a cheat meal tomorrow. It's.
Cody (24:17)
Mm-hmm.
Nancy (24:17)
Like, no, work out for the sake of working out. And if you want a cheeseburger and that's your cheat meal, just eat the cheeseburger. You don't have to like trick yourself into it.
Cody (24:25)
Yeah, exactly. I love that advice. Two things I wanna highlight for people really as takeaways is getting really clear on your values. I think that's such a beautiful exercise because it really can help you understand why you're making the choices you're making and also not using food as a reward I think is so important and not easy actually. It's it's difficult. It sounds easy if you don't have kids.
Nancy (24:45)
Yeah. Yeah.
Cody (24:46)
And then you have and you're like Ooh, I really want him to do this thing and I know that if I say this then.
Nancy (24:50)
Yeah.
Cody (24:52)
This it's like, you know, I've definitely had.
Nancy (24:54)
Yeah.
Cody (24:54)
Those moments. So I really appreciate that. We're gonna get into sort of what Nancy offers, what her and I are working on together because I know we're wrapping up soon, but I really am curious, I keep feeling this curiosity. How did you grow up around food? Like what was your family culture like? How did you end up where you are with being so balanced in this or you know, having that?
Nancy (25:12)
Yeah, That's an awesome question. And not something I recall ever talking about much. My mom, raised me and my siblings when we were kids. She went back to work when we were fairly young. And for the most part, we had home cooked meals on the table every night and we would pack our lunches and take them to school. And I think it was just we always naturally had that mix of fruits and vegetables and healthy things. I ate the sugary cereals and all the typical 90s kid. Like I ate all the things and I think the healthy things were there too, where we never really talked about it, but they were just a part of it. And I played sports growing up. So I think even as I got older and was active, then started learning about the connection between food and performance. And I don't know, like I this sounds so crazy to say possibly like I just enjoy like the healthier foods. Like I've probably eaten an apple every day of my life since I was a kid, and I just I love them. So, maybe the not talking about it was part of it where we were never really forced to eat anything, but there were always vegetables on the plate. I mean, I can recall a couple of times, I think where it was like, You're not getting up from the table until you finish that broccoli, and I would spit it into a napkin or do all the kid things that you have to do to get out of it. But, you know, my mom really did such a great job of providing that balance. Without me even realizing I think for a long time that that she did that. And I think she grew up that way where they enjoyed all food. She comes from a big Italian family, so certainly pasta is on the menu. And but the cultural element and the celebration of food that I think so many people lack today, really.
Cody (26:39)
Yes. I think that's such a beautiful spot to sort of wrap this part of the conversation up because we're gonna move into like what Nancy and I are driving on together and also what Nancy offers right now. But I heard one of my favorite people to listen to is Zach Bush. I don't know if you've eng engaged with his wisdom.
Nancy (26:55)
No.
Cody (26:56)
Yet. He's really great. He was a medical doctor and now he's many, many things. But one of the things he talked about was like the loss of community around food and the loss of like sitting at a table and having conversation and while that might happen in small ways, we've really to a certain extent like lost a lot of that. And that's not like a huge part of our culture. So I really, really agree that like how we eat is so important. And so let's talk a little bit about how you moved into the name of your business, which is Health and Home Long.
Nancy (27:26)
Long Island.
Cody (27:27)
Island.
Nancy (27:27)
Yeah.
Cody (27:28)
And sort of how you got interested in like the space of the kitchen.
Nancy (27:32)
So, I think just through my years of experience in talking with people and the behavior change part of it and creating a plan, we often talked about, okay, well, if you're gonna eat vegetables next week with dinner, they gotta go on your grocery list and how are you gonna.
Cody (27:47)
Mm.
Nancy (27:47)
Prepare them and really worked backwards through all those steps of well, how can you set up your environment to really support these goals ultimately? Because there's nothing worse. For for me included, then opening the fridge at five o'clock and saying, Well, what am I gonna have for dinner? And s I think you've been there too, I'm sure. And yeah.
Cody (28:06)
Every day. What do you mean?
Nancy (28:08)
And so that was a lot of it was the actions that people helping them figure out what actions to take to support these goals and you know, stocking your pantry and just the kitchen becomes such a you know, am excited to talk more about what we're doing because it's The kitchen is the drop zone and it's the homework zone and everything else happens in the kitchen. And then when we go to cook, the counters are cluttered, or we.
Cody (28:30)
Uh-huh.
Nancy (28:30)
Don't know what we have in the pantry. And so I started incorporating that. And then I was like, well, why don't I just go into people's homes? I mean, that's something I would love to offer because then when you're in the space, there are other things you might observe, other friction points or things that you can tweak just to improve the experience of using the kitchen. Because I think ultimately I want food to be an experience for people, not just throwing something in the oven, but to put on music, like to pour a glass of wine. Not everybody has time for those things. But if you can even once a week, get your kids in there with you, have them chop some vegetables. So the home environment to me is just such an important starting place. Even if you're packing most of your meals and taking them to an office or sending your kids off to school, that's where most of your food stems from. And I feel like that's just we can't talk about food without talking about the kitchen environment.
Cody (29:20)
So smart. And tell us really before we get into what we're doing, tell us like what are your current ways that you're working with people, how people can work with you.
Nancy (29:28)
Honestly, it all starts with a conversation because I think a lot of times people don't know what solutions they need. And I just want to hear about your food problems. Tell me what's not working, what's going wrong, whether it's health related, you know, I just met with somebody recently who has some allergy issues and is.
Cody (29:43)
Mm.
Nancy (29:44)
Trying to figure out what foods they can eat, what are the foods that bother them. So, my whole approach is just let's talk, let's figure out what the problems are and then come up with some solutions, whether it's just one-on-one virtual coaching, whether I do come to your home and maybe we clean out your pantry and restock or anything in between. I can make some food plans for your family. I love doing cooking lessons for kids, like getting people just however we can get you back to enjoying real whole food my goal. And it's just that initial conversation. I kind of listen for the the pain points and then help customize whatever solution I can to support them.
Cody (30:22)
Amazing. I love that. And everyone, I will have the links to Nancy's website, Instagram, how to connect with her, all the things. So you don't have to worry about that. It's just like right down there, I think. I'm pointing down.
Nancy (30:34)
Ha ha.
Cody (30:34)
Into nowhere right now. But if you're watching. And then let's talk really briefly before I let you go about what we're doing together. So.
Nancy (30:39)
Yep. Yes.
Cody (30:40)
If you are on the East Suffolk County, let's call it Suffolk County, maybe even a little of Nassau County here in Long Island. Nancy and I have started doing something we're calling for now "The Kitchen Reset". And so this is a really cool package where we come to your home together and it starts with a conversation, like Nancy said, whether that's virtually or we start by doing a visit if you're local. And we are going to make a plan together about how we can get your kitchen functioning better for you, both from Nancy's perspective and from a feng shui perspective. So we're not only looking at like the flow in the kitchen from a easier to cook perspective. We're also looking at the flow in the kitchen from an energetic feng shui perspective to make sure that it is supporting you as best as possible.
Nancy (31:24)
I'm just so excited about this because I feel like as I've gone into people's homes, you can feel the energy in the space.
Cody (31:29)
Mm-hmm.
Nancy (31:30)
And I've never really had the language to know what to do with that or to figure out what it all means. So just learning from you that the deeper meaning behind some of these things and how the energy in a space and in a home is so important. I think that's almost feels like a big missing piece that I'm so excited to pair up with.
Cody (31:49)
Yeah, and it's really cool because we are aligned in many, many ways, but we're also are very different and so we are able to see different things. We've done a couple of visits already, so that's why we're talking in the way that we're talking. But we're able to see different things but then usually agree with each other about them and talk about them from these different perspectives, which I think is really cool. Because no matter how you slice it, this is not necessarily a feng shui thing, but the kitchen is the heart of the home, right? Like Where do people end up when they come over? Even if it's small and out of the way, people end up in the kitchen, right? The people end up.
Nancy (32:18)
Exactly.
Cody (32:18)
Standing in the kitchen. And so there is this energy that is really like the heartbeat of the home. And so, whether it's we come to your kitchen and take literally everything out of your pantry and reorganize for you and put it back, and I give you some feng shui tips and Nancy gives you some food tips, that's one option, or we give you a plan, like really just getting your kitchen to be revived to reinhabit this heartbeat energy, it will nourish your whole home.
Nancy (32:44)
Absolutely. And one more thing, Cody, I just want to say is that I'm so grateful that we're working together and appreciative of your approach too. And just as we've gone to some people's homes and started talking to them, you have a very reassuring presence. And I think it's nerve-wracking for people to they know they need the help and they're inviting these people into their space and and we say, Don't clean your home. You know, we wanna.
Cody (33:04)
Mm-hmm.
Nancy (33:05)
See it as is and it's a vulnerable thing for people to let us in and that's one of the things I just loved seeing come alive for you as you reassure them, you put them at ease. And, we're both there to help them work towards the vision that they have for the space. We have our ideas, but we're not gonna go in and say, Here's what you need to do to make the space.
Cody (33:22)
Right.
Nancy (33:23)
Better. I think we both have this great approach of asking questions to pull it out of them. Well, what do you want out of this space? How do you want to feel in it? How do you wanna use it? And then from there, of course, then we can have all the ideas and then have fun, hopefully make it fun for them too, ultimately, this process that we go through.
Cody (33:40)
Yeah, and just watching, the couple of visits that we've done already, watching people go, yeah, no, that makes sense, or I never thought of it that way, or I didn't see that. Sometimes like, everyone knows this. When you're within something, you cannot see the same things that people that are outside. So, it's really cool to like see people have even in the just the initial visit where we're not doing anything, we're just gathering information. Like to see people have these aha moments or see the possibilities or like the relief that washes over someone when they're thinking about, my God, that space could be this way, Oh, I never thought of putting the bottles like this or, you know, getting this thing. Like we're both total organizational nerds, so that really helps. So yeah, it's really cool. And I think it's just, Nancy pointed to something which is we are part of a community called The Hive out here locally. It's a networking group for women. It's much more than that. But in the conversations I've had in some of those meetings, there are so many people that have come up to me that have been like, I really want to do it, but I can't do it now. I have to clean, I have to get my SHIT together, like I couldn't possibly have you over. And it's like, well, that's the antithesis of the point. The point is that we help you. And so I think it's really interesting because I think we're hitting on something that's really vulnerable for people. Like it is vulnerable to let someone into this part of your life, into the nourishment of your life. But I also think like if people can just take a little deep breath and a leap of faith. Like having support in this arena, in whatever way ends up working for you is so valuable. Yeah.
Nancy (35:00)
Absolutely.
Cody (35:02)
Well, thank you, Nancy. This was so great. I'm sure we'll have you on again because you and I have much to chat about all the time. And we can.
Nancy (35:08)
Yeah.
Cody (35:09)
Talk about some of these kitchen resets that we're gonna be doing soon. I just want to ask you a final question, which is I want to hear about your new offer that you're creating. I know it's not ready. But tell us a little bit about it and maybe there can be some sort of wait list that people can join in the future.
Nancy (35:23)
Yeah. So it's actually more of a a giving back initiative.
Cody (35:27)
Mm.
Nancy (35:28)
That came to mind honestly over the weekend. I feel like my driving time in my car is when everything just pops into my head. And as I've really tried to build this business idea, partially, you know, one of the services I offer is stocking people's pantries up out east. It's a very seasonal place, so getting them set up for the summer, I just had this thought of Well, what happens with everything at the end of the summer? What do they do with all of maybe the food.
Cody (35:50)
Mm. Mm-hmm.
Nancy (35:52)
That's left and unopened? And I was like, I don't know, but I'm gonna find out and let me see if I can collect some. So this is all very, very new, but I'm gonna say it here and put it out into the universe because it's already in motion in terms of it happening. But I wanna do a food drive at the end of the.
Cody (36:06)
Amazing.
Nancy (36:06)
Summer. Just a seasonal, you know, pantry emptying, whatever people anything, of course, unexpired, non-perishable, I'll put all those guidelines out. But I really am loving the East End community. I think for as much wealth as there is out there, there's also a a terrible hunger and poverty problem. And I think if we can connect some of these dots and if I can do my little part, even if I collect 50 cans of food, I you know, I'll consider that a win. And just anything that I can do to serve all of the communities out there is something, you know, hunger is just something that's really important to me because we all.
Cody (36:38)
Hm.
Nancy (36:38)
Deserve to eat food and enjoy food and get that experience ultimately.
Cody (36:42)
I love that. And it will save people from having to go through their pantries and finding the lentils from 2014 that they didn't know they had that.
Nancy (36:51)
Exactly.
Cody (36:52)
Are unopened and uneaten.
Nancy (36:53)
Yeah.
Cody (36:53)
Saving everyone from the 2014 lentils. Thank you, Nancy. This has been amazing. Don't hang up, we'll say goodbye. And all right, I'm looking forward to connecting with all of you very soon. Bye.
Nancy (37:03)
Thanks, Cody. Bye.
Cody (37:05)
All right, I'm gonna get real raw and vulnerable here in this feng shui part of the podcast. First, thank you so much to Nancy. If you're local, please reach out to Nancy and I. We would love to talk to you about doing a kitchen reset in your kitchen. We recently did one out here with a client and it was such an amazing experience for all of us. So, some real raw vulnerable feng shui, because I think it's helpful to let you in on it can be so easy to sort of say, like, you know. Feng shui is whatever it is. And you know, people sort of think that when they do feng shui, it is like this buffer against bad things happening in life. And that's just not the truth. But what the truth is, is that it gives us another way. Well, there's a lot of truths, but one truth that I want to explore today is that it gives us another way to view our circumstances. So I'm going to tell you a very personal story that's still very raw, very real, and very in it. So as you may know, I haven't talked a ton about it on the podcast, but I will in the future. My husband and I had a really terrible and unfortunate legal situation happen that was connected to the building of our home. We got through that situation. We did absolutely employ some feng shui and of course practical legal advice and help, and we got through it. All was well, we were moving right along. And then recently another like legal adjacent, let's call it, legal adjacent situation found came to my doorstep. Now my initial instinct was my God, we have to move. We have to move. This, no, this is crazy. I've never had a legal situation happen in my entire life. And now there's two in the span of two years. This is crazy. I took a breath, I calmed down, I was like, okay, what is happening really? What is happening really is that there's always multiple forces in our life. It's never just the house. But I'm not gonna say that there is no influence because our houses have patterns and show us patterns. And so This is not just a one-off situation. This has become somewhat of a pattern, right? Hopefully this is a pattern that ends, but this is a pattern, right? What can I do? What can I see? What can I look at? What do need to know? So obviously, feng shui is also not something that's one and done, right? Like someone's like, I would love for you to feng shui my house. Well, that's not really what it is. It's a conversation. It's opening yourself up to the fact that your home and the energy of your space is participating in your life and really learning how to work with. That energy. So even though I've quote unquote feng shuied my space and my space was built with feng shui in mind, that doesn't mean that situations don't occur in my life. And that doesn't mean that I stop looking at my house and just say, the house is perfect and feng shui and there's nothing to do here. That's just not the truth. So I'm looking again and I'm thinking, I'm like, what is it? What is this? What could be contributing, right? Not the cause, but what could be contributing to this pattern? And I realize something. I said, my goodness, we have doors in our garage that are not functional. Okay. So these doors are garage doors, and it was low down on our priority list of anyone that's purchased or lived in a home that they own knows that there's always a running list of things you want to do and you have to prioritize, right? So this was a pretty low priority because it's not directly impacting our lives. And doing it isn't going to be a direct upgrade to our lives in any really tangible way. So it it got down pretty low on the priority list. These doors are fine. They open and close, but they're not finished and they're not really functional. And it's annoying to open them and they're not doing what they intended to do, right? I thought to myself, wait a minute, doors. Doors are really important in Feng Shui. We want our doors to be open. This is where opportunity reaches us. Now these doors are ginormous. They're garage doors and they live in our helpful people area. So the connection, the light bulb went off. Wow. We have this stickiness, this these doors that don't perfectly function in our helpful people area. And this is the area where we're inviting helpful people into our lives, where when situations do happen, we have the right people show up at the right time. It's also our travel area, right? That's not really on my mind in this situation, but it's it's a very important area to me of the home because I do really think that anything in our lives, it's really about the people. It's about the people that we surround ourselves with, the people that show up out of nowhere when we need them. So I'm always really conscious of this area of our home. Anyway, I said to my husband, I said, Doug, bump that up. Bump those garage doors up to the top of the list because we need to get them in working order. Now, this doesn't mean again that this was the cause. It's not like, we have these not optimal doors in our garage, hence we're going to be hit with legal issues again and again. But it is something that I can do. It's an action that I can take to help energy flow more freely in that area of my life and be more supportive. I did also do a quick little remedy in the garage until we can fix those doors. And it's just an area that I'm going to be giving some extra attention, some extra love as I'm going through this process. Anyway, I wanted to share that with you today. I hope that resonated with you on some level. If it did, I would love to hear how. You know the best place to find me is on Instagram, send me an instant message, send me a DM, and I'd love to connect with you. I also want to let you know that pretty soon I'm going to be opening up another round, another live round of Make Space, formerly known as the Clutter Lab, if you've been listening to me for a while. Make Space is a two week live energetic reset. It's really about looking at your relationship with your stuff, how to clear clutter in a way that is sustainable, that is ethical. And that allows you to create a new pattern in your life so that it doesn't keep returning again and again and again and again. We're also going to be learning sort of the feng shui meaning of clutter and how we can really start to up level the energy of our homes through the lens of our belongings. So if that interests you, go ahead and click on the link in the show notes. There is a wait list now and there will definitely be a fun little discount, although this price point is already very accessible. So go ahead and add yourself to the wait list. I'm going to be opening that. Probably come late September. But stay tuned on that. All right. Talk to you soon. Bye.