Born to Eat

Eating is an innate skill that marketing schemes and diet culture have overcomplicated. In recent decades, we have begun overthinking our food, which has led to chronic dieting, disordered eating, body distrust, and epidemic levels of confusion about the best way to feed ourselves and our families. We can raise kids with confidence in their food and bodies from baby's first bite! We are all Born to Eat, and it seems only natural for us to start at the beginning-with our babies. When babies show signs of readiness for solid foods, they can eat almost everything the family eats and become competent, happy eaters. By honoring self-regulation and using a family food foundation, we can support an intuitive eating approach for everyone around the table. With a focus on self-feeding and a baby-led weaning approach, nutritionists and wellness experts Leslie Schilling and Wendy Jo Peterson provide age-based advice, step-by-step instructions, self-care help for parents, and easy recipes to ensure that your infant is introduced to solid, tasty food as early as possible. It's time to kick diet culture out of our homes!

Wendy Jo Peterson, MS, RDN is a non-diet dietitian and culinary nutritionist. She is the author of eight books, including Bread Making For Dummies and Meal Prep Cookbook For Dummies. As with all military spouses, she wears many hats, but her favorite is her role as a mama. You can find Wendy Jo in her garden, walking the beach, in her camper van, or providing culinary education across the globe. She splits her time between Austin, Texas; San Diego, California; and Europe. Leslie Schilling, MA, RDN, CEDS-S, owns a Las Vegas-based practice specializing in nutrition counseling for families, people with disordered eating concerns, professional athletes, and performers. Leslie has served as a performance nutrition consultant for Cirque du Soleil® and the NBA and an expert contributor to U.S. News & World Report. With her warm, compassionate, and entertaining personality, Leslie has been featured in media outlets like Health, Women's Health, Self, Pregnancy Magazine, The Yoga Journal, Bicycling, BuzzFeed, the Huffington Post, and on HGTV. As a registered dietitian certified as an eating disorder specialist and supervisor, Leslie spends much of her time supporting professionals across the nation through supervision. When she's not hiking or playing board games with her family, you can find her sharing non-diet messages on her social media and speaking platforms. Leslie is passionate about educating ministry, military, health, medical, and fitness professionals about the harms of diet culture.