Melissa Vasikauskas - Podcast Details

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Embodied Nourishment22. Transform Your Relationship with Fitness with Coach Jess BurkeWelcome to an inspiring episode of the Embodied Nourishment Podcast, featuring the badass certified strength and conditioning specialist, Coach Jess Burke who also has a masters in kinesiology. This episode dives deep into reshaping our relationships with exercise without sacrificing our relationship with food. Come with us as we move away from diet culture and towards a more balanced and holistic approach to exercise. Coach Jess shares her personal journey and professional expertise, emphasizing the importance of understanding the synergy between nutrition and exercise. Together, we explore the misconceptions surrounding fitness and diet, dismantling the harmful ideologies...2025-04-231h 09

Embodied Nourishment21. The Secret to Healthy Weight Loss: No Restrictions!Welcome to the Embodied Nourishment Podcast! In this episode, join me as I delve into the complexities surrounding weight loss, the anti-diet movement, and disordered eating recovery. I share my personal journey as a registered dietitian and offer eye-opening insights into the missing nuance in diet culture discussions. Discover why extreme calorie restriction can harm your metabolism and learn about the significant role of basal metabolic needs in achieving your healthiest weight. Whether you're caught in a cycle of dieting and binging or stuck in perpetual restriction, this episode provides practical strategies to nourish your body, respect...2025-04-0248 min

Embodied Nourishment20. Body Trust Through the Lens of Feeding BabiesA little while ago I had been thinking about my different experiences working as a Registered Dietitian. And I can say that the most frustrating area I ever worked was my short time spent as a Lactation Consultant. Babies are the most intuitive feeders. And breastfeeding can be so easy if one were truly able to surrender to the lead of their baby. But it’s our own expectations and rigidity and food rules that project and get in the way, usually making it a stressful and miserable experience. I would try to ease mothers’ conc...2025-01-0626 min

The Postpartum Shift32. Finding the Middle Ground: Intuitive Eating, Weight Loss & Diet Culture with Melissa Vasikauskas RDN, CDNDo you ever feel confused by the messages around health, weight loss, and food freedom? One side says weight loss is bad. The other pushes extreme diets. But what if there was a way to find balance? In this episode, I and Melissa share our personal journeys navigating diet culture, intuitive eating, and helping women reach our health goals without toxic guilt and shame. You can follow Melissa on Instagram @embodied.nourishment. Check out her podcast, here. Here's a sneak peek: [1:30] Intro [5:00] Finding a healthy relationship with food but also being o...2024-08-2743 min

Embodied Nourishment19. The Most Important Piece of Body Image RecoveryI know you hate your body and you think that weight loss will make you love it, so you restrict HARD. But a malnourished brain is a brain that can’t perceive things accurately, so the image of yourself becomes increasingly distorted. And then whatever body changes you do experience might make you feel better in some ways, but deep down it doesn’t solve everything. So you might try a different diet...and then a different diet...and then a different diet...etc... All the while body image never really impr...2024-07-1823 min

Embodied Nourishment18. When Intuitive Eating Isn’t WorkingIf you've been trying intuitive eating and you feel like it is not working to bring you the peace and health you are looking for, I am going to tell you why right now... The practice and principles of intuitive eating are IDEALISTIC. They are the end goal. But the end goal is not always the means to that end. Yes it sounds IDEAL to trust your hunger and fullness and to not have any food rules, BUT if you have a bunch of internalized rules that dictate your life, it's damn near impossible to adopt intuitive...2024-03-2336 min

Strong + UnfilteredEP149 Perinatal Body Image, fertility and how we stop diet culture Melissa Vasikauskas is a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist who earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Nutrition-Food Science at CUNY Brooklyn College. She completed her dietetic internship at Stony Brook University Hospital. Melissa has been nutrition counseling for 7 years and specializes in helping people break out of chronic dieting cycles by teaching them how to properly nourish their bodies. Melissa helps people learn how to trust their bodies and to develop confidence in the choices they make. Using an intuitive, non-diet approach, Melissa's patients heal their relationships with food so that they can go on to live...2023-11-271h 07

Embodied Nourishment17. Body Discomfort"I want to lose weight because I am just so uncomfortable in my body." Raise your hand if you've said these words! What if I told you that there was a way to learn how to be comfortable in the body that you are in right now? And what if I told you that your resistance to learning this comfort is not protecting your health like you think it is? I know what you are thinking. You're sitting there saying "If I learn how to be comfortable with the body I...2023-10-0943 min

Embodied Nourishment16. Interoceptive Awareness, Fullness versus SatisfactionIf you don’t eat a 700 calorie cheeseburger because you think it’s unhealthy but then proceed to eat a bunch of “healthy” stuff devoid of the essential proteins, fats, and nutrients that your body was craving in the cheeseburger, bringing your total calorie intake to 1,200….why do you keep doing that? So many times people will express to me that they eat so healthy but can’t understand why they keep gaining weight. Well guess what, if you’re constantly denying your cravings, which is your body’s way of trying to communicate to you what it needs, and in...2023-08-2240 min

Embodied Nourishment15. Why You Don’t Trust Yourself With FoodRelationships that are characterized by control and manipulation stem from a lack of trust. When we are in a relationship with someone we don't trust, we tend to deploy our controlling side. This might look like creating rules to follow, invading the other person's privacy by going through their things, and picking fights. What does your relationship with food look like? Is that relationship also characterized by control and manipulation? Similar to controlling relationships with other people, controlling relationships with food ALSO stems from a lack of trust. But this lack of trust instead stems from a...2023-05-1824 min

Embodied Nourishment14. Stop Stepping on the ScaleI know you think that stepping on the scale is giving you control over your body and your food intake. But what if I told you that stepping on the scale is the very thing that is making you out of control? It goes a little something like this: 1 - You step on the scale 2 - If the number is higher than desired, you eat less. If the number is lower than expected you continue eating less to “continue your progress” 3 - Your food intake in controlled by the number, not your...2023-02-2726 min

The Steady CoachWhy restrictive diets are a bad strategy for dizziness recovery: interview w/ Melissa Vasikauskas RDIn this interview with Melissa Vasikauskas, Registered Dietitian, we explore restrictive and elimination diets that people are often recommended when they are diagnosed with vestibular migraine, PPPD, MdDS and other chronic dizziness symptoms. We talk about the gut-brain axis, how restrictive diets can actually make symptoms worse, and how healing our relationship with food plays a role in regaining trust in our bodies. Follow Melissa on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/embodied.nourishment/ Melissa's website: https://snipfeed.co/embodiednourishment For more free education and information from The Steady Coach, please visit our YouTube...2022-11-161h 04

Embodied Nourishment13. My Birth Story, Sex, Kink, Divesting from SystemsThis episode is a little different today. I talk about my unmedicated birth story, kink, sex, divesting from oppressive systems and somehow tie it all together back to diet culture. I understand this episode may not be for everyone, it sure is a little "out there." If you're a kinky freak, you'll certainly love it. Regardless of your sexual preferences, I recommend that everyone read the book that I referenced in this podcast, Existential Kink by Carolyn Elliott, PHD Find me on Instagram @embodied.nourishment 2022-10-0555 min

Embodied Nourishment12. Food Allergy or Just Anxiety?I can not count the number of times I've met people who have confused anxiety for a food allergy or food sensitivity. Serotonin is a mood regulator and is responsible for helping us to manage our emotions. Most of our serotonin is created in our guts. In the case of anxiety, extra serotonin is produced which can cause stomach discomfort and ruin appetite. Many people will bounce between gastroenterologists and functional medicine doctors trying to find the root cause of their stomach pain. This is where the spiral of elimination diets begin. If...2022-09-0226 min

Embodied Nourishment11. Exercising for HealthMeet exercise culture - diet culture’s fraternal twin sister.⁣ ⁣ Are you under the impression that unless you’re doing a bootcamp 7 days a week and you’re sweating for an hour straight each time, the workout doesn’t count?⁣ ⁣ What if I told you that that’s not what’s necessary to reap the health benefits of exercise? I can bore you with the research…”exercise is beneficial for health…”blah blah blah, yes, yes it is beneficial for health. But how much? The research certainly does NOT suggest that your workout needs to be a bootcamp to “count.”⁣2022-08-1534 min

Embodied Nourishment10. Science is Limited but Your Intuition is NotThe research behind nutrition is very limited. I’m not talking about cold hard nutrition facts such as “Vitamin C helps in the production of collagen.” Not that. I’m talking about hypotheses that are studied. Hypotheses such as “a diet high in cholesterol leads to high blood cholesterol levels.” Those studies are super limited. And the conclusions that are drawn from them are often debunked after several years. I mean, remember when they used to tell us that eggs were bad? Old, fake news! When it comes to nutrition and human metabo...2022-07-3134 min

The Self-Compassion Project11. Disordered Eating & Body Dysmorphia: What Are They and Where Do They Come From?We’ve all heard of eating disorders, disordered eating and body image issues. Maybe you’ve experienced them or know someone who has, or you’ve read definitions of them. But WHAT ARE they really? And where do they come from? I am a therapist who specializes in disordered eating and body image, and in this episode I unpack these terms and help them to seem less wild and out-there ✨🛸💫 I reference Melissa Vasikauskas, RD’s (@embodied.nourishment on IG) podcast “Embodied Nourishment” that is full of related gems. • Follow this link to learn more about what it’s like to do therapy with me: h...2022-07-2143 min

Embodied Nourishment9. It’s Not About the FoodHow many times have you ever said to yourself "why can't I just eat a sandwich without thinking about calories and carbs and just move on with my life?" Why can't you, do you think? I know you want to be free from food rules and dieting. Maybe the questions we need to start asking ourselves is "why do food rules even exist?" Where did they come from? Why are they even here? What is the goal of them? And for what purposes? I have a few theories. 2022-07-1925 min

Embodied Nourishment8. Shame is Not an Effective Motivator for Behavior ChangeShaming yourself doesn't work to break toxic cycles. You can not shame your way into make better choices for your life. How many times have you overate a food and then resorted to speaking meanly to yourself? "I'm such an idiot." "What's wrong with me?" "I have no self control." "I hate myself." We all know the cliche saying "would you speak to your friend the way you speak to yourself?" And of course you wouldn't talk to your friend in these ways. And yet you continue...2022-07-1129 min

Embodied Nourishment7. Self AssuranceHi friends! This podcast is a little different today. The first 6 episodes were more "professional" sounding and "containerized" if you will. But I didn't quit my clinical job to continue being containerized. You see, the standardized practice of care doesn't let practitioners go below the surface of "what are you eating?" And yet, all of the things that cause disordered eating and negative body image are found below the surface of "what are you eating?" Because disordered eating and negative body image is never about the food. It's about your individual...2022-06-2734 min

Embodied Nourishment6. Cleaning Out the ClosetI know you think that keeping clothes that are too small for you in your closet is motivating you to "eat healthy" or to "lose weight." But what if I told you that keeping these clothes in your closet is actually destroying your relationship with food and is making you unhealthy? In this podcast episode I talk about how important it is for your health to acquire clothes that fit your body, how to grieve those old clothes, and I finish with some tips on how to get started in the "Cleaning Out the Closet" journey. 2022-06-2028 min

Embodied Nourishment5. Food WasteIn this podcast episode I talk about how major corporations do a really good job of making us feel personally responsible for their waste and corruption and how this also plays out in generational family patterns. I also talk about PEOPLE PLEASING and how being afraid to hurt people’s feelings may also be causing us to eat beyond our fullness cues. And finally at the end I show you how reconnecting with your body and learning conscious eating practices can help you to decrease food waste in your everyday life, putting more money in yo...2022-06-1325 min

Embodied Nourishment4. Cope with your emotions without using food.The first step to healing your relationship with food is being adequately nourished. You can not deal with your emotions from a place of hunger. Only after you are properly nourished can you then move on to practice coping with your emotions without using food. This episode will show you how to do that! Click the link below for 1:1 nutrition counseling! https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1-4HeEBh1eJ3ujUYt0QiIWEA3TsaLn0F98rwYcAngCK4/edit 2022-06-0615 min

Embodied Nourishment3. You’re not addicted to food. You’re addicted to dieting.Trying to combat bingeing with more restriction is like trying to put out a fire with gasoline. If you want to stop experiencing the lows and depressions of bingeing then you must learn how to cope with life without the high that comes with restriction. The only way to stop this madness is to deal with the problem at the SOURCE and the problem is NOT the food. It is NEVER the food. The problem is the restriction. Whether that’s physical or mental restriction, the binges will never stop until you quit dieting. In this episode, I show yo...2022-05-3015 min

Embodied Nourishment2. It isn’t willpower, it’s survival. Stop dieting today!In this episode I talk about what survival mode is and why your physiology hates intentional weight loss. Your DNA won’t let you keep intentional loss off and neither will your brain stem. At the end I give you a meal plan framework to help you begin restoring trust with your body so it can feel safe and nourished. Apply to work with me 1:1 here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1-4HeEBh1eJ3ujUYt0QiIWEA3TsaLn0F98rwYcAngCK4/edit 2022-05-2127 min

Embodied Nourishment1. IntroductionWelcome to the Embodied Nourishment Podcast. My name is Melissa and I help individuals transform their obsessions with food and body so that their lives can revolve around the important things.2022-05-2102 min

Strong + UnfilteredEP75: Freedom in letting goMelissa Vasikauskas is a Registered Dietitian who specializes in helping individuals who fall somewhere on the disordered eating spectrum find peace with food + body image. She describes disordered eating + disordered behaviors so well + I think this episode will be so helpful for anyone who has EVER struggled with diet culture, food rules/restrictions, + finding peace with nutrition. There are SO many good nuggets from her in this episode + she will definitely be coming back! Follow her @embodied.nourishment Follow me @danielle.kepics Rate + review the podcast. Connect with Melissa if...2022-01-031h 09