Episodes

Welcome to Family in Focus with Wendy Schofer, MD, Episode #25! It's Thanksgiving week! It's that time of year where we renew our gratitude practices - and yet, how do we reconcile having gratitude amidst so much pain? Today's episode dives deeper into how do we embrace the pain, fear, uncertainty, grief - and open up the possibility for experiencing gratitude FOR the pain? So timely in 2020, 2021... and a good time to start modeling for our kids for 2022! This is getting personal - my examp...

Welcome to Family in Focus with Wendy Schofer, MD -- Thanksgiving special post. You know who wasn't invited to Thanksgiving - anywhere? The Food Police! In this super-quickie episode, I go over four things to consider before your Thanksgiving meal. They're so important that we can call them rules for the day. Actually for every day. Enjoy!

Welcome to Family in Focus with Wendy Schofer, MD - Episode #24! You know what's different in helping parents who are worried about their kids' weight? Having conversations like these: not about cutting calories and increasing movement, but using the tools of connection, openness and learning. Join me - and let me know how you apply for yourself and your family and community: wendy@wendyschofermd.com.

Welcome to Family in Focus with Wendy Schofer, MD. Today we dive into Responsibility when it comes to helping kids navigate weight concerns. What are we controlling? Where is the finger-pointing? Where are the opportunities to take ownership? Dive in and let me know what you see as your responsibility in your home. And the downloadable Division of Responsibility sheet (all thanks to Ellyn Satter's work) is available here. Drop me a line wendy@wendyschofermd.com and let me know how you're a...

Welcome to Episode #22! My son's at it again: giving me material for the podcast! And that's not a bad thing. I appreciate the opportunity to choose to focus on our conversations. You see, the brain is hard-wired to find problems and to focus on them until fixed. So we are ALWAYS looking for danger, problems, and pain. It's about ensuring our survival. But we have the option - the choice - to focus upon what is going well. And yes, our relationship is going well. Take a listen, and the challe...

Welcome to Family in Focus with Wendy Schofer, MD Episode #21! My love-hate relationship with Halloween has a lot to do with my experience as a pediatrician and the "sugar-gorge-fest," as I saw it. In this episode, I talk about how MISERABLE that made me feel, every year, and what I did to make peace with Halloween. While you may not take the same approach I did, what is possible for you to make peace with Halloween too? Join me at www.wendyschofermd.com and find out more about my group and 1:...

Welcome to Family in Focus with Wendy Schofer, MD Episode #20 (woo-hoo!) A mom used her example of making mac and cheese dinner as evidence that she isn't the one to lead her family to healthy habits. Hold.the.phone. Today we dive into why we serve the foods we do. And dare I say, the energy behind that - when you're having mac & cheese - what energy do you want to serve with it? It's your choice - and makes a tremendous difference! Join me at www.wendyschofermd.com and find out more about ...

Welcome to Family in Focus with Wendy Schofer, MD, Episode #19. Did you realize you have a say in the questions that you ask yourself? We have trained our brains to keep looking for something else, the next notification, all the things that need to be on the to-do list, all the things that require our time and attention and energy. It's hard to see the forest through the trees. Especially when it's your family -- seeing them through all the things to do, all the things vying for your attentio...

Welcome to Family in Focus with Wendy Schofer, MD. Episode #18 A gymnastics-tricks session with my niece this weekend left her amazed: her mom and I jumped right in. She hadn't seen adults jump in to play like that at the gym and it begged the question: why? Why aren't parents playing? In today's episode, we dive into this further - and I ask of you: how can you let go and allow your brain and body to play? Please like, follow, and subscribe to Family in Focus on your favorite podcast serv...

Welcome to Family in Focus with Dr Wendy Schofer. Episode #17: The final step in my Go S.L.O.W. process for creating healthy family habits: Water. So powerful, essential (as per my father-in-law... and biology!) and yet so easily overlooked. Today I talk about the things that get in the way of adopting water into our regular habits - and why it is deserving of more attention.

Welcome to Family in Focus with Wendy Schofer, MD. Today we continue on the Go S.L.O.W. framework: Observe your body. Get all busy asking it two really important questions: Am I hungry? Have I had enough? We go through a whole bunch o' stuff that gets in the way of asking the questions and listening to the answers. I'd love to hear what you're learning for yourself. What are the messages you are hearing from your body about hunger and enough-ness? And how are you modeling it for your kids...

Welcome to Family in Focus with Wendy Schofer, MD. Today we continue on the steps of Going SLOW to instill healthy habits for the whole family around meals: Lose the Distractions. Yeah, I don't like having steps that speak in the negative, but with the number of distractions that we have nowadays, it begs particular attention. TVs, computers, scrolling on phones and endless notifications -- these all distract us from being able to truly nourish our bodies as well as each other in social conne...

Welcome to Family in Focus with Wendy Schofer, MD! Episode 14: The Structure You Need Our children thrive with structure - being able to anticipate, trust and have certainty. Today we talk about creating the structure your family needs for meals. My Go SLOW process for creating healthy habits for the whole family: get a copy at www.wendyschofermd.com

Episode 13: One Breath - it's the start of everything: Life A new habit Taking one purposeful breath has power to shift to the calm that is now. Listen to find out more. My Go SLOW process for creating healthy habits for the whole family: get a copy at www.wendyschofermd.com We will be breaking down the process in new editions over the coming weeks. Also go to www.wendyschofermd.com/FIF-signup to join the next cohort of Family in Focus coaching for parents who are worried about their kids' ...

Any plan for healthy habits needs to include scheduling regular sleep, no matter your current or goal weight. Not as an after-thought, or something to catch whenever we can. But an active carving out of time to prioritize sleep. Your child's focus, performance, mood, metabolism, resilience and appetite will thank you. Join me at www.wendyschofermd.com to join Family in Focus and create a plan for healthy habits for your whole family. Please subscribe and share!

If we can choose our feelings (by the way, we can!), I choose fun. I value FUN so much in my life that I'm actively looking for it: at work (go figure a pediatrician values fun!), as well as at home in my relationships and lifestyle. You can use it too. Decide to find the fun. Check out this file for the Feelings Wheel and Values and explore which feelings and values are driving you to take action. Join me at www.wendyschofermd.com Join Family in Focus: Empowering parents worried about their ...

What I learned from the Okinawans - and had to unlearn to use it Hara Hachi Bu - "Eat until you're 80% full." Great to practice and understand when have I had enough. As parents, we first need to see what's getting in the way of being able to ask our kids, and accept their answers. Letting go of beliefs around meals, food rules - and then letting the kids have an opportunity to become aware of their own bodies.

The Coaching Model, as conceptualized by Brooke Castillo of The Life Coach School, is a universal tool to understand how we create the results in our lives (the ones we don't want, and the ones we actually want). In this episode, we discuss the 5 parts, and use examples from at home to illustrate its use. We also discuss which parts of the Model every human gets to choose - and how choosing what you think & feel, and how you behave creates all the results in your life.

I'm practicing -- "I am not perfect, I do not need to be perfect, I am amazing BECAUSE of my mistakes and imperfections." Yeah, it's an ongoing practice. Like today, not editing. Just taking my unedited podcast and going real with you. It's a work in progress. As a physician, I thought that I needed to get it all right, not make mistakes - and I buried myself in shame when I did. I'm still learning about myself, about medicine, about my family - and that has made the difference. Because when ...

We live in a culture of snacks - grab and go food everywhere. Why do we look for snacks, and when do we need them? How do we teach our children about snacks, and hunger versus other searches for food? Find more on www.wendyschofermd.com, including my program for parents worried about family overweight, starting now! Please subscribe and rate the podcast so others can find it!

When we focus on one aspect, a struggle, a challenge, we can put on blinders - concentrating so much on "fixing the problem" that we create more issues along the way. This is why I work to keep the Family in Focus - understanding the habits that have gotten us here - and engaging the whole family in the new habits that we want going forward. And as the leader of the family, the parent has the key role to play in creating health at home. My Group Coaching program is open for registration, get ...

Episode #5: The Truth about Motivation What is the energy that you are using to motivate yourself and your family? Is it from a perspective of pushing (the drill sargeant), or from a place of leaning into what you want? We discuss the difference, how to tap into the positive emotions that drive you forward to make change, and creative brainstorming. Join the Summer Accelerator Group Coaching Program - registration open through 7/15 and the 8 week session runs from Aug 1 to Sept 25. https://...

3 Steps to Refocus your Family Health Transformation 1) Actively look for & take inventory of success What IS working What does success mean for you? What is a step in the right direction? 2) What works in those steps? What MADE it successful What made it EASY? 3) Build upon successes to create even more healthy habits Link desired habits together You don't have to start from scratch Check out my website including group coaching programs empowering parents to build a healthier whole f...

Food Rules are everywhere. What do we choose to follow, what do we ignore, and when do we flex? And an introduction to my son... has he joined the Dark Side? Find more on www.wendyschofermd.com, including my free Mini Course, "Lead Your Family to Healthier Habits" at www.wendyschofermd.com/mini Please subscribe and rate the podcast so others can find it!