Healthy Teen Life

Let’s be totally honest, your teen years are an emotionally volatile time that can make life difficult...for everyone. There’s a lot of factors at play like hormonal and brain development changes, social, relationships, and family dynamics. Which is why learning to get a grip on your emotions, learning how to effectively manage and process them is so powerful in building self-esteem. When your emo...

Discover how one mother turned a life-changing diagnosis into a transformative journey of natural mental health solutions. In this episode, Leslie chats with Emma Tekstra, a former healthcare consultant turned wellness advocate, who shares her 15-year journey of using holistic strategies to address her son’s ADHD and Asperger’s. Key topics include: Effective dietary changes to support mental healt...

It wasn't long ago that emotional and social skills in the classroom were rarely considered essential for learning performance. Luckily through innovative educators, research and the development of effective implementation models it's available in schools throughout the U.S. Now social-emotional learning (SEL) is turning another corner through the application of neuroscience. Today Leslie is joine...

In this episode, we're talking about vital insights on how to improve your social game and communicate confidently in a range of scenarios. From handling peer pressure and setting boundaries to mastering digital communication and asserting yourself, this episode is packed with practical tips to enhance your social interactions. Whether you're looking to stand up for yourself in a firm yet friendly...

In this episode I reveal the transformative power of intention setting as an effective and sustainable approach to achieving your goals. All too often we set measurable, time-specific goals that are rigid, too disruptive, and lead to missed milestones, feelings of failure, and quitting. Statistics show most new year resolutions last only the first few weeks. There's a key reason why and that's roo...

Welcome to the Healthy Teen Life Podcast, where we explore essential topics for teens and young adults navigating health and wellness. In the episode Leslie revisits the most popular episodes of 2024, offering insights and advice from experts to help you live your healthiest life. From embracing ADHD to understanding the impact of social media on teen mental health, this episode covers crucial the...

Many people turn to resolutions at the start of each year to make positive changes in life.  Unfortunately, as statistics show, few resolutions last past the first month and most are never fulfilled. In this episode Leslie departs from typical resolutions to offer teens and young adults more useful and impactful lessons to implement into your everyday life. Based on 10 guiding principles such as s...

Much is still misunderstood about the challenges and triumphs surrounding dyslexia. It's a condition school administrators can overlook, and individuals often aren't sufficiently informed about. This was the case with today's guest, Griselda Provencio, who had her own personal journey living with undiagnosed dyslexia that unknowingly lead to her specialization. As a owner of a dyslexia institute s...

Teens and young women are constantly exposed to the pervasive issues of body perception and acceptance in today's society, that can have lasting negative effect on self-worth.  In this solo episode, Leslie delves into practical exercises aimed at building body self-acceptance through gratitude. Learn how to celebrate the strengths that make you unique, integrate them with your physical attributes,...

Making habit and belief changes can be highly effective to overcome binge eating behaviors, but one often forgotten area of treatment that often keeps victims of binge eating stuck, is their nervous system regulation. Following up on Episode 108 on Tips to Avoid Binge Eating, today Jane Pilger joins me again to delve into the often-overlooked connection between the nervous system and binge eating....

As economies throughout the world are seeing rising prices and living costs, food insecurity continues to rise. More families are tightening grocery budgets to get by. But it doesn't mean we have to sacrifice nutrition in the process. In this episode, my guest Kimberley Gillan shares her journey from experiencing food insecurity to becoming an advocate for eating nutritiously on a budget. Her expe...

Do you know how to talk to your teenager or do they seem like a complete stranger? What about as a teen, are you struggling to talk with your parents and feel heard? These are concerns I hear frequently from both parents and teens, and when communication breaks down, so do your relationships. On today's episode I'm joined by life coach Rebecca Thomas to explore the intricacies of parent-teen commu...

The Holidays can bring up a whole host of stressors and anxiety in all of us. But when you feel out of control with food and struggle with binge eating, it can be especially hard. Not only are holiday occasions filled with food but there’s the upfront anticipation and dread of what may come, as well as the turmoil that arises after an unwanted binge. It can ruin the entire holiday season. Today I’...

Feeding Disorders (ARFID & PFD) are relatively new when compared to other more established and commonly understood eating disorders, so it can be difficult to find factual, up-to-date research-backed information and support. Plus, because it's not typically considered a teen disorder, it is overlooked, misdiagnosed or confused with an eating disorder such as Anorexia Nervosa. In this week's ep...

In this episode of the Healthy Teen Life Podcast Leslie chats with Nikki Kinzer and Pete Wright, co-hosts of Taking Control: The ADHD Podcast to talk about living with ADHD as an adolescent. With over a decade of experience and a new book, "Unapologetically ADHD," they bring invaluable insights into understanding and managing ADHD without . We cover key topics of living with ADHD such as overcomin...

If you're curious about the intricate relationship between agriculture, the environment, and our health join me and my guest Cory Davis, a professional agrologist, to explore how it all works and what it means for our future. Building on last week's discussion with Vesanto Molina, Cory delves into environmental costs of food production, its impact on wildlife, and the quality of our food.  Listen...

Climate change, and the noticeable environmental shifts we’re experiencing like rising temperatures, wild fires, and melting glacier ice, is a hot topic. We’re all concerned and seeking solutions. While the popular targets for reducing any further impact are the gasoline & fossil fuel industries, it will take a long time to shift our dependency and potentially at additional cost due to the ene...

“He who controls the technology, controls the narrative” is the harsh reality of today’s metaverse and the virtual spaces we all live in and even more so for teens and young adults. Join me on a wild ride through the metaverse with legendary cyber security expert and leader Winn Schwartau.  In this episode you’ll discover the metaverse through Winn’s extensive research and unique perspective on te...

Welcome to the Healthy Teen Life Podcast with your host, Leslie. In this episode, we take a deep dive into the essential skill of listening and how it can significantly improve communication and relationships. Our special guest, Deb Porter, founder of HOLD (Hearing Out Life Drama), shares her expertise in active listening and emotional intelligence. Deb explains the concept of active listening and...

Welcome to the Healthy Teen Life Podcast! In this episode, Leslie chats with Dr. Stephan G. Hoffman, a leading expert in social anxiety and cognitive behavioral therapy. Together, they delve into the complexities of social anxiety, differentiating between normal social discomfort and social anxiety disorder. Dr. Hoffman explains the various forms of social anxiety, how it overlaps with other disor...

When you’re not feeling great about yourself it negatively impacts everything in your life -- which is why focusing on self-esteem above all else is essential. In this episode we delve into the crucial topic of self-esteem and why it's the root of happiness. I explain what everyone gets wrong about confidence vs. self-esteem, and why self-esteem should always come first. Learn practical strategies...

Plant-based eating can be one of the best approaches to living well. But before transitioning, it's important to understand the variations, nuances and best practices to live healthy and well on a plant-based diet. In this episode Leslie is joined by Brenda Davis, a renowned registered dietitian and a pioneer in plant-based nutrition. Together, we delve into the essentials of plant-based eating, b...

If you or someone close to you struggles with anxiety, stress or depression then you know it can be all-consuming to the point of panic. One often overlooked method for calming, treating and managing symptoms is breathwork. In today’s episode we talk about Resonance Frequency Breathing with Adrian Cox, of BreathYoga. RFP is a simple, science-based method of measured breathing. Using gentle, slow a...

When we search for our meaning in life, it usually centers around purpose. Why we're here and what we're meant to do. For young people in high school and college, this is especially true. What it is and how teens and college students can cultivate purpose is the topic of my conversation with Kendall Cotton Bronk, a developmental scientist and professor of psychology at Claremont Graduate Universit...

Anxiety is a common issue among today's youth, influenced by the pressures of academics, athletics, and family life. Luckily there is increased awareness and understanding of anxiety and with that comes empowering tools like those developed by today's guest Tessa Zimmerman, founder of Upstream Education. Join us as we discuss anxiety management and the groundbreaking work she's doing to support me...