Thrive Like a Mother Podcast
I'm Ebony and I'm a mama to 3 beautiful souls. I'm learning how navigate my trauma healing while building the life I never dreamed was possible. I'm a survivor of childhood abuse and for the longest time, I believed that if anyone knew my story, I wouldn't be worthy of love. Many years later and now I know that it far from the truth.
On the Thrive Like a Mother podcast, I'll share the resources and tools I use on the daily to cultivate a healthy mindset break the wheel of survival. Here we're about honesty and transparency. Because at the root of it all, my purpose in creating this podcast is so that you know you are never alone in your journey.
There may be laughter, there may be tears and we'll do it all by linking arms and learning to thrive together.
Thrive Like a Mother Podcast
Honoring the you that you are now
What if your meals matched your life instead of your ideal? In this episode, we dig into how seasons like new motherhood, busy work sprints and healing change our capacity, cravings, and priorities.
The ebb and flow of life isn’t failure, it’s feedback. By reframing food as support, not perfection, we trade guilt for practical tools that help us nourish ourselves and our families with less stress and more intention.
We unpack the three anchors that make this shift real: awareness, flexibility, and compassion.
- Awareness means naming your current season with honesty. Being real about your time, energy, and emotional bandwidth, so your menu fits that reality.
- Flexibility looks like crock pot wins, 15-minute dinners, sheet pan staples, and inviting help from the people you live with.
- Compassion releases comparison and honors changing needs across pregnancy, postpartum, toddler years, and career demands.
We also talk about modeling a healthy food story for our kids. Choosing curiosity over rules, consistency over perfection, connection over performance.
You’ll leave with simple, repeatable steps so whether you’re rebuilding after a hard week or leaning into a slower rhythm, these strategies will help you create ease without abandoning nutrition or your budget.
Want extra support in your journey? Grab my FREE Meal Plan & Prep Workbook, then tell a friend and start together.
Thank you so much for listening in! If this episode spoke to you, it would mean the world to me if you left a review or shared it with a friend. And don’t forget to tag me so I can personally thank you for helping me spread the word.
Follow and chat with me on Instagram:
Podcast account - @thrivelikeamother.podcast
Personal account - @thrive.empowered
Sending you light and love always!
Hey Liv, I'm Ebony and welcome to Thrive Like a Mother. On this podcast, we're scared for our truth, but that fear is what fuels us to truly live. You're in the right place if you feel like you're stuck in survival mode and you're ready to step into who you were truly meant to be. I'll share resources and tools I use daily to help you in your journey toward a healthier mindset and to break the wheel of survival. The journey may not be easy, but you won't have to face it alone. I'm a mama of three, healing day by day from past trauma, and I'm on a mission to build a life I've always dreamed of, but never thought was possible. So, love, if you're ready to believe in what's possible, let's link arms and thrive together. Hey loves, welcome back to the Thrive Like a Mother podcast. I'm really excited for today's episode, y'all, because I want to talk about something that has been on my heart recently, and that is the idea of seasons. And yes, this is a timely episode because we have just entered the beginning of fall season and we are entering the final quarter of 2025 as I'm recording this episode. But in today's episode, I don't want to just talk about the seasons as in, you know, the seasons on the calendar, fall, spring, you know, all of those, right? Because if you are anything like me and you're thinking about the seasons of your life, you probably have noticed that your relationship with food actually shifts depending on what season you're in. And if you're like actually no, I have not thought about that, then this episode is definitely going to give you a new perspective on what that looks like. Y'all, when I was a brand, a brand new mama of one, food was really just about survival for me. I really was in the mode of grabbing whatever I could whenever I could. And a lot of the time that was truly like whatever drive-thru was closest to home on the commute back. And later on, I really had more space available to really think deeply about the nutrition. And I had more space and capacity to start cooking meals from scratch, using whole ingredients, and started to really enjoy the process. And now as a balance, motherhood, entrepreneurship, and in my own healing, I've really realized that the food choices really still ebb and flow with whatever season I'm in. Yes, the goal is to cook home cooked meals most of the time. But we go through seasons, y'all. We go through seasons. And for a long time, I used to think that whenever I was in a season that was a little bit harder, that meant that I was being inconsistent, that I wasn't showing up as I was supposed to, that I wasn't disciplined enough. And now I'm seeing it differently because I see it now as allowing myself to honor really truly where I am right now. Right now. Food is not meant to be rigid, y'all, or perfect. It is meant to support us truly in whatever season that we're in. And that really means we have to start honoring where we are right now, no matter what season it is. And so today we're gonna reflect on how our relationship with food evolves, what it looks like to truly embrace that season, no matter which one it is, and how to really release the guilt and show up with grace for ourselves in every single moment. And so I want you before we dive in deep into this episode, I want you to start thinking back to what your relationship with food looked like in a past season of your life compared to where you are right now. How has it shifted? Because this is gonna help you start thinking of the different perspective of how our relationships, relationship with food really shifts throughout our lives. And so let's let's talk about the idea of seasons. Let's start there. Gosh, and again, we're not talking about fall, summer, spring, winter, right? We are talking about seasons of life. Think about any life changes that you've had, where maybe, you know, even starting from graduating high school, that was a big shift in a season for me. Graduating high school and moving in on my own at the dorm rooms at college, not really knowing like how to cook for myself and having to really still rely on the food haul and late night burger grabs, fry grabs, all those things, right? And then came the motherhood stages, right? Different stages in motherhood, being a first-time mom, really grappling with what that looks like, you know, trying my best to embrace the transformation that motherhood is, and also still trying to figure out how to feed myself. And eventually, as they get older, trying to figure out how to feed the sunny person. Seasons, y'all, different energy levels. Maybe you're in a season right now where your workload is very, very heavy and your time looks much different than it did in a previous season. Maybe your finances are looking different than they did in the past. Maybe you're on a journey where you're saving up for a home or a big purchase or saving up to tackle debt, right? Maybe your finances are in a different season. And so when I'm talking about seasons, right, I want to share a story of a season that I went through as opposed to kind of where, kind of where I am now, right? So I want to talk about that early motherhood survival stage because that one is one that hits me the most, especially now as a mom of three. Now I've gone through that transformation now three times, being where I'm at, going back to the first time I became a mother and really being in that survival mode, right? That postpartum, oh my gosh, what just happened? I now have this tiny human that I have to take care of, as well as continuing to learn how to take care of myself and what that looks like now that I am now, now that my time looks different, right? Now that it's not just about caring for myself, but also some of my time is going towards taking care of this little person. And food for me, like I said, y'all, it was pure survival. It was, okay, what can I do quickly? Um, and at the time, I believed that for me quickly that equated to someone else making it, it being already ready, right? Not saying that that's a bad thing at all, but this season looked different for me. My time looked different. Now, even as a mom of three, with the youngest being just one and a half, just one and a half. So I'm just coming out of that season where my time was, my time capacity was a little bit less and what I was able to do. And now, knowing what I know now, that easy doesn't have to equate to someone else making the meals and me just picking them up. I can create ease now, even though my time looks different. It looks like creating flexibility in my meal plan, focusing on the meals that take a shorter amount of time to cook, focusing on the meals where I can just pop it in the crock pot or pop it in the oven, and that's as much cook time that I have to put towards it. It looks like me being a lot more intentional about my prep, being a lot more intentional of where in my time, where in my schedule does the this time fit, right? And our needs change, right? Over time. I know that you listening to this now, you know that very well, that our needs change as we get older, as reasons in our life change. And that's normal and it's okay. So I want to dive into how food evolves at these different life stages, right? Because you go from being pregnant and you are technically eating for yourself, but also eating to nourish your body so you can grow this entire human. And then once that human is in the world, things shift. You are now in a recovery mode, a healing mode, a transformation of becoming a mother and things shift again. Very quickly, I might add. It seems like nine months is a very long time. Um, it's really truly not, y'all. When you think of it in the grand scheme of it. And then once that little one is here, y'all, when I tell you things move so quickly, where they are first just a tiny little baby. They don't really need food yet, right? They are just surviving off of milk. And then before you know it, it's time for them to start learning how to eat. Another season shift. Another point where you have to shift your thinking in the way of what kind of food you're going to be providing for yourself, what kind of food you're gonna be now providing for this tiny person, how you're gonna start introducing them to food and helping them build their own food story. It evolves, right? Even in thinking from food when you are healing from trauma versus how you are thriving in stability after that healing, right? How does it look different for you? For me personally, as I was healing, I started to view myself in a different way. I started to view the way I cared for myself in a different way, and that translated into something completely different when I was on the other side. And I'm gonna go back to busy work seasons, right? Because I know a lot of us are working mom, right? We are working to provide for our families, and that looks like sometimes working really hard and not having enough time or feeling like we don't have enough time to provide the nutrition that we want to provide, as opposed to having those slower seasons where we have more time capacity. Both of those, yes, both of those are different, but you can create the same nutritional goals in both of those seasons, it just looks different the way that you approach it. And that's the perspective I want to give you today. I want you to give yourself grace instead of guilt. When you're in that busy season, I don't want you to feel like, oh gosh, I can't show up in the same way I had been a few months ago when I had more time capacity. Of course it looks different. Of course it does. But this is our opportunity to again look at food not as perfection, not as showing up perfectly, but in a way of really looking at how our nourishment can match our current season. And so we're gonna think about some of those things, right? I want you to ask yourself a question now, and that is like, what season am I in right now? Am I in the season of survival and healing? Am I in a season of growth and transformation? Or am I in a season where things are a bit more slowed down? And whatever season you're in, how does showing up differently look when it comes to food, right? The season I'm in and right now, how can I be realistic about how I approach my nutrition? We're gonna talk about some ways, obviously, obviously, to support yourself in the season you're in right now. It comes down really to three things that I want you to focus on. The first one being bringing yourself some awareness. And we just did that with the the first question, asking truly what season you're in right now, and what is it that you need to do the most? Right. So if you're in the busier season, being aware of I don't have as much time, I need food that is going to nourish me, but I'm able to get that food quickly, right? And not defaulting to DoorDash, right? Not saying that there's anything wrong with DoorDash, but if your goals are you're wanting to provide nutritious meals for you and your family, if your goals are you don't want to spend as much on eating out, then you can still do that without the guilt by really honing in on understanding what season you're in and starting, starting right there. The second thing you're gonna want to focus on is flexibility. Flexibility. Adjust your expectations, y'all. Some of our seasons are gonna call for those crock pot meals, those meals that you put in, you know, super early in the morning and you come back later on and it's already done. Those meals that take like 15 to 20 minutes to put together when you get home from work and giving space for support. What does that look like in this season? Is there anyone within your household that you can ask for support from in a season where you don't have as much capacity to pour into, you know, making the home cooked meals? What does that look like for you? And number three, y'all, compassion. Compassion. We are releasing the guilt of this episode when it comes to our food habits, because they are going to look different than anyone else's. I don't want you looking at someone on social media and being like, oh my gosh, how do they have the time to put together all of these foods? Right. Because your season looks completely different from theirs. I personally allow myself to honor my season, honestly, y'all, every single week. Every single week I evaluate where I am at with time, with capacity, and I mean like energy-wise, right? Too, because as women, our energy cycles flow differently throughout the month, right? So I give my myself space and I honor this is where I'm at this week. How can the choices I make as far as what food I'm going to plan for my family? How can that align with where I'm at in this season? Sometimes it means I need to prep less food or spend less time prepping. Sometimes it means I need to lean into the simpler meals that come together quickly. And sometimes I do have more time, and it means I can pour into the part of me that loves cooking those really comforting foods that take just a little bit extra time that I want to provide for myself and my family, right? And so let's go into three tips. You're like, okay, I get it. You want to have awareness, you want to have flexibility, and you want to have compassion for yourself. But then how do you implement that, right? So I'm gonna give you some tips for first of all, identifying your season and going from there, okay? Because that's where we start. We identify where our season is at, and we move on through there. And when you're identifying your season, you want to think of things like where are my energy levels at? Where is my time at? And something people don't often think about is what is my emotional bandwidth? Like, how am I feeling in this season? Am I in a place where I need to maybe nurture more of my healing journey? And maybe for me, that doesn't look like spending more time cooking and prepping. Right? Choose the meals that fit for that season, whether they are quick, whether they are budget friendly if that's a season that you're in, whether they are comfort driven. If it's a season where you need to be held by your food, right? And y'all give yourself at least one anchor meal every single week that makes you feel supported. Start with just one. I'm not saying every single meal of the week, you have to be focusing on having it fit your season. Yes, you want to be mindful of how you're planning, but if you start with just, okay, I can focus on at least one meal during the week that is going to support me in this season, one meal that is going to serve me in this season, then that's where you start. You build up from there. And so I want to ask you to take a moment today and write down like what's one small change that you can make in your meals in your kitchen this week that truly honors the season that you're in instead of fighting against it, instead of trying to strive for perfection, instead of trying to strive in the way you've always done it. Why isn't it working now? Maybe it's we need to look and evaluate what season we're in, what season of life that we're in. So as I wrap up today, I want you to remember this. Your relationship with food is going to change, and that's okay. That is life. And it's honestly quite beautiful to start to have the self-awareness where you start listening to exactly what is going to serve you in this season. And every season of life, whether it's one of survival, whether it's one of growth or healing, or one where you are in a season of abundance. Each one of those comes with their own needs. And so what I hope that you've learned on this episode today is learning to listen in to self and truly honor those needs instead of fighting against them to fit the mold, right? We are breaking the mold. Food is not about perfection, it is about nourishment, it is about comfort, and it is about connection. And when you start giving yourself permission to eat and plan food in a way that truly, truly supports where you are right now, the you you are right now, you not only start to make cooking become easier, make feeding yourself become easier, make feeding your family become easier, you also start to become a model for your family, right? That it is safe to honor our seasons, that it is safe to evaluate and be self-aware. Be self-aware and truthful about where we are. And so I want you to take a deep breath as we end, and you're gonna ask yourself, what season am I in right now? What do I need most from food in this season? And I want you to let the answers to those questions guide you this week. And don't forget, y'all, my meal plan and prep workbook is now free and available to help you create the rhythm in the kitchen that continues to feel supportive no matter what season that you're in. And for y'all, the link is in the show notes. I got you. See you on the next episode. Thank you so much for listening, love. If anything in today's episode resonated with you, share it with your bestie or share it on social media and tag me so we can chat about it. As always, sending you light and love, and remember, you are worthy, you are enough, and you deserve to thrive.
