Dr. Kerry Reller:
All right. Hi, everybody. Welcome back to the Get Healthy Tampa Bay Podcast. I’m your host, Dr. Kerry Reller, and today we have Mailoha Kitchens. Did I say that right?

Mailoha Kitchens:
Mailoha. Close enough.

Dr. Kerry Reller:
That’s prettier when you say it. Okay, thank you for correcting me. Anyway, welcome to the podcast. Why don’t you tell us a little bit about who you are and what you do, and we’ll go forward from there?

Mailoha Kitchens:
Of course. I am a Tampa girl — Tampa is home. I am a single mom and a widow, and I have a beautiful, super sweet 3-year-old girl. Her name is Eleanor. I am one of the coaches at Be Healthy Tampa. Your audience might have heard of our wellness center.

I’ve been there, and we do all kinds of things. We start with a Seca scan and health assessments, and then we work with our clients on all the things I was doing with Mailoha Kitchens Health — accountability coaching, meal plans, and more. People have different goals, right? Not everybody has a weight loss goal, which is totally fine. Some people are saying, “I want to watch my cholesterol,” or “I have some hormone fluctuations going on that I don’t understand.”

So we work with people who have all kinds of goals, and our goal is to meet people where they are and help them progress toward achieving those goals.

Dr. Kerry Reller:
Awesome. It definitely sounds like it aligns with what I believe in and what we do at our practice, and that’s what I love about bringing other guests on here — so we can hear all about what else is out there.

So tell me, why did you create Mailoha Kitchens Health?

Mailoha Kitchens:
I created it because it is really hard for women to simplify what it means to be healthy with all the noise on social media. Sometimes we get caught up in being skinny instead of being strong, cutting calories instead of just adding more protein and eating whole foods, and modeling the behavior we want our kids to chase after.

As busy moms, we worry that our kids aren’t eating enough protein, or that they’re just eating crackers, but then what are you eating? What are you modeling for them? Can we simplify what all of these behaviors around food look like for the family?

Dr. Kerry Reller:
Yeah. It’s important to encompass the whole family and not just the individual, because the environment reflects back on what you end up doing.

So you describe this as a way of life that moves through everything you do. What does that look like for someone working with you?

Mailoha Kitchens:
It is about making lifestyle changes. I don’t believe in super fast, super quick fixes. I don’t believe in yo-yo dieting or doing a 30-day challenge, losing some weight, getting your summer body, and then going back to the habits that caused the weight gain in the first place.

I’m really focused on asking, “What does your day look like? What do your habits look like right now? And can we start to tweak them so that we remove some of the friction between you and reaching the goals you want?”

I want to make lifestyle changes so it’s not this mindset of, “I’m good Monday to Thursday, but then Friday I have dinner and want to have some fun, and I’ve been depriving myself all week, so I’m just going to go all out.” Then Saturday comes, then Sunday, and then Monday you’re starting over again, playing catch-up and trying to burn off what you had over the weekend.

I believe that if you build healthy habits that change your lifestyle and remove all that extra friction, then you go into your weekends living your life the same way you did Monday to Thursday. Then when vacation comes up, or happy hour, or a dinner with your girlfriends, or a wedding, you’re not stressed out and freaking out because your diet feels too restrictive.

I want us to come back to eating whole foods that make us happy again and that don’t add stress, especially in midlife when hormone shifts and metabolism changes can make things harder.

I write on Substack every day, and I post on Instagram every day, and honestly, I’m repeating the same things over and over again: protein-forward meals, changing lifestyle habits, prioritizing movement, and strength training instead of just cardio.

Dr. Kerry Reller:
I love what you said. I feel like I have the same conversation in the office every day — the whole all-or-nothing mindset. People say, “I’m good Monday to Thursday, and then it’s cheat day.” And I’m like, no, that’s not how this works.

You need a new lifestyle and habits that carry into the weekend too, while still leaving room for fun and including enjoyable things. Food isn’t good or bad, but it’s okay to indulge sometimes without turning it into an all-out, destructive weekend that undoes all your progress.

I feel like I have that same conversation every day.

So I noticed one of your messages is that women often feel like they’re supposed to figure health out on their own. Why is support and accountability so important? I feel like this is one of your biggest focus areas too.

Mailoha Kitchens:
Absolutely. The reason I sometimes refer to myself as an accountability coach is because a lot of times, especially in midlife, women are noticing things happening in their bodies and thinking, “I don’t understand. I’m eating the same way I always did, but I’m gaining weight. Why do I suddenly have this lower body fat? Why is running every day not working anymore?”

Accountability is so key because education is huge for me. First, we educate. Then we explain, “You’re in midlife now, so just doing cardio and not maintaining muscle mass isn’t working anymore. As you age, you slowly start to lose muscle if you don’t maintain it. Are you eating enough protein?”

When that education starts happening, people can get overwhelmed. They think, “Okay, now I know I need protein and strength training, but what does that actually look like in my life? I have a toddler. My husband needs me. I work full-time. How do I do that?”

When you have someone walking alongside you and checking in every day, you don’t get as discouraged. Otherwise, people think, “I thought I knew, but I don’t. I’m overwhelmed. I can’t do it,” and then they give up.

Accountability looks like someone checking in with you: “How did breakfast go? What did you have? Great. What if we tweak it a little next time?” Or, “What’s your plan for lunch?” Sometimes my clients will text me and say, “I have this dinner tomorrow. What do I do?” They’ll send me menus, and I’ll walk through that with them so they can show up without stress.

Life already feels hard. This isn’t supposed to be one more thing that moms feel like they can’t manage.

Dr. Kerry Reller:
You already alluded to my next question, but since you said you like to repeat yourself over and over on Substack, I’m going to make you repeat some of these things.

One of the things you talk about is why many busy women feel like their metabolism slows down in their 30s and 40s. Why do you think women feel this way?

Mailoha Kitchens:
It’s because muscle loss starts happening slowly when we’re just running or thinking that walking is enough. Then we start eating less because we gain some weight and think, “In order to get rid of that lower body fat, I need to eat less.”

But we’re under-eating protein, fiber, and healthy fats — the very things our bodies need to function properly. We think we’re doing ourselves a favor by eating less, but we’re actually slowing down our metabolism.

At the same time, our hormones are shifting. Estrogen and progesterone are affected by how we eat. When we’re not eating in a way that supports blood sugar balance and insulin sensitivity, we’re making things harder on ourselves.

A lot of people don’t understand why I talk about protein so much. Yes, protein helps us build muscle, which we need, but it also helps with hunger hormones. That’s where the food noise comes from. People say, “Why am I always hungry?” And I ask, “How much protein have you had today?”

Some people say, “I had two eggs with my coffee.” Two eggs are about 12 grams of protein. That’s not enough. I’m talking about 30 to 40 grams of protein per meal, not total for the day.

So if someone says, “I had a big salad with lots of vegetables,” I say, “That’s awesome — where was the protein?” Or if dinner was a small piece of fish, maybe that was only 20 grams. Can we get a little more in?

Again, our hormones are shifting. How do we turn off the food noise? How do we support ourselves in this season of life? Protein is a big part of that.

Dr. Kerry Reller:
As a personal anecdote, I find that if I’m continually hungry, even after I’ve just eaten, I’m probably still looking for protein. If I’m not in control of the meal or it has less protein than I’d normally eat, I find myself constantly foraging until I get enough protein.

If I’m not getting at least 30 to 40 grams of protein per meal, I keep looking for something else. I try to keep protein available in the refrigerator. I’ll go for a boring leftover piece of chicken, or honestly, I’ve even eaten those BJ’s chicken nuggets I got for my kids. They have breading, but they’re not fried — and once I eat that, I can stop looking for stuff.

I think there are other things happening in that 30-to-40 timeframe too, and you already mentioned this with busy moms — stress, lack of sleep, and not prioritizing their own movement. How do you deal with clients who are struggling with those things?

Mailoha Kitchens:
I’ll use the word you said: boring. That’s it. It’s eating the things we’d call boring. Everyone wants every meal to be Pinterest- or Instagram-worthy. Everybody wants a workout in an app that’s an hour long with all these fancy moves. But really, it’s getting back to basics.

It’s waking up in the morning and having your coffee with some protein. It can be as simple as boiled eggs, an egg scramble, sourdough toast, and maybe a quarter or half an avocado on the side. Lunch might be tuna salad in a high-fiber wrap. Dinner could be a simple fish.

The other day I had grouper, seasoned it simply, put it in the air fryer, and it was ready in 10 minutes. I had an avocado that was about to go bad, so I mashed it up. I had some shredded lettuce that needed to be used, and I put it all in a tortilla. It’s really about going back to the basics.

And workouts are the same. Traditional strength training. I’m sitting in my office-slash-gym right now. I’ve been working out at home for probably six or seven years, and I’ve been able to build muscle using the Peloton app. I hit play on a 30-minute workout. I have some weights and a mat. That’s it. I keep it simple.

I’m not doing anything crazy or acrobatic. If only we could simplify these things more. Smoothies, simple meals, whole foods — these are things our families can enjoy too.

And we have to be careful with labels. Some things say “healthy” or “high protein,” but we need to check the ingredients. Something that’s 300 calories with 10 grams of protein is not high protein in my book. It’s the flavored yogurts with more sugar than protein. It’s granola — and I love granola — but the one I use isn’t loaded with sugar, and I’m using it as a topping on Greek yogurt, not as the whole meal.

Same with milk alternatives. There are so many oat milks and things like that. Sometimes I ask, can we just have whole milk or 2%? That said, there are some newer things I do like. I love Pioneer Pastures milk. It has extra protein in it. But yes, I checked the ingredients before I bought it, and no, it doesn’t have a bunch of sugar.

So really, it is the boring, basic things.

Dr. Kerry Reller:
I didn’t even realize I said “boring.” That must just be out of habit. That’s funny. But you’re right — I do tend to do the same things over and over.

And you’ve mentioned great tricks here. Boiled eggs — you can buy those pre-made now, and they’re not too bad price-wise unless egg prices spike again. Using the air fryer is another great example. You can make a simple fish or protein quickly and add more protein that way.

You also mentioned reading labels, and I’m sure you work with your clients on that too, because some people just don’t pay attention. They see “gluten-free,” “protein,” “healthy,” or “vegan” on a label and assume it’s healthy. But like you said, it can be full of sugar. Yogurt is definitely one of the biggest examples.

Mailoha Kitchens:
Oh yeah. And this is something I do for my clients. If they want to meal prep, or even if they don’t, grocery lists are big. They’ll put together a list and ask me to look at it with them. Sometimes when they’re at the store, they’ll send screenshots and say, “What do you think about this one or this one?”

I really want to educate and prepare my clients to go out into the world and feel empowered in what they’re doing, and to make it fun for their family too.

I was laughing the other day because my daughter — we’re big protein girls — was asked at school what her favorite vegetable was, and she said pepperoni. I can’t lie, I was very proud of that, because we’ve made pepperoni one of our fun protein options. She tried it, she loved it, and now every week she asks me for pepperoni.

It’s little things like that. She loves chopsticks too. And we have to remind ourselves that our kids are just like us. They have preferences too, but we don’t call ourselves picky eaters.

Does she love every single thing I put on her plate? No. But I give her the opportunity. I expose her to things, and then I let her decide whether she wants to try them. Sometimes she doesn’t want it the first time, but she’ll eat it the second or third time. Sometimes she just doesn’t want it right now, and that’s okay.

She went through a phase where eggs weren’t her thing. The other day I tried again and put a fried egg on her plate. She loved it. She only ate the white, but that was fine. I could have said, “She didn’t eat the whole egg, so that’s not good,” or, “She declined eggs a month ago five times in a row, so I’m not offering them again.” But I didn’t.

I just put it on her plate and said nothing. She ate the whites, and this morning she asked me for eggs tomorrow. We should be more open and not so hard on ourselves. I think perfectionism gets in the way of just trying things again.

And did I stop eating eggs in front of her when she was on her egg sabbatical? No. Maybe that’s one reason she was open to trying them again — she kept seeing me eat them.

Sometimes we go to birthday parties, and I’m not really a sweets person. I don’t do cake, cookies, or ice cream. Sometimes it comes around and she looks at me to see what I’m going to do. She sees that I’m not eating it, and since it’s not something we really have at home, she often decides she doesn’t want it either.

I think we should really give our kids more credit. They are so smart, and they will surprise us.

Dr. Kerry Reller:
Yeah, I think you’re very lucky that she’s 3 and you’re already instilling those habits. I think it’s really important to do that — to model the right behaviors and keep introducing things.

We never really made separate meals for our kids. I can’t imagine doing that. I think I would drown in the extra work. So it was basically, “You’re eating this or not.” But I know some people really struggle with creating family meals or getting their kids to eat, and that’s probably a whole different topic.

But yes, I think it’s great.

And another thing you mentioned is your home is your gym. We’ve definitely worked out at home too, and I’ve been doing that for at least 10 years. I think the kids see that too, right? Making movement visible matters. It definitely helps for the kids to see these things while growing up so they hopefully do them too.

Mailoha Kitchens:
Yeah, and just like your gym is visible, food is also visible. When we have options in our home that align with our goals, we’re more likely to succeed. If we have a bunch of other things around and say, “I’ll just have one,” are we really going to stop at one?

Again, that’s where accountability comes in. Having someone walk alongside you and help make sure you’re not bringing home the things that don’t align with your goals.

It’s important to have the foods visible that you do want to reach for. And I know some people live with others who don’t have the same goals — maybe a roommate, spouse, or family member — and they keep foods around that you don’t want to be reaching for.

Can we move those things out of sight? We don’t want them next to the coffee machine that we go to every morning. We can tuck them away and talk to the person we live with and say, “Hey, I put your snacks over here. I’m really trying to focus, so if you can help me out and support me, I’d appreciate it. I just don’t want to see them and be tempted.”

Dr. Kerry Reller:
Yeah, I agree. We call that setting up the environment, and it’s certainly one of the things that has probably been detrimental to society overall with our food environment. But setting up the home environment is definitely very important too.

So did you have anything else that you wanted to discuss? I feel like we’ve covered a lot today, and you’ve been giving us lots of great wisdom and tips.

Mailoha Kitchens:
Yeah, I just wanted to touch on something we were heading toward when we were talking about removing things. I’m really big on this idea of friction. If someone goes back to my content and asks, “What is this friction thing she keeps talking about?” — this is it.

I read a book about a decade ago called Atomic Habits by James Clear. I don’t know if you’ve read it, but it’s amazing. It talks about friction — all the little things that get in our way that we don’t realize are getting in our way.

It’s that snack we don’t want to eat, but we put it next to the coffee maker. It’s setting an alarm and then setting a backup alarm “just in case.” That’s friction. It’s not putting your workout clothes out the night before. It’s not planning your workout ahead of time.

All of these little things get in the way. But when you start removing them and setting yourself up for success the night before — setting your alarm, putting your clothes out, planning your workout — then when the alarm goes off, you get up, get dressed, and go work out. You beat that little mental voice that says, “No, don’t do it. It’s early. Do it tomorrow.”

Sometimes you’re done with your workout before that voice even wakes up.

So removing all of those little points of friction can make life so much easier. I really recommend that book. I base a lot of what I do on the habit-forming methods talked about in Atomic Habits.

Dr. Kerry Reller:
Yeah, that’s a great recommendation. I think I gave that book to my entire staff for Christmas a couple of years ago. It’s so great.

Mailoha Kitchens:
I love it. I could listen to James Clear all day. Sometimes I go back and listen to podcasts he’s been on. He is great.

Dr. Kerry Reller:
Yeah, that might actually be where I got the terminology “setting up the environment.” I’m not sure, but yes — excellent book. You can really apply it to anything, and certainly to fitness, nutrition, and wellness. I would highly recommend it as well.

So where can listeners learn more about you and connect with you?

Mailoha Kitchens:
First of all, thank you so much for having me. This was so fun.

I am Mailoha Kitchens Health everywhere. I’m on Instagram, I’m on TikTok, and I write on Substack every day. For anyone who isn’t familiar, Substack is basically a blog, so I go into more detail there about all the things we talked about today. Instagram is more short form — reels and carousels — but Substack lets me go deeper.

So if someone is listening and thinking, “Okay, but what does 30 grams of protein actually look like for me in real life as a busy mom?” — all of that is in my Substack.

I’d love for people to come follow me and subscribe. And if anybody is listening and needs help, they can reach out to me. All of my information is there, and my email address is mailohakitchenshealth@gmail.com
.

If anyone wants to work with me, I’d love that.

Dr. Kerry Reller:
And you also mentioned you have an in-person opportunity too.

Mailoha Kitchens:
That’s right. At Be Healthy here in South Tampa, I’m one of the coaches at the wellness center. So if you go to the Be Healthy website, you’ll find me there and find a link to book with me.

We also have a really neat Seca scan, and having a scan is totally free. So if anyone wants to come in, meet me, get a scan done, and have a quick health assessment, we offer that for free.

Dr. Kerry Reller:
Awesome. Thank you so much. We’ll include all that in the show notes. Everybody stay tuned next week for next week’s episode. Thank you so much.