Are you fueling your body, moving enough, and getting the sleep you actually need to perform your best? In this episode of Healthy Teen Life, Leslie sits down with Dr. Chris Koutures, a pediatric and sports medicine physician at Active Kids MD, to talk about how teen athletes can build real sustainable habits around food, fitness, and recovery.

If you have ever wondered whether you are eating the right things at the right times, felt like exercise has started to feel more like an obsession than something you enjoy, or struggled to get enough sleep between school, practice, and everything else on your plate, this episode is packed with practical insight you can actually use starting today.

In this episode, you'll learn:

• How to find creative ways to get more movement into your day even without a formal workout
• Why food is fuel first and how to build a positive relationship with what you eat
• What you actually need to know about protein, supplements, and pre-workout products before you spend money on them
• How to know if your relationship with exercise is crossing into something unhealthy
• What GLP-1 medications are and what teens should understand before considering them
• Why sleep is the single best recovery tool you have and how to actually get more of it

Connect with Chris:

Website: https://activekidmd.com/

Connect with Leslie:

Parents: Schedule a free Clarity Call with Leslie here to help your teen or young adult resolve weight and unhealthy eating habits, while improving body image and self-esteem.

Grab Leslie's free guide: 5 Ways to Help Your Teen Eat Better Without Making Things Worse

• Website: leslierosecoaching.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/leslierosecoaching
• Facebook: facebook.com/leslierosecoaching

Disclaimer

Have you ever eaten lunch and then felt like falling asleep in your next class? Or crushed it at practice one day and felt completely empty the next? That is not random — it could be your food talking. In this episode of Healthy Teen Life, Leslie breaks down how to build a personal fuel plan that actually works for your unique body, your schedule, and your life.

This is not about strict meal plans, going organic, or following someone else's diet. If you have ever wondered why what works for your teammate or your best friend does not seem to work for you, this episode will help you figure out what your body is actually trying to tell you and how to start listening to it.

In this episode, you'll learn:

• Why every body is different and why copying what someone else eats is working against you
• What strategic eating actually means and how it has nothing to do with restriction or control
• Which foods give you steady energy and which ones are setting you up for a crash
• How to start building your own personal fuel plan based on your energy patterns, activity level, and sleep
• Why being mildly dehydrated could be the reason you feel tired and foggy every afternoon
• How to make small simple changes that add up to feeling a whole lot better every single day

Connect with Leslie:

Parents: Schedule a free Clarity Call with Leslie here to help your teen or young adult resolve weight and unhealthy eating habits, while improving body image and self-esteem.

Grab Leslie's free guide: 5 Ways to Help Your Teen Eat Better Without Making Things Worse

• Website: leslierosecoaching.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/leslierosecoaching
• Facebook: facebook.com/leslierosecoaching

Disclaimer

Are you fueling your body enough to actually perform your best? In this episode of Healthy Teen Life, Leslie sits down with Michele Pettinger, a nutrition expert and lifelong runner who started running at 12 and now runs ultra marathons, to talk about what teen athletes need to eat to train well, recover faster, and protect their long term health.

If you've ever felt exhausted at practice, hit a wall mid-workout, or wondered whether what you're eating is helping or hurting your performance, this episode is for you. Michele breaks down exactly what a full day of fueling looks like for a teen athlete and what signs to watch for if your relationship with food around sport starts to feel off.

In this episode, you'll learn:

• What low energy availability is and how to know if it's affecting your performance and your day
• What a full day of eating looks like for a teen athlete from breakfast through post-practice recovery
• Why breakfast and lunch matter more than you think especially on days you have afternoon practice
• How to spot the signs that food and body image concerns might be crossing into something more serious
• What to do if social media is making you feel negatively about your body or your eating habits
• How to take ownership of your nutrition and start fueling your body in a way that supports you now and long into the future

Connect with Michele:

Website: www.p3running.com Instagram: @p3runningcoach The Young Runner's Guide to Nutrition: https://a.co/d/0a8IlASA Team/individual curriculum: https://www.p3running.com/nutrition-curriculum

Connect with Leslie:

Parents: Schedule a free Clarity Call with Leslie here to help your teen or young adult resolve weight and unhealthy eating habits, while improving body image and self-esteem.

Grab Leslie's free guide: 5 Ways to Help Your Teen Eat Better Without Making Things Worse

• Website: leslierosecoaching.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/leslierosecoaching
• Facebook: facebook.com/leslierosecoaching

Disclaimer

Have you ever felt like the sport you once loved has started to feel more like a job? In this episode of Healthy Teen Life, Leslie sits down with Harvey Araton, a 25-year New York Times columnist and author of The Goal of the Game, to talk about what youth sports pressure is doing to young athletes and how you can start playing for yourself again.

If you have ever stayed in a sport because quitting felt like letting everyone down, wondered whether you love the game or just love the approval, or felt like the pressure has gotten so big that the fun has completely disappeared, this episode will give you a new way to look at it all. Harvey shares honest insight, real stories, and the perspective shift that could change everything about how you experience your sport.

In this episode, you'll learn:

• How to figure out whether you're playing your sport for yourself or for the approval of the people around you

• What the difference looks like between healthy commitment and unhealthy pressure

• Why 60 to 70% of young athletes quit by age 13 or 14 and what that means for you

• How to rebuild your identity so it isn't completely tied to your performance or your team

• What parents can do to support without pushing too far

• The truth about college scholarships that most families don't find out until it's too late

Connect with Leslie:

Parents: Schedule a free Clarity Call with Leslie here to help your teen or young adult resolve weight and unhealthy eating habits, while improving body image and self-esteem.

Grab Leslie's free guide: 5 Ways to Help Your Teen Eat Better Without Making Things Worse

• Website: leslierosecoaching.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/leslierosecoaching
• Facebook: facebook.com/leslierosecoaching

Disclaimer

If you've ever felt anxious around food, guilty after eating, or like your thoughts about your body are taking up way too much space in your head, this episode is for you. Leslie walks through 15 of the most common signs and symptoms of disordered eating so you can recognize what's happening and know you're not alone.

In this episode, you'll learn:

• What disordered eating actually is and why it's not the same as having an eating disorder
• Why dieting, calorie counting, and food rules are more common and more harmful than you think
• How to recognize the 15 most common signs of disordered eating in yourself or a friend
• Why comparing your body to others on social media is affecting your mental health and what to do instead
• What early action looks like and why it makes such a big difference in your outcome
• How to start shifting your mindset around food and body in a way that actually sticks

  Connect with Leslie:

  Parents: Schedule a free Clarity Call with Leslie here to help your teen or young adult resolve weight and unhealthy eating habits, while improving body image and self-esteem.

  Grab Leslie's free guide: 5 Ways to Help Your Teen Eat Better Without Making Things Worse

  • Website: leslierosecoaching.com
  • Instagram: instagram.com/leslierosecoaching
  • Facebook: facebook.com/leslierosecoaching

  Disclaimer

If you have ever felt like you're not good enough, not confident enough, or that one bad moment defines who you are, this episode is for you. Leslie sits down with Laura Ollinger, Teen & Parent Well-Being Coach, speaker, and certified Parent-Child Whisperer™, to get into the hidden ways self-doubt shows up in everyday teen life and, more importantly, what to actually do about it. Blending neuroscience, positive psychology, and her own experience raising four teens, Laura brings humor, heart, and real science to one of the most common struggles teens face today.

This one is for teens who feel the pressure to perform, parents who want to support their teen without adding more stress, and anyone who's ever let that inner voice get a little too loud. Laura shares practical mindset tools for shifting perspective, practicing self-compassion, and taking the small steps that build lasting confidence, plus two specific takeaways for parents and one powerful action step every teen can start today.

Questions Answered in This Episode:

• How does self-doubt secretly show up in a teen's everyday life, even when they don't recognize it?
• What's the first step to breaking free from the performance mindset and actually feeling like yourself?
• How can teens practice self-compassion when their inner critic is already running the show?
• What small, concrete steps can teens take today to start building a confident mindset?

Connect with Laura Ollinger:

Laura Ollinger is a Teen & Parent Well-Being Coach, inspirational speaker, and certified Parent-Child Whisperer™ who helps families move from conflict to connection. She blends research-backed tools with her own experience raising four teens to guide parents and students toward less stress, more confidence, and stronger relationships. Laura also hosts The Positively Healthy Mom Podcast and delivers her signature youth keynote, The Decider, to schools across the country.

• Website: positivelyhealthycoaching.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/positivelyhealthycoaching
• Facebook: facebook.com/positivelyhealthycoaching
• LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/laura-ollinger

Connect with Leslie:

Parents: Schedule a free Clarity Call with Leslie here to help your teen or young adult resolve weight and unhealthy eating habits, while improving body image and self-esteem.

Grab Leslie's free guide: 5 Ways to Help Your Teen Eat Better Without Making Things Worse

• Website: leslierosecoaching.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/leslierosecoaching
• Facebook: facebook.com/leslierosecoaching

Disclaimer

Stress and anxiety can feel unavoidable in your teen and college years — from school pressure and exams to friendships and expectations. But what if there was an easy way to manage it?

In this episode, Leslie sits down talks with Ariel Balfour to break down why stress feels so intense and how stress isn’t something to fear — it’s a signal.

We explore simple, Ariel's powerful 4-step reset you can use anywhere to calm your nervous system, think clearly, and regain control — plus a few additional practices that support your efforts and boost results. This episode helps you understand your stress instead of fighting it — and gives parents language and tools to support without adding pressure.

For more on Ariel:

Her Free download

Like this episode? Hit follow and then leave a review or comment — we’d love to hear what you think.

Parents:

Schedule a free Clarity Call with Leslie here to help your teen/YA resolve weight & unhealthy eating habits, while improving body image and self-esteem.

5 Ways to Help Your Teen Eat Better - Without Making Things Worse

Https://cc.leslierosecoaching.com/eat-healthier-5-steps

Disclaimer

Teen stress, emotional regulation, and mental health are deeply connected to how the brain works. When teens and college students are under pressure, the emotional brain can override logic, leading to overwhelm, impulsive reactions, and feeling out of control. This isn’t a willpower problem — it’s a stress response in the brain.

In this episode, Leslie talks with psychologist Dr. Laurel Mellin, founder of Emotional Brain Training (EBT), about how stress affects the teen brain and why common advice like “try harder” or “just calm down” doesn’t help.

We discuss:

• The emotional brain vs. thinking brain

• How stress impacts teen behavior, mood, and decision-making

• Why shame and self-criticism worsen stress and anxiety

• What emotional self-regulation really means

• Brain-based stress management tools teens and college students can use to calm the nervous system

This episode offers a science-backed approach to teen mental health, helping teens and parents better understand stress, build emotional regulation skills, and respond with compassion instead of blame.

For more on EBT: https://www.ebt.org/ Groups are available for teens upon request.

Get 30% off the Community Membership (includes app) - Use promotion code: JOY

For Professionals - EBT Certification: https://www.ebtcertification.com/

Dr Mellin's book available at Amazon, starting February 15th, 2026: The 5-Minute Solution: Self-therapy Anytime Anywhere.

Like this episode? Hit follow and then leave a review or comment — we’d love to hear what you think.

Parents:

Schedule a free Clarity Call with Leslie here to help your teen/YA resolve weight & unhealthy eating habits, while improving body image and self-esteem.

5 Ways to Help Your Teen Eat Better - Without Making Things Worse

Https://cc.leslierosecoaching.com/eat-healthier-5-steps

Disclaimer