Nutritional Therapy
Discovery Ranch’s integrative approach to mental health includes addressing the dietary needs of our students--we believe that the two of them are inextricably linked. Research reveals a direct link between diet and mood, and the food your teen eats affects their mood, behavior, and brain function. Many mental health concerns stem from poor self-care related to inadequate nutrition such as under or overeating. What teens eat and how it affects their bodies also plays a factor in body and personal image.
On-Site Nurse and Professional Chef
Discovery Ranch’s nurse and head chef ensures that our students are eating balanced diets and are learning how to continue healthy eating once they return home. We help our students function better mentally and emotionally by addressing their physical needs, which is one of the crucial foundations of health.
Balanced Diet, Balanced Living
Discovery Ranch brings balance back to our students' lives by promoting a healthy lifestyle based on wellness. Wellness is a balance of physical, mental, spiritual, social, and emotional elements in life and making positive choices in these areas. We integrate Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) concepts of mindful eating in each teen’s life to develop patterns of healthy eating and to prevent a lifestyle of ongoing dieting. Mindful eating helps teenagers bring balance back into their lives regarding their relationship with food and their body.
Mindful Meals with the Teens at Discovery Ranch
Discovery Ranch South has a weekly ritual with the students called “Mindful Meals.” One therapist described the ritual like this:
"The students always get their meals and a worksheet as they sit down. Every week we lead them through a short mindfulness exercise to help them soothe their unpleasant emotions and to get them into a place where they are more in tune with what it feels like to be in their bodies.
"Knowing what they are sensing and feeling is the most important thing at Mindful Meals. After the mindfulness portion, we always take the first bite together. So, again they bring their attention to their senses and choose a food they’d like to try first. The students write down everything they can learn from their senses about their food: texture, smell, temperature, colors, etc. This is vital because it brings them into the present and helps activate the neural centers in their brains to prepare the mouth and the stomach for the food they are about to eat."
Research shows “that approximately 40%-60% of your metabolic power at any meal, meaning your digestive and your assimilation power at any meal comes from cephalic phase digestive response, the head phase digestion meaning taste, pleasure, aroma satisfaction and your visuals.”
There are so many reasons why it’s helpful and important for these teenagers (and every other human on the planet) to bring their mindfulness to the moment that they are eating. Not only does it activate the cephalic phase of digestion so that they are able to digest their food more effectively, but it also helps them to learn that they can soothe themselves in other ways than their previous and often destructive ways of coping.
Sample Menu
Monday
- Breakfast: Cold Cereal and Bacon
- Lunch: Sack Lunch - Either PB & J sandwich on wheat bread or turkey and cheese on wheat bread, fruit cups, chips, and a fig newton bar or 2 pack of Oreo cookies.
- Dinner: Chicken Marsala with a side of rice. Side salad - spinach, romaine, kidney beans, carrots, and broccoli. Choice of ranch or italian dressing.
Tuesday
- Breakfast: Oatmeal Pancakes or French Toast (rotates every week) with breakfast sausage links/patties.
- Lunch: BBQ Chicken Salad with a side roll.
- Dinner: Meatballs with rose parmesan sauce over penne pasta. Side salad - romaine, brussel sprouts, cherry tomatoes, carrots, and broccoli. Choice of ranch or italian dressing.
Wednesday
- Breakfast: Oatmeal with toppings - fruit, pecan and walnuts, dried cranberries, brown sugar. Bacon or breakfast sausage. Cottage cheese.
- Lunch: Baby back ribs with potatoes. Side salad - spinach, romaine, kidney beans, carrots, and broccoli. Choice of ranch or italian dressing.
- Dinner: Roasted Chicken with a side of rice pilaf. Side salad - spinach, romaine, garbanzo beans, carrots, and broccoli. Choice of ranch or italian dressing.
Thursday
- Breakfast: Scramble eggs, breakfast sausage, and a side of yogurt with fruit.
- Lunch: Popcorn shrimp tacos with black beans and colossal toppings. Side salad - spinach, romaine, kidney beans, carrots, and broccoli. Choice of ranch or italian dressing.
- Dinner: Chicken pot pies. Side salad - romaine, brussel sprouts, cherry tomatoes, carrots, and broccoli. Choice of ranch or Italian dressing.
Friday
- Breakfast: Bagels with cream cheese, scrambled eggs, bacon. Side of fruit.
- Lunch: Mac and cheese with bacon bits. Side salad - spinach, romaine, garbanzo beans, carrots, and broccoli. Choice of ranch or italian dressing.
- Dinner: Grilled New York steaks with a side of potato wedges. Side salad - spinach, romaine, kidney beans, carrots, and broccoli. Choice of ranch or italian dressing.
Saturday
- Breakfast: Cold cereal in the cabins. Side of fruit.
- Lunch: Chicken taquitos with a side of beans. Side salad - spinach, romaine, kidney beans, carrots, and broccoli. Choice of ranch or italian dressing.
- Dinner: Turkey lasagne. Side salad - romaine, brussel sprouts, cherry tomatoes, carrots, and broccoli. Choice of ranch or italian dressing.
Sunday
- Breakfast: Cold cereal in the cabins. Side of fruit.
- Lunch: PB & J or Tuna sandwiches on wheat bread. Bag of chips and a side of fruit.
- Dinner: Ham and mashed potatoes. Side salad - spinach, romaine, kidney beans, carrots, and broccoli. Choice of ranch or italian dressing.
Cabin Snacks
- Whole fruits - apples, bananas, oranges
- Cheese stick
- Trail mix packets
- Peanut Butter crackers
- Apple Sauce
- Milk, Soy Milk, Almond Milk