December 24, 2022
Danny and Maura Vega are two of the superstar parents featured in my upcoming Boundless Parenting book.
They are the founders of Fat Fueled Family LLC, a blog, podcast, and YouTube channel dedicated to leading a movement that empowers families to eat better, move more, and grow closer. In addition, they offer consultations and individual/group coaching through their Fat Fueled Physique program.
Danny, who I interview in this podcast, is the author of the children’s book series Unexplainable Adventures, the first fictional, character-based series of growth and development books geared specifically for children. After working as a basketball strength and conditioning coach, Danny spent ten years in the medical device industry before starting Fat Fueled Family LLC.
Maura is a classically trained dancer in ballet, jazz, and contemporary. Her experience overcoming eating disorders in her youth, along with dealing with postpartum depression, has made Maura a passionate advocate for mindful eating and supporting mothers. Danny and Maura live in Tampa, Florida with their two sons, who have their own Instagram channel @fatfueledkids, on which they share how they eat as well as their projects and homeschool adventures.
During this discussion with Danny, you'll discover:
-What is the Fat Fueled Family and how did it come to be?…9:00
- Danny was always into nutrition and played college football
- He felt great on a ketogenic diet
- Began the Ketogenic Athlete Podcast
- Realized that he wasn't feeding his kids the way he was eating
- Helped his children understand the “why” behind food
- Maintaining that balance of freedom and autonomy
- Danny and Maura used to be “radical unschoolers” but realized it was too much/too little structure
- Built trust with children
- Established structure and rules
- River and Terran
- Mathnasium program for their schooling
- Kamana Wilderness Awareness School
- Structure is built around the child's passions, interests, and desires
- Unschooling is more the absence of the cookie-cutter approach rather than the absence of structure and organization
- Podcasts on unschooling:
-The importance of building structure around a child's passions and interests…13:20
- Unschooling requires a lot of dedication and commitment
- You have to know your child very well
- Children haven't been jaded about learning
- Books by John Taylor Gatto
-What do Danny Vega's kids eat?…16:05
- Fat Fueled Family
- Both children were breastfed for 1.5-2 years
- Weaned with raw liver and soft-boiled egg yolks
- Well-sourced liver and eggs due to concern for parasitic infection
- The effects of leptin imbalance
- Concrete eating times to establish circadian biology
- Lean and active kids
- Breakfast:
- Eggs and turkey sausage
- Paleo pancakes
- Lunch:
- Bell peppers and avocados
- Turkey and cheese
- The Urban Cottage
-Leptin receptor deficiency in children…19:50
- Leptin deficiency may result in:
- Low bone density
- Obesity
- Late puberty
- Leptin deficiency may be caused by:
- Poor sleep
- Stress
- High sugar snacks
- Frequent snacking
- Heat and cold exposure for children can help regulate leptin
- Podcast on Cold Thermogenesis:
- The importance of predictable eating times
-Skipping breakfast in lean, healthy adults and children can cause more harm than good…24:25
- Kids shouldn't skip breakfast
- Can cause hormonal dysregulation and low bone density
-Non-negotiable foods that Danny's children must (or must not) eat…26:10
- Animal protein is the cornerstone
- No food dyes
- No processed seed oils
- Minimize grains
- Lots of sourdough
- Weston A. Price Dietary Guidelines
–The Urban Cottage school that Danny's children attend…32:17
- The Urban Cottage
- Students get to spend most of the time in their “sweet spot”
- Exploring their passions
- Focus on nature and the outdoors
- Small class sizes
- Inspired by the Montessori Method
- Free physical activity
- Informal and individual instruction
- Early emphasis on writing and reading
- Sensory motor training
- Parent involvement
- Last Child in the Woods by Richard Louv
- Focus on the Trivium and the Quadrivium
- The trivium consists of grammar, logic, and rhetoric
- The quadrivium consists of arithmetic, astronomy, music, and geometry
- Similar philosophy to Naval Ravikant's idea behind education
- Unschooling to University by Judy Arnall
- John Holt – The Foundation for Unschooling
- John Holt
-Danny and Maura's approach to discipline…49:15
- Started off with very little discipline
- How spanking harms the brain
- Spanking vs. consequential parenting
- The Fifth Commandment says, “Honor your parents”
- Deuteronomy 28
- Biblical approach to discipline
- Emphasis on God's love
- The Ten Commandment
- Alice Bailey's Ten Point Plan
-The importance of Rites of Passage…60:00
- Increasing independence and responsibility
- Purposely getting lost on hikes
- Gun safety courses and learning how to shoot a handgun and rifle
- Learning how to be outside
- Gardening and working the land
- Camping in the wilderness
- Wild At Heart by John Eldredge
- 10 Ways To Grow Tiny Superhumans by Ben Greenfield
- Podcast with Tim Corcoran:
- Boundless Parenting by Ben Greenfield
-And much more…
Upcoming Events:
- Six Senses Retreat: February 27, 2023 – March 3, 2023
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Click here for the full written transcript of this podcast episode.
32 Questions For Boundless Parenting
The following questions were posed to Danny and Maura Vega, and the rest of the wise parents interviewed for my upcoming book, Boundless Parenting.
- How many children do you have, how old are they, what is their profession or passion, and why, in particular, are you proud of them?
- Are there any elements of your parenting approach that you would consider to be particularly unique?
- What books, systems, models, or resources do you rely heavily upon or consider to be indispensable in your own parenting?
- What traditions, habits, routines, or rituals are most important, memorable, or formative for your family?
- What rites of passage or significant moments of maturation to adolescence or adulthood have your children experienced, if any?
- Who do you look up to as parenting mentors?
- What have you taught your children about raising their own children?
- Do you have any philosophies or strategies for educating your children outside of traditional school, such as homeschooling, unschooling, self-directed education, or other alternatives, creative, or “outside-the-box” forms of education?
- What has been your proudest moment as a parent, and why?
- What do you wish you had known before first becoming a parent?
- Have you ever experienced imposter syndrome as a parent? If so, how have you coped with that?
- How have you achieved a balance between mentoring and passing on wisdom without “living vicariously” through your children?
- Have you ever faced any big parenting decisions that kept you awake at night worrying or that you feared you would mess up?
- What do you regret, if anything, from your experience as a parent?
- What is the biggest mistake you have made as a parent?
- What, if anything, from your parenting experience would you go back and change or improve?
- If you had multiple children, what did you think was right at the time with one child that you then went back and changed with the next child or future children?
- Have you ever sensed or feared that your children would grow up too different or weird as a result of any “outside-the-box” parenting approaches you used? If so, how did you deal with that?
- Have you ever differed from your spouse on parenting principles, techniques, or approaches? If so, how did you manage that?
- Warning: This question is long but important: As a parent, have you ever felt conflicted about wanting to share a book, teaching, resource, or method with your children as a means of impacting their future success, but feared that it might “overload” them, especially at their age? If so, how did you balance bestowing this valuable knowledge to your child without causing them to worry too much about adult concerns? How did you decide when to just “let a kid be a kid” versus nudging them towards responsible adulthood and the attainment of valuable wisdom?
- How have you balanced being a present, engaged parent while preserving your own identity, taking time for your own self-care, tending to your career, or pursuing other interests that did not include your children?
- How have you engaged in one-on-one time or created space for dedicated time with your child, especially if you have more than one child?
- If your children have grown up and moved out of your house, what strategies have you found most helpful for maintaining and building your relationship with them?
- If your children have grown up and moved out of your house, do you often miss them, fear for them, or think of them? If so, how have you coped with any loneliness or desire for their presence?
- Do you have non-negotiable rules for your children?
- How have you disciplined your children, if at all?
- How have you helped your child to establish responsibly, moderated, or conscientious consumption or use of books, media, entertainment, screen time, and social media? This is not my favorite question because the focus on “limiting screen time” seems a bit blown out of proportion these days and I think causes kids to get obsessed with the “forbidden fruit” of screen time, but it seems to be on the minds of many parents today, so I’d be remiss not to include it.
- Have you emphasized or encouraged any health, fitness, or healthy eating principles with your children? If so, what has seemed to work well?
- If your child or children could inscribe anything on your gravestone, what would you hope that they would write? What would you most want them to remember about you?
- What do you most want to be remembered for as a parent?
- What do you think your child or children would say is their fondest memory of being raised by you?
- What message for parents would you put on a billboard?
Resources mentioned in this episode:
-Danny & Maura Vega:
– Podcasts:
– Other Resources:
- Boundless Parenting by Ben Greenfield
- Leptin and Its Emerging Role in Children and Adolescents
- Weston A. Price Dietary Guidelines
- How Spanking Harms the Brain
- Montessori Education
- Jack Kruse's Cold Thermogenesis Protocol
- Naval Ravikant's idea behind education
- Unschooling to University
- Alice Bailey's Ten Point Plan
- Wild At Heart
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Do you have questions, thoughts, or feedback for Danny Vega or me? Leave your comments below, and one of us will reply!
Have you been in the news flow of the new Graham Hanckock findings of Netflix “Ancient Apocalypse “ series, damn we are amnesiacs ?