Still Trying Not To Eat? (Intuitive Eating Coaching Call - Podcast Transcript)

Title: Still Trying Not To Eat?

Podcast Date: July 12, 2022

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Description

In today's Intuitive Eating coaching call, Heather talks to her coaches, Erin Todd and Char-Lee Cassel from the Intuitive Eating for Christian Women podcast about how she's spent so many years trying not to eat and how unfamiliar it is to have that permission. 

Today we start by looking at scripture. In Proverbs 13:25 the Bible talks about eating until their hearts are content. Then in Proverbs 14:1, the next verse in the Bible, scripture references a woman using her own hands to tear down her house. We talk about how restricting food leads to tearing down our earthly homes and breaking down our bodies by not nourishing them the way they need.

Here are some other topics we talk about in today's "Trying Not to Eat" coaching call:

• How odd it is that we tend to praise those who can go without food or "resist" the "temptation" to eat, when eating is necessary and healthy.
• How it is a revolutionary concept to most of us that shrinking our body isn't the healthiest thing for it.
• How physically good it is for your body to care for it and not uber focus on your weight.
• How we've trained our brains to be against our bodies.
• Why trying not to eat is not as healthy as we've been taught.
• How eating carbohydrates helps stabilize your blood sugar and makes you feel better.
• What Heather learned about Intuitive Eating when she overdid it with the Bark Thins.
• Who we are really "obeying" when we don't nourish our bodies.
• How the abundant life isn't really about getting food right, it's about having so much life the food isn't as important!

Outline

00:00 Review From a Client

04:21 The Godly Eat To Their Heart’s Content

08:24 Your Body Might Be Happy Where It Is Right Now

11:12 Heather’s Experience Adjusting Her Eating Habits

17:00 Learning to Trust Body Signals Over Outside Rules

25:36 Reclaim Your Mental Space By Nourishing Your Body

30:12 Embracing the Gift of Food and Abundance

35:41 Whose Rules Are You Really Obeying?

37:45 What If I Still Want To Lose Weight?

Laurie (coaching client) [00:00:00]:

Hey, Heather. It's Laurie. I just wanted to thank you from the bottom of my heart for listening to God's whispers and creating 1 of the most powerful women's ministry that I have encountered yet so far in my walk with the Lord. You have nurtured and guided me these last few months and helped me to not only grow closer to god, but to discover freedom from 50 years of dieting and comparison. I've also learned more about myself and excited to continue this journey and not waste another second on the idols that have filled my heart. You've also created a group coaching atmosphere that allows a safe place to speak the deepest hurts and truths, therefore, also gifting me with 3 sister friends that I have daily contact with. Again, there are truly no words to express how deeply thankful I am for you. I pray that you can continue to reach more and more women every day who can find freedom and joy that comes from a comparison free life.

Laurie (coaching client) [00:00:58]:

All my love and blessings for continued success.

Heather Creekmore [00:01:01]:

Oh, Laurie, thanks so much for that. It was truly my privilege to walk with you, and you've got me on the edge of tears today with that message. So thank you. It was an honor to work with you. And I really hope that someone listening out there has heard what your experience was in group coaching and is maybe stirred to try it. And I love how you called the women from your group your sisters. You all truly have created an amazing bond. It just blows me away.

Heather Creekmore [00:01:32]:

I'm always like, oh, God. Please help these groups to come together in a way where they will connect. And your group truly did. So that's been an honor to watch as well. If you're listening today and Laurie's story moved you, hey. Consider coaching. Get in on this. You do not have to keep struggling with your body image.

Heather Creekmore [00:01:56]:

I know you've tried everything. Friend, I get it. I had tried everything too. Most of my clients are like, when I ask what's the number 1 concern you have? And they say that it won't work. So if that is your concern, you are in good company. But, friend, I promise you, there is hope to feel differently. There's hope to be changed. So if you want in on group coaching, drop me an email, [email protected], or you can go to improvedbodyimage.com

Heather Creekmore [00:02:26]:

Look for the coaching tab in the code in the menu, and you can find out more there. Okay. Now today's show is your favorite kind, I think. At least the numbers are showing. It's 1 of your favorite kinds. It's my intuitive eating coaching call with Erin Todd and Char-lee Cassel from the Intuitive Eating for Christian Women podcast. If you've not checked out their show yet, I would greatly encourage you to do that, especially if this whole concept of intuitive eating is brand new to you. But today, we go to some great places talking about satisfaction, talking about some places in scripture that I hadn't really noticed until today.

Heather Creekmore [00:03:06]:

So I think you're gonna love today's show. Let's go. Welcome to Compare To Who, the podcast to help you make peace with your body so you can savor God's rest and feel his love. If you're tired of fighting body image the world's way, Compare To Who is the show for you. You've likely heard lots of talk about loving your body, but my goal is different. Striving to fall in love with stretch marks and cellulite is a little silly to me. Instead, I want to encourage you and remind you with the truth of scripture that you are seen, you are known, and you are loved no matter what your size or shape. Here, the pressure is off.

Heather Creekmore [00:03:47]:

If you're looking for real talk, biblical encouragement, and regular reminders that God loves you and you're not alone, you've come to the right place. I hope you enjoy today's show, and, hey, tell a friend about it. Erin and Char, good morning. Thanks for being my coaches today.

Char Lee Cassel [00:04:07]:

Good morning. We're excited.

Erin Todd [00:04:09]:

How's it going?

Heather Creekmore [00:04:10]:

I think these episodes have been really awesome. I know that my listeners have given me great feedback, and I am just excited to see where we go today.

Char Lee Cassel [00:04:19]:

Me too.

The Godly Eat To Their Heart’s Content

Heather Creekmore [00:04:21]:

Yeah. This morning, I was reading in the Proverbs. I just do a daily reading plan to get through the Bible in a year. And I switched to the New Living Translation because I've been reading, like, the ESV and stuff year after year. And I was like, I'm just gonna switch it up, find a new translation because things sound a little different in a new translation. And this morning, ironically enough, I came across Proverbs 13:25, which said, the godly eat to their heart's content. I was like, hearts content? And there's something there. Right? It doesn't say to their belly's content.

Heather Creekmore [00:04:57]:

It's to their heart's content. And then it says, but the belly of the wicked goes hungry. But then my reading plan had me read Proverbs 13 and Proverbs 14. And the first verse of Proverbs 14, I've heard 100's of times. But right after that verse about eating to your heart's content, it says a wise woman builds her home, but a foolish woman tears it down with her own hands. And you guys, I was just thinking about the reality that part of my intuitive eating journey, part of my figuring out what to do with food and what to do with body has been recognizing that a lot of my issues are me tearing down my own home with my own hands. Right? It's me versus body or at least it had been for decades. It's like, what can I do to make my body do what I want it to do so I look the way I wanna look? And it's been a battle.

Heather Creekmore [00:06:02]:

And so I don't know, that scripture this morning just really stuck out to me. And so that's kinda, that's where I'm at today.

Char Lee Cassel [00:06:09]:

Yeah, like, I'm so excited that you're kind of bringing this light to our earthly home, which is our body. And I'm thinking about, you know, the work of dieting and making yourself smaller through exercise through whatever behaviors it is that truly is breaking your body down instead of building it up. It really is making your body weaker. Making your body less healthy, like putting it in a place that it isn't thriving by your own hands instead of giving it the fuel it needs and building it up, to make, like, this strong, steadfast, you know, body to as much as you can control.

Heather Creekmore [00:07:07]:

Yeah. But I mean, it's it's mind blowing though. And I've said this in episodes before, you know, just how much of my life I've spent trying not to eat. But it's mind blowing to think. I was just walking yesterday, and I was just, I was thinking about how, like, in a group of women, the one who says no, who doesn't eat, who eats the least amount like, she's she's in the, I don't know, the power position. Right? Like, she's the one everyone wants to be. She's and it's like, wait. That is so twisted!

Heather Creekmore [00:07:41]:

Right? Because where did we come up with this idea that not eating is what's best for our bodies? Like, that's clearly not scriptural, but it's not even, like, medically sound. And so the concept that shrinking our bodies is what's healthiest for our bodies. That's what you just said. And it is revolutionary, I think, at least for my people, to think about it being any other way.

Heather Creekmore [00:08:21]:

I mean, that is gospel, right?

Your Body Might Be Happy Where It Is Right Now

Char Lee Cassel [00:08:24]:

Yeah, absolutely. And you know, like the science 100% backs it up. So I keep coming back to this place where, you know, God may have created you in a larger body. You may have been in a larger body, like your whole life, or you have, you know, a lot of fat stores or like whatever it is that might just be the way God created you. And you're that way. You know, there also is like a symptom of putting more weight on your body from your lifestyle. Okay. So maybe you're not moving as much as, you know, your body was created to do, or you are eating more than you need for whatever reasons.

Char Lee Cassel [00:09:12]:

And maybe you do gain some weight and your body is a little bit heavier than maybe initially you would have been. Right? Like, we know that that's a result of yo-yo dieting, this weight cycling, and usually your body takes on kind of a heavier weight.

Heather Creekmore [00:09:30]:

And trauma. Right?

Char Lee Cassel [00:09:32]:

Yeah. Yeah. After years of going through that. So when you find if you're in this place that maybe your body is heavier than it was initially like designed to be. Right. And it's the result of sin that it's heavier. Maybe it's the sin of trying to make it smaller for 20 years. Like, you know, who knows what it is, but here you are in this heavier body and our culture will say, you know, eat less, shrink it down.

Char Lee Cassel [00:09:58]:

That's what's good for your body. But the reality is, and the science is, that what is physically good for your body is accepting it, loving it, nourishing it, feeding it adequate calories, protein, whatever, moving it, like doing these things to care for it and letting your body be in control of what weight it is comfortable at and settles at. Yeah. So I know for your listeners, you know, it might be a very difficult truth to kind of chew on and digest after listening to this today. But your body might be very happy where it is now. Yeah. Even if you think that that's a weight that is, you know, heavier than it should be or should have been. Feeding it, nourishing it, moving it, is the kindest, most healthful thing you can do for your body.

Heather’s Experience Adjusting Her Eating Habits

Heather Creekmore [00:11:12]:

Right. Yeah. Well, and I'm feeling that, I think just on my own journey, Feeling that, and I think I said this last time, feeling that stability that comes with eating regularly. I am intentionally trying to eat breakfast as soon as I get up, which whether I was really trying to be an intermittent faster or not over the last decade, I'm not 100% sure I was fully committed. I was more just like an accidental intermittent faster. And then when I found out what IF was, it was like, ooh, well, I'm kinda doing this anyway. And, I mean so and we talked about this in one of our early cooking sessions.

Heather Creekmore [00:11:53]:

So, like, my normal was waiting until 11 or noon and then just eating all afternoon, which fits the IF model, but I don't think was good for me because of adrenal issues. And then I was having to take a nap, and we talked about that before too. And so I'm kinda disciplining myself to eat breakfast. And most days now I found that I'm getting hungry in the morning, and so that's helpful to eating breakfast in the morning is feeling the hunger. And it's interesting. I mean, it's so, like, it's so stupid to say out loud because but I think my listeners get this. It's like, oh, It's really strange how if you eat a healthy breakfast, I'm not hungry again until lunch. And then if I eat a healthy lunch, I'm not hungry again until, like, 3 in the afternoon.

Heather Creekmore [00:12:49]:

And then if and it's like, no, duh! But yet, the mentality of see how little I can eat all day and then snack it up from 4 o'clock until, you know, 7 or 8 or bedtime, that just runs, I think, so many of us, and that's bad for our bodies in so many ways. And I don't know. I'm babbling here, but I am learning that eating regularly balanced meals is helpful. It's laughable. Right? But, it's the truth.

Char Lee Cassel [00:13:33]:

But honestly, Heather, like, you know, we might say it's laughable, but truly we are all taught that we cannot trust our bodies and, you know, intentionally or not, the message is eat less, eat less, eat less, eat less. Our culture is very much like if some is good, then a whole bunch must be better. Right? So like if some portion control is good, then, you know, less must be better. Like, we're very all in. And so for you to say, oh, my gosh, my body feels good when I'm adequately nourishing it. Like, wow, that is revolutionary, Heather, for so many people. Especially, you know, when you say like I'm eating a healthy meal, you know, I'm assuming you're talking about you're eating, like, a nutritional meal. It's very high nutrition. It's maybe well balanced.

Char Lee Cassel [00:14:39]:

Maybe you're getting protein, carbs, fat, things that kind of hold you over. Is that correct?

Heather Creekmore [00:14:46]:

Yeah. I mean and and I wanna be clear so people don't, I think we always assume or at least I have this problem of assuming everyone eats better than I do. That everyone has this magical ability to eat perfectly or, like, make really great food decisions. And so I have to be kinda quiet about mine that, you know, if I didn't eat a kale salad, I shouldn't share that. Right? And so I wanna be clear. Like, I think I'm trying to be intentional about carbs, fat, and protein, but that can look like a half a bagel with peanut butter and jelly on it. Absolutely.

Heather Creekmore [00:15:24]:

I'm not, like, making, like, an egg scramble with spinach and, you know, peppers and lean ground turkey. Like sometimes I do that and I think that's good and I'm satisfied when I do.

Char Lee Cassel [00:15:36]:

So I think it's so important, Heather, that you're pointing out, because cause I wanna clarify, right? When we're talking about you're eating a "healthy" meal, that word is like a mess. Right? Like, that word is such a mess. So I try to bring us back to, we're talking about eating a nutrient dense meal. You're getting carbohydrates because your brain needs those to fuel. That's our main energy source. You're getting fat because it tastes good and it lasts a little bit longer to give us energy. Same with that protein.

Char Lee Cassel [00:16:14]:

That's gonna hold us over a little bit longer. You have a little bit more staying power and you're getting building blocks to build things that your body needs. So that picture of carbohydrates, protein, fat includes all foods, you know, looks differently. So can you think of kind of some of the data that you have gathered, Heather, with okay I'm noticing if I eat, like, a nutrient dense meal, how I'm feeling. Have you recognized, you know, this meal felt really good and was great. That meal, not so much or, you know?

Learning to Trust Body Signals Over Outside Rules

Heather Creekmore [00:17:00]:

Yeah. Carbs. It's mind blowing, but, apparently, all that data about needing carbs is actually true, especially when I am doing mental stuff. Right? Because I know my brain runs on glucose, but I think, and this is a little embarrassing, I guess, to admit, but my pattern would have been try not to eat carbs for breakfast.

Heather Creekmore [00:17:27]:

Try to eat a low carb lunch, and then sit down at my desk and have work to do and eat chocolate all afternoon, probably because my brain was desperate for the carbs to get the work done. And then it's like, I look back and I'm like, well, who was I fooling with that? Like, stupid. You know, why didn't I just, like, eat a piece of bread with my lunch, you know, I'm, like, having soup or something where it's, like, oh, a piece of bread would taste really good with this. No. No. Not gonna eat the bread. Can't eat the bad bread, but then I eat chocolate all afternoon.

Heather Creekmore [00:18:01]:

So you know, we fool ourselves, with these, I don't know, these patterns. But I noticed, so this was last week and my husband was gone. Okay? So add the emotional layer of, I don't know that I necessarily feel like super lonely when he's gone because we're both kind of independent, you know, but it was, I guess, the 2nd or 3rd day of 4 that he was gone, and I think it was more boredom. Right? He wasn't here. The kids are busy doing stuff, and so I was binge watching a show. And I was overeating. Like, just kept, I bought some bark thins, and I just kept going back to the bag of bark thins.

Heather Creekmore [00:18:51]:

And, you know, every, as I was watching it on, you know, like a on a network through, like, Roku. And so it had, like, 60 second commercials only. So I knew I had 60 seconds to go run to the pantry, grab a couple of bark thins and run back. And I was doing what I've always done, promising myself that was my last trip, you know, promising myself there's only gonna be 2 more, you know, those kind of things, but I, you know, for a long time was doing that. And so I started to think about, okay, well, what did I do all day? Like, was there something that kinda set me up for that? And the other thing I bought was those Aussie Bites from Costco.

Char Lee Cassel [00:19:34]:

I love those.

Heather Creekmore [00:19:35]:

They're pretty nutrient dense.

Char Lee Cassel [00:19:37]:

Yeah.

Heather Creekmore [00:19:37]:

But right there on the top of the package, it says they're 130 calories per little square.

Char Lee Cassel [00:19:44]:

Of course it does.

Heather Creekmore [00:19:45]:

And they have, you know, they have good omega-3s, and I'm like, oh, you know, I don't eat fish. So I'm like, yeah, I need omega threes. And so for breakfast, I had coffee and I had an Aussie Bite. And because that 130 calorie number is staring at me, I think I allowed myself two, but I knew that I shouldn't really have any more than that. Right? Because that's a lot of calories at breakfast. It's kinda my default thinking. Right? I'm not saying this is intuitive eating thinking. I'm saying this is, like, my default kicks in.

Heather Creekmore [00:20:17]:

Right? And I fool myself into thinking because I've had that many calories, boy, I must be full. Right? That's sufficient breakfast. And then at lunch, I don't oh, I know what I had at lunch. I was really craving, I bought some cantaloupe, and I like the whole, like, melon and prosciutto concept, but I'm not fancy enough to buy prosciutto regularly, so I had some ham, some deli ham. And so I was like, oh, I'll have some ham and melon. Like, that sounds like a good lunch.

Heather Creekmore [00:20:47]:

And so I had, like, I don't know, maybe 3 slices of ham and probably the equivalent of, like, half a cantaloupe. But, again, the brain is like, well, that ham has a lot of fat and calories, and you ate, like, half a cantaloupe and probably went back and ate another at least a quarter of it. I think my kids were in it too, but, you know, I ate a lot of the cantaloupe. So maybe even, you know, most of a cantaloupe and ham, and then my 2 Aussie bites. And I'm like, oh, I've had plenty of calories today, but I felt hungry all afternoon. I kept convincing myself that I had plenty of calories today. And then that night, when I'm lonely and bored and I have no husband watching me, I mean, not that he watch like, I don't mean that to say that he's watching what I eat, but it's just the accountability factor of he may notice that I've gotten up 27 times to go back to the bark thins. None of that. And so the bark thins and I spent an evening together. But I will tell you that my response after all that was a growth point for me.

Heather Creekmore [00:23:46]:

Because I was able to be like, I just didn't eat enough. Thank you, body, for keeping me alive. I needed it. I needed that. I'm not proud of the fact that I downed almost of a whole bag of bark thins over a couple episodes, but I needed it. And so I'm gonna learn, and I'm just next time, I'm not going to self- I don't know - we call it self-editing in the writing world.

Char Lee Cassel [00:24:08]:

But Well, you know, a lot of what we saw there, Heather, was you didn't listen to your body when you were eating breakfast. Like that's how this started. You listened to an outside rule.

Heather Creekmore [00:24:24]:

Right.

Char Lee Cassel [00:24:25]:

Which, by the way, if we're counting calories, looking at that, that is, like, nothing. Not enough breakfast at all. Like, not enough calories. But that's what happened with your brain. Right? You said, oh, that's enough calories. I can't have more. You tuned out to your body's signals. You didn't wait for hunger and fullness, for satisfaction.

Heather Creekmore [00:24:48]:

Yeah. Well, and I think it's a memory. Like, if I really wanna go further, it's a memory because I haven't bought those in a really long time. And it's a memory, like emblazoned in my brain that those are high in calories and you don't like eat them all day or you gain weight. And so it it's an association with that specific food, and somehow those Aussie Bites are on a bad dangerous food list in my brain. You know, like, other like, bark thins aren't! Right? I mean, it's so irrational.

Heather Creekmore [00:25:24]:

Right? Chocolate isn't, but, ooh, those Aussie Bites with their chia seeds and omega threes. Watch out for them.

Char Lee Cassel [00:25:31]:

They're so good. Yum. Now I like need to make a Costco run, I'm like, oh, yes. Delicious.

Reclaim Your Mental Space By Nourishing Your Body

Erin Todd [00:25:36]:

That's a really good example, Heather, for just remembering it. So I'm glad that was, like, a moment where it kind of clicked for you and you got a response to it that changes kind of just how you're gonna approach that next time because there will be a next time of where your brain tries to second guess and do all the math and do all the counting when your body is telling you not enough and your brain's telling you too much. That was an example of letting kind of the body take the lead there, and it's smarter than your diet adult brain. At this point, it knows better. 

And, at least for me, I think probably my favorite thing coming out of dieting into intuitive eating was all of that brain space and bandwidth and mental energy. I didn't have to spend doing that running calculation constantly. And thinking about everything that was before and everything that's coming and trying to stay on top of the math, it's like that constant chatter is silent now.

Erin Todd [00:26:38]:

Because, like, I don't have to do this math. My body's gonna do it for me. Like. Do the math body. I don't have the brain space for that. Thank you very much for the brain space.

Heather Creekmore [00:26:47]:

We've trained our brains to be against our bodies. And that feels like, is that even possible? Yeah. But you know, we've recreated or, you know, dug new neural pathways or whatever the scientists would say to train our brains to think opposite of the way perhaps God designed them to think to be in tune with our bodies.

Erin Todd [00:27:13]:

Gotta seize control. Like, take over the show.

Char Lee Cassel [00:27:17]:

Yeah. If you're undernourished, if you don't have enough carbohydrates on board, then trying to get your brain to do the critical thinking to move from those old pathways to the new pathways is very difficult. Your body is running on empty.

Heather Creekmore [00:27:35]:

Yeah. So that's where people get caught, Char. Right? Because if you never like, even when I'm working with people, if you will not be nourished enough, you are not going to change the patterns because you just don't have the mental capacity to do that unless you're fed.

Char Lee Cassel [00:27:56]:

Yeah. So let's, you know, let's just have that plug here for eating disorder recovery. When you're recovering from disordered eating, especially if you're aware of intuitive eating and you're listening to these podcasts and you're hearing like what people are experiencing, you want to go straight to that intuitive eating. And there's, there's a space before that. You can start implementing principles of intuitive eating, but things are offline if you're that undernourished, you're not going to feel hunger and fullness. Your brain doesn't have the capacity to critically think. And so the beginning of your recovery might be what you're experiencing a little bit with breakfast, Heather, is I'm going to follow this meal plan from my dietitian even though I don't feel hungry. I'm going to eat breakfast even though I don't feel hungry because I know that's what I need.

Char Lee Cassel [00:28:49]:

And there's, like, this renourishment time to get you back online to where you can start tuning in and critically thinking.

Heather Creekmore [00:29:00]:

Yeah. I'm glad you said renourishment because I have a client now, and I don't think, I'm not gonna name her name, but I don't think she would mind me telling this part of her story. And so she's been trying intuitive eating, but in that, she's just trying to be free with food. And so she's enjoying the foods that she's restricted, but she's still well, she's still trying not to eat. And then eating all the food she's restricted when she gets hungry and kinda classifying the, like, well, I'm free to eat Oreos as her intuitive eating. And she and I have talked about, like, you need a dietitian. But just from my perspective, it's like, it's probably that you're missing the nutrients because you can't actually make the decision not to only eat Oreos unless you have the nutrients. And I think that's step 1 of intuitive eating, we talked about a couple episodes ago. But I think that's where it gets fuzzy.

Heather Creekmore [00:29:57]:

Right? Because that honeymoon phase that I'm gonna eat whatever I want, if you're still restricting and "eating whatever you want", and I'm using air quotes, then you're just undernourishing your body more. Right?

Embracing the Gift of Food and Abundance

Char Lee Cassel [00:30:12]:

Yeah. So I wanna bring us back to Proverbs 13:25 and Proverbs 14:1. The righteous eat their hearts content, but the stomach of the wicked goes hungry. The wise woman builds her house, but with her own hands, the foolish one tears hers down.

Heather Creekmore [00:30:39]:

Yeah. I thought it was a good discovery.

Char Lee Cassel [00:30:44]:

It's one of these, like, my eyes are tearing up because this is how, like, God talks to me. Like, I just light up when science and scripture are so clearly paired together for me.

Char Lee Cassel [00:31:04]:

This is the gift that God gives me is when he shows me the science I've learned in scripture. It's beautiful.

Heather Creekmore [00:31:14]:

And it's “heart's” content.

Char Lee Cassel [00:31:16]:

Yes.

Heather Creekmore [00:31:16]:

“Belly” is in the second part of that verse. He could have said till their belly's full, to their belly's content, till their stomach is satiated. No. It's just their heart's content. Super interesting.

Char Lee Cassel [00:31:32]:

It is very interesting.

Heather Creekmore [00:31:35]:

I mean, that's just that flies in the face of everything diet culture teaches. You know? We've talked about, Erin and I talked about satisfaction a couple episodes ago. But it's, you know, what does my heart have to do with my stomach? Food is just food. Food is fuel. You know? But there is that emotional component to food. There is that satisfaction factor.

Erin Todd [00:32:00]:

Yeah. That verse holds a lot of space for enjoying the gift of food and letting a good gift from God be something that satisfies you on a deeper level than just your biological hunger. It's like you're happy. You're eating to your heart's content, you're celebrating life. And, I like I mean, I think most of Proverbs are kind of setting up this contrast with, like, wisdom and foolishness, and you definitely kinda see that here in these verses we've gone over. 

And I'm seeing this kind of dichotomy as righteousness. A righteous person in right relationship with God is seeking wisdom and is wise through having embodied the teachings of God. And so it's kind of like the setup that we were getting in our bible study that we've been doing together the last couple of months, ladies, in Deuteronomy and in Leviticus where the blessings and the curse that come from, the covenant relationship with the Lord that he's setting up with the Israelites in the Old Testament. And part of the blessings that come with obedience, which would be wisdom here, is you have plenty and you are fed.

Erin Todd [00:33:19]:

And one of the curses that comes from disobedience or foolishness is you starve and you plant food and you can't harvest it and your neighbors eat it instead of you getting to eat it and you are without. 

So I think it's this really beautiful picture of the whole, not just physical food, of course. Yes. Physical food, but the spiritual food as well. Like, it's just so rich. Like, these proverbs are amazing. So I'm just really enjoying that on, like, all the levels and "heart's content" too. It's giving me identity stuff as well because my identity is in Jesus, and I'm just completely at peace in my body. I'm not gonna be, like, heart's content, stomach being full.

Erin Todd [00:34:03]:

Like, it's not even gonna be something I'm thinking about. I'm just enjoying life and having this peaceful relationship with food and body and whatever, wonderful setting that you're with and that the people around you, how you got the food. It's just this whole picture of abundant life to me.

Char Lee Cassel [00:34:24]:

That's it. And that's what I'm seeing as God, like, God is this provider, and he doesn't just provide you with enough to be, like, physically full or, like, just enough to survive. He provides this abundance of whatever your need is, like, to your heart's content. It doesn't say, like, I gave them enough calories to make it their day. Right? Like, I will give you enough of whatever you need to your heart's content. If you walk with me, follow me.

Heather Creekmore [00:35:05]:

Well, in an abundant life, food is not a thing. Right? Like, that's kind of what you were getting at, I think, Erin. But it's like, I've got more important things to think about than worry about food all day. Like, no, food is a part of what I have to do as a human to stay alive and food, you know, is a functional part of a necessity of biology the way I was created. But it's not like a thing. It's not what my life revolves around. And I mean, I was thinking about how many conversations revolve around food.

Whose Rules Are You Really Obeying?

Heather Creekmore [00:35:41]:

And like, so much of life revolves around food and really, you know, the dieting or wellness, whatever word is, you know, popular, I guess, in your circles. But, it's a waste. It's not what's most important. But then Erin, you said something else about obedience. And I was like, I think that's a sticking point because I think there's definitely this, and I would call it an idol, but there is this message of "obey diet culture". Yes. Obey these rules.

Heather Creekmore [00:36:15]:

And then God has his rules over here that aren't anywhere close to diet I mean, yeah. Okay. There's been some extrapolations from scripture about how they eat, and some of those may be fine and some of those may be kind of what? Where'd you get that? But obedience to who? Right? I think there's a lot of us. I mean, I know I would say personally for my life, I just probably spent a little more years being obedient to diet culture than I did being obedient to God. And that's not a pleasant thing to confess, but it's absolutely true.

Erin Todd [00:36:54]:

Yeah. That kind of framing with obedience is what kind of got me thinking about it differently too. It's like, well, I'm following something. I'm subscribing to a certain set of rules that I live my life by. And just the realization through Compared To Who?, the book, plug, that that was all food and body related, and God was not even in that picture was just,

Erin Todd [00:37:25]:

so, it's an ugly and messy and very convicting wake up call, but you get to respond to that, and grace. And so it's actually a good thing to be able to recognize your rules and your bandwidth and all of that has been focused on the wrong thing for a long time.

What If I Still Want To Lose Weight?

Heather Creekmore [00:37:45]:

Yeah. Yeah. Okay. So I wanna, as we tie up here, Char. So someone listening to this, feeling maybe the conviction, I guess we'll say of, okay. Yes. I have been obeying the wrong thing, but I'm gonna bring up this horrible question that everyone has, but I still wanna lose weight.

Heather Creekmore [00:38:15]:

What do you say to that person?

Char Lee Cassel [00:38:18]:

Well, you can be honest about it.

Heather Creekmore [00:38:22]:

Yeah, that's good.

Char Lee Cassel [00:38:24]:

God already knows that that's a desire of your heart. He already knows that you care about that. And you know what? That doesn't make you a bad person. There is nothing wrong with wanting your body to look a certain way, to look beautiful. That's valuable in our world. That's something we, as a human being, we appreciate beauty. We appreciate things looking nice.

Char Lee Cassel [00:38:56]:

And we have this idea in our head of what that looks like. There's totally variations, right? Like, we're all attracted to different types of art and different types of things. So you kind of have in your head, like, what is beautiful and what's this version of, like, an attractive body for you. And God knows that you feel that way. And it doesn't have to be an "either/or". There can be an "and". Yeah. So, God, I would love for my body to feel attractive.

Char Lee Cassel [00:39:37]:

I would love to feel sexy in my body again around my husband. I would love to feel confident walking in a swimsuit. I would love, love for my body to be strong and healthy and feel comfortable in my clothes. And in my head, that means that my body would be a certain weight or change in a certain way, and I want that. I want that. And I want YOU more. And I want to honor my body, and I want to eat until I'm nourished, and I want to move in a way that is comfortable.

Char Lee Cassel [00:40:23]:

And if you won't give me this body that I feel sexy in, it's okay.

Heather Creekmore [00:40:35]:

Yeah.

Char Lee Cassel [00:40:37]:

If my body's gonna keep looking like this, okay. I do want it to change. I do. And I would love that, Lord, if you could provide that for me. But if it doesn't, you're still good, and I'm still good. And this body birthed 2 babies and it has done all these good things for me. And so if this is my size for the rest of my life, my prayer, God, is that you will help me accept it and that you will help me feel sexy in this body and that you will help me feel confident walking in my swimsuit in the body I have right now.

Help me honor you by nourishing this gift properly and moving it in a way that honors it.

Heather Creekmore [00:41:25]:

Yeah. Char, you nailed it. The desire isn't what's sinful, but what are we supposed to do with our desires? We're supposed to surrender them. Right? And so whether it's a desire to lose weight or desire to have a different shape or, you know, a different size nose, a different chest size, whatever the desire is. It's not that the desire is bad or there's a reason to have shame around that but we have to surrender those desires and say not my will, but Yours be done. Yeah. I love that.

Heather Creekmore [00:42:02]:

Char, that really encouraged someone today. I know it did.

Char Lee Cassel [00:42:48]:

That was my prayer.

Heather Creekmore [00:42:51]:

Well, I think that's all the time we have for today, but thank you all for being my coaches today. Tell everyone where they can connect with you and all the good stuff you have to offer.

Erin Todd [00:43:03]:

You can listen to the intuitive eating for Christian women podcast and check out our website with all the resources. It's intuitiveeatingforchristianwomen.com.

Heather Creekmore [00:43:12]:

And I'd encourage you, if this is your first episode to listen to of this type, go back and listen to our other coaching episodes. They've been really good. We do one a month, and they are - they always have a subtitle of intuitive eating coaching calls. Well, thanks again, guys. I hope something in today's episode has helped those of you listening to stop comparing and start living. Bye bye.