April 23, 2025 • 26 mins
Mind renewal isn't just a spiritual catchphrase—it's the transformative key to peaceful eating that's been missing from our conversations about food and body. In part two of our special series "The Truth About Peaceful Eating: What No One Told Us," we dive deep into how our thoughts shape our relationship with food more profoundly than any diet plan ever could.
For years, many of us have exhausted ourselves trying to change our behavior around food through increasingly complex rules and restrictions. We've blamed ourselves for lacking willpower when these approaches inevitably fail. But what if the problem was never our discipline or determination? What if we've been believing the wrong story all along?
Be sure to join us for this important conversation and discover why mind renewal might be the missing piece you've been searching for all along.
Learn more about our Revelation Within Community: https://www.revelationwithin.org
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
Hi and welcome to our podcast Revelation Within On
the Go.
I'm Heidi Wildsma-Efferson, oneof your hosts and the owner and
lead coach of theRevelationWithinorg ministry.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
And I'm Christina Motley, your other host, also a
Revelation Within coach andHeidi's partner in all things
Revelation Within, and we are sohappy to invite you to join us
for this episode of RevelationWithin.
Just so you know, we both hadour arms up in the air for the
(00:39):
end of that one, yay, well,welcome back.
Speaker 1 (00:43):
We're continuing our special three-part series called
the Truth About Peaceful Eatingwhat no One Told Us.
Speaker 2 (00:53):
What no One Told Us.
Oh man, that's a good title,because it does feel like that.
Like why didn't anybody tell me?
I know right, yes, exactly.
So last time we started with apretty bold question what if the
problem isn't food?
(01:14):
So if you missed that episode,we want you to go back.
If you would, we want toencourage you to go back and
listen, Because today we'regoing to build on that
conversation with something thathas completely changed our
lives, Heidi and I, and thelives of so many people in our
community.
Speaker 1 (01:35):
Yes, and it has changed our name too.
We went from Zen Within toRevelation Within, because the
mind renewal piece was soimportant.
People were having revelationand so yeah.
Well, so today, what are wetalking about?
We're talking about mindrenewal.
Speaker 2 (01:53):
Yes, we're talking about mind renewal.
Speaker 1 (01:55):
Oh, I'm so excited I'm like we never get to talk
about that.
No, we never get to talk aboutit.
I want to say right up frontthat this phrase mind renewal it
isn't just a spiritual soundingphrase, it's really a real, a
practical, powerful practice andit's really at the heart of
(02:16):
peaceful, spirit-led living andpeaceful spirit-led eating.
If I can, be quite frank.
Speaker 2 (02:22):
It is Well and it comes right from the Word of God
.
Speaker 1 (02:26):
It comes from Romans 12 too which says be transformed
by the renewing of your mind,and we love that.
Speaker 2 (02:36):
We do, we do Okay.
So here's the thing.
Most of us have spent years,maybe decades, yes, myself
included trying to change ourbehavior around food.
Okay, I'm going to eat less.
Okay, now I'm going to eatbetter and less.
Maybe I'll just eat better butnot less.
Oh, maybe I'm not eating enough.
Okay, how about don't eat atnight, don't eat when stressed?
(03:00):
Okay, how about only certainthese hours of the day, but only
this kind of food?
Oh, my gosh, my head isexploding.
Okay, how about only certainthese hours of the day, but only
this kind of food?
Speaker 1 (03:12):
Oh my gosh, my head is exploding.
Okay, you got to wipe off yourscreen.
You're exploding.
Speaker 2 (03:15):
My head exploded.
And isn't that?
Isn't that so normal in ourculture?
Right now?
It's everywhere.
The thing is behavior followsbelief.
Speaker 1 (03:29):
Yes, it's so interesting to me too.
I think back on kind of theseason that you're in right now,
christina, back when mydaughter was leaving the nest
and she was going away tocollege and exposed to who knows
what out there in the realworld, so to speak, and she had
(03:50):
questions for me because she'dbeen raised in a home that
practiced kind of a peaceful,intuitive eating approach Wait
until you're hungry, stop whenyou're no longer hungry and she
was being exposed to all thefood plans out there in the
world.
And she was being exposed toall the food plans out there in
the world and she's like mom,they tell me that if I wait
(04:12):
until I'm hungry, I'm just goingto have problems with food and
eating, that it's caused bywaiting until I'm hungry when I
eat.
Oh, my goodness, there was abelief there that she ran
headlong into that she wasn'texpecting.
And so what if what you believedeep down is something like this
?
I am totally out of control, Ijust can't be trusted around
(04:37):
food Right, or nobody's going tolove me if I don't look
different.
You know, no matter what youtry, if those are the kinds of
thoughts that you are having,those thoughts that establish
beliefs that establish behavior,then no food plan is going to
set you free.
It's not.
It's just going to be barkingup the wrong tree.
(04:58):
And that's why the Apostle Paulwrote in Romans 12 to do not
conform to the pattern of thisworld, but be transformed by the
renewing of the mind, becausethe world has patterns it wants
to shove us into and it's goingto kind of run counter to what
God says is true.
(05:19):
The world says change yourbehavior and you'll do fine,
you'll be okay.
Jesus says let me change yourmind your beliefs, let me
transform you.
Speaker 2 (05:32):
So so good.
That goes so much deeper,doesn't it?
Yeah, I love that.
I love that.
So I mean, I remember a time,actually many times, when I kept
breaking my own quote unquoterules about food.
I remember having actuallywriting down restrictions,
things that I was going to do.
(05:53):
This was my plan and thenoftentimes it was the plan in
the magazine or the plan at thediet center or the plan.
I had a nutritionist for awhile and we would take walks
together and she would tell meher plan and I just remember
feeling like I can't do this, Ican't even do it.
(06:15):
Well, I can't even do it, alittle bit Like I just I could
last two or three days and thatwas it.
And there was something thatcame up in me that pushed back.
Yes, I didn't want to berestricted.
I didn't want to have rulespounding me on the head.
I didn't want it and I didn'tknow where that was coming from.
(06:36):
It was coming from inside.
It was like I should want this,I should want to be restricted,
because that's what everybodysays is the only way to find
relief, if I'm going to say, youknow, relief.
So I felt like a failure allthe time.
Heidi, you talk about beingreally good at dieting and I
(06:58):
know some people like that,where they can really kind of
hang in there with thoserestrictions, even months at a
time, sometimes a year or two,but it always falls apart
eventually.
It always falls apart eventually.
What I didn't realize then,when I had those stacks of rules
(07:24):
that I was trying to follow,was that I wasn't failing at
willpower.
Wait a minute, really, what Imean?
That's my okay.
My brain just exploded again.
I wasn't failing at willpower.
There wasn't some some hugecharacter flaw in me, Right
right, that was causing me tofail.
What was really happening?
I was believing the wrong story.
Speaker 1 (07:47):
In 2 Corinthians 10, verse 5, paul says we demolish
arguments and every pretensionthat sets itself up against the
knowledge of God, and we takecaptive every thought to make it
obedient to Christ.
Yes, that is what God has tosay about what we're thinking.
(08:09):
We want to kind of filterthrough what we're allowing to,
you know, bang around the insideof our heads, against the walls
of our mind.
It's not about positivethinking.
You know, I am a fit thinperson.
I'm going to be amazing, right?
No, that's not what we'retalking about.
No, it is about identifying thelies that we have lived under
(08:35):
and replacing them with God'sown truth.
So, that's the key.
We want to think God's thoughtsabout food.
We want to think God's thoughtsabout the world's suggested
ideas for how to solve food andeating problems.
We want to think God's thoughtsabout the world's suggested
ideas for how to solve food andeating problems.
We want to think God's thoughtsabout our need for nourishment
(08:56):
and about our emotions.
You know God gave us food toenjoy.
There's nothing sinful aboutenjoying food.
We just want to ask him whatare your thoughts about me
enjoying food?
What are your thoughts aboutthe delight I have in food?
And invite him to help us tochange our thinking so our
desires change and line up withhis.
Speaker 2 (09:18):
Well, and I'm just going to throw this out there I
have mentioned a couple of timesthat I've taken the little
social media icons off of myphone.
But the other day I had alittle rendezvous with Instagram
and I'm just going to betotally honest with you, like a
lover or something, yes, okay,I'm just going to be honest.
(09:39):
I had a little time to myself.
I found myself on there becausemy daughter had posted
something.
At first it was all very legit,and then I started scrolling
and at first it was you knowthis and that and oh, this is
fun, and a wedding blooper hereand a dog video here.
And all of a sudden, instagramread me like a book and my pop
(10:02):
tissues I am not kidding, it isso weird how this happens.
My past issues I am not kidding, it is so weird how this
happens.
And I was faced with real afterreal about body image, weight
loss, dieting, restrictions.
I must've paused on something.
And Instagram read me like abook and read my past history.
(10:22):
And all of a sudden, I wasfaced with and I just it was
more and more and more and more.
And all of a sudden, I wasfaced with and I just, it was
more and more and more and moreand all of a sudden, the wedding
bloopers disappeared, the babyvideos disappeared and all the
cute fun stuff.
And I'm looking at all of thisdiet stuff and rules and
restrictions and message me ifyou want to look like me and how
(10:46):
old are you and what about this, and are you?
Yes, and menopause and all thethings, and I'm just like, wow,
you know what?
Social media is playing anenormous role right now in
what's going in our minds?
Speaker 1 (11:02):
Yes, it is.
Thank you for pointing that outour minds.
Speaker 2 (11:10):
Yes, it is.
Thank you for pointing that out.
It is so prevalent right now.
I just got back from the doctorthis morning.
Every single person in thatoffice was on their phone and
most of them were scrolling.
I mean, I took a little peekand I'm talking to myself, I'm
not judging at all.
We have to be so intentional toget our minds out of what the
(11:30):
world is telling us, because weare being pounded with
information at this point.
What the world is feeding us isnourishing something inside of
us.
Speaker 1 (11:42):
Is it nourishing a worldly perspective or is it
nourishing a godly perspective?
Well, I don't think we have towonder.
Speaker 2 (11:51):
No, and it's intense and it's not just like a
magazine article.
We used to pick up a magazineand read one article about a
diet or restrictions or what youshould eat if you, you know,
whatever.
But now we have these scrolling, we've got reel after reel
after reel and we get poundedwith hundreds, you know, of
(12:14):
reels in a half an hour and it'slike we need to be thinking
about that.
We need to be looking at that,myself included.
I'm right in there with you.
Good point, okay.
So here's something simple thatyou can try this week.
We want to encourage you to trythis.
Start noticing the thoughts thatare swirling around food and
(12:37):
body.
When you feel frustrated,ashamed or out of control, start
thinking about what you'rethinking about.
You know, you might even wantto jot it down.
You might even want to stop fora minute and recognize, wow,
I'm really thinking about thisand this and this right now and
(12:58):
it's not life-giving to me.
And is it truth?
It's not even truth.
Then ask well, is this thoughttrue?
Is it kind?
Does it line up with who God is?
Does it line up with what Godsays about me?
Does it line up with God'scharacter?
(13:19):
Write it down, get curiousabout it.
Start thinking about whatyou're thinking about.
Speaker 1 (13:27):
I love that.
That's a great idea.
It's a really good idea.
Yeah, and while you're at it,turn off the scrolling.
Speaker 2 (13:37):
Oh my gosh, I already took the icons off my phone
again.
Yeah, I mean, it's like it'scrazy that influence it's
powerful.
Speaker 1 (13:45):
Well, another verse that I like to refer to is John
8, 32, where Jesus specificallysaid you will know the truth,
and the truth will set you free.
Now just for clarity and becauseI want to be a good Bible study
girl, I don't mean to implythat Jesus' words at the time
(14:08):
were intended to mean anythingabout food and eating and body
image and all of that, orwhether you're on a diet or not.
That's not at all what I'mtrying to say here.
But there is a principle thatwe can pull out from this that
applies to our food, eating andbody image journey that facing
the truth directly is a way ofexperiencing freedom.
(14:30):
Freedom doesn't start when thescale moves in a direction I
want it to move.
In fact, I don't use a scale,so I'm really glad freedom isn't
dependent on that dependent onthat.
(14:53):
Freedom starts when we start tobelieve what God says is true
about us, about who I am, abouthim and about food.
Yes, did he really intend forfood to torment me?
Did he ever want, for oneminute, food to be something I
have so much anxiety over or useup so much bandwidth in my
brain over?
Probably not Freedom.
(15:13):
It's really a good, good, goodthing to ask God what does
freedom look like for you, lord?
What do you want it to be forme?
What does he have to say aboutthat?
Speaker 2 (15:25):
Yes, well, and really , the women who've walked this
journey with us.
I mean, we've seen this andheard this again and again and
again.
They say this is the piece mindrenewal, this is the key that
has been missing all along,because, really, when you start
thinking differently, everythingchanges.
(15:46):
Your relationship with foodcompletely shifts, your
relationship with your bodysoftens, your relationship with
God deepens, you're filling yourmind with what is true and
life-giving and good and nobleand praiseworthy and excellent.
(16:06):
And what verse does that comefrom?
Philippians 4.8.
Yes, god tells us exactly it'snot like a big secret what we
should be thinking about.
You know, god tells us in hisword think on these things.
And actually I just preemptedthat's okay, that's okay.
Speaker 1 (16:26):
It is a favorite verse of ours and that's why we
refer to it so often Philippians4, 8.
It says specifically whateveris true, whatever's noble,
whatever's right, whatever ispure, whatever is excellent or
praiseworthy, think about suchthings.
Yeah, and imagine if those werethe things that filled your
(16:48):
mind or my mind not how I ateearlier, my regrets about last
month and the doctor visit orwhatever.
not food rules, not shamespirals the truth of who God
says you are, the truth of whoGod says I am and the truth of
(17:09):
what he says he is to us in thestruggle to experience peaceful
eating, a peaceful relationshipwith our bodies, reconciled with
our bodies.
Speaker 2 (17:23):
Oh, that sounds good, heidi.
That sounds really, really goodIn my mind.
I'm going back to theplayground when my kids were
little.
I'm back at the playground inmy mind and the kids are playing
and they're having the besttime and they're laughing and
I'm pushing them on theno-transcript.
What if my mind was renewed inthat moment?
(17:43):
What if I could go back?
Yeah, what if I could say allright, I'm going to go to the
park today with a mind that'srenewed.
I'm going to be thinking God'sthoughts after him at the park.
What would my thoughts be aboutthe other women, the other moms
and dads at the park?
What would my thoughts be aboutmyself, about being there,
(18:05):
about my experience, about mysense of worth, all of that?
Just imagine.
You can put any scenario there.
It doesn't have to be a parkvisit.
You could put anything there.
What?
Let's dream a little bit.
What does that freedom look like?
Speaker 1 (18:22):
If.
Speaker 2 (18:22):
I were thinking thoughts that were noble and
good and right and life-givingin that moment, about the others
around me and about myself.
Speaker 1 (18:33):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (18:33):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (18:34):
Wow.
Another way is, if I have anemotion rising up in me, I can
bring that to God right away.
A lot of my emotions are goingto drive me to food if I don't
deal with them a different way,and so asking God to show me
what is true about this emotion.
(18:55):
I'm feeling about thiscircumstance that triggered this
emotion.
I'm feeling what is true aboutwhat you have to say about all
of that, and when I do that, itchanges all of that inside of me
, which changes what I'mbelieving, which changes how I
act.
Speaker 2 (19:13):
Just a couple months ago we had a podcast where I
shared about a doctor'sappointment that was a nightmare
appointment.
If you haven't heard that one.
It was the one where I sat in achair and got weighed and I
didn't know I was gettingweighed and it was just all
these weird things.
It was just an awful visit frombeginning to end.
(19:34):
So I had another opportunitythis morning to have a doctor's
visit and kind of a do-over.
Now this is different healthinsurance, different building,
different doctor.
I had to start all kind of overbecause of my husband's job
changing, and so for thisappointment, I had an
(19:54):
opportunity to basically have aredo and to be prepared for the
appointment.
This is a new doctor.
I didn't know her.
So, heidi, you and I actuallytalked and processed through
some of what the doctor mightask, some of what might be
uncomfortable, some of whatmight feel like.
You know what I want to beready.
(20:17):
And then I also took it to theLord, of course, and he and I
came up with all kinds of truthsabout me, about my body, about
some of the issues that I dealwith physically, all those
things.
And so when I walked into thatoffice today, I felt ready.
So, switch the park scenario tothe doctor's office.
(20:38):
Okay, there's people allsitting in the waiting room, you
have some people behind thecounter, you have the assistant
that comes in and takes yourblood pressure, and then you
have the actual doctor.
So I probably interacted, youknow just with a lot of people
really.
So I walked in with a sense ofthis is what is true, this is
(21:00):
what is good, what is right, godand I worked on it.
I worked on it with Heidi, whois my best friend and forever
coach, and I was ready and Ifelt peace walking in and I had
answers ready for questions thatmight be asked, and that was
amazing.
It changed my entire experience.
(21:23):
When I walked in, my mind wasrenewed and even the way that I
looked at others was from God'spoint of view Looking around the
room, you know the room whereeverybody was on their phones,
looking around that room andthinking that person was made in
God's image.
That person is radiant andredeemed.
(21:45):
That person is loved by God,that person you know, not even
knowing the people, but justknowing, rather than playing
that horrible comparison game.
And then being ready to talkwith the doctor.
And she did ask me about foodand eating and I was able to
talk to her in an open way.
(22:06):
We didn't talk long, it was aquick appointment, but it was
good.
It was good and it was goodbecause my mind was not full of
thoughts of shame, my mind wasnot full of self-condemnation,
my mind was not full of insecurethoughts.
Yay, it changed the entireexperience.
(22:26):
To walk in with a renewed mind.
Speaker 1 (22:29):
I can only imagine you know I have had doctor's
appointments over the years thathave been memorable.
I don't mean it in a good way.
So, yeah, renewing your mindabout that is so.
I mean.
Really one of the things thatyou have done too, christina, is
remind us that again and againyou can, when you see your
(22:52):
reflection or whatever it mightbe a reflection in a mirror, in
a window, as you're browsing orwhatever past a window, you can
say those kinds of things aboutyourself as well, and I tell you
what it's so much more.
It's life giving to think ofyourself the way God thinks of
you.
It is, it feels so good and itcombats a lot of the things that
(23:17):
cause us to turn to food, thisnegative spiral thing that we go
into.
We just you know the shame.
It combats that too.
So I'm glad you brought that up.
Speaker 2 (23:28):
Yeah, yeah, I'm glad that that worked out that way,
and here we are making thepodcast, so it worked out, since
my appointment was this morning.
Okay, so in our next episode,the final part of this series
we're going to talk about whatit actually looks like to make
peace with food and your body.
(23:49):
What, wow, that's a tall order,but we're going to do it.
We are going to do it.
It's not about perfection.
It's about presence, processand grace.
Speaker 1 (24:10):
We hope you'll join us, of course.
Yes, this journey it's notabout getting it right.
No, sometimes it's aboutfailing.
Well, but seriously, it's aboutgetting and living free living
free and living in grace.
Speaker 2 (24:24):
Oh, that's so good.
Join us for our next episode ofRevelation Within.
Speaker 1 (24:37):
On the go and, yes, our arms were up again when we
did that one today, we're justespecially excited.
We'll see you next time.
Bye for now, bye-bye.
Hi and welcome to our podcast Revelation Within On
the Go.
I'm Heidi Wildsma-Efferson, oneof your hosts and the owner and
lead coach of theRevelationWithinorg ministry.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
And I'm Christina Motley, your other host, also a
Revelation Within coach andHeidi's partner in all things
Revelation Within, and we are sohappy to invite you to join us
for this episode of RevelationWithin.
Just so you know, we both hadour arms up in the air for the
(00:39):
end of that one, yay, well,welcome back.
Speaker 1 (00:43):
We're continuing our special three-part series called
the Truth About Peaceful Eatingwhat no One Told Us.
Speaker 2 (00:53):
What no One Told Us.
Oh man, that's a good title,because it does feel like that.
Like why didn't anybody tell me?
I know right, yes, exactly.
So last time we started with apretty bold question what if the
problem isn't food?
(01:14):
So if you missed that episode,we want you to go back.
If you would, we want toencourage you to go back and
listen, Because today we'regoing to build on that
conversation with something thathas completely changed our
lives, Heidi and I, and thelives of so many people in our
community.
Speaker 1 (01:35):
Yes, and it has changed our name too.
We went from Zen Within toRevelation Within, because the
mind renewal piece was soimportant.
People were having revelationand so yeah.
Well, so today, what are wetalking about?
We're talking about mindrenewal.
Speaker 2 (01:53):
Yes, we're talking about mind renewal.
Speaker 1 (01:55):
Oh, I'm so excited I'm like we never get to talk
about that.
No, we never get to talk aboutit.
I want to say right up frontthat this phrase mind renewal it
isn't just a spiritual soundingphrase, it's really a real, a
practical, powerful practice andit's really at the heart of
(02:16):
peaceful, spirit-led living andpeaceful spirit-led eating.
If I can, be quite frank.
Speaker 2 (02:22):
It is Well and it comes right from the Word of God
.
Speaker 1 (02:26):
It comes from Romans 12 too which says be transformed
by the renewing of your mind,and we love that.
Speaker 2 (02:36):
We do, we do Okay.
So here's the thing.
Most of us have spent years,maybe decades, yes, myself
included trying to change ourbehavior around food.
Okay, I'm going to eat less.
Okay, now I'm going to eatbetter and less.
Maybe I'll just eat better butnot less.
Oh, maybe I'm not eating enough.
Okay, how about don't eat atnight, don't eat when stressed?
(03:00):
Okay, how about only certainthese hours of the day, but only
this kind of food?
Oh, my gosh, my head isexploding.
Okay, how about only certainthese hours of the day, but only
this kind of food?
Speaker 1 (03:12):
Oh my gosh, my head is exploding.
Okay, you got to wipe off yourscreen.
You're exploding.
Speaker 2 (03:15):
My head exploded.
And isn't that?
Isn't that so normal in ourculture?
Right now?
It's everywhere.
The thing is behavior followsbelief.
Speaker 1 (03:29):
Yes, it's so interesting to me too.
I think back on kind of theseason that you're in right now,
christina, back when mydaughter was leaving the nest
and she was going away tocollege and exposed to who knows
what out there in the realworld, so to speak, and she had
(03:50):
questions for me because she'dbeen raised in a home that
practiced kind of a peaceful,intuitive eating approach Wait
until you're hungry, stop whenyou're no longer hungry and she
was being exposed to all thefood plans out there in the
world.
And she was being exposed toall the food plans out there in
the world and she's like mom,they tell me that if I wait
(04:12):
until I'm hungry, I'm just goingto have problems with food and
eating, that it's caused bywaiting until I'm hungry when I
eat.
Oh, my goodness, there was abelief there that she ran
headlong into that she wasn'texpecting.
And so what if what you believedeep down is something like this
?
I am totally out of control, Ijust can't be trusted around
(04:37):
food Right, or nobody's going tolove me if I don't look
different.
You know, no matter what youtry, if those are the kinds of
thoughts that you are having,those thoughts that establish
beliefs that establish behavior,then no food plan is going to
set you free.
It's not.
It's just going to be barkingup the wrong tree.
(04:58):
And that's why the Apostle Paulwrote in Romans 12 to do not
conform to the pattern of thisworld, but be transformed by the
renewing of the mind, becausethe world has patterns it wants
to shove us into and it's goingto kind of run counter to what
God says is true.
(05:19):
The world says change yourbehavior and you'll do fine,
you'll be okay.
Jesus says let me change yourmind your beliefs, let me
transform you.
Speaker 2 (05:32):
So so good.
That goes so much deeper,doesn't it?
Yeah, I love that.
I love that.
So I mean, I remember a time,actually many times, when I kept
breaking my own quote unquoterules about food.
I remember having actuallywriting down restrictions,
things that I was going to do.
(05:53):
This was my plan and thenoftentimes it was the plan in
the magazine or the plan at thediet center or the plan.
I had a nutritionist for awhile and we would take walks
together and she would tell meher plan and I just remember
feeling like I can't do this, Ican't even do it.
(06:15):
Well, I can't even do it, alittle bit Like I just I could
last two or three days and thatwas it.
And there was something thatcame up in me that pushed back.
Yes, I didn't want to berestricted.
I didn't want to have rulespounding me on the head.
I didn't want it and I didn'tknow where that was coming from.
(06:36):
It was coming from inside.
It was like I should want this,I should want to be restricted,
because that's what everybodysays is the only way to find
relief, if I'm going to say, youknow, relief.
So I felt like a failure allthe time.
Heidi, you talk about beingreally good at dieting and I
(06:58):
know some people like that,where they can really kind of
hang in there with thoserestrictions, even months at a
time, sometimes a year or two,but it always falls apart
eventually.
It always falls apart eventually.
What I didn't realize then,when I had those stacks of rules
(07:24):
that I was trying to follow,was that I wasn't failing at
willpower.
Wait a minute, really, what Imean?
That's my okay.
My brain just exploded again.
I wasn't failing at willpower.
There wasn't some some hugecharacter flaw in me, Right
right, that was causing me tofail.
What was really happening?
I was believing the wrong story.
Speaker 1 (07:47):
In 2 Corinthians 10, verse 5, paul says we demolish
arguments and every pretensionthat sets itself up against the
knowledge of God, and we takecaptive every thought to make it
obedient to Christ.
Yes, that is what God has tosay about what we're thinking.
(08:09):
We want to kind of filterthrough what we're allowing to,
you know, bang around the insideof our heads, against the walls
of our mind.
It's not about positivethinking.
You know, I am a fit thinperson.
I'm going to be amazing, right?
No, that's not what we'retalking about.
No, it is about identifying thelies that we have lived under
(08:35):
and replacing them with God'sown truth.
So, that's the key.
We want to think God's thoughtsabout food.
We want to think God's thoughtsabout the world's suggested
ideas for how to solve food andeating problems.
We want to think God's thoughtsabout the world's suggested
ideas for how to solve food andeating problems.
We want to think God's thoughtsabout our need for nourishment
(08:56):
and about our emotions.
You know God gave us food toenjoy.
There's nothing sinful aboutenjoying food.
We just want to ask him whatare your thoughts about me
enjoying food?
What are your thoughts aboutthe delight I have in food?
And invite him to help us tochange our thinking so our
desires change and line up withhis.
Speaker 2 (09:18):
Well, and I'm just going to throw this out there I
have mentioned a couple of timesthat I've taken the little
social media icons off of myphone.
But the other day I had alittle rendezvous with Instagram
and I'm just going to betotally honest with you, like a
lover or something, yes, okay,I'm just going to be honest.
(09:39):
I had a little time to myself.
I found myself on there becausemy daughter had posted
something.
At first it was all very legit,and then I started scrolling
and at first it was you knowthis and that and oh, this is
fun, and a wedding blooper hereand a dog video here.
And all of a sudden, instagramread me like a book and my pop
(10:02):
tissues I am not kidding, it isso weird how this happens.
My past issues I am not kidding, it is so weird how this
happens.
And I was faced with real afterreal about body image, weight
loss, dieting, restrictions.
I must've paused on something.
And Instagram read me like abook and read my past history.
(10:22):
And all of a sudden, I wasfaced with and I just it was
more and more and more and more.
And all of a sudden, I wasfaced with and I just, it was
more and more and more and moreand all of a sudden, the wedding
bloopers disappeared, the babyvideos disappeared and all the
cute fun stuff.
And I'm looking at all of thisdiet stuff and rules and
restrictions and message me ifyou want to look like me and how
(10:46):
old are you and what about this, and are you?
Yes, and menopause and all thethings, and I'm just like, wow,
you know what?
Social media is playing anenormous role right now in
what's going in our minds?
Speaker 1 (11:02):
Yes, it is.
Thank you for pointing that outour minds.
Speaker 2 (11:10):
Yes, it is.
Thank you for pointing that out.
It is so prevalent right now.
I just got back from the doctorthis morning.
Every single person in thatoffice was on their phone and
most of them were scrolling.
I mean, I took a little peekand I'm talking to myself, I'm
not judging at all.
We have to be so intentional toget our minds out of what the
(11:30):
world is telling us, because weare being pounded with
information at this point.
What the world is feeding us isnourishing something inside of
us.
Speaker 1 (11:42):
Is it nourishing a worldly perspective or is it
nourishing a godly perspective?
Well, I don't think we have towonder.
Speaker 2 (11:51):
No, and it's intense and it's not just like a
magazine article.
We used to pick up a magazineand read one article about a
diet or restrictions or what youshould eat if you, you know,
whatever.
But now we have these scrolling, we've got reel after reel
after reel and we get poundedwith hundreds, you know, of
(12:14):
reels in a half an hour and it'slike we need to be thinking
about that.
We need to be looking at that,myself included.
I'm right in there with you.
Good point, okay.
So here's something simple thatyou can try this week.
We want to encourage you to trythis.
Start noticing the thoughts thatare swirling around food and
(12:37):
body.
When you feel frustrated,ashamed or out of control, start
thinking about what you'rethinking about.
You know, you might even wantto jot it down.
You might even want to stop fora minute and recognize, wow,
I'm really thinking about thisand this and this right now and
(12:58):
it's not life-giving to me.
And is it truth?
It's not even truth.
Then ask well, is this thoughttrue?
Is it kind?
Does it line up with who God is?
Does it line up with what Godsays about me?
Does it line up with God'scharacter?
(13:19):
Write it down, get curiousabout it.
Start thinking about whatyou're thinking about.
Speaker 1 (13:27):
I love that.
That's a great idea.
It's a really good idea.
Yeah, and while you're at it,turn off the scrolling.
Speaker 2 (13:37):
Oh my gosh, I already took the icons off my phone
again.
Yeah, I mean, it's like it'scrazy that influence it's
powerful.
Speaker 1 (13:45):
Well, another verse that I like to refer to is John
8, 32, where Jesus specificallysaid you will know the truth,
and the truth will set you free.
Now just for clarity and becauseI want to be a good Bible study
girl, I don't mean to implythat Jesus' words at the time
(14:08):
were intended to mean anythingabout food and eating and body
image and all of that, orwhether you're on a diet or not.
That's not at all what I'mtrying to say here.
But there is a principle thatwe can pull out from this that
applies to our food, eating andbody image journey that facing
the truth directly is a way ofexperiencing freedom.
(14:30):
Freedom doesn't start when thescale moves in a direction I
want it to move.
In fact, I don't use a scale,so I'm really glad freedom isn't
dependent on that dependent onthat.
(14:53):
Freedom starts when we start tobelieve what God says is true
about us, about who I am, abouthim and about food.
Yes, did he really intend forfood to torment me?
Did he ever want, for oneminute, food to be something I
have so much anxiety over or useup so much bandwidth in my
brain over?
Probably not Freedom.
(15:13):
It's really a good, good, goodthing to ask God what does
freedom look like for you, lord?
What do you want it to be forme?
What does he have to say aboutthat?
Speaker 2 (15:25):
Yes, well, and really , the women who've walked this
journey with us.
I mean, we've seen this andheard this again and again and
again.
They say this is the piece mindrenewal, this is the key that
has been missing all along,because, really, when you start
thinking differently, everythingchanges.
(15:46):
Your relationship with foodcompletely shifts, your
relationship with your bodysoftens, your relationship with
God deepens, you're filling yourmind with what is true and
life-giving and good and nobleand praiseworthy and excellent.
(16:06):
And what verse does that comefrom?
Philippians 4.8.
Yes, god tells us exactly it'snot like a big secret what we
should be thinking about.
You know, god tells us in hisword think on these things.
And actually I just preemptedthat's okay, that's okay.
Speaker 1 (16:26):
It is a favorite verse of ours and that's why we
refer to it so often Philippians4, 8.
It says specifically whateveris true, whatever's noble,
whatever's right, whatever ispure, whatever is excellent or
praiseworthy, think about suchthings.
Yeah, and imagine if those werethe things that filled your
(16:48):
mind or my mind not how I ateearlier, my regrets about last
month and the doctor visit orwhatever.
not food rules, not shamespirals the truth of who God
says you are, the truth of whoGod says I am and the truth of
(17:09):
what he says he is to us in thestruggle to experience peaceful
eating, a peaceful relationshipwith our bodies, reconciled with
our bodies.
Speaker 2 (17:23):
Oh, that sounds good, heidi.
That sounds really, really goodIn my mind.
I'm going back to theplayground when my kids were
little.
I'm back at the playground inmy mind and the kids are playing
and they're having the besttime and they're laughing and
I'm pushing them on theno-transcript.
What if my mind was renewed inthat moment?
(17:43):
What if I could go back?
Yeah, what if I could say allright, I'm going to go to the
park today with a mind that'srenewed.
I'm going to be thinking God'sthoughts after him at the park.
What would my thoughts be aboutthe other women, the other moms
and dads at the park?
What would my thoughts be aboutmyself, about being there,
(18:05):
about my experience, about mysense of worth, all of that?
Just imagine.
You can put any scenario there.
It doesn't have to be a parkvisit.
You could put anything there.
What?
Let's dream a little bit.
What does that freedom look like?
Speaker 1 (18:22):
If.
Speaker 2 (18:22):
I were thinking thoughts that were noble and
good and right and life-givingin that moment, about the others
around me and about myself.
Speaker 1 (18:33):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (18:33):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (18:34):
Wow.
Another way is, if I have anemotion rising up in me, I can
bring that to God right away.
A lot of my emotions are goingto drive me to food if I don't
deal with them a different way,and so asking God to show me
what is true about this emotion.
(18:55):
I'm feeling about thiscircumstance that triggered this
emotion.
I'm feeling what is true aboutwhat you have to say about all
of that, and when I do that, itchanges all of that inside of me
, which changes what I'mbelieving, which changes how I
act.
Speaker 2 (19:13):
Just a couple months ago we had a podcast where I
shared about a doctor'sappointment that was a nightmare
appointment.
If you haven't heard that one.
It was the one where I sat in achair and got weighed and I
didn't know I was gettingweighed and it was just all
these weird things.
It was just an awful visit frombeginning to end.
(19:34):
So I had another opportunitythis morning to have a doctor's
visit and kind of a do-over.
Now this is different healthinsurance, different building,
different doctor.
I had to start all kind of overbecause of my husband's job
changing, and so for thisappointment, I had an
(19:54):
opportunity to basically have aredo and to be prepared for the
appointment.
This is a new doctor.
I didn't know her.
So, heidi, you and I actuallytalked and processed through
some of what the doctor mightask, some of what might be
uncomfortable, some of whatmight feel like.
You know what I want to beready.
(20:17):
And then I also took it to theLord, of course, and he and I
came up with all kinds of truthsabout me, about my body, about
some of the issues that I dealwith physically, all those
things.
And so when I walked into thatoffice today, I felt ready.
So, switch the park scenario tothe doctor's office.
(20:38):
Okay, there's people allsitting in the waiting room, you
have some people behind thecounter, you have the assistant
that comes in and takes yourblood pressure, and then you
have the actual doctor.
So I probably interacted, youknow just with a lot of people
really.
So I walked in with a sense ofthis is what is true, this is
(21:00):
what is good, what is right, godand I worked on it.
I worked on it with Heidi, whois my best friend and forever
coach, and I was ready and Ifelt peace walking in and I had
answers ready for questions thatmight be asked, and that was
amazing.
It changed my entire experience.
(21:23):
When I walked in, my mind wasrenewed and even the way that I
looked at others was from God'spoint of view Looking around the
room, you know the room whereeverybody was on their phones,
looking around that room andthinking that person was made in
God's image.
That person is radiant andredeemed.
(21:45):
That person is loved by God,that person you know, not even
knowing the people, but justknowing, rather than playing
that horrible comparison game.
And then being ready to talkwith the doctor.
And she did ask me about foodand eating and I was able to
talk to her in an open way.
(22:06):
We didn't talk long, it was aquick appointment, but it was
good.
It was good and it was goodbecause my mind was not full of
thoughts of shame, my mind wasnot full of self-condemnation,
my mind was not full of insecurethoughts.
Yay, it changed the entireexperience.
(22:26):
To walk in with a renewed mind.
Speaker 1 (22:29):
I can only imagine you know I have had doctor's
appointments over the years thathave been memorable.
I don't mean it in a good way.
So, yeah, renewing your mindabout that is so.
I mean.
Really one of the things thatyou have done too, christina, is
remind us that again and againyou can, when you see your
(22:52):
reflection or whatever it mightbe a reflection in a mirror, in
a window, as you're browsing orwhatever past a window, you can
say those kinds of things aboutyourself as well, and I tell you
what it's so much more.
It's life giving to think ofyourself the way God thinks of
you.
It is, it feels so good and itcombats a lot of the things that
(23:17):
cause us to turn to food, thisnegative spiral thing that we go
into.
We just you know the shame.
It combats that too.
So I'm glad you brought that up.
Speaker 2 (23:28):
Yeah, yeah, I'm glad that that worked out that way,
and here we are making thepodcast, so it worked out, since
my appointment was this morning.
Okay, so in our next episode,the final part of this series
we're going to talk about whatit actually looks like to make
peace with food and your body.
(23:49):
What, wow, that's a tall order,but we're going to do it.
We are going to do it.
It's not about perfection.
It's about presence, processand grace.
Speaker 1 (24:10):
We hope you'll join us, of course.
Yes, this journey it's notabout getting it right.
No, sometimes it's aboutfailing.
Well, but seriously, it's aboutgetting and living free living
free and living in grace.
Speaker 2 (24:24):
Oh, that's so good.
Join us for our next episode ofRevelation Within.
Speaker 1 (24:37):
On the go and, yes, our arms were up again when we
did that one today, we're justespecially excited.
We'll see you next time.
Bye for now, bye-bye.
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