Made For Living Well

Can we talk about a phrase that makes a lot of Christians squirm? Self-love. I'll be honest, for most of my adult life, I thought self-love was worldly. Anytime I entertained the idea of self-love, I felt guilty. I wanted to nourish myself, and yet I thought the holy thing to do was the opposite: push myself aside, keep myself small, and call it humility. Only recently, while reading the Bible thr...

Say this out loud: "I can't handle this. I'm so tired. Everything is falling apart." Now notice your body. Did your shoulders creep up? Did your breath get shallow? Now try this one: "This is hard, but I can handle it. I can let this be easy." Feel the difference? We spend so much time talking about what we eat, how we sleep, and how we move. But there's one thing running underneath all of it, eve...

Roughly ten years ago, I had a massive life crisis. I lost my health while doing everything right. I'm still not sure whether the fall was more about the pain of trying so hard and ending up worse than I started, or the pride of working in a health space I apparently knew nothing about. Of course, there were a lot of things at play. And somewhere in the middle of it, I started to realize I didn't...

We are living in a time where information has never been more abundant. You can even feel how much more information you're consuming than you were even ten years ago. Nearly everything you need to know is just a click away. And with the rise of AI, that stream of information isn't slowing down. If anything, it's going to speed up. Although controversial, I actually don't think AI is something to b...

It's a frustrating irony. You try harder and tighten your grip. You double down on doing everything "right." And yet somehow, it leaves you feeling further away from the results you want. You might assume the issue is control, but it's actually the illusion of control. The illusion of control is putting your energy and emphasis on things that you can't change while neglecting what you can. It's ex...

Most people have a massive checklist of to-dos (maybe better said, should-dos) they attribute to health. It might be perfecting your morning routine, restricting carbs, or a number of the other infinite ideas people believe it takes to be well. Of course, action is a necessity to make change. And most of the "health ideas" you've believed have merit and health benefits. You should want to be at a...

Dysregulation is a popular term, not because it's trendy, but because many people are affected by its consequences. I spent many years of my life living more dysregulated than regulated, almost succumbing to the idea that the dysregulation was my story. But I also found that feeling dysregulated was having a biological effect. It was leading me to gain weight and engage in choices I didn't love. A...

Not long ago, I would have said yes, assuming that "village" and "community" were interchangeable terms. I didn't understand the differences, which left little room to appreciate them. What I had was a community, not a village. I'm not passing judgment against a community. I still very much thrive here. But Michael and Molly taught me the advantages of the village, and my mind was opened.  A commu...

How much power does the scale have over your life? If we're being honest, for many of us, the scale has become more than just a tool. It's become an identity. We step on, see a number, and immediately let it dictate our mood, our confidence, and how we show up for the world.  In this episode, we're having a long-awaited reckoning with the scale. We're stripping away the emotional weight we've atta...

You don't hate the scale. You hate what it has meant about you. In this episode, we're having the conversation most people are afraid to have: body weight does matter, but not in the way we've been taught to believe. For years, the number on the scale has carried emotional baggage, shame, identity, and control. The body love movement rose in response to that pain. And while it offered relief, it d...

I've long believed the unexpected should be what we expect. Even with the best plans, things can shift, sometimes without warning. Last year, I shut the podcast down, not long after promising  The Sex Talk 2.0.  Truthfully, I was very excited to bring that to you. Although nervous. Early in my career, I had made a promise with God that I would follow him into this territory, to which I never felt...

Do you feel overwhelmed by health advice? Confused about what to eat? Unsure which information to trust? You're not alone. Health has become a fight too many people are leaving feeling defeated and ready to surrender. I've come to learn that the answer you're looking for is rarely in the place you're looking. It's often the opposite of what you think. Regarding health, we spend too much time chasi...

Rest is essential. Although you know that, especially now, as we've shifted into what some call the "rest era." Our internal thermostat works tirelessly to maintain balance, or homeostasis, making rest a natural response to work. But now that we've moved beyond hustle culture, the question becomes:  Are you resting too much, or are you relying on the wrong kinds of rest? The truth is, excessive re...

We're living in what many are calling a  "rest era."  After decades of hustle culture and the relentless push to "be a boss," it's no surprise that we've swung in the opposite direction. Rest became a necessary cure for burnout. But as with all things, the pendulum can swing too far, leaving me to question:  is your b ody   bored? The law of balance proves the pendulum will always swing in the opp...

The lymphatic system is a powerful part of your immune system—think of it as your body's built-in drainage and defense network. It helps regulate fluid balance, supports your immune response, and even plays a role in absorbing fats and fat-soluble vitamins from your digestive system. Like many systems in the body, the lymphatic system thrives on movement. But unlike the circulatory system, it does...

Growing up, I often heard my mom say, "Stand up straight!" At the time, it was little more than an annoyance. But now, as an adult working to repattern years of poor posture, I understand the wisdom in her words. So, Mom, you were right. Posture, or more specifically, your postural patterns, influences much more than just how you look. It has profound biological impacts. Like any sense, your postu...

Water isn't all created equal.  While water generally looks the same, it's far more complex than we previously understood. Not all water behaves the same way, and its behavior can change how it acts inside your body. I say it often, but let me repeat it here:  Health is not what you do to your body but how your body responds to what you do! Health is ultimately up to your body, which means we must...

A healthier mind doesn't start with healthier thoughts. It happens through nourishing your body – your body builds your thoughts. Learn how to use micro-resourcing to change your thoughts. The last thing you want to hear when you're struggling mentally is to "do more" or "try harder." At least, that's how I used to feel. When your mind is already gasping for air, being told to add more to your pla...

Ten years ago, my life as I knew it fell apart setting the stage for what has now become my healing journey. What started as an extreme second case of mono spiraled into gaining 30 pounds in less than two months, a stage one kidney failure diagnosis, and days where getting out of bed felt impossible. But this triggered some lessons that I have learned in my health journey. This came after years of...

I was the child who, as my family said, "had a weak stomach." For most of my childhood and part of my adult life, I struggled through numerous gut-health issues. Nothing was severe, but it was always persistent. It ranged from vomiting to excessive bloating and GI-induced headaches. I also seemed to react to a random array of foods consistently. These issues are, at least partially, responsible fo...

One thing most overlook in working towards sustainable weight loss is the process of building healthier structure. Weight loss isn't always about loss, but rather expansion. Let me teach you how. Growing up, I saw many people attempt weight loss. Some succeeded, at least temporarily, but few paid attention to where the weight came from. Health was reduced to the number glaring back at them from th...

The topic of metabolism tends to focus on only one small piece of a very broad system, your weight or how metabolism can change your structure . And while metabolism can influence how you look—positively or negatively—it's much more than that. A true understanding of metabolism starts by looking at the bigger picture. Metabolism is the sum of all life-sustaining biochemical processes in your body....

Have you ever felt like health is an endless puzzle—where every piece you find adds more confusion instead of clarity? Each step forward feels like two steps back, leaving you stuck in a cycle of frustration. I've been there, too, in the endless negative loop created by a faulty health story. When you're in this place, it's easy to feel like a victim—like your body has failed you and no system mar...

The health space often boxes everyone into a single narrative: if you're overweight, you must be overeating. But that's not always true. In fact, undereating can lead to many of the same problems as overeating. Surprisingly, most people today are underfed—not just in quantity but in quality—leading me to ask: are you eating enough? One of the most comprehensive studies on the effects of undereatin...

You can't change if you don't have the capacity. No matter how much you will it, plan for it, or research it, the only way to create change that lasts is through resourcing your cells with the capacity to change. As the first month of the new year comes to a close, it's a perfect time to evaluate how is your 'attempt' at change working? For many, the initial drive and motivation to stick to New Ye...