Compared to Who? Body Image for Christian Women

Have you ever looked at a model and thought, "If I could just look like that than I wouldn't struggle with my body image?" I have. I interview Amanda Cunningham, a former runway model who shares some behind the scenes details of what the world of modeling is really like and how being a part of it affected her body image and relationship with food. Guess what: Models have body image issues, too! To...

Today my guest, Allie Marie Smith, and I talk about the fearfully and wonderfully made verse from Psalm 139:14 and her new book titled, "Wonderfully Made." Allie shares her story of depression and suicide attempts, an eating disorder, and how God has worked through all of her mental health struggles to take her to a greater place of understanding who she is in Him. You will be encouraged by Allie'...

It's hard to be in God's waiting room. Whether you're waiting for a spouse, a new job, or some other goal--waiting can be tough. Today I talk to author Heather Thompson Day about her new book, "It's Not Your Turn: What to Do While You're Waiting for Your Breakthrough." Heather and I talk about all sorts of topics related to waiting and living life to the fullest. We talk about how to see every opp...

Today we take a pause to remember what this show is really about. We've spent a lot of time over the past few months talking about food, intuitive eating, and related issues. But, today we revisit the purpose of this show--to help you break free from body image issues and to help you see clearly the way the body image idol works to deceive us. If you are listening to the show and still feeling awk...

In today's second installment of the Burden of Better Book Club, Heather talks about how understanding grace cures comparison. In her book, The Burden of Better, Heather explores four different manifestations of grace in the daily life of the follower of Jesus. She also answers some of your questions about comparison and idealism (from the first Burden of Better Book Club Episode here.) Here's wha...

Today Dr. Juli Slattery and I tackle a tough topic: What do you do when you think your husband hates your body. I've have many women reach out to me over the years with this concern. Today, Dr. Slattery and I take a look at this issue from a few different angles and offer hope and help to women who need encouragement in this arena and in their marriages. Sometimes our struggle is about false belie...

Today we look at Matthew 6:25-34 -- a familiar passage in the Bible where Jesus tells us not to worry. But his instruction isn't generic. He tells us not to worry about a few specific things -- he says don't worry about food, drink, and clothing. What? Isn't this what this whole show is about? Body image fear? Here are a few key points about body image fear and fears around our food as we look at...

One of the largest obstacles to overcome when you release your body image issues and improve your relationship with food is facing the fear of losing your health. Chances are, you've listened to and read all the data about what happens unless you tightly control your food, your environment, your exercise... everything really. Reality is: there are a thousand reasons to be afraid of what's out ther...

Are you afraid of satisfaction? Does it feel "wrong" to buy something you would like or to eat something that tastes truly delicious? In my intuitive eating coaching call, Erin Todd--co-host of the Intuitive Eating for Christian Women podcast--and I talk about why we struggle with satisfaction. We talk about the ways we've subtly learned that it's better or holier to not be satisfied--in everythin...

Are you afraid of what others think of you? Maybe you're worried about what they think of your life, your body, your choices, your struggles. Today, author, speaker, and coach, Jill Savage and I tackle how we handle the fear of what others will think of us. Jill has experienced the gamut of life situations that could cause others to raise an eyebrow. From facing infidelity in her marriage (to a pa...

This conversation may shock and surprise you. Today, non-diet dietician, Tracy Brown and I have an informative conversation about bread avoidance. Over the last decade--bread has become a "scary" food to many who are dieting or trying to lose weight. But, is bread really something we should be afraid of? Is the frightening truth that we've been manipulated and guided towards certain foods and away...

Today is the start of a new month-long series about conquering our fears related to body image and food. Nicole Mesita, a non-diet RD, joins me to tackle our first issue: Conquering the Fear of Fat. The data surrounding this issue is astounding. Some studies show 63% of American women and 44% of American men are afraid of becoming fat. Eighty-one percent of ten-year-olds also are facing the fear o...

Today Heather interviews Rosie Makinney of Fight for Love Ministries --a ministry dedicated to helping women affected by porn in their marriages. Rosie shares the resurrection story of her marriage and how she and her husband came to a new place of hope and healing after porn. We go to some hard places today in our conversation about the realities of porn and how it hurts our marriages. Here are s...

This is the first in a series of three, monthly episodes where we'll talk about my latest book, The Burden of Better. Even if you've read it, these book club episodes go deeper and wider than what was captured in the book. Today we discuss the first part of the book--which goes into why we compare, the dangers of comparison, and what really happens when we chase our ideals and try to become more l...

In honor of National Eating Disorder Awareness Week, today I'm tackling the data on Eating Disorders. **Trigger Warning**This is a weighty and emotional topic. If you're recovering from an ED or have been diagnosed already, you may want to just skip this episode in case you find it triggering. My purpose today is to expose the many symptoms of eating disorders and alert you to the reality that som...

Pregnancy can be a rough time on our body image. Rebekah Hargraves helps me dig into the challenges of body changes during and after pregnancy. Rebekah had her first baby in her early 20s, while I had my first in her early thirties. We compare stories and experiences and talk about the pressures we put on ourselves to come out of pregnancy like a celebrity. There's more to this episode than just p...

My conversation with Tiffany Jo Baker was supposed to be about body after baby. But, where we landed became a beautiful orchestra of many topics ranging from infertility to judging others by their appearance to how to find your purpose. Tiffany Jo Baker is a mom of two and was a surrogate mom for three families dealing with infertility. Whether you're a new mom, or a mom of grown kids...whether yo...

Today's episode is the recording of my coaching call with my Intuitive Eating Coaches--Char-Lee Cassel, RD and Erin Todd--hosts of the Intuitive Eating for Christian Women podcast. The most startling discovery: maybe my lifelong fatigue hasn't been related to eating the "right" foods or the "wrong" foods but could be related to not having enough calories. Both Diet Culture and Health Culture have...

Do you ever feel like life would be easier if you could just control everything? Or, perhaps you'd say you're not controlling...as long as everything goes the way you want it to! Friend, I understand both of those concepts--too well! That's why I invited my friend, author Jennifer Dukes Lee on the show today to talk candidly about it. Jennifer offers some great insights that will encourage your he...

I know all about battling control and so does today's guest, Shannon Popkin, author of the book, "Control Girl." Today, Shannon and I talk about all things related to how to stop being a controlling woman. We talk about: why women control, how we control, and what some of the antidotes are for control. If you're looking for help on how to stop being this kind of controlling woman, I hope you'll tu...

You asked for more 7 minutes of scripture episodes...so today we'll tackle Esther chapter 2 in about seven minutes (or 17 minutes...it's a full chapter!) Today we look at how for Esther beauty didn't lead to a fairy tale. Too often the story of Esther is presented as a rags-to-riches, inspirational tale--like the Cinderella story of the Bible. But the reality of Esther's story is much harder than...

Who has a brain that just won't turn off? I do! Today we talk with the Mindset Makeover Coach, Alicia Michelle about how to find rest by focusing on what we're thinking (and overthinking) about. If you've wondered how to stop the brain from overthinking, today will be a super helpful show for you. In this series on habits that will actually change our year, we talk about how important it is to res...

This is part 2 of a conversation with Amy Carlson, MS, RD, LD on the topic of fasting. In the last episode we discussed whether or not someone with an eating disorder or recovering from an eating disorder should try fasting and what the dangers and challenges are surrounding that. Today, we dig deeper into scripture. We look at the Daniel Fast, Sugar Fasts, and uncover the truth about biblical fas...

Sugar fasts. Daniel fasts. Lenten fasts. Churchwide fasts. Intermittent fasting. There is so much talk about fasting in our culture today, that it can become confusing to figure out what the Bible says about fasting versus what our culture (and Diet Culture) teaches about its role. Today, Amy Carlson, MS, RD, LD - a registered, non-diet dietician and I talk about all things fasting. We tackle some...

If you're familiar with scripture, you've likely heard the instruction to be transformed by the renewing your mind--an instruction from Romans 12. But how do we renew our minds? What does it look like to renew our minds in the body image arena? Is changing how you think about your body even possible? Today Heather talks with Barb Raveling about all sorts of helpful things in this arena. Barb instr...