Compared to Who? Body Image for Christian Women

My friend, Integrative Nutrition Coach, Erin Kerry and I have a candid conversation about what 1500 calories a day really does to your brain and body. Did you know that 1500 calories a day can put your brain and your body into survival mode? The concept of the 1500 (or 1200) calorie a diet has been a popular dieting method for decades--but more and more nutritionists, dietitians, and others are ex...

Today we wrap up this month long series with a quick prayer over our whole body image. What has God been showing you? Are there areas of your body image or aspects to your body image issues that you hadn't considered? If this series has been a help to you at all -- I'd love to hear about it! Drop me a note at: heather (at) compared to who (dot) me and tell me what God's doing to set you free from...

Today we pray for favor -- a concept that is different than seeking the approval of others. Favor is something that God tells us and shows us through scripture that he gives to his people. Favor doesn't come from us projecting a certain image or trying to make other people us. Instead, favor is a supernatural kinship with someone (maybe even someone who normally wouldn't like us!) that is orchestr...

For those of us who struggle with body image issues, I've noticed through the years of talking and working with women that control can tend to also be a problem. Are you secretly a control freak? I have been. There are many reasons and ways that control and body image issues connect - so today we're going to talk about those ways and pray for God to set us on the path to freedom from control issue...

Today's episode is not about how to grow in love for your body--rather, we're talking about how to love God and others well! Though it may seem like a backwards concept, I promise you that when your focus shifts to loving God and others well, your eyes come off of your thighs and you feel freer in your own skin. How do we love others well? That can be the tricky part -and that's what we'll tackle...

Do you have friends? Not the kind of people that always want to diet and do things to look hotter-- but a friend that is safe to talk to about the ways you struggle with body image and comparison and who will lead you back to the truth of the Gospel? This kind of friend is hard to find. Today, we'll pray that God will send you friends that are able and willing to speak His truth to you in love. We...

Are you held captive by the opinion of the scale or the reflection staring back at you from the mirror? Does the wrong number or a new wrinkle ruin your whole day? If you've ever felt enslaved to the opinions of the scale or the mirror -today we're going to pray specifically for freedom in these areas. Are you ready to pray for their hold over you to end? Then listen and share with a friend who ne...

Confidence! We've been told it comes from having a great body or achievements, or worse -- some say we can have confidence just by having more self love. But is this really what the Bible teaches? I don't think so. I think the kind of confidence we need doesn't come from greater self esteem, but from greater God esteem. We can be most confident when we lay our own accomplishments, achievements, re...

Can we trust God as our divine dietician? Today we talk about the truth that God's wisdom is good for ALL areas of our lives and the one who created our bodies probably knows best how we can take care of them. It's a simple truth that most of us who have been caught up in dieting and "body changing" efforts for years may forget. The verse of the day is one that convicts me greatly. It's from Matth...

Health: It's good to be healthy. It's good to desire health. It's good to be a responsible steward of your body... But, health can become an idol. For many clients I work with and women I meet, health presents an area of confusion. They have a hard time finding the line between "I need to be healthy" and "I'm pursuing a health idol to serve my body image idol."  What's really good f...

Do you know what gifts God has given you? Do you know how he made you tick, what he wired you for? Finding our "purpose" doesn't have to be some giant, elusive, mission...but taking steps towards doing things that match how God made you WILL help you feel better about your body image. Today we talk all about finding purpose and how that can help heal your body image. Our verse of the day is Romans...

Today we're going to pray that you can feel and embrace the freedom that God intends for you to have with your body, with food, and with exercise. We were not intended to be slaves to any earthly thing--including the scale, the mirror, our own ideals, or size tags. In fact, the Gospel tells us that Jesus died so we could lay down the yoke of slavery and bondage--this covers our body image issues a...

Today we talk about Comparison -something that, if you've been around this show any amount of time, you'll know is a hot topic! Comparison is no joke, it's bigger than the memes, and it's hurting us more than we know. I talk all about the ways that comparisons affects us and how we can be free from constant comparison in my book, "The Burden of Better: How a Comparison Free Life Leads to Joy, Peac...

I'll admit -- I like to be right. I like to have people acknowledge it when I do well. I like to be seen as good, the best, or admirable. And, friends--it's all my pride. Today we talk about how pride impacts our body image struggles, why pride keeps us stuck, and how to walk in humility and how that humble spirit can help us find body image freedom. Our verse of the day is James 4:10, "Humble you...

What does it mean to covet? Is coveting actually a problem in our body image struggles? Could our constant coveting be keeping us from body image freedom? Worse yet--what are we really doing when we covet another woman's body "assets"? Today we'll tackle these questions. I hope you'll listen and then leave a review for the show or drop me a note and let me know if this series is blessing you: heat...

Today's topic is a tough one-- envy! Sigh. Could envy be a stronghold in our body image issues? Yes, it can and often is. We get so stuck in envying how she looks or how she lost the weight or how she bounced back after pregnancy or how she got thinner during menopause...that we can't find a place of contentment and peace in our own bodies. Let's pray today that envy will have no place in our live...

Today we talk about body image idolatry one more time - looking at how body image idolatry can impact our daily lives and what it looks like to be lured into serving the body image idol on day to day basis. If you've never noticed or heard about the body image idol - I'd encourage you to check out my book: Compared to Who? which you can learn more about here:  Compared to Who Book for Christian Wo...

Body image idolatry - What is that? If you're new to this show or my ministry, this episode will tell you about the number one reason why I believe Christian women get stuck in body image issues. It's so easy for us to make an idol out of our ideal bodies. We believe we will be happier, more peaceful, more joyful, or able to rest once we reach that goal weight or size. But, the truth is this type...

What is the idol of self and what does our "ideal body" have to do with it? That's what we'll talk about in today's episode. Plus: We'll pray for the power and strength to release our ideals and to turn away from the idol of self and all that it stands for. Have you read the Burden of Better yet? Here's how to find out more about this amazing book that talks all about the trap of following our ide...

Do other's opinions of your body impact your body image? Of course they do...for most of us at least. So how do we free ourselves from the opinions (and perhaps approval) of other people? How do we keep their body image issues from rubbing off onto us? How do we not fall in the snare of relying on our bodies to keep us in the good graces of other people? That's what we talk about in today's episod...

Can you believe that the root of most of our body image issues is fear? That may seem hard to believe. You may believe the root is that your weight is wrong or your body shape is not what you prefer--but under it all is a secret root of fear--fear that connects to approval and control. I hope you'll listen to today's talk on fear and then join me in praying against the fear that keeps us bound in...

Today we're talking about guilt and how all of our rules about our bodies, our diets, our exercise can add extra guilt we were never meant to carry. Guilt leads to shame and condemnation (and if you check out our verse of the day-- condemnation is something Jesus died to free us from). So what can you do to get rid of that guilt? That's what we'll pray about today. I hope you'll pray along and gra...

Struggling with shame related to your body or body image? Oh friend, we've all been there. That's why today we're going to pray specifically against shame. We'll pray that you'll feel and know what it means to live free from shame because Jesus died to take away all our guilt and shame. There's no condemnation in him--as our verse of the day reminds us. If shame is where you're stuck--let's pray t...

What do you do if you wake up in the morning and don't FEEL like your body is worthy? What if your feelings are bouncing up and down and dictating how you feel about yourself each day? If feelings are where you get stuck--today's prayer will really speak to you. Today we talk about how to get past operating out of our feelings about our bodies so we can live in the truth of our value--no matter ho...

We all need discernment, don't we? It's hard to know what's real, what's not real... what voices do we listen to, what do we ignore? Today we talk about the gift of discernment as a blessing to your body image battle. If you've never thought about needing discernment before--hopefully today will convince you that this can help your struggle! Here's the verse of the day in 2 translations: Psalm 19:...