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Revelation Within On the Go!
Revelation Within equips people with life-giving, grace-infused mind renewal tools to deepen their intimacy with Jesus so that counterfeit comforts (like overeating) lose their allure, and the joy and hope of Jesus fills their lives, satisfying their souls.
In our podcast we talk about mind renewal, tips and tricks for getting and staying free from counterfeit comforts like overeating (over-scrolling, over-drinking, over-anythinging...)
We began as Thin Within in 1975, a pioneer in intuitive, mindful eating back when diets were in their hey day! Thin Within has taught people how to tune in to their body's natural signals of hunger and satisfaction, remaining present with their meals and delighting in tastes and textures--and the Lord!
In the 1980s, Thin Within became a Christian ministry, showing people that the emptiness that they have felt and often filled with food that their bodies don't require, was really placed in there to be filled full with God through Jesus. He wants to set us free from all strongholds!
We rebranded our ministry and our podcast in 2023 to Revelation Within.
Join us!
Visit us in our RevWithin.Team community as well! (https://revwithin.team)
Find our listing of classes at https://www.revelationwithin.org
Revelation Within On the Go!
The Shape-Shifting Trap
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
If you’ve ever believed that a smaller body would finally buy you peace, this conversation meets you with honesty and real hope. In this episode we talk about the desire so many women have to change their bodies, hoping a smaller body will finally bring peace. We don’t shame that desire, but we also recognize that it can’t carry everything we’re asking it to carry. Christina shares what she has seen through years of one-on-one coaching with women in all kinds of circumstances—from those who have tried countless diets or are considering bariatric surgery or GLP-1 medications, to women who appear “fine” on the outside but live with body dysmorphia and daily shame. Again and again, we’ve seen that the struggle with food and body image may be a symptom of something deeper.
We also explore mind renewal as a daily practice rooted in Romans 12:2 and consider how we can use weight-loss tools without allowing weight to become our guiding light. We talk about loss, changing identities, counterfeit comforts, and what happens when we begin replacing shame and striving with truth, grace, and surrender. Most of all, we explore what it can look like to stop viewing God as disappointed in us and instead learn to trust Him as kind, present, and faithful in every part of our journey.
If this resonates, listen all the way through, then subscribe, share with a friend, and leave a review so more women can find this path to freedom.
Learn more about our Revelation Within Community: https://www.revelationwithin.org
Welcome And Why We’re Here
SPEAKER_02Hi, and welcome to our podcast, Revelation Within on the Go. I'm Heidi Milesman Emerson, one of your hosts, and the owner and lead coach of Revelation Within.
SPEAKER_00And I'm Christina Motley, your other host, also a Revelation Within coach, and Heidi's partner in all things Revelation Within. We are so happy to invite you to join us for this episode of Revelation Within.
SPEAKER_02The crowd goes wild. I'm looking forward to this conversation.
The Limits Of Shape Shifting
SPEAKER_02It's a conversation I've been wanting to have with Christina. You know, many women come to Revelation Within carrying a desire to shape shift. We call it shape shifting. And that's absolutely fine. It's not our focus anymore. Losing weight is definitely not the focus as a ministry, but we aren't going to shame that desire or pretend it isn't there. No. Because we all have it for very different reasons. Not all, but many of us have it for very different reasons. Yes. And at the same time, of course, weight loss or shape shifting can't provide everything we may be hoping it will provide.
What Coaching Women Really Reveals
SPEAKER_01Right.
SPEAKER_02Christina, tell us about the women you coach and the variety of circumstances that you have seen are brought to the table when you begin a coaching relationship with some of these women.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, you know what? Oh my gosh. When you when you say that, all of a sudden all the faces are like going through my mind. And I just love them all so much. I love them all so much. And they do come for a variety from a variety of circumstances. And yet we're all looking for the same thing. So it's kind of both. The variety of circumstances would be, for example, different stages of life. I call them coaching ladies. My coaching ladies. So I have coaching ladies who are quite a bit younger than I am, some who are a little younger, some that are about my age, some that are older. I have like a variety of ages, although I would say kind of most of them are between, I don't know, 40 and 75.
SPEAKER_02You've had a couple of youngins in there too, though.
SPEAKER_00I've had a couple of young ones, and I love coaching the young ones too. I have a couple in their 20s right now, and I love that.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_00But I love all the ages. And here's the the really fun thing is that God blesses me through these women more than they would ever guess. They would never know, even though I tell them sometimes. I say, oh my gosh, you're such a blessing to me. You inspire me, you know. But they're like, what? What are you talking about? Like they don't get that because I'm supposed to be coaching them. But they are amazing, and God has worked through them, taught them, used them. They have so much wisdom. Um, so on the one hand, they're coming from different circumstances, but on the other hand, what are we all looking for? Yeah, we're all looking for the same thing. We're all looking for peace. We're all looking for that those crazy voices in our heads to go away. We're all looking for um a relationship with the Lord, walking with him in surrender and in peace. We're all looking for that, no matter what it looks like. For one person, it might be all about um food and eating. For another person, it might be all about something completely different, or both, or all. Um, it you know, it just doesn't matter. When I started coaching one-on-one, I thought this is gonna be all about food and eating. Right? How long ago was that? Um, this is my fifth year now, oh which is amazing, isn't it? It is, yeah. So I have to throw this in right
Christina’s First Coaching Call Story
SPEAKER_00now. I have to throw this in. Heidi was my coach.
SPEAKER_02A little while ago, a few months ago.
SPEAKER_00Well, and guess what? She still is. Um, Heidi, so this was 12 years ago, 12 and a half years ago, really. Um, I was desperate. I was struggling, I was hopeless, I was in a really tough place with body image, food, and eating. That's what I thought it was all about at the time. Yeah. Um, and I had been a part of Thin Within for a while. That's what we used to be. And um I just couldn't make it stick. Um, I couldn't stay consistent with it. I loved it. I loved the Bible study. I loved all of the workbooks, everything that was written. I ate it up like ravenously. I ate it all up. But um I needed, I needed someone to walk with, you know, somebody who had kind of been to the other side, you know. That sounds funny, but um, and so yeah, Heidi had a little video on the website, and I think Heidi, I think you had only been coaching for a few months. Is that right? When we started?
SPEAKER_02Well, I'm not sure. I'm not sure where you came into it. It was um, yeah, probably. I don't know, but that was back in was that 2012?
SPEAKER_00It was March of 2012. Yeah, no, wait, was it 2014?
SPEAKER_02It was 2014. So I think I started coaching in 2012.
SPEAKER_00Okay, so you'd been coaching a little while, yeah. And you said, Hey, let's have a phone call, and uh there was no Zoom back then, of course. So we were just using the telephone, and so I remember being kind of nervous, you know, and I thought, okay, this is it, Lord, this is it, and I can't afford this, I don't have the money, and I didn't, I didn't have, we had no money back then. Um, but I thought I'm gonna figure out a way, I'm gonna make this happen if you well, really God made it happen. And my husband somehow was on board, even though I had done so many things, you know, and spent money in so many ways about this issue in my life. Anyway, I said, Lord, this is it. If this isn't what you want for me, I'm I'm just gonna quit. I was ready to just quit everything, and just that's it, you know. And so, anyway, Heidi, we had this amazing phone call. Do you remember the phone call?
SPEAKER_02I remember it, but it probably not with the detail that you do.
SPEAKER_00I I thought, number one, I thought this is the first person I've ever met who really gets me and my issues. Um, in the very first phone call, I felt that way. And then I also thought, she is the most encouraging person I've ever met.
SPEAKER_02That's so crazy.
SPEAKER_00Yes, no, I'm not. I am serious. I felt totally accepted in that first phone call. Yeah, I felt like she gets me. Yeah, and and I had done thin within with lots of people before. I had done it. I had done it. You brought all that to the table. Yes, I mean, it's not like I was doing it alone. I had done it with other people that were in my same boat, but it was like the blind leading the blind, you know. It was, and so that first phone call, I remember where I was sitting in the house. I remember, you know, when I the kids were in school, I was on a I had a day off or something from teaching. Anyway, so Heidi was my coach, and if it hadn't been for that phone call, um none of this would have ever happened. God put it together, he is so good at that, and I love that about God that he surprises us. Um, so I was one of those coaches, I was one of your coaching ladies, Heidi.
SPEAKER_02Yes, you were. And specifically one of my Colorado coaching ladies, because there were a number of you in Colorado.
SPEAKER_00I know, I'm so true. And then um just this weekend, my husband and I, you know, drove the same kind of the same way up north. Um, that we were what am I trying to say? You and I met at a restaurant with those ladies, and we drove past that restaurant on Sunday. And I told my husband, I told David, I said, this is where I met Heidi for the first time in person. Yeah, I mean, we had been on the phone already for I think two months or something like that. Yeah, that's fun. Um anyway, and then things really got crazy when Heidi asked me to be her prayer partner, and she was going through a horrendous physical difficulty, medical issue, disaster. Um, and oh gosh, I was so scared. Anyway, she invited me to be her prayer partner, and I never looked back, and I I guess she didn't either. So um, and we became best friends and co-workers, and it's been going on now for 12 and a half years. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Well, so thank you for sharing a little bit of our history.
How Christina Became A Coach
SPEAKER_02Um, what led you to start coaching?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, that's such a great question. Well, I never in a million years thought that I could do this, or that God would equip me, or that there was never even a thought in my brain about this. I was an elementary school teacher. That was very much my identity, my life. I was a mom of three. I was caregiving for my husband's mother and a little bit for my parents. You know, they were still doing pretty well at that time. But I had this whole life going on um that was going really, really well, except for this one area, a food-eating body image. I was struggling so much. It was a secret struggle. I didn't really talk about it, but secretly, every time I was alone, every time I closed my eyes at night, every time I opened my eyes in the morning, I was struggling with this and shame and so much shame, and just really, really in a place where I needed some help. Um, and I love the Lord. I love the Lord. And I was, you know, we were involved in church and Bible study and all the good things, and I still felt completely alone in my struggle, really in my stronghold. And so when you suggested, Heidi, you know, you asked me to coach groups with you. Yeah. And we had so much fun doing that. I remember when we started, I thought, I have nothing to offer. I do not know how to do this. I I don't know how to do this.
SPEAKER_02Like, this is not and just to be fair, I mean, the reason I asked was because I saw you would say, Okay, this didn't work for me. Do you have something else? And then you would apply it, and then you would come out of that and look and learn of whatever needed to happen, and then you would do something else, ask another question. You were like clay, ready to be formed and shaped, and whatever I need to do, I'm gonna do it.
SPEAKER_00And yes, that is what I felt.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, and you have the the most you may have thought I was the most encouraging on the planet, but you are. And so and so I thought, well, I need to share her with other people. I mean, uh, it was great having you as a prayer partner, and it still is. Um, during that season, I knew I needed somebody who could be an encourager as well as a prayer warrior. And I got so much courage from your prayers for me. But I asked you to begin um to coach with me these groups that I just started because I knew the ladies would love you and they'd respond well to your encouragement and your life is good attitude and all of that. You've been there, you were in the trenches, but you were a step ahead of most everybody.
SPEAKER_00So yeah, well, it was. I felt so honored that you asked me to coach in these groups with you. I just, I was like, oh my gosh, you know, and I didn't tell people for a while, like friends of mine, thinking that I don't know that the whole thing would fall apart because I'd be so bad at it. Um, you know, because these issues were my issues. I mean, I was, like you said, in the trenches, and really I still am in so many ways. Oh, sure. I am always on the journey. But I loved it. I loved it. So I would go to school and teach all day, and then I would come home, and you and I would get on the phone with like eight women, and we would have these calls. It was so much fun. We had such a blast. Anyway, okay, so then uh time went on. I had some very serious health problems. I had uh Lyme disease, it was very debilitating. Things changed a lot for me. You certainly prayed me through everything, which was incredible, just incredible, talking about prayer warriors. Um, and then I got to a point where I had to stop teaching. But even before that, for two or three years, you had said, Christina, why don't you do one-on-one coaching? And I said, No.
SPEAKER_02Well, there were individuals who had asked you and you turned them down.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I said, no, no, no way. Are you kidding me? What are you even thinking? What's wrong with you? No, no, no, no, but I just I felt completely unprepared, unequipped, not ready. And you continue to encourage me, and you would say, Well, please pray about it, think about it. At some point, this is gonna be the right thing for you. Um, and you were so encouraging to me, even though I felt completely like, no way, I'm not even gonna consider it. I didn't even consider it for a long time.
SPEAKER_02That's how you are. Yeah. You put a smile on your face and you say, God's not asking me to do that right now, but you asked him if he wants you to.
SPEAKER_00Why would I ask him? I was like, no way. Yeah, so that anyway, I just love that you kept telling me or encouraging me to ask him and encouraging me to have an open mind about it because my mind was closed. I was like, no, no way. So life happened, things happened, you know, my my mother passed away. Um, the Lyme disease got worse. Anyway, I had to stop teaching, which really broke my heart in so many ways. I loved being a teacher of young children. Um, I still miss it, but it became very, very clear that it was time for me to try this.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_00And Heidi, after a few months, you said, it's time. It's time. And you were like, you know, have you talked with the Lord about this? Because this seems like the perfect time for you to work at home, do something that's much less strenuous on your body. Yeah. Just start small, you said. I started with one and then I went to three, and I stayed at three for a little while because you suggested it. And I was like, what am I gonna do? How do I do this? Um, but I realized right away something very, very important. I realized this is not about me. Yeah, it's not, and it took the pressure off of me, it took the burden off of my shoulders. I realized this is not about me. This is about God and his work in these precious, precious ladies. And um, I am not carrying the burden of this. It's not my job to fix anybody, it's not my job to solve problems, it's not my job to do any of those things. My job is just to walk with them and share my own experience and point them back to the Lord again and again and again because he's the only one that can do this work when we are so stuck in a stronghold that we can't move. We are stuck, many of us for decades, like I was. There is nobody that can touch that. Only God. Yeah, God is the only one. And so, really, what led me to say yes to coaching women one-on-one was my own journey, my own desperation, and what God had done in me through you, Heidi. Um, my life is forever changed because of God's work through you, what you taught me, especially mind renewal, which I use every single day. It's it's woven into my whole life and changed my life and broke the stronghold that I thought would never be broken.
SPEAKER_02Yay! Yay! And you have in turn, boy, you've become the queen of mind renewal. I was just a catalyst to kind of get you going, and now you're like, wow, light years ahead of me in terms of ideas and strategies and multiple times a day, and using walks for that, and using drives, parking in a parking lot just to renew your mind, etc. etc. etc. Okay.
SPEAKER_00But I'm not miles ahead of you, Heidi. No, no, no. We're walking together and I love it.
SPEAKER_02So the women that came to you for and come to you still for one-on-one coaching. I mean, do you ever have somebody who just comes to you and says, I want you to teach me how to renew my mind? Or is is it usually something other than that?
SPEAKER_00Um, it's usually something other than that because we get what happens with us, I think, is we get to a place where we can't stand our behavior.
SPEAKER_02Right.
SPEAKER_00We're just like, I can't stand this anymore. I can't stand the way that I am, the way that I act, the way that that I respond to things. Um, and for many of our ladies, because they know us from thin within, and just because, you know, that's kind of why they come. I'm so many of our ladies come because of food, eating, body issues, weight issues. Um, and most of them, I mean, our stories are so similar.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, they really are.
SPEAKER_00You know, for most of us, it starts very young, very young, as a child or a teenager. I'm gonna say 90% of our ladies that come to us, this these issues began so early, and they did for me, and they did for you. And then we all have these stories of a life of you know, a lot of shame having to do with these issues and trying something, a program, or um a nutritionist, or a diet, or an exercise program, or I mean, over and over, and many of us have tried, you know, 25, 35 different things, more even, before we get to um, I need God to break the stronghold.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_00You know, we try everything. We try everything. I tried everything. Um, you tried everything.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_00And so most of the women that come come with that. But I have had quite a few come and say, I realize that the renewing of the mind is the key, changing my thinking. Is the key. I've taken classes with Revelation Within or whatever. And I realize that. So let's focus on that. So that's definitely there too. And boy, that's fun to hear. Yes, it is.
SPEAKER_02It's been there. I love that too.
When Food Is Just A Symptom
SPEAKER_02Yeah. Um, so what about what are some of the like, let's not talk about anybody in specific, but what are some profiles of people, women who come to you to get help with food eating, body image. What are their life experiences? I mean, again, you don't you can like make a a collage, if you will, or what do you call it when um you combine combine stuff? Um I think collage is good. Well, yeah, basically a buffet? No, just getting me. So what are the women like that you you know, what are they dealing with that you coach?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, well, it the variety is just incredible, really. And I I just love the variety. I love when we have our first call, and it's like, okay, Lord, what what do we have here? And I always invite God in. I always pray ahead of time. And again, like I said, it's all about him and his work. So I'm not his partner. I'm like his um, his little assistant. I don't know. I'm like, you know, and I'm just waiting on him. What do you want me to do? What is this gonna look like? So, for example, I have coaching ladies who have struggled with um being a very large size their entire lives and have who have had bariatric surgery, who have taken GLP1 medications or taking them now, who have done uh liquid diets, who have done every kind of diet you can think of. Um, I have coaching ladies who have very extreme situations in terms of weight and food and eating. And then I have all the way on the other side, I have ladies that come to me who are already at a very healthy size, but are still completely body dysmorphic, um, completely trapped in a mindset that you know brings them shame constantly every day. I have some who come knowing that this is a spiritual issue, knowing that it's a spiritual stronghold, and knowing that that's what they need to focus on is their relationship with the Lord and mind renewal. So I have some that come with that entire focus. I have others who come with other strongholds and they don't even really know it. Maybe it's about people pleasing, maybe there's a forgiveness issue that they didn't even know was there. Um, maybe it's alcohol. I've had someone come with issues with alcohol, overspending, you know, overshopping, overworking, all kinds of things that come up in a life that is not free. You know what I mean? So it's really just everything. If you can think of every any issue that a woman would have, I've probably, and Heidi, you and your coaching, you've probably experienced that with a person. Um, almost everything. Almost, I'm trying to think if there's anything. There's just a couple of things I can think of that we have not touched on in coaching. What happens is we usually begin with food and eating because that's how people come. And we begin where people are, that's where we start. And then very soon, within just a few weeks, I will almost always hear somebody say, I'm just realizing this is not about food and eating. I'm just realizing the streamers and the the party favors all come out, and we go, yes, yeah, the fireworks, choo, choo, choo, the fireworks come out, and it's like, oh my gosh, this is not about that. That's just basically a symptom. It could be anything, it could be anything, and we call those counterfeit comforts the things we go to that are fakes, right? But we're going to them to try to satisfy that emptiness inside, that sorrow, that shame, whatever it is. And so at that point, we're now going deeper and getting into a lot of different things and taking them all to the Lord.
Rebuilding A True View Of God
SPEAKER_02So all of your all of your coaching ladies are Christian women. Yes.
SPEAKER_00Yes. Um, but all kinds of different relationships with the Lord. There's a lot of variety there too. Um, a lot of women that deal with these kinds of strongholds have a view of God that is um not quite accurate, to be honest, you know, it's common, yeah. Yes, they um, and so we we dive right in at the beginning to who God is, and we get into the word and we write our God list of his attributes and and we praise him for who he is. We get into that right away because having a false view of who God is, and I did, I mean, I'm not judging at all. This is I did too. Um, it's really gonna be a roadblock for this journey. We need to know who God is from the from the start and how he sees us, who we are because of him. And if those two things are off kilter a little bit, it's gonna be it's gonna be a huge roadblock. So we usually start there, and it is absolutely delightful to watch someone begin that journey. Oh my gosh, God sees me this way? Really? Are you sure? Like, let's look it up, let's find more verses on that, because we so many of us feel like God is disappointed, God is tired of us, tired of our same issues, um, you know, tired of forgiving us again and again, whatever it is. And we often see him as a judging parent.
SPEAKER_02Right. And so often that causes us to not want to surrender food eating and other image, you know, struggles that we have with that. And and so, and in fact, sometimes our we might feel like we need comfort because he's if we think of him as condemning, he then we just like, oh my goodness, that just hurts too much. He's not, he's not at all. He sent Jesus into the world not to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him. But it's like, um, if I feel that way, I'm not only not going to surrender food eating in my body image, but I'm going to want extra. I'm gonna want extra comforting. Right.
SPEAKER_00So well, and Heidi, that was one of the things that you modeled to me. You fully accepted me. You were never disappointed in me. You were never tired of me coming to you with the same issues again and again. You modeled that for me in a way that changed my experience. Um, it really did. It completely gave me a completely different mindset. Um, the way that you viewed what we call look and learn now, it changed my whole view of what was happening in my heart and mind. And I realized this is how God is. God is not disappointed in me. I cannot tell you what a milestone that was for me. That brings tears to my eyes because I thought God, I was walking through every day of my life thinking that God was disappointed with me.
SPEAKER_02And so somebody listening needed to hear that.
SPEAKER_00Yes. And so when I started coaching women one-on-one, that was one of my biggest priorities. I thought, Lord, you are calling me to accept them 100% where they are, no matter what they've done or haven't done. Just like you accepted me, and just like my coach, Heidi, you accepted me. Um, no condemnation. I am never disappointed with any of my ladies. We are walking arm in arm in God's grace all the time.
SPEAKER_02Absolutely.
SPEAKER_00It is so freeing to walk that way. Um so when you ask about, you know, the ladies being Christians, all different kinds of relationships with the Lord. Right. Um, some are very, very close and intimate with the Lord when they come, some are very angry with the Lord when they come. Yeah, some are angry because God has allowed such suffering for them. Right. Some have been deeply wounded and need to deal with those things with the Lord, knowing that He is not disappointed with them and that He loves them and wants to be with them and has compassion and kindness for them.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, exactly.
Loss Relief And Real Healing
SPEAKER_02So, although the women that you serve have very different circumstances, there are some common heart struggles that you hear. How does a woman know if she might benefit from your coaching? What are the heart struggles you will address as God leads?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, well, that's a wonderful question. The first one that comes to mind is loss. Loss is huge, you know, and we all deal with loss, but some of us have been pummeled. Uh maybe you've gone through a season that's been particularly difficult. It may be loss of people, you know, people in your lives, family or friends, that kind of loss. But even more so, it's loss of identity, loss of um, you know, a job situation, a career, loss of health. That's been a huge one. And I can really relate to to all of these, really. Um loss of expectations, you know, the way that you thought life was gonna go. Yeah um, loss of a relationship, loss of who you thought you were, and life has gone a different direction, and things have happened that have been very disappointing. Loss is huge. Loss is huge. And so we spend a lot of time on mind renewal. What is true about God, what is true about the situation, what is true about me, my identity in all of this. Um, we work with gratitude a lot, a lot of healing happens in these conversations. So loss is huge. Um, we talked about, gosh, I mean, that almost like encompasses all of it. Yeah, it really does. It really does. When you think about, you know, lost relationships, um, even with the Lord, you know, some people come and say, I can't talk to God anymore. I can't speak to him, I feel so far away from him. Why has he abandoned me? You know, that could be um a place to begin. I mentioned issues of forgiveness, broken relationships, broken hearts. Our hearts are all broken for some reason. And that's um huge for strongholds. We just want relief. We're desperate for relief to feel better. So we go to these counterfeits. Um so what's important is so much not spending a lot of time on kind of the nuts and bolts, like, well, you know, have you done this? Have you here's this? Have you done, you know, we'll do it this way. It's not about that, it's so much about what's underneath the behavior, the reasons for why we're going to the counterfeits.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_00And you know what's so incredible. And I know you see this in your coaching all the time, Heidi. The healing is amazing. The healing that people go through, it's amazing. And it's not my doing at all.
SPEAKER_01Right.
SPEAKER_00You know, so often I will hit that little button that says end the call, you know, at the end of a call. I was gonna say hang up the phone, but that's not what we do.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, we're not using the phone anymore. Not usually.
SPEAKER_00I will, yeah, I'll say, you know, love you to the person that's there, and I'll click that button and I'll say, God, that was amazing. What you did in that call was amazing. I'm so grateful I got to be a part of it. It's not me, it's him 100%.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, exactly. Oh, thank you for sharing that. Uh so okay.
Weight Loss Tools Plus Mind Renewal
SPEAKER_02If people come to you wanting to lose weight, is it okay for them to want to lose weight?
SPEAKER_00Of course. That's what that's why I showed up. Yeah. I mean, um, although I have to say that when I started coaching with you, Heidi, I was um in the middle of one of my dieting yo-yos, and I was not at my highest weight, but I was just as um, I guess I will use the word tortured for myself. I felt tortured daily by it. It didn't matter what my size was. I was tortured when I was smaller, I was tortured when I was bigger, I was tortured at all sizes because it was the stronghold. It was not about the food and eating.
SPEAKER_02Right, right. Thanks for making that point. And and so I know you well enough to know this that you are somebody who would acknowledge that desire in anybody who comes to you, but you're not going to like force her into a certain plan of action to lose the weight or whatever. Um so how do you balance this idea of, I mean, because certainly in our ministry, we've changed the focus off of the thin part and onto you know the mind renewal part. Uh, and I know you do the same, but how do you accommodate the woman whose heart longs to lose weight without endorsing or encouraging it to govern her decisions, that that it all begins to be about how can I lose weight? That's how that is going to be my guiding light for making decisions. What how do you walk that line?
SPEAKER_00Well, I have struggled with that at times, and it is hard to figure out until um God reminds me what is true. Um I can go to a place of confusion or, you know, like, what am I gonna say? Well, what about this? Until God reminds me. I go to Him with what and I say, Lord, what is true? And the answer is always the same. It's not about the GLP one, it's not about the weight loss um plan, it's not about the surgery, it's not about any of that. It's all about the Lord and our relationship with him and what we're thinking. And so um the there's just really a very simple answer to your question, and that is if you're on a GLP one, you need to be renewing your mind. And if you are gonna have weight loss surgery, you need to be renewing your mind. And if you are intuitive eating, you need to be renewing your mind. There's a theme here. Um, if you're on a food and eating plan that's specific because of your health or something else that you need, you need to be renewing your mind. Nothing will stick or last or um free you unless you are renewing your mind with God's truth all the time.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_00And that's that's it. I mean, it's so simple. What does Romans 12 2 say? That's like our foundational verse. What is it, Heidi?
SPEAKER_02Be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Yeah, and then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is, his good, pleasing, and perfect will.
SPEAKER_00Yes, and that's it. Our minds, we get to choose what we're thinking. That's it. We get to choose, we are not stuck in the old thoughts that we've had for years and years and years. We're not stuck. And so you could be taking a GLP one and very much stuck in your own old stronghold. Um, and things will not go the way you want them to go. Um, they won't, because that's what this is about. This is about the Lord's work in us, and it's about our thoughts and lining our thoughts up with his. And so the GLP one, those are tools. Um, an intuitive eating plan, those are tools. Yeah. Having weight loss surgery, going on a certain kind of diet plan, whatever it is, those are all tools and they can be incredibly valuable for someone's journey. Absolutely. Everyone is different, everyone's situation is different. But for example, right now, for me, I'm staying away from dairy, I'm staying away from gluten. Um, but if I'm not renewing my mind, none of that is gonna help me. Um, those are some things, you know, eating a certain way makes my body feel so much better. And you could call them restrictions, but they're really not. To me, they're boundaries, they're keeping me safe, they're keeping me strong. Um, Heidi, you're also eating in a certain way right now. Do you want to talk about that for just a minute?
SPEAKER_02Um, my body really loves protein, and so I'm being extra mindful to feed it protein at each eating occasion. I typically wait until I feel hunger, which doesn't happen that often when I have so much protein in my life. It's kind of fascinating, and I don't crave the carbs like I used to either. So for me, my body's like, yay, let's do this some more. And I'm releasing weight as well as my joints don't hurt. And everything is, yeah, it's really good. So that's me. It doesn't feel like a restriction because there's blessings every time I turn around. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Yes, exactly. Well, and you know, both of our bodies, Heidi, we've had some huge physical challenges in the last years, and we've had to adjust our eating so that we feel better. Right. And that's good. That's what we call discernment. Um, and so we could call those tools as well. Tools are wonderful, tools are important, but the main thing is the renewing of the mind and walking closely with the Lord, asking him, uh, asking him for his guidance, for his will, for his direction. And we cannot go wrong when we're doing that. We can't go wrong.
SPEAKER_02Right.
Next Conversation And Goodbye
SPEAKER_02Um, I'm thinking that we're gonna actually need to have another episode of talking about coaching things, because I have a whole list here of things, and we're about at the end of our time today. So are you are you up to having another conversation about this?
SPEAKER_00Sure, absolutely.
SPEAKER_02Right.
SPEAKER_00Um, well, we are so glad that you've been here today. So glad. We would love to invite you to join us for our next episode of Revelation Within.
SPEAKER_02See you next time.
