Intuitive Eating Coaching Calls
This special Coaching Calls series lets you listen in on our intuitive eating coaching sessions where we coach our friend and fellow podcaster Heather Creekmore as she steps out in faith and starts sharing about her own intuitive eating journey with Jesus.
These bonus episodes of the Intuitive Eating for Christian Women podcast are also aired on Heather’s podcast Compared to Who? (a must-listen show for all things Christian body image)
1
Intuitive Eating Coaching Call on Mindless Eating
In this coaching call Heather asks What do I do about my mindless eating? We discuss her struggle with mindless eating and tips for how to address snacking and eating more mindfully.
What do I do about my mindless eating? Intuitive Eating Coaching Call
More about this episode:
As Heather describes it: “Erin and Char-Lee guide me through a process of thinking about my habits and examining them in a non-judgmental, grace-filled way. We talk about my mindless eating while I work or tackle “hard tasks” on the computer. Stick around to the end of the show if your mindless eating happens in front of the television or at other times–we discuss this too.”
2
Intuitive Eating Coaching Call on the Effects of Undereating
In this Intuitive Eating Coaching Call we explore Heather’s question of Why am I always tired? We discuss her struggles with being chronically underfed and feeling “smoothie dependent”.
Why am I always tired? Intuitive Eating Coaching Call
More about this episode:
As Heather puts it — “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 deceived many of us about the calories we need to function well. I’ve believed it for years. I thought maybe I was always tired because I was eating foods that my body was sensitive to or eating too much food. But, today we discuss how being underfed (even if you’re not underweight) can have an impact on energy levels. If you’re always tired, it may not be that you’re eating the wrong foods–it may be that you’re not eating enough food. We also discuss the cultural phenomena of drinking smoothies–often green smoothies–and how they can sometimes be a healthy nutrition boost but other times be a crutch that keeps us dissatisfied and afraid of other foods.”
3
Intuitive Eating Coaching Call on Satisfaction & Permission
In this coaching call Erin solo coaches Heather and asks Are you afraid of satisfaction? We take a deep dive into satisfaction and explore the power of giving ourselves unconditional permission to eat.
Are you afraid of satisfaction? Intuitive Eating Coaching Call
More about this episode:
As Heather describes it:
“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 everything from our clothing purchases to our food choices. We also talk about the following:
- Why do we use words like “sinful” or “guilty” when it comes to enjoyable foods?
- Where does it say in the Bible that we shouldn’t enjoy food? If we are to “taste and see that the Lord is good,” doesn’t that imply it’s okay to enjoy what we eat?
- How we end up believing that self-denial in the arena of food is a path to justification and holiness.
- What it means to give yourself unconditional permission to eat.
- Why being afraid of satisfaction is not helpful to your relationship with food (and may connect to disordered eating).
- How awkward it is to give ourselves permission to eat when we feel like others are watching or others disapprove of our food choices.
- Why ultimate satisfaction can only come from Jesus, but how he never tells us we can’t enjoy the good things he’s created for our pleasure.
If you’ve ever felt afraid of satisfaction or feared pleasure, this episode will speak to you!”
4
Intuitive Eating Coaching Call on Defeating the Diet Mentality
In this Intuitive Eating Coaching Call Erin & Heather discuss how intuitive eating is not JUST not dieting. In this episode we unpack shame around our bodies changing and trying to “fix” ourselves, and recognizing control issues.
Why give up the diet mentality? Intuitive Eating Coaching Call
More about this episode:
As Heather writes about the coaching call: “Erin and Heather hash through how conditioned we are to believe that diets and plans are the only ways to be “healthy” or be on the “path” to a better body or better health. They also talk about the following:
- How we feel “safe” when we are conforming to the way everyone else is eating or dieting.
- Why we cling to diets or eating plans even if we know they don’t work in the long run.
- How we conflate appearance with identity. Heather shares how it feels like failure not to be pursuing a thinner body.
- How the measure of a body’s worth has changed from “Yay, you’ll survive the winter” to “the person who can restrict the most, wins.”
- How Intuitive Eating is a weight-neutral, non-diet approach to listening to and caring for your body. There are boundaries and principles to be guided by.
- How Intuitive Eating is bigger than just how you eat and how the framework respects how our bodies were created.
- How Intuitive Eating isn’t the same as just “not being on a diet”
- How do we trust ourselves around food.
- Why we are afraid that when we stop dieting we’ll gain hundreds of pounds. Or that, “Once we stop eating we’ll never stop.” (And the black and white thinking behind that).
- Why are we afraid of the opinions of people we don’t know about our bodies.
- How fear around food and diets is spiritual warfare.
- How dieting/following plans may keep us from our ultimate purpose here on earth-loving God and loving others well.
- How dieting as a prescription doesn’t fit the “standard of care” test.
- The Weight Watchers (WW) illustration- how this huge diet company’s recent purchase of a weight loss drug company may reveal what’s really going on.
- What do diets really cost us?”
5
Intuitive Eating Coaching Call on Feeling Uncomfortable in Our Bodies
In this coaching call we unpack feeling uncomfortable in our bodies, discuss health as an “obligation” and examine the heart issue underneath it all.
What if I feel uncomfortable in my body? Intuitive Eating Coaching Call
6
Intuitive Eating Coaching Call on Vacation & Visiting Family
In this Intuitive Eating Coaching Call we explore the experience of vacation, visiting family and navigating the food and body triggers that can come up with that.
How do I navigate vacation and visiting family? Intuitive Eating Coaching Call
7
Intuitive Eating Coaching Call on Discipline
This Intuitive Eating Coaching Call is available on Heather’s podcast Compared to Who? Heather asks: Don’t I need more discipline around food?
In this coaching call we challenge Heather on the topic of discipline. We talk about what the heart and purpose behind discipline is and how this connects to eating and food. The conversation also explores how dieting has interrupted our ability to trust our bodies and how behavior modification attempts may have been harmful to our natural relationship with food.
8
Intuitive Eating Coaching Call on Gentle Nutrition & the Holidays
This Intuitive Eating Coaching Call is available on Heather’s podcast Compared to Who? Ready to become an intuitive eater and enjoy the holidays?
In this episode we discuss navigating the holidays and how to incorporate the principles of gentle nutrition with the freedom to enjoy all foods. We also discuss the myth that “eating nutritiously” always means having a culturally-appreciated small body.
As Heather puts it: “If you’re looking for help with how to give yourself permission to have a healthy relationship with food during the coming holiday season, this episode will encourage and inspire you. It’s a must-listen before your holiday celebrations!”
9
Intuitive Eating Coaching Call on Sugar
This Intuitive Eating Coaching Call is available on Heather’s podcast Compared to Who? Heather asks: Should I Go Sugar-Free?
In this episode Char-Lee lays out a framework for making authentic decisions for our health that are: purposeful, personal, and peaceful. We walk Heather through the science, scripture, and her lived experience to see how they come together so that she can make wise, God-honoring decisions for her health and her body.
Here are a few other topics covered in this intuitive eating coaching call:
- Can you tell whether or not a person is healthy from looking at them?
- But what if you have a strong family history of diabetes? What does being responsible look like?
- Is the all-or-nothing approach what’s best for our bodies or our mental health?
- Is there such a thing as sugar addiction?
- What does gentle nutrition look like around sweets and sugar?
10
Intuitive Eating Coaching Call on What Other People Think
This Intuitive Eating Coaching Call is available on Heather’s podcast Compared to Who? Heather asks Do people think I don’t care about health?
We talk about how we stress over what other people think of us as we back away from dieting and grow more comfortable with food freedom.
Our conversation goes many directions as we explore topics like:
How do you talk to a friend who has been told that she has to lose weight for health reasons? How can we stay humble and not get prideful in believing we “know” a better answer than others? How can we truly learn not to worry about what other people think of us as we change size or shape? We discuss why weight loss does not meet the guidelines for a “sound” prescription, yet it’s still given out like the cure-all pill. We also discuss how even the church has gotten this confused and spent too much time promoting health as a certain body type.
11
Intuitive Eating Coaching Call on Letting Go of the Number on the Scale
This Intuitive Eating Coaching Call is available on Heather’s podcast Compared to Who?
12
Intuitive Eating Coaching Call on Defeating Diet Mentality
This Intuitive Eating Coaching Call is available on Heather’s podcast Compared to Who? Are you feeling stuck in the diet mentality?
In this episode we talk about how hard it is to actually make it past Principle 1 of Intuitive Eating: Reject the Diet Mentality. We talk about navigating the body changes that come when you stop dieting. We also talk about how ditching diets and “rebelling” against diets are two very different things.
As Heather puts it, here are other places this coaching call goes:
- Why dieting and manipulating, changing body size is truly an addiction.
- How powerless it can feel to notice changes in your body and not turn to dieting.
- Navigating the tension between who I am in Christ and who I want to be, physically.
- Why we struggle with being human (imperfect, changing, aging, etc…)
- How we use Diet Culture rules to keep us safe (and how that’s truly ineffective).
- How unfathomable it is that anyone could truly escape Diet Culture without an understanding of identity in Christ.
- How defeating diet mentality without feeling secure in Christ and having his help daily is practically impossible.
13
Intuitive Eating Coaching Call on Still Trying Not to Eat
This Intuitive Eating Coaching Call is available on Heather’s podcast Compared to Who? In this episode Heather shares how she’s spent so many years trying not to eat and how unfamiliar it is to have that permission.
In this coaching call also cover:
- How odd it is that we tend to praise those who can go without food or “resist” the “temptation” to eat, when eating is necessary and healthy.
- How it is a revolutionary concept to most of us that shrinking our body isn’t the healthiest thing for it.
- How physically good it is for your body to care for it and not uber focus on your weight.
- How we’ve trained our brains to be against our bodies.
- Why trying not to eat is not as healthy as we’ve been taught.
- How eating carbohydrates helps stabilize your blood sugar and makes you feel better.
- What Heather learned about Intuitive Eating when she overdid it with the Bark Thins.
- Who we are really “obeying” when we don’t nourish our bodies.
- How the abundant life isn’t really about getting food right, it’s about having so much life the food isn’t as important!
14
Intuitive Eating Coaching Call on Food Sensitivities & Meal Planning
This Intuitive Eating Coaching Call is available on Heather’s podcast Compared to Who?
If you want to experience Intuitive Eating Coaching of your own and receive guidance, support and personalized care for your questions and struggles from a Registered Dietitian with a biblical worldview, you can work with our very own Char-Lee Cassel.
If you want more guidance and support but aren’t ready to work 1-on-1 with a professional, then check out the community support available in our Membership.
If you’re struggling with body image more than food, start with Heather Creekmore’s amazing Christian body image resources (books, podcast, online course, coaching) on her website.
