Episodes

In Genesis 2:25, we read how Adam and Eve were in the garden and "naked and unashamed." But most women with body image issues aren't experiencing this kind of freedom in their intimate lives. Just thinking about being "naked and unashamed" is nerve-wracking for most of us. But the truth is: What your body looks like has little to do with how well you can connect with your husband in the bedroom. If having a "hot" body meant great sex and great marriages, then Hollywood would be the mecca of gr...

In today's About 7 Minutes of Scripture episode, Heather explores how the message of the Gospel can specifically encourage us around our specific body and food issues. We have so many messages coming at us, and every day we choose to believe certain things are true and certain things aren't true. We can choose to believe that carbs are bad or that intermittent fasting is the best way to live. We can choose to believe that more exercise is always better or that taking a rest day is akin to lazine...

Today Heather continues her conversation with Tracy Brown, RD about the strange or unusual physical symptoms that can connect to dieting, food restriction, eating disorders, and disordered eating. Though some doctors fail to make the connections, it's clear from Tracy's work that many women who have this kind of history also have similar symptoms that show up in the form of GI tract or stomach issues that range from bloating, to IBS, to esophagus issues and other problems. Heather and Tracy exp...

Today Heather interviews Tracy Brown, registered dietitian and trauma-informed eating disorder recovery coach about all the physical issues that can accompany or follow seasons of dieting, disordered eating, or an eating disorder. Are you always cold? Have you experienced seasons of hair loss? Have you had joint or bone density issues? GI and digestive tract issues, no matter what you eat? Today Heather shares her story of several strange physical symptoms she's experienced over the years--from ...

Do you hate to buy bigger clothes? Is it a mental battle when you try on the size you thought you wore only to find that you need another size or two (or more) larger? Have you been frustrated with your body because it has changed sizes and now you don't even know what size you wear? Today, Heather unpacks our complicated relationship with clothing and clothing sizes. She gets real as she discusses why so many of us have difficulty getting rid of clothes that don't fit and why we refuse to buy o...

Heather continues her conversations with Ashley Smith of the HA society about hormonal issues, infertility, and body image issues common among women she works with. Part two of this conversation goes far beyond the medical and fertility implications of disordered eating that often accompanies body image issues. Today, Heather and Ashley dig into what it really means to find body image freedom and how agreeing with God about how he made us is vital to that process. Together they discuss topics li...

omen who are struggling with hormone issues surrounding fertility, loss of cycle, early menopause diagnoses, and body image issues. Ashley shares her story and how her own experience has led her to a ministry and coaching business where she helps women get pregnant (without IVF), regain their cycle, and make peace with their bodies and food. Today Ashley and Heather talk about: Heather shares her story of having HA without knowing what she had or why she was missing her period. Ashley shares ...

Do you have a rival? Hannah in the Bible did. As did Rachel and Leah. Today we look at rivalries, competitions, and comparisons that happen between women. Whether you've always been compared to a rival sister or cousin, or whether or not you've just found yourself in competition with a woman at church or at work, this episode is for you! Today, Heather explores the stories of Hannah from 1 Samuel and of Rachel and Leah from Genesis 29-30. She talks about how detrimental it is for us to get caug...

The concept of stewardship is often used with our bodies and money, but are there more connections between money and body image than we may know? Today's episode explores these connections, how eating disorders show up in the way we deal with money, how eating disorders can connect with hoarding and more. Have you heard of financial anorexia? How about having "shopping bulimia?" How about an "orthorexic" view of what we spend money on? Or, how about a possible connection between anorexia and a t...

Do you ever just feel sad about your body size or shape? Part of finding body image freedom is recognizing the truth that sometimes you will just feel sad or discouraged about your body. Grieving the lost dream of a "better" body that would "cure" everything or the loss of youth or the loss of the body size or shape you once had is a normal and healthy process. On today's show, Heather looks at what body grief is and offers three suggestions for how to process grief and how to not stay in the pi...

Today Heather talks with one of her Intuitive Eating Coaches, Erin Todd, about step one of Intuitive Eating, which is giving up the Diet Mentality. 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 kn...

Let's face it. We all want to be special. We all want to know that our lives are significant. We each desire to know that we matter. But, sometimes our lives can feel anything but significant. We may know that God says we are, but then we look at our schedules or our days and think: Does any of this really matter? Today, Heather's guest is Rachael Adams, author and host of the Love Offering Podcast. Rachael talks about how she's journeyed to find significance and shares truths from her new book...

In today's interview with Amy Carlson, MS, RD, LD, Amy and Heather talk about the ways that "Purity Culture" a movement in the church through the 1990s, has paved the way for Diet Culture in the church. The duo explores the language we use around our food choices like "being good" or "being bad," how we admire those who can "abstain" from eating, and how we've put a lot of weight and value on our food choices to give us standing, worth, or value. Amy and Heather explore the good, bad, and ugly f...

"But I feel better on a plan!" This is a sentiment Heather's heard many times and even said herself. But, today, she talks with a dietitian and eating disorder expert, Amy Carlson about what's underneath that feeling of needing a food plan to feel like we're doing "okay" in our bodies. Amy and Heather unpack why we feel guilty or like we're doing something "wrong" when we aren't following a plan. They talk about who and how we decide to follow certain diets or adopt certain food rules. They als...

Today's episode is a compassionate letter to Gwyneth Paltrow who, on Instagram this week, talked about her "wellness plan" which included her sharing what she eats in a day. If you didn't get to see the interview, you can learn more in this New York Post article which quipped that Gwyneth's daily food routine sounded like, "colonoscopy prep." But the goal of today's podcast is not to criticize or condemn Gwyneth. Instead, in this open letter, author and Christian body image coach, Heather Creekm...

Today Heather continues her conversation with Dr. Kari Anderson about binge eating. They discuss what's going on in the brain when we binge, how the brain sends signals that lead to a binge, how binges can connect with attachment and relational issues, how fear connects to inflammation issues, and more. Dr. Kari Anderson is a licensed professional counselor and is a national authority in the treatment of binge eating disorder. The pair also discuss: how to befriend your body, how to talk to you...

Today Heather interviews Dr. Kari Anderson, a licensed professional counselor, eating disorder coach, author, and a recognized authority in treating binge eating and Binge Eating Disorder (BED). Today, Dr. Anderson shares her story of struggling with food as a child and young adult. Heather and Kari talk about everything from Kari's secret affinity for downing sugar packets for comfort to going to Weight Watchers meetings and how Kari's faith and training helped her come to a place where she has...

What do you do when you feel fat? Of course, most know by now that "fat" isn't really a feeling. Yet, how many of us say it? It's what we say when we don't know any other words to express displeasure with how our bodies look or feel. Today, Heather explores six things you can do when you feel fat. Heather talks about what's under the surface of our "bleh" body feelings and how we can ask ourselves questions to try to separate what we are feeling, emotionally from how our bodies look. Heather als...

Today we’re going to talk about what to do if there’s a part of your body that you hate–that you want to change or maybe even are obsessing over changing. In particular, we're going to talk about hating our stomachs. But you can take today's content and apply it to any body part that bothers you. Heather shares how she tried to research and figure out what culture's advice is for those who hate their stomachs. In short: the answer is always to change it. It's as if your stomach is a broken pipe ...

In Numbers 13 and 14 we read the story of Joshua, Caleb and the twelve spies that were sent out from the Israelites to scout out the land of Canaan. Canaan was the promised land - the land that God was leading them to and had promised to them after freeing them from slavery in Egypt. Yet, ten of the twelve men sent as scouts decided that they were too small to fight the inhabitants and take over the land. In today's episode, Heather explains how this story can help inform and encourage our body...

On today's show, Heather re-introduces herself, shares her story, and explains in more depth the ministry of Compared to Who? Heather tells of how God helped her overcome a lifetime battle with food, a likely eating disorder, and other body image issues. She shares how God revealed to her she had made her body image an idol and how the revelation of the body image idolatry was life-changing. Heather also shares what Compared to Who? is all about, including the resources Compared to Who? offers b...

Personality, identity, and image are topics that get fuzzy and blurred for many women who struggle with body image issues. We are told that we need to find our identity in Christ and root it in him, yet, it's difficult to understand how to do this. Today, Heather explores how to find our identity and build an image and identity in Christ. Today we explore the following topics: How we can create identities around the foods we eat, diets we follow, exercise programs we do, or other things that we...

Heather continues her conversation with Travis Stewart, LPC - a leader in the world of Christian eating disorder treatment. In today's episode, Heather and Travis discuss a model Travis developed to help people work through tricky emotions, thoughts, and feelings in order to process in a way that is both healthy and God-honoring. This "three chairs" model Travis developed offers a tremendous framework for us to think through the decisions and responses we have and figure out what is motivating u...

Today Heather talks with Travis Stewart, a licensed professional counselor and leader in the eating disorder recovery world. Travis and Heather discuss how understanding our core needs and motivations, which some may classify as part of "personality" can help us understand our proclivity toward certain behaviors around food and body. In today's show you'll hear Heather and Travis discuss 9 self-protective strategies along with the 7 core needs of the heart (cased on work done by Mark and Debbie ...