Episodes

I’m constantly learning new things and trying to share them with you as often as possible. While writing two new books this summer, I’ve spent time studying, learning, and uncovering new concepts around body image issues, why we struggle, food issues, eating disorders, intuitive eating, fasting, feasting, and so much more. In this episode, I discuss 5 things I’ve learned about body image issues and food issues in 2022: 1. My Opinion of Myself and My Body is Not What's Most Important. This topic...

In today's Black Friday episode of the show, Heather talks about the connection between body image issues and shopping! If you've ever found yourself trying to soothe your body image frustration through buying clothes or buying things . . .you're not alone. Today's show offers practical tips for getting our shopping habits under control. There's nothing wrong with enjoying shopping, but if we believe we can buy our way out of our body image issues-it won't work as we hope it. Also, today Heather...

Today Heather is joined by her Intuitive Eating coaches, Erin Todd and Char-Lee Cassel as they discuss navigating the holidays and more. Heather shares how last year she was in the "honeymoon" phase of Intuitive Eating during the holidays and how this year feels a little different. The group discusses how to incorporate the principles of gentle nutrition with the freedom to enjoy all foods. They also discuss the myth that "eating nutritiously" always means having a culturally-appreciated small b...

Today, Heather is joined by Erin Davis, an author, Bible teacher, and podcaster who has a new book out on Feasting and Fasting. In part two of this interview, Erin talks about feasting and how God created food as a good gift for his people. She shares how God has used food to show her his goodness and how healing our relationship with food is important. Erin and Heather also talk about how God will throw us a feast in heaven someday, great evidence that God isn't against food and wants to bless ...

Today's guest is Erin Davis. Erin is an author, Bible teacher, and podcaster who has a new book out on Feasting and Fasting. Today is part one of my interview with Erin where we talk about her own journey with an eating disorder in college. We also talk about how God has touched Erin's relationship with food through a deep dive through scripture. This led Erin to explore how often God encourages his followers to feast and celebrate his goodness and to fast and seek His face. In this episode, we ...

Heather’s guest is a former client and new Facebook community manager, Tara Rothwell. Tara shares her story of fighting with food, body image issues, and other addictions. In today's episode, Tara shares about her experience in Heather’s group coaching program and how that has changed her body image issues and how his change has spilled over into other parts of her life, and brought positive change there too. Tara talks about how nervous she was to try group coaching, how she wondered if it coul...

Today Heather's guest is former client and new Facebook community manager, Tara Rothwell. Tara shares her story of fighting with food, body image issues, and other additions and her testimony of how Jesus has walked beside her through tough times to bring her closer to him. This is part one of a two-part episode. Today, is Tara's testimony and in part two on Friday, Tara shares about her experience in Heather's group coaching program and how that has changed her body image issues and how his cha...

Today my guest is Dr. Michelle Bengtson, a board-certified neuropsychologist, author, speaker and podcast host. Dr. B and Heather discuss the connection between OCD and eating disorders and body image issues. They also dig into the effect a narcissist parent, coach, or romantic partner may have on body image issues and eating disorder issues. Other topics covered in today's episode include: Why do we need to control things? How anxiety connects to OCD and eating disorders, orthorexia and its con...

This is part two of a two part interview with one of our favorite non-diet dietitians and eating disorder specialists, Amy Carlson. Today, Amy and Heather look at Romans 14 and what God has to say about food rules. In the passage, Paul breaks down how some of the Christian Jews still feel obligated to follow Jewish food rules. He also talks about how we can, in the most loving way possible, interact with people who keep food rules and how to refrain from judging or causing division among oursel...

This is part one of a two part interview with one of our favorite non-diet dietitians and eating disorder specialists, Amy Carlson. Amy and Heather tackle the topics of good foods and bad foods from a biblical perspective. They dig into Romans 14 where Paul addresses the distinctions the believers in Rome have in the ways they eat and what they abstain from eating. Amy and Heather break down applications from this passage to our modern day food rules and labels. You will be amazed at how much sc...

Today's Intuitive Eating coaching call Heather and her coaches talk about the real challenge of getting over that number on the scale. Heather talks about how a medical procedure recently forced her to see that number, after not weighing for a while, and how she's wrestled with the power that number holds. The trio talks about what we attach to that number, what health really is (beyond a number on a scale) and how to separate identity from a number on the box (that no one knows anyway)! If you...

If you're like me, there may be some items hanging out in your closet that no longer fit. Why do we hang on to these clothes? What's really going on in our heads and our hearts that keeps us from saying "adios" to something that's no longer right for our bodies? Today, Heather tackles the tough topic of why we hang on to clothes that don't fit and how to process, in an emotionally healthy way, breaking up with that ideal or former clothing size. If you're hoping your body will someday fit the c...

Today Heather's friend, Jeanette Henriques continues sharing her testimony of struggling with eating disorders, anxiety, depression, and facing various other life trials. Jeanette became a ward of the state of Texas as child, was in and out of eating disorder treatment fifty times, and has faced numerous health trials. In fact, at the time of this interview, Jeanette is on hospice because of the severity of her health struggles. Yet, through it all, Jeanette sees and acknowledges God's faithfuln...

Today Heather's friend, Jeanette Henriques shares her powerful testimony of struggling with eating disorders, anxiety, depression, and facing various other life trials. Jeanette became a ward of the state of Texas as child, was in and out of eating disorder treatment fifty times, and has faced numerous health trials. In fact, at the time of this interview, Jeanette is on hospice because of the severity of her health struggles. Yet, through it all, Jeanette sees and acknowledges God's faithfulnes...

How do we live in the world but not of it when it comes to beauty and standards of beauty? Have the standards of what the world calls beautiful subtly affected our own definitions of beauty? Today Heather talks about the history of beauty standards, including the history of foot-binding in China. Heather talks about what this beauty practice did to the girls and women of that nation over the course of hundreds of years and how some of the beauty practices we have in the U.S. may bind and crippl...

My guest today is author Brittany Ann from Equipping Godly Women. Brittany joins me today for a conversation about the need to always be right! Do you always have to be right? Do you stew and stress if you feel like others are getting it "wrong"? Do you like to have the last word? If being right is important to you, take a listen to today's episode. Brittany and Heather discuss the ways always having to be right affects relationships, how to know when it's important to fight for truth and when ...

Today's show features best-selling author and Proverbs 31 speaker Karen Ehman. Karen and Heather talk about people pleasing, why we do it, how it hurts us, and how to know when we're doing it. If you're afraid to say no or feel stuck in a people-pleasing rut, today's episode is for you! Karen shares her story of people pleasing and how her childhood family dynamics contributed to her tendency to work for others' approval. Karen also tells how God asked her to pause from everything she did to se...

Have you been struggling with body image so long that you've convinced yourself there is no way out? Or, maybe you feel like you've tried everything to make the pain go away, but nothing seems to work. Feel like you will "never be better" is a feeling of hopelessness. The frustration is real. On today's show, Heather unpacks the lie that there is no hope or that you'll have to feel bad about your body forever. No matter what your size or age, body image issues are real among most women. But, th...

Today's lie is a common one. We're constantly told by the culture that if we just loved ourselves more, we wouldn't struggle with body image issues. More self-love (or self-esteem) would free us from the pain of not liking ourselves. It's as if there is some magic switch that can flip, and suddenly, we love ourselves and don't hurt anymore. But it's just not true. Self love isn't an actual path to freedom. And, even if it were, it's not the path that aligns with the Gospel or scripture. Today H...

On today's Intuitive Eating coaching call, Heather and her coaches, Char-Lee Cassel and Erin Todd of the Intuitive Eating for Christian Women Podcast, 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 believin...

Today's lie is one that most of us aren't even conscious of. And yet, how often do we find ourselves changing clothes a dozen times before we see people or stressing over how we look or what we said? Could it be that the reason we stress is that we're worried about what image we are portraying? Are we concerned that if we don't look or act like we believe we should, people won't think of us in the way we want them to? I don't know about you, but this has been a big struggle for me. The lie I've ...

Most of us hate that "out of control" feeling. That's why diets are so appealing. They give us a plan and help us feel like we are in control. When we're "off" the diet we feel out of control, so we try another diet or "health plan" so we can feel our sense of control restored. Today we tackle the truth behind why our eating patterns are disrupted by diets and overly controlling behaviors. We look a bit at the science as to why we feel like we can't be "trusted" around food or are "out of contro...

Have you believed that it's possible to keep your body from changing? Maybe you've believed that you could stop aging, weight shifts, or other physical changes if you followed someone's plan or just did "all the things" right. Have you felt guilt, shame, or "out of control" feelings because your body has changed and you didn't stop it? Oh friend, today we're going to explore the world of lies surrounding how, why, and if our bodies should change. There's so much circulating that makes it feel li...

Do you want to be appreciated or do you want to be approved of? These two words sound similar, but we don't often think about their differences. Yet, when we confuse appreciation and approval, we can send our hearts on a wild goose chase after something they already have in Christ! If you've ever felt under appreciated or lived for the compliments and kudos of others, this episode will encourage you and help you navigate the tricky nuance between these two concepts: appreciation and approval. I...