Episodes

Did you know that the 24 hour work day was created around how men work best, but not women? Today, Heather’s guest Dr. Victoria Pait offers fascinating and helpful information about how women can start to work better with their bodies by syncing their lives to their cycles and better understanding the rhythms of our bodies. Heather and Dr. Pait talk about what’s going on in a woman’s body throughout the four phases of the menstrual cycle. They also talk about how to cope as hormonal levels chang...

Today Heather has a candid conversation with author and blogger, Sheila Gregoire. They dive deep into the impact of purity culture on women's body image, self-esteem, and relationships. Although the hearts and motives may have started in the right place -- as a response to the 1960s, there have been some detrimental effects of certain modesty and purity culture teachings on both young girls and adult women. Sheila sheds light on how these teachings can lead to damaging beliefs, body image issues...

Today Heather digs in to how our experiences in gym class may be impacting our body image issue today. Did you get picked last for the teams? Did you hate getting hit by the dodge ball or wearing gym uniforms or changing with the other girls? Did a teacher weigh you and then call out the number for the whole class to hear? Many who wrestle with body image issues are still struggling with trauma of what we were told or believed was true about us in gym class! Today Heather reminisces through the ...

In part two of the live coaching episode with Presli, Heather Creekmore and client, Presli, delve into the concept of righteousness and adoption in the context of body image and family upbringing. Presli bravely opens up about her family's view of fitness and body size, revealing the deep-seated impact it had on her perception of herself. They discuss the idea of being seen for who you truly are, beyond physical appearances, and how authenticity and integrity play a crucial role in finding free...

In today's episode, host Heather Creekmore leads a live coaching session with guest Presli, as they dive into the topic of rejection and its impact on body image. Presli shares her personal experiences of feeling rejected due to physical attributes, and the shame and desire to cover up that followed. Through a candid conversation, they explore the damaging effects of societal pressures on body image and self-worth, and the desire to be seen and accepted. Drawing on biblical teachings and persona...

Today Heather tackles the tricky topic of Ozempic, Wegovy, and other drugs that have recently been approved for weight loss. Heather talks about Oprah's new television special: Shame, Blame and the Weight Loss Revolution which aired this week and is now available on Hulu. She also references another television program on Ozempic called: The Skinny Confessions, Life After Ozempic (also available on Hulu). Scripture doesn't give us clear direction on weight loss or weight loss drugs. So there's a...

Today Heather helps explain what a healthy theology of our bodies should look like. Do you have a biblical view of your body and what it was made for or have you been influenced by culture and the wisdom of the world into believing that your body has two purposes: serving God and trying to look or be better? Heather looks at 2 Corinthians 4:7 where Paul talks about our bodies being "jars of clay" and whether or not this instruction is supposed to make us focus on trying to perfect what those jar...

Today's show gets a little spicy as Heather calls into question the dieting trends over the past 50 years and where they came from. You'll be shocked to hear who really came up with the low-carb trend. You may even be a little frustrated to learn how some who advocated for eating a certain way have changed their minds as they "reconsider" the science. The question Heather brings us back to today is: What does the Bible say about food? Does the Bible tell us we have to follow whatever food rules ...

Maybe you've heard that as Christians we have to be careful to go to God, not to food. Maybe you've heard that emotional eating is wrong, sinful, or not "taking care of your temple" the way God instructs. But, what if there's more to it than that? What if God created our bodies to eat and what if relating to food and eating should be as simple and benign as the way we relate to breathing, sleeping, or even using the bathroom? In today's podcast, Heather takes an alternative look at emotional eat...

Heather Creekmore is joined by author Janet McHenry to discuss the many facets of prayer, personal struggles with prayer, and the various "praying personalities" that influence how individuals approach prayer. Janet shares her inspiring journey of navigating health issues and how it led her to a deeper life of prayer, ultimately leading her to write a book about prayer walking. Throughout the episode, Heather and Janet delve into the different ways people can connect with God through prayer, the...

Today Heather asks a poignant question: As you think about your body and body image, are you trying to be cruise ship ready or battle ship ready? There's quite a difference, right? When we prepare for a cruise, we want to look good in a swimsuit and we're looking ahead to a time of fun in the sun. But, if we think about preparing to go on a battle ship, our motivations and goals are different, aren't they? Scripture tells us that if we hold fast to the testimony of Jesus, Satan has declared war ...

Gwen Shamblin put the "cult" in Diet Culture as you'll hear today in clips (used under Fair Use law for educational and critique purposes) from the 2023 Lifetime Movie, "Starving for Salvation: The Gwen Shamblin Story." Gwen was starving for salvation, trying to fill a void and an emptiness through weight loss, and eventually through power, money, and control. In today's episode (part 2 of 2) we listen to clips from the movie that show her rapid descent into heresy, denying Jesus, her rejection ...

Today Heather digs into the mysterious and disturbing world of diet culture and, more specifically, how diet culture turned into an actual cult in the case of Gwen Shamblin, the Weigh Down Workshops and book, and the Remanent Church. This is part one of a two-part series where we'll walk through the new Starving for Salvation Lifetime movie that is based on Gwen Shamblin's life story. Though it is a fictionalized account, much of what the movie shows was documented in The Way Down documentary th...

Heather continues with part two of her first LIVE coaching call with her newest and perhaps bravest client, Presli. Today Heather and Presli talk about how her Ideal Image has kept her chasing an unattainable body size, shape, and look and how it keeps her chasing. We talk about what parts of her life are affected when she tries to become more like her Ideal Image. Presli also shares more of her personal story, her struggles with size and weight through her teens and twenties, and more. Plus: Pr...

Today Heather airs her first LIVE coaching call with her newest and perhaps bravest client, Presli. Presli shares her story, how her body image issues began, including her first feelings and recognition of feeling like there was something wrong with her body or that her body was not the right size. Heather and Presli explore the voices and influences that contributed to her earliest thoughts and feelings about her body. They also begin to explore Presli's ideal image and who Presli has believed ...

Today host Heather Creekmore is joined by author Ed Welch for a thought-provoking conversation about biblical counseling, body image issues, and the challenges of Christian teachings in the face of human emotions. The discussion touches on the impact of Welch's book "When People Are Big and God Is Small" on Creekmore's own work in biblical counseling, the importance of finding words to express struggles in biblical counseling and the tension between seeking God's comfort in anxiety and the reali...

Today Heather engages in a captivating conversation with author, speaker, and podcaster, Kelly Needham. Together, they delve into Kelly's thought-provoking book, "Purposefooled: Why Chasing Your Dreams, Finding Your Calling, and Reaching for Greatness Will Never Be Enough." Kelly shares her insights on redefining purpose and the misconceptions surrounding chasing one's dreams and finding a distinct calling. Emphasizing the importance of focusing on Jesus rather than a specific purpose, Kelly ch...

"I want to be thinner." Have you said it? Have you thought it? It's a reality that many of us face because culture tells us that thinness is what we should desire and our culture values the way we look only if we are thin. Today, Heather unpacks what we can do, biblically, to explore that desire we have to be thinner or a longing we have for any sort of body change. Heather has three main points for today: It's Okay to Feel This way, Exploring What You Really Long For, and Aligning Our Desires w...

Host Heather Creekmore continues her conversation with Jonna, a biblical counselor, women's ministry leader, and pastor's wife who struggled with body image issues. Jonna shares the specific insights and breakthroughs she experienced in her journey of overcoming body image struggles through coaching with Heather. This is part two of the conversation. Today's conversation delves into how Jonna learned to shift her perspective about beauty and the true source of beauty according to scripture. She...

Today Heather Creekmore interviews her coaching client, pastor's wife, biblical counselor and women's ministry leader, Jonna, to share her story of body image struggles and what she experienced as she went through Heather's group coaching program: the Body Image Freedom Framework. Jonna vulnerably recounts the impact of hurtful comments on her body image and identity (including a drive-by "lose weight" comment). She talks about her internal battles as a Christian and biblical counselor facing bo...

Are you a black-and-white, all-or-nothing type of person who has a difficult time living in the gray (or grace) when it comes to your body, your food, or your health? If so, then today's episode is for you! Heather interviews podcast host, RN, and Intuitive Eating and body image coach, Victoria Yates about how we can learn to live in the "messy middle." Heather and Victoria talk about what it looks like to have health goals yet to not obsess over them, idolize them, or turn them into a shaming f...

Today is part two of the LIVE podcast featuring a 25-year eating disorder specialist, dietitian, and lover of Jesus, Amy Carlson M.S., L.D., R.D. Amy begins the episode by explaining something she said at the end of the last episode about taking the Lord's name in vain when we use God's name to rubber-stamp or sell our diet or fitness program. In addition to this truth bomb, Amy tackles questions from our live audience about participating in church-wide fasts, digestive issues that result from d...

In this first-ever episode of Compared to Who? to be recorded with a LIVE audience, Heather and her guest, Amy Carlson, RD and eating disorder expert dive into the pressure to conform to all the diet-related pressures of January. Heather and Amy candidly discuss the intertwining of diet culture and the church, shedding light on how confusing it can be when the messages of culture around us start coming at us from our own congregations. Inspired by Creekmore's new book, "the 40-day Body Image Wo...

Today Heather continues her conversation with coaching client, Rachel, who completed the Body Image Freedom Framework course and coaching program in the Fall. Rachel shared in the last episode her story of being raised in a Christian home and learning to love Jesus, yet, how she was always complimented on her appearance and how this, subtly, led her to become fixated on it. In today's powerful episode, Rachel shares how God revealed to her that she looked at everything through the lens of her b...