Feb. 25, 2026
Exhale: Establishing Your Real Identity - Waiting for Weight Loss Series Ep. 4
Welcome back to the Compared to Who? podcast and our ongoing series, Waiting for Weight Loss. In today’s episode, Heather Creekmore shares a powerful story about a time when her identity—literally—was stolen, setting the stage for an honest discussion about our true identity in Christ.
Episode Highlights:
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Heather Creekmore opens up with a personal experience of being mugged and losing her physical identification, making the connection to how many of us “lose” our spiritual identity while chasing the approval of others or pursuing body goals.
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She asks: Has your identity been stolen—figuratively—by misplaced priorities, societal pressures, or the pursuit of weight loss?
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We explore the idea that any identity outside of Christ is a “fake ID,” and discuss what it means to rest in our adoption as daughters (and sons) of God.
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Heather Creekmore unpacks how our attempts to earn love and acceptance through appearance or achievements are distractions from the Gospel.
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The healthiest approach to weight loss and goals? Pursuing them from a place of already being fully loved and accepted, not from a place of insecurity or striving to earn worth.
Reflection Questions:
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What “fake IDs” have you been carrying?
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How would your approach to your body and your goals change if you truly believed your identity was already secure in Christ?
Join the Community!
Join the conversation! Heather Creekmore invites you to become part of our supportive community at waitingforweightloss.com. Share your story, connect with others, and discover what it means to pursue your goals from a place of true security and love.
Don’t walk this journey alone—head over to waitingforweightloss.com, join the community, and let’s cut up those “fake IDs” together!
Thank you for listening—see you in the community!
*learn more about Compared to Who? at https://www.improvebodyimage.com
Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.
00:00:02
Speaker 1: Life Audio. Hey there, Welcome to episode three. Heather Creekmore Here. We're in a fun series called Waiting for Weight Loss. If you've not joined our community yet, do so at waitingfoweightloss dot com. We're having awesome conversations about the content there. Today's episode four, and today we're continuing our exhale and we're talking about reestablishing identity. So I want to start with the question, have you ever lost your wallet? So? I was mugged at age twenty when I lived in Washington, DC. Okay, it's kind of a traumatic story. I was with a few guy friends. We were walking back from the metro station late at night. Our other friends had gone on ahead, but we kind of lingered at their restaurant. We're having some great conversation. We stayed and I really wasn't worried about my safety because I was with two pretty decent guys. But we were walking down D Street in northeast Washington, d C. And these three other much bigger guys, one guy was well over six foot five, came on us pretty quickly and I realized that we were defenseless. They robbed all of us, and I was very grateful that it wasn't more violent than that. A police car was actually driving that way. They had a getaway car waiting. In The getaway car spated, the police car blinked its lights. The guys got in super fast and drove away. But I didn't ever want to go outside after dark like ever again. And I still feel that way sometimes. But that day I was carrying this is so embarrassing. I was carrying it all. I was carrying my Social Security card. I was carrying my check book because it was the nineteen nineties, maybe I needed to write a check for something. I was carrying every source of identification that I had, and so they still not just my money and my credit card, but in some ways they stole my identity too. I could no longer prove who I was. Oh, it was such a pain trying to get all of those ID cards done again. So my question for you today is this, as we think about exhaling, kind of breathing out after years or decades of holding our breath and clenching our fists trying to improve our bodies, my question for you is this, has your identity been stolen to Now? I don't mean literally like mine, but figuratively, as followers of Christ were to place our identity in him. But in this world we live in, it's pretty easy to find other places to derive identity. We can be the nice one, the competent one, the smart one, or the pretty one, the thin one, the athletic one. They always put together one. What are the things that you've tried to find identity in? What would you add to this list? But here's the truth. Any ID it's not in Christ is a false ID. If you're trying to put your identity and your ability to look a certain way or be a certain way, you're carrying a fake ID. Friend, the devil stole your ID. Now, I'll be honest. Identity and Christ can sometimes found like sound like an amorphous concept, Like I know those words, I kind of know what they mean altogether, but practically, what does that mean? How do I know if I have my identity in Christ or not. I did another podcast on this topic a few years ago. It was around the concept of boasting. I can link in the show notes for you. But Paul tells Us in Galatians six fourteen that he'll only boast in the cross, not in his resume, not in his personal strength, and this is part of our understanding of identity. We have to ask this question, what do I boast in? What do I want people to think of or associate with me? What's most important to me? Paul answers this question with one word, Jesus. What's most important? Can you see Jesus in me? That's more important than thinking that I'm someone who's good with exercise or I'm someone who's good with food. That's more important than you thinking I'm really put together. But here's another angle on identity in Christ. Are you ready for this question? Is? Have you been adopted by Him? Now let me back up and explain us a little bit. You have an identity in your family, don't you. We all do. I'm a daughter, I'm a wife, I'm a mother, I'm a sister. Depending on the context, the family my husband and I have built under the last name Creek Moore means that each of us has an identity as a Creek More. My children get identified in relation to their parents all the time, like, oh, you're a Creek More kid. People say at church this is an identity that they have to wear. Scripture tells us that when we become Christians. We become God's adopted sons, and we're fully adopted by him. Ephesians one four and five says, in love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons or daughters through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will. Galatians four four through seven says, But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his son so that we might receive adoption. John one, twelve and thirteen. But to all who did receive him, he gave the right to become children of God. The Bible uses this concept that we have been adopted to teach us something very important about our identity. Like my kids are Creek Moore kids. We're God's kids, We're his daughters. Now here's where this gets interesting. My children have never once asked me what do I have to do to be a creek more? Are there more chores that I can do? Can I behave better? Do I get to be a creek more if I do this or that, or if I do all these things better? Like that would be so silly. There it's because there are children, and although we didn't adopt any of them, the same principles applies. A child that is adopted is legally and fully a child of the parents who signed those adoption papers. There's nothing they have to do to earn that spot or prove that they're worthy. The transaction is complete. They are fully daughters or sons of the one who adopted them. Your identity is settled in Christ because you've been adopted to. In other words, you don't have to do anything to prove your worth to your Father. You don't have to try to earn his love, you already have it. Now Here's where this gets challenging. Many of us received mixed messages growing up. We may have learned that Jesus loves and accepts us, and we may have also learned that the best way to be loved and accepted by mom, dad, grandma, friends, aunt susie was to lose weight or look good, or keep trying to make your body look better so that even more people will love you. But friend, this isn't the gospel. In fact, this distracts us from the truth of how fully accepted and loved we are in Christ. Many of us, as we've tried to pursue weight loss goals or body change goals, we've done it from a place of insecurity. We're searching for identity that comes when we reach a goal, but even if we get it, it's a fake ID that's not our true identity. Here's what I've observed. Pursuing your goals, be a weight loss or body change, from a place of secure identity is the healthiest way to proceed. It's not I must have this thing or I won't be okay. I must have this thing so I can feel okay. It's this I am already loved. I have a secure identity. And just like I'm going to keep trying not to yell at my kids or trying to keep my house clean or spend less time on social media, I'm also trying to watch my habits and trying to drop some weight. To you, hear the distinction you see. Weight loss won't determine my worth. I'm already fully loved and accepted in Christ. Is just one of the things on my to do list. It's not the thing. It's one of the things. Having a secure identity in Christ means that you are an adopted daughter. You're no longer trying to earn your acceptance. He chose you, believing that you are already loved, and living like you're already loved is the only solid place from which to pursue weight loss goals. So what would it look like for you to exhale and pursue your goal from a place of knowing that you're already fully accepted. You're already part of the family. Your identity is secure in him. That's what I want you to consider today. Take that big inhale and say, I'm already fully loft. And the next sale and I'm already fully accepted. Hey, let's talk about this. Go to the community waiting for weightloss dot com. If you're brand new, join the community at waiting forweightloss dot com. Otherwise, log in and be part of the conversation. I want to hear from you. Do you have a fake ID? Are you ready to cut up your fake ID and replace it for a real one. Let's talk about it. I hope to see you over in the community. Thanks for listening today. The Compared to Podcasts is proud to be part of the Light Audio podcast Network. For more great Christian podcasts, go to Life Audio dot Hey, friend, would you check out the date on that episode you just listened to? Yeah, it's been a minute. Listening to old podcast is almost like reading my diary from several years ago. In some cases, it's even a little embarrassing. So instead of listening straight through season by season, can I encourage you to skip ahead? I released brand new episodes every Tuesday and Friday, and if you're not sure where to start, you can go to improvebody image dot com find the start here button, and I've got several episodes listed and categorized so you can find the topics that are of most interest to you. Your time is valuable, so skip straight to the good stuff. I'm glad you're here. Thanks for letting me be a part of your body image and food freedom journey.
Speaker 1: Life Audio. Hey there, Welcome to episode three. Heather Creekmore Here. We're in a fun series called Waiting for Weight Loss. If you've not joined our community yet, do so at waitingfoweightloss dot com. We're having awesome conversations about the content there. Today's episode four, and today we're continuing our exhale and we're talking about reestablishing identity. So I want to start with the question, have you ever lost your wallet? So? I was mugged at age twenty when I lived in Washington, DC. Okay, it's kind of a traumatic story. I was with a few guy friends. We were walking back from the metro station late at night. Our other friends had gone on ahead, but we kind of lingered at their restaurant. We're having some great conversation. We stayed and I really wasn't worried about my safety because I was with two pretty decent guys. But we were walking down D Street in northeast Washington, d C. And these three other much bigger guys, one guy was well over six foot five, came on us pretty quickly and I realized that we were defenseless. They robbed all of us, and I was very grateful that it wasn't more violent than that. A police car was actually driving that way. They had a getaway car waiting. In The getaway car spated, the police car blinked its lights. The guys got in super fast and drove away. But I didn't ever want to go outside after dark like ever again. And I still feel that way sometimes. But that day I was carrying this is so embarrassing. I was carrying it all. I was carrying my Social Security card. I was carrying my check book because it was the nineteen nineties, maybe I needed to write a check for something. I was carrying every source of identification that I had, and so they still not just my money and my credit card, but in some ways they stole my identity too. I could no longer prove who I was. Oh, it was such a pain trying to get all of those ID cards done again. So my question for you today is this, as we think about exhaling, kind of breathing out after years or decades of holding our breath and clenching our fists trying to improve our bodies, my question for you is this, has your identity been stolen to Now? I don't mean literally like mine, but figuratively, as followers of Christ were to place our identity in him. But in this world we live in, it's pretty easy to find other places to derive identity. We can be the nice one, the competent one, the smart one, or the pretty one, the thin one, the athletic one. They always put together one. What are the things that you've tried to find identity in? What would you add to this list? But here's the truth. Any ID it's not in Christ is a false ID. If you're trying to put your identity and your ability to look a certain way or be a certain way, you're carrying a fake ID. Friend, the devil stole your ID. Now, I'll be honest. Identity and Christ can sometimes found like sound like an amorphous concept, Like I know those words, I kind of know what they mean altogether, but practically, what does that mean? How do I know if I have my identity in Christ or not. I did another podcast on this topic a few years ago. It was around the concept of boasting. I can link in the show notes for you. But Paul tells Us in Galatians six fourteen that he'll only boast in the cross, not in his resume, not in his personal strength, and this is part of our understanding of identity. We have to ask this question, what do I boast in? What do I want people to think of or associate with me? What's most important to me? Paul answers this question with one word, Jesus. What's most important? Can you see Jesus in me? That's more important than thinking that I'm someone who's good with exercise or I'm someone who's good with food. That's more important than you thinking I'm really put together. But here's another angle on identity in Christ. Are you ready for this question? Is? Have you been adopted by Him? Now let me back up and explain us a little bit. You have an identity in your family, don't you. We all do. I'm a daughter, I'm a wife, I'm a mother, I'm a sister. Depending on the context, the family my husband and I have built under the last name Creek Moore means that each of us has an identity as a Creek More. My children get identified in relation to their parents all the time, like, oh, you're a Creek More kid. People say at church this is an identity that they have to wear. Scripture tells us that when we become Christians. We become God's adopted sons, and we're fully adopted by him. Ephesians one four and five says, in love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons or daughters through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will. Galatians four four through seven says, But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his son so that we might receive adoption. John one, twelve and thirteen. But to all who did receive him, he gave the right to become children of God. The Bible uses this concept that we have been adopted to teach us something very important about our identity. Like my kids are Creek Moore kids. We're God's kids, We're his daughters. Now here's where this gets interesting. My children have never once asked me what do I have to do to be a creek more? Are there more chores that I can do? Can I behave better? Do I get to be a creek more if I do this or that, or if I do all these things better? Like that would be so silly. There it's because there are children, and although we didn't adopt any of them, the same principles applies. A child that is adopted is legally and fully a child of the parents who signed those adoption papers. There's nothing they have to do to earn that spot or prove that they're worthy. The transaction is complete. They are fully daughters or sons of the one who adopted them. Your identity is settled in Christ because you've been adopted to. In other words, you don't have to do anything to prove your worth to your Father. You don't have to try to earn his love, you already have it. Now Here's where this gets challenging. Many of us received mixed messages growing up. We may have learned that Jesus loves and accepts us, and we may have also learned that the best way to be loved and accepted by mom, dad, grandma, friends, aunt susie was to lose weight or look good, or keep trying to make your body look better so that even more people will love you. But friend, this isn't the gospel. In fact, this distracts us from the truth of how fully accepted and loved we are in Christ. Many of us, as we've tried to pursue weight loss goals or body change goals, we've done it from a place of insecurity. We're searching for identity that comes when we reach a goal, but even if we get it, it's a fake ID that's not our true identity. Here's what I've observed. Pursuing your goals, be a weight loss or body change, from a place of secure identity is the healthiest way to proceed. It's not I must have this thing or I won't be okay. I must have this thing so I can feel okay. It's this I am already loved. I have a secure identity. And just like I'm going to keep trying not to yell at my kids or trying to keep my house clean or spend less time on social media, I'm also trying to watch my habits and trying to drop some weight. To you, hear the distinction you see. Weight loss won't determine my worth. I'm already fully loved and accepted in Christ. Is just one of the things on my to do list. It's not the thing. It's one of the things. Having a secure identity in Christ means that you are an adopted daughter. You're no longer trying to earn your acceptance. He chose you, believing that you are already loved, and living like you're already loved is the only solid place from which to pursue weight loss goals. So what would it look like for you to exhale and pursue your goal from a place of knowing that you're already fully accepted. You're already part of the family. Your identity is secure in him. That's what I want you to consider today. Take that big inhale and say, I'm already fully loft. And the next sale and I'm already fully accepted. Hey, let's talk about this. Go to the community waiting for weightloss dot com. If you're brand new, join the community at waiting forweightloss dot com. Otherwise, log in and be part of the conversation. I want to hear from you. Do you have a fake ID? Are you ready to cut up your fake ID and replace it for a real one. Let's talk about it. I hope to see you over in the community. Thanks for listening today. The Compared to Podcasts is proud to be part of the Light Audio podcast Network. For more great Christian podcasts, go to Life Audio dot Hey, friend, would you check out the date on that episode you just listened to? Yeah, it's been a minute. Listening to old podcast is almost like reading my diary from several years ago. In some cases, it's even a little embarrassing. So instead of listening straight through season by season, can I encourage you to skip ahead? I released brand new episodes every Tuesday and Friday, and if you're not sure where to start, you can go to improvebody image dot com find the start here button, and I've got several episodes listed and categorized so you can find the topics that are of most interest to you. Your time is valuable, so skip straight to the good stuff. I'm glad you're here. Thanks for letting me be a part of your body image and food freedom journey.
