Taste for Truth - Weight Loss Encouragement

Stress is an everyday struggle for most of us in Western society. We turn to many unhealthy things to cope  which often lead to health struggles and weight gain. It actually makes the problem worse! However, stress eating does not have to be our reality any longer.  I'm excited to have Katrina Sequenzia as my guest again today on the Taste for Truth Podcast. Katrina shares her personal struggles in this area as well as many practical tips to overcome the unhealthy coping mechanisms in our lives.

• A personal struggle that had Katrina turning to another coping mechanism to get through
• The lie that we always tell ourselves in the midst of stressful times to justify our out-of-control eating
• Some of the biological reasons why we turn to food during times of stress
• Many practical (and healthy) ways to cope with difficult moments in our day-to-day lives
• What movement does for us with regard to stress
• Loads, limits, and creating margin

I also wanted to mention that I will be tapering off and ultimately ending the Taste for Truth podcast sometime in the next 3-5 months. I will still be doing my Christian Habits Podcast, and all of the past Taste for Truth episodes will still be available! I'm just at a place in my life where I need to find a work-life balance that is sustainable, and going down to one podcast seems like a very helpful way to do that.

I am also planning to give online course creation a try. If you are interested in staying informed about that, click here.

• Online counseling resource
• My initial episode with Katrina: How to Stop Sugar Cravings by Katrina Sequenzia
• Katrina's free gift for my listeners!
• Katrina's website: healthyfreelife.com
• My recent episode with Kirby Kelly
• Upcoming Online Courses
• Taste for Truth
• Freedom from Emotional Eating
• Say Goodbye to Emotional Eating
• Freedom from Procrastination

• YouTube: Click here to subscribe or listen on YouTube. 
• Apple Podcasts: Click here to subscribe or listen on Apple Podcasts. (If you haven’t subscribed to the podcast on Apple, this can sometimes take a few hours to update.) 
• Android: Click here to subscribe or listen on Android. 
• Spotify: Click here to subscribe or listen on Spotify. 
• Amazon Alexa: To listen on Amazon Alexa, say, “Alexa, play the Taste for Truth Podcast.” 

If you've ever wondered how all of those people I've interviewed in the past are doing now, you'll enjoy today's episode of the Taste for Truth Podcast! I'm having a second "check-in" interview with Sarah whom I previously interviewed over four years ago. Back in 2020, Sarah was a new mom and was experiencing great success with changing her eating and lifestyle habits. Today our discussion centers around how pivotal exercise has been for Sarah in her journey, and about her struggles and victories while navigating many life changes.

• How Sarah is doing four years after her first victory interview
• How finding exercise that matched her temperament has helped Sarah achieve her goals
• Viewing exercise as spiritual warfare - using your body to fight a spiritual battle
• New research that highlights the importance of exercise for mental health
• The importance of asking for help
• Why we can have hope even when we have yo-yo dieted and feel that we have tried everything
• What being poor in spirit really means, and how it's a good thing
• The story of "20-steps back" and how it relates to success with healthy habits

I also wanted to mention that I will be tapering off and ultimately ending the Taste for Truth podcast sometime in the next 5-7 months. I will still be doing my Christian Habits Podcast, and all of the past Taste for Truth episodes will still be available! I'm just at a place in my life where I need to find a work-life balance that is sustainable, and going down to one podcast seems like a very helpful way to do that.

I am also planning to give online course creation a try. If you are interested in staying informed about that, click here.

• • My initial episode with Sarah: Losing Weight and Getting Healthy (January 2020)
  • Elaina Koyl Coaching
  • Upcoming Online Courses
  • Taste for Truth
  • Freedom from Emotional Eating
  • Say Goodbye to Emotional Eating

Listen to the Podcast

• YouTube: Click here to subscribe or listen on YouTube. 
• Apple Podcasts: Click here to subscribe or listen on Apple Podcasts. (If you haven’t subscribed to the podcast on Apple, this can sometimes take a few hours to update.) 
• Android: Click here to subscribe or listen on Android. 
• Spotify: Click here to subscribe or listen on Spotify. 
• Amazon Alexa: To listen on Amazon Alexa, say, “Alexa, play the Taste for Truth Podcast.” 

On this episode of the Taste for Truth podcast, I am doing something different and kind of fun! I decided to do a mish-mash of sorts of a few different episodes. I'll be doing a meditation from my book Say Goodbye to Emotional Eating ("It would be crazy not to eat this!"), and then also a series of "Ask Barb" questions that I've received from listeners. There a variety of topics covered, but all of them are centered around eating habits for ourselves or others. I hope you find something that is helpful and encouraging!

I also wanted to mention that I will be tapering off and ultimately ending the Taste for Truth podcast sometime in the near future. Don't worry -  I will still be doing my Christian Habits Podcast, and all of the past Taste for Truth episodes will still be available! I am just at a place in my life where I am needing to find a work-life balance that is sustainable, and going down to one podcast seems like a very helpful way to do that.

I am also planning to give online course creation a try. If you are interested in staying informed about that, click here.

Lastly, my online Philippians Bible study is still going on (as of May 2024). If you'd like to join in for the last 3-4 sessions, click here for more information!

• Philippians - Closer to God Bible Study
• Better Help - Faithful Counseling
• Do You Eat When You're Tired?
• Taste for Truth
• Freedom from Emotional Eating
• Say Goodbye to Emotional Eating
• Rally - A Personal Growth Bible Study

• YouTube: Click here to subscribe or listen on YouTube. 
• Apple Podcasts: Click here to subscribe or listen on Apple Podcasts. (If you haven’t subscribed to the podcast on Apple, this can sometimes take a few hours to update.) 
• Android: Click here to subscribe or listen on Android. 
• Spotify: Click here to subscribe or listen on Spotify. 
• Amazon Alexa: To listen on Amazon Alexa, say, “Alexa, play the Taste for Truth Podcast.” 

It's so easy in our culture today to get caught up in trying to find our self-worth in material things, money, our jobs, or the way we look. The idea of being skinny can be something that we begin to obsess over because we somehow think our identity is wrapped up in our appearance. This isn't what God wants for us and, consequently, also makes us very unhappy.  On today's episode of the Taste for Truth Podcast, we'll debunk 10 lies that perpetuate this skinny idol.

I also wanted to mention that I will be leading an online Bible study through my new Philippians Bible study in the month of May. If you're interested in finding out more and signing up, get the info here. I do think it is so helpful to go through regular Bible studies - even when you're trying to lose weight or be healthier - because we are getting more of the truth of God's word in our system (which helps us combat all the lies we believe that fuel our eating problems).  This particular book deals with many different topics in the book of Philippians, one of them being finding our identity in God. I hope you'll find it helpful!

• How our "Good Christian" list can adversely affect our self-worth
• Different things we turn to to find our identity in rather than God
• "I need to be skinny to be accepted."
• "When I'm skinny, I'll be happier."
• "People think I'm a loser because I'm overweight."
• A passage in Philippians that reminds us what we cannot have confidence in
• Some tips for truth journaling

• Philippians - Closer to God Bible Study
• Taste for Truth
• Freedom from Emotional Eating
• Say Goodbye to Emotional Eating

• YouTube: Click here to subscribe or listen on YouTube. 
• Apple Podcasts: Click here to subscribe or listen on Apple Podcasts. (If you haven’t subscribed to the podcast on Apple, this can sometimes take a few hours to update.) 
• Android: Click here to subscribe or listen on Android. 
• Spotify: Click here to subscribe or listen on Spotify. 
• Amazon Alexa: To listen on Amazon Alexa, say, “Alexa, play the Taste for Truth Podcast.” 

If you feel like you will never get over your food struggles, today's episode of the Taste for Truth podcast will be a great encouragement (links below). I'm doing something different on this episode: I'm interviewing three people at one time! It's a mom and her two adult daughters, and we talk through many of the struggles they have had with food over the years, and how they are all finding their way to freedom in this area of their lives.

• Free-for-all holiday eating
• Perfectionism eating
• Strategies for avoiding a binge and a 3-month hiatus from boundaries
• These lies and their corresponding truths:
  • "It's a holiday, I can eat as much as I want."
  • "If there are sweets in the house, you should eat them."
  • "I'm bored, food would be a great way to deal with it."
• The key part that submission to God plays in breaking free from an eating stronghold
• Different renewing of the mind strategies
• Food as a coping mechanism

• Taste for Truth
• Freedom from Emotional Eating
• Say Goodbye to Emotional Eating
• Life Unbinged Program with Kristy McCammon
• I Deserve a Donut - Weight Loss App

• YouTube: Click here to subscribe or listen on YouTube. 
• Apple Podcasts: Click here to subscribe or listen on Apple Podcasts. (If you haven’t subscribed to the podcast on Apple, this can sometimes take a few hours to update.) 
• Android: Click here to subscribe or listen on Android. 
• Spotify: Click here to subscribe or listen on Spotify. 
• Amazon Alexa: To listen on Amazon Alexa, say, “Alexa, play the Taste for Truth Podcast.” 

A few weeks ago, I had an interesting conversation with a reader. She talked about how hard it was to get her kids to eat healthy things. Many parents these days can relate to the challenges of picky eaters, meal-time meltdowns, and general food struggles. On today's episode of the Taste for Truth Podcast (links below), I answer some reader questions revolving around helping our kids to avoid negative eating habits.

• How my husband and I raised our four children to eat
• My take on whether or not kids should eat the same meal as the parents
• How I inadvertently taught my kids some emotional eating tendencies
• Practical ways to help our kids to not be entitled regarding food or otherwise
• The two unhealthy routes we can take with regard to obsessive eating
• My thoughts on how to train our children regarding food that has the best chance for a healthy result

• I Deserve a Donut - Weight Loss App
• The Renewing of the Mind Project
• The Homeschool Sanity Show Podcast

• YouTube: Click here to subscribe or listen on YouTube. 
• Apple Podcasts: Click here to subscribe or listen on Apple Podcasts. (If you haven’t subscribed to the podcast on Apple, this can sometimes take a few hours to update.) 
• Android: Click here to subscribe or listen on Android. 
• Spotify: Click here to subscribe or listen on Spotify. 
• Amazon Alexa: To listen on Amazon Alexa, say, “Alexa, play the Taste for Truth Podcast.”

Many of us turn to food when we are bored, or when we want to avoid a project we know we should be doing! Unfortunately, this can easily become an unhealthy pattern that leads to weight-gain and out-of-control eating. If you're all too familiar with this struggle and want to stop the cycle of boredom eating, my episode today on the Taste for Truth Podcast should be helpful (links below)!

I also wanted to mention that I'm excited to try something a little different for a few episodes of the Taste for Truth Podcast. I would love to have updates and "victory moments" from people that I've interviewed over the years! If you would be willing, go to this website and record a brief message letting us know how you're doing! This is not an interview at all, it would just be you recording whatever you'd like to say in a short message - I think the limit is 4 minutes. Anyway, I think it'd be so fun and encouraging to hear how everyone is doing! Give it a try!

• How often our childhood shapes our interactions with food
• Non-diet boundaries
• Why sometimes we should first begin renewing our minds NOT about food or eating
• The emotional toll of procrastination
• How to renew your minds about specific situations
• What it means to hold losing weight with an "open hand"

• To record an update or victory moment from your weight loss journey, go to speakpipe.com/BarbRaveling.
• Freedom from Procrastination
• Rally: A Personal Growth Bible Study
• Taste for Truth
• Freedom from Emotional Eating
• I Deserve a Donut - Weight Loss App
• Overcoming Nighttime Eating with Kimberly Taylor
• How to Stop Boredom Eating (10 Strategies)
• Renewing of the Mind Tools - This page on my website has many tips for renewing, but also a section dedicated just to how to truth journal.

• Google: Click here to subscribe or listen on Google Podcasts. 
• Apple Podcasts: Click here to subscribe or listen on Apple Podcasts. (If you haven’t subscribed to the podcast on Apple, this can sometimes take a few hours to update.) 
• Android: Click here to subscribe or listen on Android. 
• Spotify: Click here to subscribe or listen on Spotify. 
• Amazon Alexa: To listen on Amazon Alexa, say, “Alexa, play the Taste for Truth Podcast.” 

I would love to know how many pounds I've gained and lost in my life. In the old days it was all about "Go on a diet, lose weight, live it up, then gain the weight back." Over and over and over again. Every once in awhile I could muster up the self control to lose the weight, but I always gained it back. I had little self control, I loved food, and I was an emotional eater. And because of that I gained the weight back every single time.

I actually knew how to lose the weight, but I didn't know how to keep it off. So today I'd like to look at why we gain our weight back and how to stop the old merry-go-round. Let's begin by looking at why we gain it back.

1. We let go of boundaries once we lose our weight. Think of it. Have you ever lost weight without setting some sort of boundaries? Maybe you did intuitive eating and ate only when you were hungry and stopped when you were full. Or you joined Weight Watchers or you did intermittent fasting. But in some way you set limits for yourself. Unfortunately, once we lose the weight, all limits go out the window and that's the biggest thing that makes us gain the weight back. There are two ways we do this: 1) We do it consciously. We think, "Yay!! I get to live it up again!!" Then immediately go to living it up and gain our weight back. 2) We do it without realizing we're doing it. So for example, I may have lost my weight by counting carbs faithfully with a set limit each day of how much I could have. When I lose the weight, I still try to watch how many carbs I eat, but I don't have a set limit. Or I lose weight with Weight Watchers. I still focus on free foods and eat as many as I want--but I no longer count points. So what we have are some practices, but we don't have actual boundaries.
2. We switch to different boundaries and don't go through the necessary work to learn how to follow our boundaries. In the first reason, we let go of boundaries altogether, but with this reason, we actually do have boundaries--we just haven't learned how to follow them. Here's an example. Let's say you lost your weight with a diet, but then you decide to switch to 3 meals and one snack a day for your boundaries. Since those boundaries are looser than what you're used to, there is a learning curve to figuring out how to maintain your weight within those boundaries. If we don't make the effort to learn how to make those boundaries work, we'll gain our weight back.
3. We have a new trial in our lives that makes us feel like eating. Often we'll be going along smoothly and then something happens that makes us want to eat. Some trial that triggers all our emotional eating tendencies. Maybe there's a pandemic. Or the world is looking a little scary. Or someone you love is having a crisis. Or you're having a crisis. When those new trials crop up, it makes us want to eat. And we may gain our weight back at that time.
4. We stick to our boundaries most of the year but go off during holidays and vacations. This is a good one to think about now because we're smack dab in the middle of the holidays--halfway between Thanksgiving in the United States and Christmas. When we go on vacation or it's a holiday, it's easy to justify a few extra treats. We think, Oh I'll just eat this now and get back on track when I get back to normal life. When we do that, we usually only gain a few pounds a year, but after ten years, those few pounds a year have become 30-40 pounds and we're back in a situation where we need to do the whole thing over again.
5. We reintroduce sugar and/or flour when that was part of the reason we lost the weight to begin with. I've talked to many people who lost their weight without renewing their minds. They were able to do it because they took away their biggest source of temptation: flour and sugar. Unfortunately, I've also talked to a lot of people who then reintroduced sugar and flour at some point and either gained all their weight back or at least a good share of it.
6. We lose it with self control and/or obsession rather than renewing. I've talked to many women who are either all in or all out. When they work on losing weight, they have a hard time doing it without obsessing about it. The temptation is to think about being healthy, exercising, and eating right all the time. This becomes so exhausting that eventually they can't handle the stress anymore and go back to eating. Then there are people like me who don't obsess and have no temptations in the exercise-too-much department, but I still used to gain my weight back because I never took the time to change the way I thought about food.
7. We start believing new lies and don't take the time to renew. With this reason for weight gain, we do renew while losing it. In fact we renew our minds so much that we change the way we think about food and we no longer even want to overindulge or binge. But then if we're not careful, we start fudging our boundaries.

So what do we do? With so many reasons driving us to gain our weight back, is there still hope that we can avoid all of that? Yes, there is hope! The Bible tells us we can do all things through Him who strengthens us. It also tells us that He who began a good work in us will complete it. God can help us stay free from the control of food. Let's look at seven strategies we can use to stay free from the control of food.

1. Keep relying on God for help with life. So many times I've had women tell me, "I'm so thankful I learned how to truth journal. It has helped me go to God for help with so many things." They started out renewing for food, but then started renewing for life and that drew them closer to God. With me it was the opposite. I started renewing first for the hard things in life, and only later started renewing for food. Here's the truth: God wants us to go to Him for help with life. And the more we go to Him, the more we'll fall in love with Him and the more we'll grow in our character and be like Him. And as a little side benefit, if we keep going to God for help with life, we'll be far less likely to gain our weight back because we won't be going to the refrigerator.
2. Renew often about each new trial that comes up. Things will often be trucking along just fine, and then some new difficulty comes up in life that causes us stress, worry, or fear, and we find ourselves reaching for food again. When we learn the valuable skill of truth journaling, we can start going to God right away when a new trial comes into our lives. We can truth journal and ask Him to show us the lies we are believing about our current situation. By going to God about the trial first, we will be far less likely to continue to run to our old idol (food) to bring us comfort.
3. Catch any weight gain early. It's far easier to lose a couple pounds than 20 pounds. And it's far easier to lose 20 pounds than 100 pounds. Some women will put away the scale for good, but when they find their clothes getting tight it's a wakeup call to be more diligent about following their boundaries--and renewing if necessary. For me, I weigh about once a week. If I find my weight is up for several weeks in a row, I try to be careful about eating less at meals.
4. Continue to have firm lifelong boundaries. I can't emphasize how important it is to have some sort of boundaries with food if you're a person who loves food, is not opposed to large quantities, and has a tendency to eat emotionally. Boundaries keep our passions reigned in.
5. Be VERY careful about reintroducing sugar if you lost the weight without it. And by careful I mean either don't do it, or do it carefully.
6. Be careful during vacations and holidays. Fudged boundaries (which might involve actual fudge!), lead to weight gain.
7. Check to see if you still believe any lies that make you overeat and also look out for any new lies that crop up (see below).

1. It's okay to break my boundaries because I'm free from the control of food now. I may be free from the control of food, but that doesn't mean I can't gain my weight back and I will gain it back if I consistently eat too much!
2. This little bit of sugar won't hurt. While it's possible this little bit of sugar won't hurt, it's also possible that this little bit of sugar will set in motion weeks or months or years of overeating. I should think carefully if I really want to do this and then make a plan for it if I decide to do it and go back to renewing if necessary. The truth is that I am a person who tends to overeat with sugar--I just love it too much--so I'll probably have to be careful all of my life.
3. I still have boundaries. I don't actually have boundaries. I have intentions--more fruit and vegetables for example--but I don't have primary boundaries that tell me how often or how much I can eat. If I really want to keep this weight off, I need to have boundaries and follow them. Boundaries keep me safe.

Say Goodbye to Emotional Eating  I talk more about boundaries in my recent book, Say Goodbye to Emotional Eating, and hope to do a video or podcast about them sometime as well. Say Goodbye to Emotional Eating also contains 100 exercise you can use to renew your mind to break free and stay free from the control of food.

Taste for Truth: A 30 Day Weight Loss Bible Study is a 30-day Bible study focused on the lies that make you eat, body image, and the weight loss process. I wrote this Bible study to go along with the questions and Bible verses in I Deserve a Donut, and it’s best if you have both books when you do this study. I Deserve a Donut is also available as a free app for your phone. The Android app isn't working on new phones at the moment (November 2023), but I hope to have it up and running again soon!

• Google: Click here to subscribe or listen on Google Podcasts. 
• Apple Podcasts: Click here to subscribe or listen on Apple Podcasts. (If you haven’t subscribed to the podcast on Apple, this can sometimes take a few hours to update.) 
• Android: Click here to subscribe or listen on Android. 
• Spotify: Click here to subscribe or listen on Spotify. 
• Amazon Alexa: To listen on Amazon Alexa, say, “Alexa, play the Taste for Truth Podcast.” 

Do you feel discouraged by your weight-loss journey? Are you starting to believe that you will never overcome your struggles with food? If so, you will be greatly encouraged by my enthusiastic guest, Shelly, on today's episode of the Taste for Truth Podcast (links below). Shelly shares with us many practical tips - and lots of joy - on how she finally broke free from the control of food.

• How turning to food during a very difficult trial in Shelly's life caused her to gain a significant amount of weight
• How the turning point in her struggle came when she realized what was at the root of the issue
• Tips on finding pockets of time to make mind-renewal a priority
• Why the enemy is opposed to us breaking free from our food struggles
• The difference between knowing truth intellectually-only vs. at the "gut level"
• Lots of encouragement and practical tips to persevere!

• Say Goodbye to Emotional Eating
• Freedom from Emotional Eating
• Taste for Truth
• I Deserve a Donut App
• Made to Crave by Lisa Terkeurst
• Winning the War in Your Mind by Craig Groeschel
• Sweet Journey to Transformation by Teresa Shields-Parker

• Google: Click here to subscribe or listen on Google Podcasts. 
• Apple Podcasts: Click here to subscribe or listen on Apple Podcasts. (If you haven’t subscribed to the podcast on Apple, this can sometimes take a few hours to update.) 
• Android: Click here to subscribe or listen on Android. 
• Spotify: Click here to subscribe or listen on Spotify. 
• Amazon Alexa: To listen on Amazon Alexa, say, “Alexa, play the Taste for Truth Podcast.” 

What does it really mean to renew your mind? Though I have spoken about this for years, I find that many people are still a little fuzzy when it comes to understanding the purpose or the how-to of renewing for weight loss. In today's episode of the Taste for Truth Podcast (links below), I will answer some of the most common questions about renewing and go through some practical examples.

• The two different types of renewing
• How often you should renew
• What does renewing really look like?
• An example of truth journaling from Say Goodbye to Emotional Eating (p. 133)
• If/when you should repeat renewing exercises
• What it means to hold food and eating with "open hands"
• An example of a scripture mediation from Say Goodbye to Emotional Eating (p. 99)

• Say Goodbye to Emotional Eating
• Freedom from Emotional Eating
• Taste for Truth
• I Deserve a Donut App (The updated Android version is nearly complete!)
• Breaking Free from Anxiety Eating (YouTube)
• How to Renew Your Mind - A Practical Guide (Christian Habits Podcast)

• Google: Click here to subscribe or listen on Google Podcasts. 
• Apple Podcasts: Click here to subscribe or listen on Apple Podcasts. (If you haven’t subscribed to the podcast on Apple, this can sometimes take a few hours to update.) 
• Android: Click here to subscribe or listen on Android. 
• Spotify: Click here to subscribe or listen on Spotify. 
• Amazon Alexa: To listen on Amazon Alexa, say, “Alexa, play the Taste for Truth Podcast.”