Thanksgiving is more than a holiday we celebrate in November. It is a daily practice—and sometimes, we have to give thanks even when we do not feel like it.

In Episode 10 of The Weighting Challenge Podcast, Tamika Hodges explores how gratitude can redirect our hearts when life is difficult, our plans are not working, or someone else appears to be receiving the very thing we have been praying for.

God loves you whether you weigh 100 pounds or 400 pounds. He loves you when you make mistakes, when you forget to pray, and when you are struggling to recognize what is still good. Nothing can separate you from the love of God. You were created in His image, you are precious in His sight, and you have something worth giving thanks for.

Tamika also introduces Open and Seek, her free Bible companion app created to help you search Scripture, explore different Bible translations, use the Strong’s Concordance, and journal as you study God’s Word.

Explore Open and Seek at https://openandseek.com.

What can you thank God for today?

What happens when the job ends, the money gets tight, and you can't see where your next opportunity is coming from?

I've experienced five employment disruptions across three industries — some resolved in days, one left me without traditional work for two years. Right now, I'm facing another financial crossroads.

In this episode, I'm talking honestly about financial weight: the kind that interrupts your sleep, shakes your confidence, and tempts you to make your job or bank balance your identity. Starting with the economic shockwaves of September 11th that led to my first layoff, I walk through what I've learned from every disruption since — a COVID furlough, a brutal two-year wait, and the uncertainty I'm navigating today.

We weigh in on:

• Why your job is not your identity
• What an apartment denial taught me about financial wisdom
• Being a wealthy person in a poor situation
• The Bible story of Balaam and Balak — and a blessing that can't be reversed
• Using the gifts God already placed in you
• Taking imperfect action before everything feels perfect

I'm not sharing this asking to be rescued. I'm sharing it because this is where my faith is being lived out — in real time.

The industries changed. The waiting periods changed. The methods changed. But through every disruption, God provided — and I believe He will again.

📖 Scriptures: Romans 8:28 · Proverbs 23:7 · Romans 12:2 · Numbers 23:20 · Genesis 1:27 · Philippians 4:19 · 3 John 2

📚 Get The Weighting Challenge on Amazon: https://link.amazon/B0f264S30
🐛 Take the BUGS Diagnostic: https://theweightingchallenge.com/quiz
✨ My Seven Day Reset: https://mysevendayreset.com
💰 Read "Bestie, Don't Buy That Car Before You Rent That Apartment": https://theleegtax.com/money-moves/major-money-moves/apartment-before-car

What gift, idea, or piece of knowledge is already in your hands? Use it. Share it. Trust God with what it produces.

What if you’re waiting on God—but God is waiting on you?

When an answer hasn’t come, an opportunity feels out of reach, or life looks nothing like you hoped it would, disappointment can settle deep within your heart. Proverbs 13:12 tells us, “Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a dream fulfilled is a tree of life.”

In Episode 8 of The Weighting Challenge Podcast, Tamika Hodges explores how prolonged waiting can lead to frustration, comparison, complaining, and the temptation to quit.

Through Scripture and personal reflection, you’ll discover how to:

• Recognize when complaining is stealing your joy
• Take your concerns to God in prayer and walk away lighter
• Plant God’s Word in the soil of your mind
• Keep moving when disappointment makes you want to quit
• Speak life over your circumstances—even before they change

Your situation may not change immediately, but the way you see it can. Don’t allow what you cannot see yet to convince you that nothing is growing.

Keep praying. Keep planting. Keep speaking life. Don’t quit before the harvest.

Your hope may have been deferred, but your story is not over.

The weighting is over. Let’s weigh in.

Scriptures referenced:

Proverbs 13:12
Mark 4:8, 20
Ecclesiastes 2:24
Psalm 128:2
Galatians 6:9
Isaiah 40:31
Philippians 4:6–7

What are you carrying that God never intended for you to carry?

In this episode of The Weighting Challenge, Tamika Hodges explores Jesus’ invitation in Matthew 11:28–30 to come to Him, exchange our burdens, and receive rest. Through prayer, we can discern what God has genuinely entrusted to us, what belongs to someone else, and what we have attempted to carry that belongs to Him.

You can care deeply without assuming control. You can be responsible for your obedience without becoming responsible for every outcome. Even when the circumstances remain the same, time spent with Jesus can help you leave lighter than you came.

This episode is an invitation to practice continual surrender, exchange anxiety for God’s peace, and ask: “Jesus, what am I carrying today that I need to give back to You?”

Scriptures: Matthew 11:27–30; Philippians 4:6–8; 1 Peter 5:7; Psalm 55:22; Matthew 6:34

What happens when God calls you to release what has worked and step into something new?

In Episode 6 of The Weighting Challenge Podcast, Tamika Hodges sits down with longtime friend, chef, entrepreneur, and podcast host Neena Perez for an honest conversation about transition, obedience, purpose, and the power of the table.

Neena shares why she is transitioning from Straight Talk No Sugar Added to The Purpose Filled Kitchen—and how God brought her back to the place where cooking, teaching, service, and meaningful conversation naturally come together. She also reflects on serving underserved communities through culinary education, creating belonging through shared meals, surviving homelessness, moving from Connecticut to Texas, and trusting God when obedience does not feel easy.

Tamika and Neena also talk candidly about weight loss, building businesses, overcoming fear, stepping into visibility, waiting for marriage, and recognizing when we are “waiting on God” even though God may already be waiting for us to move.

Transition. Teaching. The table. Sometimes the next chapter begins when we surrender the old one and obey what God is saying now.

The Weighting Challenge Podcast is hosted by Tamika Hodges and created for the woman carrying too much weight—physical, emotional, or spiritual—waiting on God during a season of transition, or wading through one of life’s most challenging seasons.

The Weighting Is Over.

What if the pressure you’re under isn’t only testing you — but revealing what has already been developed inside of you?

In this episode of The Weighting Challenge Podcast, Tamika Hodges explores the idea that pressure reveals preparation.

Through the story of David and Goliath in 1 Samuel 17, we see that David did not become prepared when Goliath appeared. His years as a shepherd, his encounters with the lion and the bear, his skill with the sling, and his history with God had already prepared him for the moment.

But pressure can reveal something else too.

Sometimes pressure shows us where we are not prepared.

Tamika shares a deeply personal story from her years as a classically trained singer and how comparison caused her to underestimate the preparation she personally needed. What began as a story about a difficult music adjudication unexpectedly uncovered something deeper — an area of shame that had remained beneath the surface for years.

Pressure can reveal:

• what God has already developed in you
• where you still need preparation
• where comparison has distorted your process
• where shame may still need healing
• and where God is refining you for what comes next

Pressure didn’t create the gap.

Sometimes pressure simply exposes what was already there.

And sometimes it reveals that you have been preparing for this longer than you realized.

Scriptures discussed:

1 Samuel 17:37, 39, 45–47
James 1:2–4
2 Corinthians 4:8–9

What is the pressure in your life revealing about what God has already developed in you — and what is it showing you still needs work?

Pressure isn’t always punishment.

Sometimes pressure is information.
Sometimes pressure is refinement.
And sometimes pressure unveils your hidden strength.

Welcome to The Weighting Challenge.

Let’s weigh in

Episode 4: Did God Really Say That?

What happens when the voice you’re listening to isn’t God’s—even when that voice is your own?

It started in the Garden with one question: “Did God really say…?”

In this episode of The Weighting Challenge Podcast, Tamika Hodges explores how the voices we entertain can become beliefs, how those beliefs shape our behavior, and how unchecked beliefs can eventually become the very lives we find ourselves living.

Through the story of Adam and Eve in Genesis 3—and two deeply personal stories of her own disobedience—Tamika examines what it means to walk out the fruit of decisions God never instructed us to make.

Sometimes the competing voice comes from the enemy. Sometimes it comes from another person. Sometimes it comes from trauma, our history, our circumstances, or even our own reasoning.

But the question remains:

Did God really say that?

This episode also goes deeper into BUGS — Beliefs Under Goals Sabotage: the beliefs we fail to challenge that can develop into habits, strongholds, cycles, and unnecessary weight.

You’ll discover why transformation does not begin simply by changing behavior. It begins by renewing the mind and examining what you believe against the truth of God’s Word.

In this episode:
• Why every BUG begins with a competing voice
• How behavior follows belief
• What Tamika learned from walking out the fruit of disobedience
• Why God’s question, “Who told you that?”, matters so much
• How unchecked thoughts can become strongholds
• Why renewing your mind is essential to lasting transformation
• How to take thoughts captive and lay down the weight God never intended you to carry
• How Scripture gives us a pathway for challenging false beliefs

Scriptures discussed:
Genesis 3
Romans 12:2
2 Corinthians 10:3–5
Hebrews 12:1–2
Proverbs 3:5–6

Genesis asks: Did God really say that?
Romans answers: Renew your mind.
Corinthians says: Take every thought captive.
Hebrews says: Lay down every weight.
Proverbs says: Trust God instead of your own understanding.

Whether you are carrying physical weight, waiting on God through a transition, or wading through uncertainty, grief, fear, disappointment, or change, it may be time to examine the voices that have been shaping what you believe.

Who told you that you would never change?
Who told you that you were too much?
Who told you that you weren't enough?
Who told you that God had forgotten you?

God didn’t.

It’s time to challenge the BUGS.

Visit TheWeightingChallenge.com to take the BUGS Diagnostic Tool and learn more about The Weighting Challenge.

The Weighting Challenge — The Weighting Is Over.

This special “From the Archives” episode features a previously recorded message from Tamika Hodges on the repeated cycle of losing and gaining weight over the years.

Before The Weighting Challenge Podcast officially launched, this was part of the testimony and reflection that helped shape the heart of this ministry. In this episode, Tamika shares honestly about weight loss, weight regain, discouragement, grace, and the process of continuing again.

If you have ever felt like starting over made you a failure, this episode is a reminder that your story is not over. God is still working, and every restart can become part of your testimony.

The weighting is over.

Have you ever wondered why you keep repeating the same patterns—even when you know better?

In this episode of The Weighting Challenge, Tamika Hodges explores the powerful truth found in Proverbs 23:7: "As a man thinks in his heart, so is he." Together, we'll uncover how painful experiences can create hidden beliefs that quietly shape our decisions, relationships, health, and even our ability to move forward in life.

Through personal stories, biblical teaching, and practical application, Tamika introduces The Law of Pain and the BUGS Framework (Beliefs Under Goals Sabotage), revealing how the beliefs formed in our hardest moments can become the very things keeping us stuck.

You'll learn how to:
• Recognize the beliefs that are governing your life.
• Identify the "I don't..." statements that may be limiting your future.
• Renew your mind through God's Word.
• Take every thought captive and replace lies with God's truth.
• Begin breaking free from the weight of unhealthy thinking.

Whether you're carrying physical weight, waiting on God's promises, or wading through one of life's most difficult seasons, this episode will encourage you to examine what you've been believing—and invite Christ to transform the way you think.

Key Scriptures: Proverbs 23:7, Proverbs 4:23, Romans 12:2, 2 Corinthians 10:5, and Philippians 4:8.

If this episode encouraged you, be sure to follow The Weighting Challenge so you never miss a new episode. New episodes are released every Wednesday.

Have you ever looked in the mirror and thought, "I don't even recognize this season of my life?"

Whether you're carrying physical weight, waiting on God's promises, or wading through life's unexpected challenges, it's easy to believe that your current circumstances define your future. But what if this season isn't the end of your story? What if it's your Esther season?

In this episode of The Weighting Challenge, Tamika explores the life of Esther and the year of preparation she experienced before stepping into her God-appointed purpose. While Esther's beauty treatments prepared her to appear before an earthly king, we can learn a timeless principle about stewarding ourselves well during seasons of transition.

Discover why your starting point does not determine your destination, how preparation often comes before promotion, and why waiting on God is never wasted time. Through Scripture and personal testimony, Tamika shares how learning to dress intentionally, embrace her God-given body, and use what she already has became part of her own journey of transformation.

If you've ever thought, "I'll start living when..." this episode is an invitation to stop waiting for perfect circumstances and begin becoming the person God is shaping you to be today.

• Why your transition is not your destination.
• What Esther teaches us about preparation and stewardship.
• How to develop a God-given vision for your future.
• Why small, intentional changes matter.
• Practical ways to care for yourself while you're still in the waiting.

Key Scriptures:

• Esther 2:7, 2:12, 2:15
• Habakkuk 2:2–3
• Zechariah 4:10
• Isaiah 40:31
• Ecclesiastes 3:11
• Philippians 1:6
• Colossians 3:12

If this episode encouraged you, please follow The Weighting Challenge, leave a review, and share it with someone who needs the reminder that God is still working—even in the middle of the waiting.

In this episode you'll discover: