#8 – The Body & Belonging Reset (Part 1): Renew Your Mind About Food

What if the biggest obstacle to eating well isn't your willpower? What if it's not your lack of discipline or your sweet tooth or even your busy schedule? What if it's the story you've been believing about yourself? Today kicks off a special five part miniseries that originally began several years ago as an intuitive eating challenge. Actually, pretty proud of myself. I recorded videos, I put them on YouTube, I sent them out via email. It was a great introduction into online marketing and that technology for me. And it also was a great introduction to people interested in working with me but not ready to make the investment into one on one coaching. They could kind of get the heart of the message and the heart of how I work in those videos. Well, they were linked to an old YouTube account and they were getting outdated. And as I reviewed them recently, I realized that the heart of the message was is even more relevant today. But my understanding has deepened and I wanted to bring a faith based piece that wasn't in the original videos. So that's what we're doing in this mini series. It's refreshed better conversations about mindful eating and intuitive eating all through the lens of body and belonging. And it's going to help you find peace with food. My work has evolved from just teaching intuitive eating as a concept to a richer, more integrated vision of your health rooted in identity, rooted in grace, and rooted in God's design. So in the next five weeks, we're going to revisit these ideas through the lens of body and belonging. Because healing your relationship with food starts long before what's on your plate. Hello, welcome back to Body and Belonging, where we break free from food guilt, calm down the food noise, and rediscover joy at the table. I'm Jamie, a registered dietitian, and each week we explore the deeper reasons we struggle with food and why we have such a hard time feeling like we belong in our bodies. I blend gentle nutrition with nervous system awareness and teach you biblically rooted health principles to move you away from dieting and restriction and into care and nourishment. So grab a seat at the table and let's dive in. Most women assume their biggest problem is dialing in their nutrition. But after years of working with clients with a whole variety of medical concerns or desires to change something about their body, I found that that's rarely true. Most women already know that vegetables are healthy. They know that protein matters. They know water is important. The problem isn't a lack of information. It's the relationship that they have with food and with their body. Because every meal is carrying baggage, every grocery trip carries rules, Every bite feels like a test. This isn't nutrition. That's bondage. So years ago, I introduced people to intuitive eating by asking a really simple question. Why should we care about our mindset? Today I'd like to answer it a little bit differently because behavior is downward from beliefs. If I believe I have no self control, I eat differently than if I believe I have self control. If I believe that my body can't be trusted, I eat differently than if I feel like I can trust my body. If I believe that my worth depends on what the scale says, I eat differently than knowing that your relationship with gravity has nothing to do with your value as a human and as a daughter of God. So trying to change behavior without changing the root identity and the root belief is exhausting and it falls short. We get in these cycles of behavior change where we get excited about the new thing, we get dopamine from the new thing, we mess up the new thing, we feel like a failure, and we reinforce that belief that we'll never get it together. We're not good enough, and something is deeply wrong with us. This is the message of shame. And, and it is pervasive in society today and pervasive in diet culture today. And do you know why that is? Because a woman who is ashamed of her body will continue seeking a way out of that shame. And when you seeking a way out of that shame profits, diet culture profits, big companies profits, the medical industry profits, the diet industry, of course they're going to keep reinforcing that message. Let's face it, women are tired. We're tired of thinking about food. We're tired of starting over. We're tired of tracking. We're tired of feeling guilty after a birthday cake. We're tired of negotiating with ourselves after every meal. Friend, that's not freedom. God never designed food to be the loudest voice in your head. So this isn't just about intuitive eating. This is about belonging. Belonging means your identity comes before your habits and your identity informs your habits. It means you're already loved before you make your lunch. It means your body isn't a way to earn acceptance. It's a gift to steward. That's where lasting change begins. So over the next few episodes in this mini series, we're going to talk about hunger and why you don't have to be scared of it. Mindfulness, why slowing down changes everything. You're going to learn to enjoy food and enjoy a treat without guilt. And you're going to begin creating some rhythms that actually last. Not rules rhythms. Because healthy living shouldn't require starting over every Monday. So in this week ahead, I want you to notice your thoughts. Not noticing your calories, not your macros, not your steps, your thoughts. Finish the sentence. When it comes to food, I believe fill in the blank. We're assessing this with curiosity. Not to edit yourself, not to judge yourself, just to notice. Awareness is always the first step, because what we're not aware of, we don't have any authority over. Our first for today is Romans 12:2 do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Romans tells us that transformation happens through the renewing of our mind. Notice it doesn't say that transformation begins with changing our behavior. Transformation happens through the renewing of our mind. When our thinking changes, our behavior follows. And that's exactly where we're beginning today. I'd also like to invite you to spend just a few minutes journaling. Ask yourself, what am I hoping freedom around food would actually feel like? Not what it looked like, but what would it feel like? Would it feel like peace? Would it feel like the ability to hold your head up high when you look in the mirror? Would it feel like confidence walking into a potluck? Would it feel like presence with your kid eating a popsicle on the porch after a bike ride? Would it feel like joy? That's where we're headed together. In the next episode, we'll talk about one of the most misunderstood signals your body has, and that's hunger. I'll see you then. If this episode encouraged you, I want to invite you to do something. Would you take a screenshot and share it on Instagram? I'm Ititician Jamie. Tag me and tell me what food freedom would feel like to you. And if you know another woman who's exhausted by this cycle of guilt and shame and starting over, this is a perfect time to send this episode her way so we can lay this foundation and walk towards freedom together. You just might be helping your friend begin her own journey towards belonging. Sa. It.