Episode 9 Transcript
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Welcome to your daily bread with co hosts, Abbie Stasior and Hannah Calhoun. We're here to be your weekly source of spiritual nourishment, guiding you to find food freedom in a deeper connection with Christ. As we explore the intersection of faith and nutrition, these bite sized episodes will help you heal your relationship with food and your body through practical advice, biblical wisdom, and heartfelt encouragement.
And as a disclaimer, we are not pastors, but passionate registered dietitians and sisters in Christ, offering our insights to support you on this faith filled journey to a healthier, more fulfilling life. Join us by taking a seat at our table as we break bread and allow God in to break the chains of diet culture.
​Happy New Year, everybody. Happy New Year! 2024. I truly cannot believe it, uh, but here we are. And so the Temptation is real. Like there's a lot going on with New Year's resolutions and um, so we're gonna, we're gonna touch on that today. And so I'm gonna be reading one Corinthians six 19 through 20.
Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own. You were bought at a price. Therefore, honor God with your bodies. So, our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, and a lot of times I feel like this can be taken in the direction of, you know, our body is a temple, don't eat cake.
Our body is a temple, don't get fat. Our body is a temple, you know, Don't, don't sit on the couch all day. And there can be a lot of, it can just kind of get a little intertwined and twisted with diet culture. And so what does this, what does this look like for, for sisters in Christ who are trying to move away from diet culture, trying to redefine what health and healthy means for them?
What does honoring their temple, God's temple, look like? So just talking about some, some positive, non diet culture New Year's resolutions that we can make, um, It's easy to say, man, I really hope I lose weight in 2024. It's really easy to say, , I just, I want to fit into those jeans again. , but we can, we can reframe that and we can say, you know, I'd really love to be stronger by April.
Um, maybe you do bicep curls with like eight pound dumbbells and you're like, man, I really want to work up to like 12 or 15 pounds. I was just talking with a client yesterday about this exact thing. And she's like, I'm not motivated to exercise because I know in the past I've been disordered. So we were thinking about and brainstorming some other goals that she could set that are realistic.
Like I think there's kind of two different camps. Like you could set goals like I'm going to, you know, move my body in a way that feels good. three times a week, or I'm going to go on three walks a week, or you kind of do what you're talking about, like set different milestones. Like I want to hold a plank for 60 seconds.
I want to do a pull up, or I want to go from eight pounds to 10 pound weights. And those milestones can keep you going and help take the pressure off and take the focus off of the number on the scale and anything physique wise, because like we've talked about in previous episodes, and if you haven't listened to it yet, definitely listen to our modern day idle episode.
I think that striving for thinness and just focusing on your body's physique is, you're truly making that an idol and taking the focus off of God. And I think when we're thinking about our body as a temple, and we just hear that so much, a lot of people take that to mean, okay, I need to do something extreme with my body.
And they end up doing really disordered things and then treating their temples, temples of the Holy Spirit, treating God's presence within us harshly. Mm hmm. Yes. Yeah. And so, exactly, like, treating God's temple harshly. So, we don't want to starve the Lord's temple, we don't want to, uh, exacerbate by, you know, undernourishing, over exercising, like, you know, doing, um, you know, no pain, no gain, right?
Like, you know. That whole mindset of, like, push through the pain, like, do a super intense exercise while you're probably also simultaneously dieting and, like, starving, and, you know, you're, you're going too hard, too long, and then you get injured, and then you're, you know, then you really can't work out for several months, like, it's, it's the whole harsh, uh, behavior toward your body, which is, as we're told, the temple of the Holy Spirit, and so, it's, You know, knowing that our body is the temple, first of all, it doesn't say your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit when you're skinny.
Your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit when you have abs. It says that our bodies, as children of God, as God's creation, as image bearers, are temples of the Holy Spirit. Mm hmm. Who is within us when we are God's children. No matter what size we are, no matter if we haven't worked out, you know, in six months, no matter if we haven't eaten a vegetable in several months or our entire life, you know.
I agree. Um, it, you know, it, it's not about our physique, um, we don't have to earn, like, the Holy Spirit within us. Like, when we are God's children, when we have accepted Christ, we have the Holy Spirit within us. , Oh, that was so good.
jesus has already done the work. We were bought at a price. And I love that it says here too, your body is not your own. We are on loan from God. And think about how you treat something that is someone else's. Like, if you're wearing someone else's sweater, like, I know when I wear my mom's, like, really nice sweaters, uh, I'm, I'm making sure not to spill anything on that.
I'm making sure not to pull it, or, you know, anything like that. Sometimes with my own clothes, I'm a little bit more careless. So I think if we could be reminding ourselves, like, this is a gift from God, and treating our bodies well is an act of worship, and we can be grateful for that, versus condemning and shaming ourselves for, You know, because our body doesn't look a certain way or like somebody else's, um, we could be celebrating our own bodies and just thinking about how could I steward this well because this is God's and stewarding well is God honoring.
Yes. Yes, and so I'm thinking for, you know, for myself, and I'm also thinking, like, as a nutrition professional, uh, what, what behaviors promote health within the body? So I'm thinking, like, you want to get adequate sleep. You know, if our body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, it's not our own, we're supposed to honor God with it.
Does that mean we're pulling all nighters, you know, every weekend or every night, getting three hours of sleep? Um you know, you want to make sure you're, you're resting at night. You know, I feel for all the night shift nurses out there and other night shift professionals. I really, I really do feel for you, but, you know, to the best of our abilities, making sure that we are getting adequate sleep and that we're rested.
Um, and then I also want to just point out that there's sometimes, sometimes, especially as women, we have a million things going on in our brain. The mental load is real. The decision fatigue is real. And we just want to rest. , especially after the holidays, maybe you're hosting, you're cooking, whatever, you're buying everybody a million gifts, Or maybe you're serving at church and you have a million services and you're just burnt out.
Like, it's okay on your day off to be like, I just want to sit on the couch and watch movies with my family. Or I just want to lay in bed for a few extra hours. Like, don't feel like you got to wake up at, at six and, and hit the gym. Like, you know, We're always on, we're always going, like, don't allow yourself to feel shame for deciding to take a day or two, like, after all this craziness, to just rest.
And just be, and we need that. I mean, God, number one, God does not get tired. But God modeled for us when he created the world, like, he did that in six days and he rested on the seventh day, to model for us that we do need to take a Sabbath. We do need Rest, and preferably a full day of rest. God didn't need that, but that, I mean, that's just God's nature and because he's so good and he gave us that grace to model for us what we should be doing.
So we shouldn't feel guilty about that. If anything, we were designed with these constraints and these vows. We don't have the bandwidth to be going 24 seven to be on seven days a week. And we often are. And we often do, and so if there is shame, if you're resting, sister in Christ, if you are resting, and you're like, Oh, I just shouldn't be so lazy, I feel like such a blob, like I ate so much after the ha No, that is not from the Lord.
That is not from the Lord. You know, you're allowed to rest, and then you can, you can make a goal, you know, if you're feeling like I feel good when I do this specific exercise. I'd really love to do it twice a week or three times a week. You can make that a priority just because you know it feels good and you know that it's good for your body, not because you want to fit into whatever pair of jeans, uh, in a few months.
So, you know, prioritizing rest, like, you know, I know I feel good when I have at least seven hours of sleep. So whatever that looks like for you saying this year, I really want to prioritize my rest this year. I want to prioritize, uh, the movement that I enjoy a certain amount of times a week, whatever is realistic for me.
This year, I really want to try a new, um, you know, healthful recipe, uh, at least twice a week. And I want to cook that for my family or, or have my family make it with me, um, or have, have more meals at home. Yeah, that's a really good one. Or even just like, I'm going to prepare. Just my lunches or meal prep a couple dinners a week like it doesn't I think when people think I got to start meal prepping I got to make every meal for the whole week.
It's like no, it's probably not realistic and it's not sustainable So can you just do you know, maybe one meal for the week or a couple days? I think that's more realistic and because this is your daily bread podcast I think you could also be in your quiet time asking God like Um, or thinking about goals in the sense of your daily bread.
What is that one thing that I'm going to do to steward myself well in my temple? Well today, and you could bring that into your time and talk with God, like God, what would be show me what I need to prioritize today? Is it rest? Is it movement? Is it nutrition? Is it water? Because it's not realistic that we can keep up with all of our healthy habits every single day throughout the year.
But we can always do one thing. So what is that daily bread for you? Mmm. So true. And yeah, I love that you brought it back to that because at the end of the day, you know, Diet culture makes it seem like it's one size fits all, it's calories in, calories out, it's this, it's that, it's just being skinny and then all your problems will go away, but we know as believers that we need to lean in to what God wants for us, to what God's will is, and we know that our bodies are sinful and imperfect and, and, and flawed, and, We are not going to reach perfection until we, we are made new, uh, in our heavenly bodies, uh, in the presence of the Lord.
And so I, I encourage you to lean in, lean in and ask God in your quiet time every morning, you know, what, what do I need today, God? What does my body need? need today. Please show me and give me the ability to make that boundary to say no to other people so I can do this for myself. Yes. Give me the tools.
Give me the strength. Give me the ability to do this for myself so I can take care of my temple, which is the temple of the Holy Spirit. Yeah, and this time of year, we are so susceptible to different diet ads and things like that. We also have to look at where we are looking as well and what we are filling our eyes with because what we're looking at, that's what our heart will be filled with also.
So I think if you could be very intentional. Um, about unfollowing accounts, blocking different ads or clicking that you don't want to see those types of things and really unfollowing a lot of accounts that will definitely show the algorithm to not be pushing you as many of those ads. And so you can really focus and listen to what God is telling you and how to steward your temple well.
Yes. So true. Well, good luck this year to everyone. Um, you know, it's, it's difficult out there like Abby was saying with, with all the ads and all the push of, of lose weight and do this and do that and this new fad. And really we encourage you to keep your eyes on things above, not on earthly things.
Thank you for joining us on this episode of your daily bread. We hope you found inspiration and practical guidance to nourish your body and soul. Remember the journey to a healthier relationship with food and a deeper connection with Christ is ongoing and we're here to support you every step of the way.
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As we conclude today's episode, we encourage you to take what resonated with you into your quiet time with God, allow God to reveal to you any changes that you can make for his glory, trusting that you are fearfully and wonderfully made in his image. Stay tuned for our next episode where we'll continue to explore how God's word helps us heal our relationship with food in our bodies Until then may you find both physical and spiritual nourishment and may you be filled with his peace and joy.
God bless
