Episode 10 Transcript
[00:00:00]
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.
Hannah: So today we're going to be talking about the concept or the mindset, the thought of I have to burn off what I ate by exercising extra tomorrow, or, you know, one slice of pizza is equivalent to a mile, run, or, or that type of black and white, um, mindset, and, um, I'm going to start by reading 1 Timothy 4 verse 8, which says, For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.
Abbie: That is so good. And I think it's so reassuring too that Yes, we want to be moving our bodies and physical training, physical activity is valuable to us. And we get a lot of enjoyment out of that. We do kind of get that, you know, that quote unquote runner's high, you do feel better after exercise, but when you are so focused on like on training and maybe that's an idol and that's your focus and you're focused on the physique and just kind of drilling your body to the ground.
Like that's, that's not good. And we are taking our eyes away from God and we need to be focusing on God. I think it always comes back to, back to Matthew six 33, seeking first his kingdom, his righteousness, everything else will be added to you and. A lot of people set exercise goals to lose weight or change their body composition.
But if we're wanting to focus on godliness, because that's where the real value is, and I think our motivations for exercise really shouldn't be burning something off, but how can I exercise to feel more empowered or get stronger or have more energy or vibrancy or just be flexible or having more energy.
Creativity, motivation, stress relief, things like that, because that is going to make sure that your physical body is feeling optimized so that you can execute the calling on your life from God and walk that out.
Hannah: So true. I just keep looking at, you know, First Timothy, I just keep looking at it like for physical training is of some Value and I just, I'm just picturing myself like going on YouTube and those ads that come on before and it's like This is how you get these abs and it's so important and there's this way and that when it just seems like it's like you know, I've unlocked the diet for for optimal health for everyone and we really, in this world, make it seem like, you know, you gotta be jacked, you gotta be ripped, you can't just be athletic, you have to look athletic.
Mmm. But it literally says, in God's word, for physical training it is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come. Physical training, okay, you know what, yeah, it, for our bone density, for our muscle mass, you know, when you're 80, you can bend down, pick up your grandkids, whatever, Lord willing, um, yes, some value, but once we're gone.
We're gonna be made new, we're gonna have our heavenly bodies. So that does not translate over. We don't get a bigger mansion in heaven. Like the more visible our abs are. Right.
Abbie: And it makes me realize too, how temporary our bodies truly are. Like we focus on it so much in our society.
And yes, it has some value, but this isn't going to help us in the life to come. Life is so short, like I think we really need to have more of a kingdom mindset and eternity mindset, um, because putting godliness above all things. That's going to help us in the long run, whereas just our physical body is, it's, it's so temporary and it's just on loan from God.
Right.
Hannah: And this isn't saying like, okay, you know, we're on loan from God, we're all going to die no matter how healthy we are, no matter how strong we are, like, you know, so there's no point in doing it. Like, that's not the message that. We're conveying here, but I think, to touch on what Abby just said, like, putting godliness above all things, that is what is important.
If we are putting physical training above godliness, if we are putting physical nourishment, like, priorities, clean eating, whatever, above spiritual nourishment, That is when there's an issue. If we're so afraid, you know, if it's, if it's becoming like a fear thing, a control thing, an idol thing, um, and it is becoming our God and we're no longer trusting God with our bodies while simultaneously doing our humanly best to take care of it, that's when there is an issue.
Abbie: Yeah, and I have a lot of friends, I know a lot of people, you know, at different churches that, um, will not participate in prayer and fasting, which is a huge thing in Nashville, and I'm sure, you know, other cities and states too, but up north it really wasn't a thing. So this is kind of new to me since moving to Nashville.
But a lot of people won't participate because it's from six to seven in the morning. They're like, well, that's when I work out. It's like, oh, wow, you're not going to participate in this, you know, corporate community wide time to engage in prayer and fasting, like you're to prioritize your movement. Like I feel like that would be putting physical training over godliness.
Mm. Mm. I know. That's such a good point. So that, that doesn't quite sit well with me. So just something to think about, something to plant a seed of, you know, that sort of thing is, you feel like it's going to derail your routine. It's like, you have to think about your motivation for moving your body and you might need for those couple weeks or, you know, however long your church does it for.
To shift your priorities to keep God first, keep the first things first and bringing it back to, you know, I'll have to burn off what I ate by exercising extra tomorrow. Like I think a lot of people are always surprised that moving your body in a way that feels good, exercising and feeling the difference is an intuitive eating principle.
And that exercise is a part of intuitive eating. I think a lot of people like intuitive eating and mindful eating are interchangeable terms and they're just, and they're not like mindful eating is. like a skill set and a part of intuitive eating, but intuitive eating is more of this all encompassing self care eating framework.
And our relationship with exercise goes hand in hand with our relationship with eating because if you change how you're eating based on your workout schedule, your ability to exercise, or you change your workout schedule based on what you're eating, That can be really disordered, like a lot of people will eat less if it's a rest day, or you might actually need more because you trained so hard the day before and your body is still recovering from that.
Um, people, like, We'll eat more like it's almost like carbo load with like maybe you don't need all of that unless you're running like a marathon or something like that or like, oh, you feel a lot of guilt and shame and have fear around what you're eating, which then dampens, ruins your eating experience because you're already thinking about the workout and you just have a lot of guilt, shame, condemnation for yourself, which God never intended there to be fear or condemnation when it comes to eating or to punish our bodies through exercise.
Right. God does
Hannah: not give us a spirit of fear. He does not give us a spirit of fear.
Abbie: No. And so that's why I want to bring our attention to 1 John 4, 18, where it says, there is no fear in love. And we know that God is love, no fear with God, perfect love, cast out fear, focusing on God is going to help cast out that fear for fear has to do with punishment.
And whoever fears has not reached perfection in love. Hmm. This is just so, so good and, which I always get weary with like the use of perfection and I've heard in like different translations kind of sometimes perfection in the Bible can, like I'd, I'd be curious to look at some other translations of that too, but.
Um, in this sense, I know we talk about like fearing the Lord and having reverence for Him and honoring Him. In this context, they're really talking about the fear that, that we feel, that those negative emotions and that anxiousness, you know, guilt, shame, like those types of emotions. Um, so with God, when we're resting in Him and walking in step with Him, keeping our eyes on Him and working on loving Him well.
We are not going to experience that fear, and we really shouldn't. So if we do have a lot of fear or anxiety around what we're eating, our exercise routine, we know that we have taken our eyes off of God, we have been putting other things before godliness. Mm.
Hannah: So true. And that can be like a good way for us to check in with ourself, um, you know, throughout the week, throughout the month.
Uh, like a little check in of, am I enjoying my self care routine or am I feeling anxious around it? Um, you know, and, and if you haven't listened to our, our episode that, uh, came out on January 3rd, we talk about, um, you know, the whole New Year's resolution type of mindset and we talk about how our body is the temple of the Holy Spirit.
And so why are we going? To treat it harshly like if like if work is having a pizza party, for example, as they often do, um, you know, and why are we going to say, oh, you know, now I have to run later to burn off this slice of pizza or, you know, instead of just. I mean, like, thank you. Oh, what a nice time of fellowship with my co workers and moving on.
Abbie: Right. You know, that experience. Yeah. Creating that fellowship. And I think it goes back to, like, do we have peace with food and we really see that all foods can fit on our plate? , and I think when we have a, and this happens with a lot of people that focus on physical training, food is fuel and they don't leave room for, they don't really see food as also being for pleasure.
But with an intuitive eating and non diet mindset. We believe that food is not just for fuel. It is also for pleasure and that's how God designed it, too
Hannah: if food was just fuel God would not have given us taste buds, but he did He created us with taste buds and we're allowed to experience pleasure around food.
So food is fuel Yes, food is pleasure food is culture food is is fellowship , and God also created, like, I think of all the plant foods and the different flavors and everything, like, you know, if it was just fuel, everything would have been bland, we would have had no taste buds on our tongue.
Um, so, it's not just fuel, we're allowed to enjoy it, and it's not just about burning off every single thing that we eat, cause, you know, God forbid, right? Um. But what, what life is that, you know, to be so preoccupied, uh, about
Abbie: that? Yeah. It seems like it really just keeps you in bondage. Mm
Hannah: hmm. Yeah. So making sure that, that we are focusing on godliness, which has value for all things both in this present life and the life to come.
Focusing on, you know, physical nourishment, yes, but also spiritual. Nourishment, and setting our eyes on things above.
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.
Don't forget to subscribe to our podcast. So you never miss an episode. And if you've been blessed by our content, please consider sending this episode to a few friends that need to hear this message. And we also invite you to leave us a review your feedback and support being the world to us and really help the show.
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
