Continuing the series of ” Reversing Body Hatred,” I bring you Part 3, “Our Relationship With Food, And Our Bodies.”
This post was written by Ashley Warneking and myself. I hope you enjoy our insights, as we shares our hearts with you.
God, satisfy me more than the richest of foods. Psalm 63:5 NLT
Today-We want to talk about our relationship with food and our bodies-Are you ready?
I went into a bathroom and opened the door to find a small flyer on the back of it. It was a flyer for a women’s conference featuring the author of a book called, “Made to Crave”. The book talked about learning how to “crave God” rather than food. The main message was to put God be in the middle of our body issues, and “diet” plans. I was so interested in this, that I signed up for a 21-day devotional of daily encouraging stories, scriptures, and talks about giving the struggle of our bodies and food to God.
Ok, so I (Ashley) stand before you without a nutrition degree, nor am I a professional body image counselor, but I do have some experience that I think is just as important that I want to share with you. I am a professional dieter. Don’t laugh. I have been on “diets” literally since I was 12 years old. I have tried them all. And guess what? I have never felt satisfied with my weight…ever. Even when I was in “tip-top” shape, working with a professional trainer for months, I was never satisfied. Either my legs were too fat, my arms too flabby, or my stomach was not flat enough. 170 pounds. This is what I just weighed in at the Doctor’s office the other day.
Most of you might be in shock that a woman gave away her weight, literally to everyone that lays eyes on this blog. First of all, the reason why I did this is not to complain about my weight or make anyone feel bad about what they weigh, it’s about taking away the fear behind weight, and our body issues. So here I am, another winter has gone by, which means my body is showing those yummy winter foods. My usual routine would be to go on a mega diet before summer. So I could run around in my bathing suit, and feel good in shorts. There is no shame in wanting to look good in summer clothes. However, I realized I couldn’t live this way anymore. I have to be satisfied in who God created me to be. I am learning that instead of “yo-yo-ing” (Going from donut to celery stick) I can learn to have a healthier relationship with food and how I view my own body. That being said…
Here are six tips Tara and I put together to help us have a better relationship with our bodies and food. 
1. CRAVE the goodness of God. Soaking up all His richness first. (God’s love and peace satisfies some of the empty place we try to fill with delicious foods. Whether it’s stress eating, tired eating, angry eating, pleasure eating, or anxious eating these are all areas God can help heal within. He works on the roots of the issues, when we give them up to him.)
2. Have the right mind-set of health. (Thinking healthy thoughts about ourselves. Wanting to make better food choices. Exercising for health, rather than to beat pounds off our bodies.)
3. We have to have balance. (Work and play. Stress needs to be balanced with healthy activities like massage, walking, hiking, dancing, listening to relaxing music, anything that feeds your soul.)
4. We have to be our own advocates. (We should strive to push ourselves for better health, no one else is going to do it for us.)
5. Surround yourself with healthy people who encourage you, and your healthy goals. (Being around uplifting people who want to see you happy and healthy makes a big difference in the way we view ourselves. You are worthy of love!!!)
6.And lastly, We have to LOVE ourselves, and the beautiful bodies that God gave us. (When you love yourself, you want to take care of yourself. You take time for you. Treat your self like a Ferrari rather than a dump truck. You wouldn’t ever put cheap oil in a Ferrari…??? Do you catch my drift?)
So we want to try an “exercise” with all of you. We will call it the “exercise tip of the day.” Look at the mirror, find your problem area, and thank God for it. We want you to look at your beautiful body and praise God that He has created you the way he did. Then soak in the goodness of Him. Health starts with the simple yet hard truth of just loving ourselves.
YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL!
–In health,
Tara Arnold, RN
& Ashley Warneking from www.http://togetherbeautiful.tumblr.com/
