Hi. My name is Heather and I'm a real swimsuit model. Thick thighs, post-baby flab, deflated nursing boobs and all. Of course I'm not the kind featured in Sports Illustrated. You'll never see me in a suntan lotion ad or on a billboard holding a summer-y beverage. My...
Eating Disorders
How Personality Connects to Food/ Body Issues with Travis Stewart
Today Heather talks with Travis Stewart, a licensed professional counselor and leader in the eating disorder recovery world. Travis and Heather discuss how understanding our core needs and motivations, which some may classify as part of "personality" can help us...
Why Am I Always Hungry? Health, Diets, “Good” Vs. “Bad” Foods
Why am I hungry all the time? It’s a question I find myself asking too often. I’ll admit, sometimes it’s because I’ve been restricting myself. Instead of listening to my body, honoring my hunger, and eating intuitively, I only allow myself to eat what seems right and...
Skipping Lunch Is No Big Deal, Right? Restrictive Dieting, Over Exercising & Orthorexia
The Makings of my orthorexia As my body matured and grew through puberty, I found myself in an unhealthy romantic relationship with a boy that was crumbling. I also found myself busier and more stressed than ever between my honors classes, extracurriculars, sports,...
5 Ways to Not Eat ALL the Candy, Cookies, and Pie This Holiday Season
In less than an hour, my four children amassed over twelve pounds of candy. It was an uncharacteristically cold and rainy trick-or-treat day here, and our neighbors were generous. Too generous. One of the scariest things about Halloween is how afterwards I'm left with...
Longing to Be Seen: Finding Purpose Out of Pain After Eating Disorder
I spent most of my adolescence desperate to be seen, but terrified of rejection. This caused me to never truly embrace how God made me. I instead looked to the world for what would make me valuable and worthy. Lost and confused, I turned to diets and food to save me....
Intuitive Eating for Christian Women: Offering Grace for the Wandering Heart
As two women who once judged our own goodness based on our restraint around cake, we know an idol when we see it. We know how quickly a pure, good, God-given desire can take the place of Christ in our lives. We first recognized that our desire to be good stewards of...
A Bug on the Windshield: How Body Image Issues Affect Your Future
I pulled out onto the highway and drove at least a mile before I noticed him--a tiny lady bug stuck smack dab in the middle of my windshield! (Isn't it ironic that lady bugs are male? I digress. . .) Attempting to keep my eyes focused on the road and the cars around...
What I Believe About Eating Clean
I'm really glad there isn't a lie detector machine at my doctor's office. Because when she asked me if I "ate clean" I'm fairly confident I let the word "Yes" slip out of my mouth. Of course, as long as tortilla chips, Velveeta dip, street tacos, and M&Ms are...
Five Ways to Encourage a Spouse Who Wants to Lose Weight
Weight loss. Sigh. Seems like every commercial break from January 'til June gives me no fewer than three weight loss program options. Especially on Food Network. Goodness. Can't I just watch them bake delicious concoctions without the every-seven-minutes reminders...