Do you ever find yourself standing in the pantry, craving something sweet or salty—even when we're not really hungry—and immediately spiral into guilt? "Why can't I just have more willpower?" Sound familiar? We've all been there.
In this episode of Nourished to Bloom, we're kicking off a brand-new series all about cravings. Together, we'll explore what's really happening when a craving hits—and spoiler alert: it's not a character flaw. Our cravings are actually clues from our body, mind, and even our soul, pointing to what we truly need.
We'll share how many of us have felt out of control around "trigger foods" (hello, sweet tooth and 3PM chips!), and how curiosity, rather than shame, can change everything. Sometimes cravings signal a physical need—like skipped meals, fatigue, or low energy. Other times, they reveal emotional or spiritual hunger—comfort, joy, or a deeper connection with God.
Here's what we'll cover in this episode: 🌱 Why cravings are not proof of weakness—they're signals meant to guide us ⚡ How to tell the difference between physical cravings and emotional or mental cravings 🙏 A simple "Pause, Pray & Proceed" tool so we can respond to cravings with grace instead of guilt 💌 Reflections on how cravings can point us toward a deeper relationship with God
📓 Plus: Grab your free companion guide, Cravings Decoded: Your Faith-Led Guide to Understanding What Your Body and Soul Really Need Click Here
Next time a craving shows up, pause. Ask, "What is my body, mind, or heart really needing?" Pray. Reflect. And notice how God might be speaking through your cravings.
You were made to bloom, body and soul. 🌸
P.S. What craving did you notice this week, and what might it be trying to tell you? Shoot me and e-mail kara@karatrochta.com or share with a friend—we'd love to hear your reflections!
Join The Nourished to Bloom Community: www.community.karatrochta.com
Instagram: www.instagram.com/karatrochta
The Nourished to Bloom Podcast Show Notes: www.podcast.karatrochta.com/shownotes
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If you've ever found yourself standing in front of the pantry craving
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something sweet or salty or crunchy and wondering
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why, why you can't seem to resist certain
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foods, then this episode is for you. I want
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you to know that cravings aren't random and they're not
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something to be ashamed of. We can flip the script and
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really believe that they're actually clues. Clues that our
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body and our souls are revealing to us and ways that it's trying
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to tell us what it actually needs or wants.
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Welcome to the Nourish to Bloom podcast where your faith meets
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your health. I'm your host, Kara Trochta, a registered dietitian and
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certified Catholic coach, and I'm here to help you cultivate a deeper connection
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with your body, your spirit, and the nourishment that sustains them
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both. In a world filled with noise and
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confusion about food, health and body image, this podcast
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offers truth and healing from a Christ centered perspective.
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Together we'll untangle the deep roots of diet culture and discover
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what it means to truly care for ourselves through joyful
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nourishment of mind, body and soul. We're here to dive into
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the transformative power of intuitive eating coupled with the rich teachings of
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our Christian faith. With every episode, I'll be cheering you
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on, offering insights, inspiration and practical tools to
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help you heal your relationship with food and embrace the
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beauty of your body as a temple of the Holy Spirit with
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confidence and courage that can only be found in Christ.
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Join me as we journey together towards a more holistic approach to wellness,
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one that honors the wisdom of your body as God's creation,
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the teachings of our faith, and the unique purpose you're called to
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fulfill. You were made to bloom,
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to come into full beauty and health in order to bear good fruit
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for the Lord with your life. So if you're ready to nourish your body,
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feed your soul and bloom into the best version of yourself, then
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you're in the right place. And I'm so happy you're here.
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Welcome to Nourish to Bloom, where every day is a sacred
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invitation to thrive. Hey there. Welcome back
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to the Nourish to Bloom podcast. So happy to be spending some time
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here with you this week. I hope your week is off to a
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great start and today we're kicking off a brand new
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series all about cravings. We're going to explore
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what they really mean, how to handle them, and how to find peace
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around them and freedom around these trigger
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foods. I mean, let's be honest, when we think
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about cravings, many of Us often think about
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weakness. We think, I have no willpower.
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I shouldn't want this. I was doing so well and
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now I blew it. This, though, is what
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diet culture has taught. It taught us that craving certain
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foods means that we failed somehow. But the truth is,
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your cravings aren't the problem. They're really a form of
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communication. Trust me when I say this was
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a really difficult concept for me to grasp in my own
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journey to food freedom. I felt like I
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had an uncontrollable sweet tooth. The afternoon would hit and I
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would be like elbow deep in a bag of chips and just could not
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understand why I could not feel in control
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around these trigger foods. And what
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I learned was a lot of things. One, that I needed
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to really learn and build that trust around
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these foods by regularly exposing
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myself to them. But two, also going a little
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bit deeper and understanding what these cravings
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I was experiencing were really trying to tell me.
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They were this surface level clue of a
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deeper need, a deeper want that I was
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really craving to have fulfilled. And
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my body was just trying to say, hey,
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something's going on, something's missing, let's pay attention.
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And so what we know is that these, this, this form of communication
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through our cravings. It's sometimes saying that, that something
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that we may need or really desire is something
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physical. Like maybe you skipped breakfast or you've been
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running on fumes all day, or you're not getting enough sleep, sleep
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or quality rest, or you're missing certain nutrients and
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your body is giving you these, these cravings as a sign and a
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clue of like, hey, this needs to be met.
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While other times that craving really isn't physical at all.
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It's really emotionally driven or maybe
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even spiritually driven. Maybe you're craving rest
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or comfort, joy, connection, peace. Peace.
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And food has just really become the quickest and the
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easiest way for you to get a quick version of
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that feeling of what it is that you're really seeking or really
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desiring. So let's dig a little bit deeper into this difference
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between physical cravings and mental cravings, because that
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physical craving is your body's cue. It's usually something
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that comes along gradually and you might notice it
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alongside your hunger signals. It's like maybe an
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empty feeling in your stomach having low energy
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irritability or brain fog. And your body might
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be trying to say, hey, I need fuel, I need something satisfying,
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I need energy. While a mental craving, on the
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other hand, tends to come on very suddenly. It's like an urge
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that pops into your mind out of nowhere. And it's
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often triggered by something external. Maybe a
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situation where you are feeling super stressed or
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anxious or even bo board or you're seeing a
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commercial, you're scrolling on Instagram, something like that, where
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it just comes out of nowhere and all of a sudden you have this craving
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for this very, very specific food. Now the key
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here is to not judge either one of these, but to really
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pause and explore and ask yourself, where is this coming
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from? What am I really needing right now? Because
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even those mental cravings have meaning.
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So I want you to instead think of these cravings that you're having as
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invitations. Invitations to listen more
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closely, maybe you're craving chocolate at the end of a long day.
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And if you were to slow down long enough, instead of just
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giving in, you might realize that it is not about the
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chocolate. Instead, it's about wanting a moment of
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comfort or recognition after being quote
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unquote on all day. Or maybe you're craving
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chips or something salty and crunchy, but you skipped lunch, or
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you've been drinking coffee instead of water all afternoon and your body is
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simply saying, hey, I'm running on empty here. My
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fuel is low. Please feed me something satisfying.
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Other times, what we're really craving is rest or connection or
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joy. And these cravings can even point us to a spiritual
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hunger, that deeper longing for. For what only
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God can provide. For peace, for
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purpose, for fulfillment. Psalm
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42 says, as the deer longs for streams of water, so my
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soul longs for you. Oh Lord, y'. All. Just like
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our bodies crave that nourishment, our souls crave
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spiritual fulfillment. And when we're not tending to that,
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we can often find ourselves reaching for food or
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reaching to scroll our phones or online shopping or.
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Or just anything to fill that empty space, to fill that
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void. But it is not lasting and it is not truly
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satisfying or life giving. So instead of trying
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to fight up against your cravings and try to white knuckle your way
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through, like cravings are bad. I can't believe that. You
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know, I give into this all the time. I want you to get curious
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about them. And so here's a simple practice that you can
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try this week. I call it Pause, pray and proceed.
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So when you find a craving hitting, instead of
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immediately reacting, I want you to take a moment to pause
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and ask yourself, what's really going on here?
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Am I physically, emotionally. That did not make any
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sense. My brain. Talk about brain fog. Am I physically
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hungry or emotionally drained
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or seeking spiritual nourishment? What might
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my Body, my mind or my heart be trying to tell me
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and then invite God into that moment. It can be something as
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simple as praying, something like, lord, help me see what this craving
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is pointing to. Help me care for myself in the way that
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you designed. And then you can proceed
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with grace. And maybe that means that you eat the cookie with
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gratitude, not judgment, and move on. Or maybe it
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means that you're grabbing a nourishing snack or instead you're taking a
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few deep breaths or going for a short walk. I
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want you to realize there's no right or wrong way to
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handle your cravings. They're just
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these clues and they're just helping you build awareness
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so you can care for yourself with compassion
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and really foster a deeper connection. So
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I want you to remember this. Your cravings do not define
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your strength or the amount of discipline you have or
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really anything about your faith. They're simply signals.
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Signals that God has put into our bodies and our minds
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to help us build that
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self awareness so we know how to take care of ourselves as the gifts
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that we are. So these signals are sometimes from your
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body, sometimes for your, your emotions, and sometimes from
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your soul. So instead of fighting them, instead of beating yourself
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up, why don't you lean into listening to them?
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Because they might just lead you to a deeper kind of nourishment.
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One that's really going to satisfy both body and soul.
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And so this week I simply encourage you to just pay attention
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when a craving hits. Write it down,
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ask what might this be telling me? And
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simply invite the Lord into that space. Ask him for that clarity.
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Because sometimes our physical hunger points to a deeper spiritual
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truth. One that reminds us that we're made for
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wholeness, not striving for peace, not
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control, for true nourishment that only Christ can
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give. All right, friends,
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that's all for today. I really hope this help this
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episode helps you see your cravings in a new light. I
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know this was for sure an area that was
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an opportunity for like complete transformation in my life,
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to really be able to get curious about my cravings, to see them as clear
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clues and then really an opportunity to
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better know myself and what I was actually deeply desiring.
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And because I did that work, it really allowed me freedom
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from these cravings. Like I'm not craving
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these specific food cravings anymore or being triggered by
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certain foods the way that I used to be. So I hope that you're
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starting to see cravings in a new light, not as enemies
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to fight, but as a way to teach you to listen
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to your body, care for your body and meet its needs.
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And so if you want to go even deeper around cravings, since we're doing
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this four part series, I've created a free companion
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guide and it's called Cravings Decoded your faith led guide
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to understanding what your body and soul really need.
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It's super simple. It's a really practical workbook. It's kind
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of no frills. It has reflection questions,
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some journaling prompts, and some prayers to help you connect with your body
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and your soul as you begin to navigate your cravings.
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So you can find the link to download it in the show Notes for this
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episode and next week we're going to get super practical with
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talking about five ways that you can better handle your cravings.
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I'm going to walk you through how to tell if your craving is physical or
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emotional, what to do in that moment that you're experiencing that
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craving, and then how to respond with grace instead of guilt.
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So until then, take deep breaths,
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be gentle with yourself, and remember that in Christ you
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are fully known, fully loved, and fully
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nourished. Remember beauty held as a seed, beauty
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shared is the flower. It is your time to bloom. I hope you have
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a beautiful and blessed week and I'll see you right back here next week. Until
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then, take care and we'll talk soon. Bye.