Ep. 9 Is What You Believe About Health, Wellness & Food REALLY True?

[00:00:00] Have you ever wondered why you keep doing the same thing over and over again?

[00:00:05] Why do you keep getting stuck in bad habits no matter how much you want to change them?

[00:00:11] But it seems like no matter what you do, you just end up falling back into the same pattern, back into the same habit,

[00:00:19] getting the same results that you don't really want.

[00:00:23] It's this classic case of Romans 715 when Saint Paul relates to this struggle

[00:00:30] that we have in saying, what I do, I do not understand for I do not do what I want, but I do what I hate.

[00:00:40] All day long, we're exposed to noise.

[00:00:42] We have to filter through all of this information that's coming at us.

[00:00:47] And in today's society, it's like instantaneous.

[00:00:50] We are just bombarded with this noise all day long.

[00:00:55] And sometimes we hear something and it gets planted in our minds like a seed.

[00:01:01] And over time, this thought seed becomes nurtured with repeated exposure,

[00:01:07] with hearing the same message over and over again.

[00:01:10] And it becomes a belief.

[00:01:13] But some of our beliefs are really just weeds, their lies,

[00:01:19] and they're choking out the good seeds that would bear good fruit in our lives for the Lord.

[00:01:26] And y'all, it's time to start tilling the garden.

[00:01:29] Welcome to the Nourished to Bloom podcast where your faith meets your health.

[00:01:35] I'm your host, Cara Trapta, a registered dietitian and certified Catholic coach,

[00:01:40] and I'm here to help you cultivate a deeper connection with your body,

[00:01:43] your spirit, and the nourishment that sustains them both.

[00:01:47] In a world filled with noise and confusion about food, health, and body image,

[00:01:53] this podcast offers truth and healing from a Christ-centered perspective.

[00:01:57] Together, we'll untangle the deep roots of diet culture

[00:02:00] and discover what it means to truly care for ourselves

[00:02:03] through joyful nourishment of mind, body, and soul.

[00:02:07] We're here to dive into the transformative power of intuitive eating

[00:02:10] coupled with the rich teachings of our Christian faith.

[00:02:13] With every episode I'll be cheering you on, offering insights,

[00:02:17] inspiration, and practical tools to help you heal your relationship with food,

[00:02:22] and embrace the beauty of your body as a temple of the Holy Spirit.

[00:02:26] With confidence and courage that can only be found in Christ.

[00:02:31] Join me as we journey together towards a more holistic approach to wellness,

[00:02:35] one that honors the wisdom of your body as God's creation,

[00:02:38] the teachings of our faith, and the unique purpose you're called to fulfill.

[00:02:43] You were made to bloom, to come into full beauty and health

[00:02:48] in order to bear good fruit for the Lord with your life.

[00:02:51] So if you're ready to nourish your body, feed your soul,

[00:02:54] and bloom into the best version of yourself, then you're in the right place

[00:02:58] and I'm so happy you're here.

[00:03:00] Welcome to Nourish to Bloom, where every day is a sacred invitation to thrive.

[00:03:06] Hello, welcome back to the podcast.

[00:03:15] I'm excited that you're here and tuning in today.

[00:03:18] I'm going to teach you a little something that was pretty game changer for me

[00:03:25] in terms of habits and really beginning to understand why I had these behaviors

[00:03:31] and these habits that I just couldn't seem to break,

[00:03:34] no matter how hard I tried to change the behavior.

[00:03:37] And so that's what we're going to dig in today,

[00:03:39] really understanding where our behaviors are coming from

[00:03:43] and what we actually need to do in order to build new habits

[00:03:48] and break free from some of these behaviors that we really don't want in our lives.

[00:03:54] So let's dig in, so to speak.

[00:03:58] Let's get to this root.

[00:04:00] So the root of all of your behaviors is your thoughts.

[00:04:06] The reason that you do everything you do is because of a thought

[00:04:10] that you have about a particular circumstance or situation.

[00:04:14] This is why two people can experience the exact same circumstance

[00:04:19] but have wildly different outcomes, wildly different results

[00:04:23] and handle it very differently.

[00:04:25] We can see this happen every day when people experience some sort of trauma.

[00:04:30] Two people can have a heart attack and one may come out of it

[00:04:34] determined to make changes to their life

[00:04:38] and with this renewed outlook on life.

[00:04:41] Well, the other person may just give up and say,

[00:04:45] well, you know, this is it.

[00:04:47] You know, nothing's going to, it's not going to get better from here.

[00:04:50] And then their health continues to decline.

[00:04:53] This is 100% because of the thoughts that each one of those people have

[00:04:58] about the situation.

[00:05:00] Let's look at a little another scenario.

[00:05:03] You could have two people who today look outside their window

[00:05:07] and see that it's raining.

[00:05:09] And one person feels happy about it and the other person feels sad.

[00:05:13] Why?

[00:05:15] The person who feels happy that it's raining outside is thinking, yes,

[00:05:19] now I don't have to mow the grass.

[00:05:22] Well, the one who's feeling sad is thinking like, man, this stinks.

[00:05:26] Now I can't go for my walk this morning.

[00:05:31] So this idea that our thoughts create our emotions

[00:05:37] and our emotions inclinus to behave in a certain way

[00:05:40] and that behavior, that habit, that action that we're taking

[00:05:44] produces the results that we're getting.

[00:05:47] And so this is true for any situation, any circumstance you may experience.

[00:05:52] Your thoughts about it determine how you feel

[00:05:55] and your feelings will determine what you do.

[00:05:58] So if you have habits that you don't like,

[00:06:01] the only way to truly change them is to dig to those roots

[00:06:06] and identify the thoughts or the beliefs, these weeds

[00:06:11] that are causing this undesired behavior.

[00:06:15] And this is exactly what we need to do for the current beliefs

[00:06:20] that you have about food, eating, health, and your body.

[00:06:25] Your food beliefs have been shaped over many, many years

[00:06:29] of exposure to this noise that I was talking about.

[00:06:33] We may have learned it from our mothers or our grandmothers

[00:06:36] and how they spoke about their bodies, how they spoke about weight and food.

[00:06:41] We may have learned it from TV shows, the news, healthcare professionals,

[00:06:48] celebrities, social influencers.

[00:06:51] It is in our face 24 seven.

[00:06:54] But we should really know that not everything we hear is truth.

[00:07:00] The more you hear the same thing over and over again, it starts to become a belief.

[00:07:06] And you start to have this belief that this belief that you have is true.

[00:07:11] But oftentimes these messages, this noise that's coming into our minds,

[00:07:17] these messages are very, very conflicting.

[00:07:20] Like just look at the noise and this quote unquote food knowledge that comes in.

[00:07:25] One thing you hear from a particular health influencer says,

[00:07:30] eat nothing but whole foods.

[00:07:33] But then the next person says, but by the way, here's some supplements,

[00:07:38] a shake or a powder that you need to take in order to be healthy

[00:07:42] to fill in those quote unquote gaps.

[00:07:45] Another message says it's important to eat five servings of fruit and vegetables a day.

[00:07:51] But on the flip side, but wait, fruit has too much sugar.

[00:07:54] Don't don't eat fruit.

[00:07:57] And you're left completely confused about what to do.

[00:08:02] It's time to start examining your thoughts and your beliefs to determine

[00:08:08] what aligns with God's divine truth and what in and of itself are reasonable

[00:08:16] logical messages that we can use to guide us in making our decisions

[00:08:25] when it comes to our food choices, when it comes to our health and wellness.

[00:08:31] Your beliefs about food eating health and weight

[00:08:36] or the beliefs that you have that make you think that you're healthier

[00:08:40] if you eat certain foods and healthier if you avoid these other foods

[00:08:44] or that you're a good or a bad person for what you eat or don't eat

[00:08:48] or what your body looks like or quote unquote should look like.

[00:08:54] All of these beliefs need to be reevaluated.

[00:09:00] These food thoughts are monitored by your inner food police.

[00:09:05] It's this inner critical voice in your head that keeps you prisoner

[00:09:10] to those negative thoughts about yourself and the way you're eating

[00:09:15] or the way your body looks, the confusing messages that you hear about health and wellness.

[00:09:21] The hopeless phrases that hit your self-esteem when it's telling you

[00:09:27] you're such a failure or you're never going to be healthy if you keep doing this

[00:09:31] that are the other thing or the condescending remarks and guilt-provoking comments

[00:09:36] that this inner critic just plays on a loop continuously in your mind.

[00:09:43] So let's take some time today and capture some of these food beliefs

[00:09:47] and take a closer look at them and see, are these things really true

[00:09:52] or are they just like these quote unquote pretty lies from the enemy

[00:09:58] where he takes this thing that's true and twists and distorts it

[00:10:04] and then packages to make it look pretty or make it look like you should desire this.

[00:10:09] Maybe you remember in the last episode that I said most of our food choices are based on fear.

[00:10:18] Fear that if we eat, fill in the blank, you'll be unhealthy

[00:10:22] or it will make you gain weight or et cetera.

[00:10:25] And these fear-based eating decisions lead us to feeling guilty about anything

[00:10:29] that isn't on diet culture's approved list.

[00:10:33] But remember, feeling guilty implies that you've done something wrong.

[00:10:38] Robbing a bank is wrong, but is eating certain foods really the crime that we are making it out to be?

[00:10:45] This constant guilt associated with food has made eating a way in which we judge our moral character

[00:10:52] and what's funny is usually this guilt for breaking a rule leads to more eating, not less.

[00:10:59] But what if we turn to scripture and church teachings to know that what we really eat has nothing to do

[00:11:08] with our moral character or the state of our heart?

[00:11:11] Our morality is based on the way in which we live our lives in relation to the two greatest commandments,

[00:11:18] the ten commandments, the maxims, the virtues, the beatitudes, trying to imitate Christ

[00:11:24] and the way he lived when he was on the earth.

[00:11:27] All of these shape and guide how we live our lives and our moral character

[00:11:35] and 100% where we need to focus on living our life

[00:11:41] and not living our life based off of what we are and aren't eating

[00:11:46] and what our bodies look like.

[00:11:49] Over the years, we've been inundated with all this food talk or food knowledge

[00:11:54] that have turned our beliefs about food into these dietary laws of a false religion.

[00:12:02] One that has us worshiping thinness and dieting

[00:12:07] and has been made to believe that if we were to follow these rules,

[00:12:12] it's associated with being more virtuous, holier and healthier.

[00:12:17] Here's some of this food knowledge or talk that plays on our mind

[00:12:23] and really these thoughts or these beliefs that we have about food

[00:12:28] lead us to feel a certain way and have developed our habits over time.

[00:12:34] Things like messages that say, sweets are bad for you

[00:12:38] or I shouldn't eat anything after 6 p.m.

[00:12:41] or you should eat zero grams of sugar.

[00:12:44] You should avoid carbs.

[00:12:47] Dairy products are bad for you.

[00:12:49] I shouldn't have any salt.

[00:12:51] Gluten is bad for me.

[00:12:54] Is any of this true?

[00:12:57] Does following these food rules really make you healthier

[00:13:02] or just more obsessed about food and your weight?

[00:13:06] We know that an apple is more nutrient dense than a cookie,

[00:13:12] but does that really mean that eating a cookie is bad for you?

[00:13:17] Diet culture has trapped you in an all or nothing way of thinking

[00:13:23] that it has to be all these nutrient dense foods and none of these fun foods.

[00:13:29] Intuitive eating helps you find that middle ground

[00:13:33] of combining this nutrition knowledge

[00:13:37] with being able to enjoy foods that we like.

[00:13:41] It's like saying, okay, I'm going to eat this apple and what can I add to it?

[00:13:47] Maybe some string cheese and some cheez-its or some crackers, right?

[00:13:54] Because that sounds good.

[00:13:56] And so it's taking this food knowledge and combining it with our food preferences

[00:14:01] and finding that middle ground of making healthy eating enjoyable.

[00:14:08] But food companies and magazines, social media and commercials,

[00:14:12] capitalize on these messages and consumers' morality

[00:14:18] and create confusion about nutrition and wellness.

[00:14:22] And they promote foods as guilt-free or sensually delicious.

[00:14:26] And if these messages are what's shaping our daily food decisions,

[00:14:31] it becomes really difficult to view eating as simply a normal,

[00:14:36] pleasurable and essential activity versus one that defines our character.

[00:14:44] If we take a minute and think about God's design for the human body

[00:14:48] and recall, he made us to experience these internal cues

[00:14:52] to alert us to hunger amongst other things.

[00:14:55] But he knows we need to eat to satisfy this physical hunger

[00:15:02] and to give our body the fuel it needs to work.

[00:15:05] And because we know God loves us and wants us to experience goodness,

[00:15:09] is it too hard for us to believe that he would create foods that would taste good?

[00:15:16] I think it's important to point out here what the Catechism of the Catholic Church says

[00:15:20] with regards to food and diet.

[00:15:22] The church doesn't have specific teachings or doctrines regarding food and diet

[00:15:28] in the sense of prescribing particular foods or nutritional guidelines.

[00:15:34] It doesn't say you have to eat this and not this.

[00:15:38] The church promotes certain principles and values related to food and diet

[00:15:43] within a broader context of its teachings on things like human dignity

[00:15:48] and steward and the virtues of temperance or stewardship of the body

[00:15:55] and the virtues of temperance.

[00:15:57] And the virtue of temperance, if we try to grow in this virtue of temperance,

[00:16:04] it's teaching moderation and self-control in all areas of life.

[00:16:09] And that includes eating.

[00:16:11] We are challenged to grow in temperance and self-discipline

[00:16:14] to avoid gluttony and excessive indulgence.

[00:16:17] So we can find that middle ground, that moderation,

[00:16:21] which allows us to prioritize our spiritual and moral values over material desires.

[00:16:29] But for many of us, it's our food beliefs that have led us astray from this balance and moderation.

[00:16:37] It's robbed us of the ability to eat for nourishment, fuel, and satisfaction.

[00:16:43] We're made to believe that to eat healthfully, the food we can eat shouldn't taste too good.

[00:16:50] I mean, I think about all the years that I spent eating chicken breast with like steamed vegetables on the side

[00:16:55] and brown rice with like zero butter or seasonings added to it.

[00:17:00] Like that wasn't really enjoyable.

[00:17:02] Yes, the foods I was eating were nutrient dense.

[00:17:05] They were healthy for me, but there was very little pleasure and satisfaction that came out of that.

[00:17:13] Our current beliefs about food can be categorized as what we call cognitive distortions.

[00:17:20] And cognitive distortions are unreasonable thoughts.

[00:17:24] They're thoughts that have not been passed through reason.

[00:17:27] And they're habitual ways of thinking that are often inaccurate and negatively biased.

[00:17:33] And these distortions are what cause us to have an unhealthy relationship with food in our body.

[00:17:40] Cognitive distortions are taking this food knowledge and this nutrition knowledge and twisting the truth about them.

[00:17:47] And these show up as a cultural voice, a societal voice through unrealistic standards and ideals

[00:17:55] that have us constantly trying to achieve something that's unattainable and unsustainable.

[00:18:01] And when we can't reach them, our self-esteem takes a hit.

[00:18:05] And on an individual level, these distortions or lies show up in our thoughts and our beliefs,

[00:18:11] which in turn affects how we feel and influences what we do or don't do.

[00:18:18] Diting and weight loss thrives on this promise of happiness and fulfillment.

[00:18:25] The message it promotes makes us believe that being thin is our greatest achievement.

[00:18:31] It's our greatest good.

[00:18:32] When in reality, it distracts us from focusing on achieving our greatest good.

[00:18:38] That which is the attitude.

[00:18:42] Getting to heaven and being face-to-face with God.

[00:18:45] These distorted thoughts incorrectly inform our will.

[00:18:50] And our will is what allows us to choose to make the choice of what we are going to do or don't do.

[00:18:57] And when we allow these cognitive distortions and these lies and these beliefs that have not been passed

[00:19:04] through reason and not held up to divine truth, our will is incorrectly informed.

[00:19:11] Or it is only receiving part of the information it needs to make an informed decision.

[00:19:18] And when we're choosing, making these choices based off of these distorted thoughts,

[00:19:24] we're often choosing something that's a lesser good disguised as our greatest good.

[00:19:32] And so these distortions and distorted patterns of thinking are really from the enemy.

[00:19:40] He has taken something that seemingly good and twisted and distorted it into a lie or half-truth.

[00:19:50] So he's taken something like our desire to take care of ourselves and twisted the thoughts

[00:19:57] and the beliefs around it into something that's either a lie or a half-truth.

[00:20:02] And he is trying to direct our desires and our attention towards something that may seem good,

[00:20:09] but really isn't our greatest good.

[00:20:13] For too long we have let the outside world create this confusion and chaos in our minds about food

[00:20:20] and health and our bodies and so many other things.

[00:20:25] Someone tells us like we can't have it, we can't have something and suddenly we want it more.

[00:20:32] Even if deep down it's really not what we want.

[00:20:37] Like think about this example.

[00:20:39] You didn't really want that designer handbag until you saw someone else have it

[00:20:46] or someone told you that you should want to have that handbag

[00:20:50] because it's associated with a certain image or status that you've been told you should want to achieve.

[00:20:58] I mean just think about the whole Stanley Cup phenomenon right now

[00:21:03] and I'm not talking about hockey but like how Stanley Cups are just this thing to achieve

[00:21:10] because it has this certain status attached to it.

[00:21:15] But does having a Stanley really make you a better person?

[00:21:20] Does it really mean that you couldn't drink just as much water from a cup that wasn't a Stanley Cup?

[00:21:26] No right and it wasn't until we saw these influencers and these you know celebrities

[00:21:33] or people that were looking to help that we look to to make decisions

[00:21:40] or guide us on how we should live our lives that's like oh I should now want a Stanley Cup

[00:21:45] when before you probably really didn't it really didn't make a difference to you right.

[00:21:50] And so this is what I'm talking about like how these certain messages

[00:21:55] and things that are outside of us are directing our desires and misdirecting them right.

[00:22:03] So you weren't born desiring to be thin or thinking that you needed to look a certain way.

[00:22:09] Someone or something along the way told you that that is what you should want

[00:22:15] that that is what you should desire that that is your greatest good.

[00:22:20] And so it's like our desires have been hijacked and redirected to something that's really a lesser good.

[00:22:29] But if we dig deep enough it's likely not really what we desire.

[00:22:35] So we have to work on aligning our desires with God's desires for us.

[00:22:41] And if we can do that we won't be troubled with these misdirected earthly desires.

[00:22:47] All these food rules and societal beliefs are misdirecting us to things that would not really fulfill our true desires for happiness, joy and peace.

[00:23:03] So how do we work on re on realigning our desires and connecting with God to know what we should be desiring, what he desires us to desire for our life.

[00:23:17] And we can look to Saint Paul for that he challenged us to challenges us to put on the mind of Christ.

[00:23:24] And it's an invitation to a way of thinking and feeling and acting that centers around Christ and the way he wants us to live.

[00:23:34] And now more than ever is the time that we should really work on putting on the mind of Christ when it comes to our food beliefs and many of the beliefs that we are letting guide our life here on earth.

[00:23:50] As Christians we need to remember why our health is important.

[00:23:54] Why do we desire to take care of ourselves?

[00:23:59] Why do we want to be healthy?

[00:24:02] And if we dig to kind of that root of that that desire of it and why Christ would want us to focus on our health and wellness.

[00:24:10] Part of it is to promote our health and prevent disease and for our bodies and our minds to be strong for the Holy Spirit that's living within each of us.

[00:24:23] And that is so we can live out God's commandments to love and serve him with all our being and to love our neighbors.

[00:24:32] We have to be well to do that to live out that purpose that he created us for.

[00:24:39] And so that from a Christian perspective is why this desire to promote our health and wellness is important.

[00:24:49] But we have to look at that desire and understand that these thoughts and these beliefs that tell us that that's eating certain foods or having a body that looks a certain way does not align with that desire.

[00:25:02] Like those are not the behaviors that would help us achieve that desire.

[00:25:07] Saint Ignatius of Loyola reminds us that it is not the soul alone that should be healthy.

[00:25:14] If the mind is healthy and a healthy body all will be healthy and much better prepared to give God great service.

[00:25:23] But what the enemy has done is taken that good and holy desire with regards to health and distorted it.

[00:25:30] We've lost focus on well being as a necessity to do the will of God and are more focused on how much we weigh and how good we look to feel reassured about ourselves or gain acceptance of others.

[00:25:46] The good news is that we can uproot these lives.

[00:25:49] And this is the fun part.

[00:25:51] This is the part that I enjoy as a coach.

[00:25:54] This is where mind mapping comes in and mind mapping.

[00:25:59] This is just what I call it.

[00:26:01] The coaches, the Catholic coaches that I train with they call it the reason cycle.

[00:26:06] But mind mapping is this exercise that I walk clients through to help them take these different thoughts or beliefs.

[00:26:14] And we look at what the thought is, what emotions come from this thought, what actions come from this thought.

[00:26:21] And then we take it and we evaluate it and we analyze it and we hold it up to divine truth.

[00:26:27] We hold it up to God's truth.

[00:26:30] And from there they are able to determine the fruit of this belief.

[00:26:36] And if this thought or this belief is helping them or harming them, is it moving them closer or further away from Christ?

[00:26:44] And this is the first pivotal step to being able to reframe those thoughts and those beliefs to plant new seeds that will become thoughts and beliefs that we want to guide our life and guide the behaviors that we have.

[00:27:03] And from there, I help clients build these new beliefs about health and food and eating as well as overcoming other limiting beliefs that are affecting other areas of their life.

[00:27:17] And these new beliefs are rooted in God's truth, which will change how they feel and how they act.

[00:27:24] And this helps them to build new and consistent and sustainable habits as well as help them overcome that critical and negative self-talk that may have been plaguing them for years now.

[00:27:38] Right?

[00:27:39] So I want to do a little mind mapping exercise with you on some of this food talk and knowledge.

[00:27:46] And so what I'm going to do is because when we take a belief or we have this thought, each one of us, because we are an individual person, it will elicit different emotions and different behaviors.

[00:27:59] So I can't take this belief and the belief we're going to use is the belief that carbs are bad for me.

[00:28:06] I can't take carbs are bad for me and tell you, okay, if you have this thought, this is what your belief about that is going to be.

[00:28:13] And this is the, or this is what the emotions going to be about that thought.

[00:28:17] And these are the actions that you're going to take because the thought carbs are bad for me could actually make different people feel different things.

[00:28:26] Right?

[00:28:27] And based off of how they feel determines how they behave.

[00:28:30] So there's not this like one size fits all example.

[00:28:33] So what I want to do is I want to kind of walk you through this mind map and show you how if you were my client, how I would walk through this belief with you.

[00:28:45] And so now I would coach you through this and creating a mind map so you can see when I think this thought carbs are bad for me.

[00:28:54] This is how I feel.

[00:28:55] And when I feel this way, these are the things that I do or don't do.

[00:28:59] And from this, we can determine, okay, is this thought really aligned with God's truth?

[00:29:05] Is it what something that I want to keep thinking?

[00:29:08] And so that's what I'm going to walk you through right now.

[00:29:11] So if you would like to and you're able to, you can take out a pen and a paper and you can follow along and do this exercise as I walk you through it.

[00:29:20] And if you don't have a pen and a paper right now, definitely come back and at a time when you're able to and walk through this because this is really, really powerful.

[00:29:29] And this is something that is really a game changer and can help you start to really be able to make profound habit changes.

[00:29:40] So let's get started on this mind map.

[00:29:45] So the belief, like I said, we're going to walk through is carbs are bad for me.

[00:29:50] So why do you believe that this is true?

[00:29:55] Why do you believe that carbs are bad for you?

[00:30:01] What is the evidence you have to support that belief?

[00:30:09] What does bad for you mean to you?

[00:30:15] Can you define the terms of the word bad?

[00:30:19] Are all carbs bad?

[00:30:22] Or are there specific foods that you believe are bad?

[00:30:26] How does eating carbs hurt you?

[00:30:32] How does it hurt you physically?

[00:30:37] How does it hurt you mentally or emotionally?

[00:30:40] When you think this thought carbs are bad for me.

[00:30:47] What is the one word emotion you feel?

[00:30:53] Okay, when you feel that way, what do you do or not do?

[00:31:01] Where does this thought carbs are bad for me lead you into you like where this thought is leading?

[00:31:15] What is the tone of this thought?

[00:31:20] Who would want you to think this thought?

[00:31:23] God or the enemy and why would they want you to think this thought?

[00:31:34] Is this thought true 100% of the time?

[00:31:38] Is this thought useful or protecting you somehow?

[00:31:50] Could something else be true?

[00:31:52] And what do you want to choose moving forward?

[00:31:59] Okay, so how was that exercise?

[00:32:07] Did you have any shifts?

[00:32:13] Or did something like pop out at you and you're like, huh, I never thought about this way or I never realized that when I think this thought, this is what ends up happening.

[00:32:24] I want you to remember that a lot of times with our food beliefs on things being good or bad, where we talked about this idea that carbs are bad for you.

[00:32:34] It somehow ends up in you having carbs, you break this food rule and you eat it and then you end up feeling guilty.

[00:32:43] I want you to know that there's something underneath there.

[00:32:49] There's something deeper that's going on that causes you to have this guilt going on, right?

[00:33:01] Like there's a layer that needs to be dug into deeper and understanding when you think the thought carbs are bad for me.

[00:33:10] Like, I'm going to use this example.

[00:33:13] If I were to tell you or if we have the thought rattlesnakes are bad.

[00:33:18] Okay.

[00:33:19] I think the thought rattlesnakes are bad.

[00:33:22] The emotion that most of us would feel when we think the thought rattlesnakes are bad is fear, right?

[00:33:29] We don't want to be around or have an encounter with something that we believe is bad for us.

[00:33:36] And so we would feel fear and from that fear, it would lead to us doing whatever it would take to avoid being around rattlesnakes.

[00:33:44] Or if we saw one, we would definitely leave, we wouldn't engage with it, right?

[00:33:48] So I want you to realize like that is a normal and reasoned informed mind map.

[00:33:54] It kind of follows something that's logical in order that when you feel fear, you would avoid something.

[00:34:00] And so if you ever came an encounter with it, you wouldn't engage with it.

[00:34:04] But when we look at some of these food beliefs, there's something that might not be lining up because if we have this thought carbs are bad for me.

[00:34:13] There's this fear that's associated with eating carbs.

[00:34:17] And when we fear something, it likely leads to actions of wanting to avoid it.

[00:34:24] And so we do avoid it for as long as we can.

[00:34:28] But then again, there's something that happens.

[00:34:30] There's a trigger that happens.

[00:34:32] And so maybe it's an emotional trigger, right?

[00:34:36] Maybe you're experiencing some other emotion and the thought is you're seeking comfort.

[00:34:42] And carbs are something that you have learned to give you temporary or pre temporary comfort.

[00:34:51] And so you eat it, but then you've broken that food rule that carbs are bad for you and you feel guilty about it.

[00:34:57] So if we were to look at this logically, if something is doing bad for us, it leads to fear and avoidance of it.

[00:35:05] But yet these food rules of things being quote unquote bad for us, it doesn't always lead to this avoidance.

[00:35:13] And I think there's a couple of things going on, right?

[00:35:17] Some of it could be this emotional thing like we're seeking comfort or there's something that is causing us to break this quote unquote food rule

[00:35:26] and then lead to that guilt.

[00:35:29] But the thought of carbs are bad for me doesn't lead to you eating it.

[00:35:35] But yet why do we keep falling into this behavior of overeating and overindulgence in some of these foods that we have said are bad for us or have sworn off?

[00:35:46] Well, part of that is, is that thought 100% true?

[00:35:52] Do we need to take that and understand?

[00:35:54] Okay, is the evidence that I have that supports this belief really, really true?

[00:35:58] Or could something else be true?

[00:36:01] And this is where that mind map is so cool because we can start to see this and we can start to peel back different layers and understand.

[00:36:10] Okay, maybe this evidence over here doesn't really support this.

[00:36:15] And so we can start to reframe these thoughts that lead to a healthier perspective and a healthier relationship with food.

[00:36:24] And then there's other things where we might have some disorder desires that are going on, and we can start to understand maybe these desires like we talked about are not pointing us to our greatest good and we need to evaluate those and see,

[00:36:40] okay, when I think this thought it's leading me to have this disorder, this order of desire and we need to do some work around there.

[00:36:47] Right? So this is just like go back and listen to this little exercise piece again, this little mind map.

[00:36:56] And I'd love to know what came out of it for you if you had any shifts.

[00:37:01] If you did, and you want to let me know hop over to my Instagram.

[00:37:05] If you're on Instagram, I'm my handle is Kara Trockta all together and send me a DM and let me know your experience or if you have questions like mind mapping, I think is one of the coolest things and it's one of my favorite things to do because it helped me so much not just in my food beliefs but in so many of these limiting beliefs that I had.

[00:37:29] And it allowed me to realize that so many of my habits were misinformed and misguided desires and were not directed towards my greatest good that good and much God created me for.

[00:37:43] And when I could see that and I could have evidence of like, okay, if I keep keeping this thought it's not leading me where I want to go. It starts to become a lot easier to let go of these, these, these lies from the enemy and start to say, okay, what would lead me towards God

[00:38:02] and what would lead me towards my greatest good instead. So I love, I love mind mapping it's like I said one of my favorite parts of coaching, because just the clarity that the women I work with walk away with to be able to better understand the root cause of so many of their habits and what's happening in their minds, and how they can start to make changes

[00:38:29] and for so long it's been, they've maybe have been hopeless that anything could change. Like it's just an amazing experience. So if you want to go deeper on some of these food beliefs or some of these thoughts are really any limiting belief you have.

[00:38:47] I would love to invite you to book a free wellness audit.

[00:38:53] In this free wellness audit, it's just the session, it's just you and me, and we'll take a deeper dive into these wellness habits that you have and identify, you know what habits are working, what is working for you, and what areas are maybe areas of struggle or areas that you desire to make change but aren't really

[00:39:16] sure how to go about doing that and then establishing like, why do you want to make these changes, and using that mind mapping tool to help us understand that. And from there, in this session, I'll help you set a clear goal and an achievable health goal.

[00:39:34] And we can brainstorm and come up with an individualized plan of action for overcoming these obstacles so you can be healthier and happier than you've ever been before.

[00:39:47] If you want to take advantage of this and book your free session, all you have to do is click the link that's found in the show notes or in the show description below this episode.

[00:39:57] And click the link, put your information in it's basically just your name your email you book your time slot it's linked to my calendar so it's really easy, and you answer a couple of questions, and then our time is booked, and we hop on zoom and mind map some stuff and set some goals

[00:40:16] and get some clarity. So I can't wait for you to take advantage of this. I can't wait to spend some time with you getting to know you better and helping you, you know really figure out what the next steps are for you to achieve better health and wellness and achieve, you know a more Christ centered

[00:40:37] and faithful lead approach to your health and wellness and really begin to align you know all parts of your life with this Christ centered perspective so be sure to book that I'd love to have you in there.

[00:40:50] And thanks for joining today, and I'll see you in the next episode. Take care. Remember, it's your time to bloom.