The 5 Intentions of Spirit-Led Eating

Have you ever considered that your eating habits could reflect your faith? In this enlightening episode of Revelation Within On the Go, Christina and Heidi explore the intricate relationship between our diets and spiritual beliefs, starting from the Book of Genesis. They highlight the biblical significance of food and God's care for every detail of our lives. Heidi shares her personal journey of overcoming food-related struggles, dispelling the myth that such issues are too trivial for God's attention.

The discussion then turns to the transformative power of the Holy Spirit in our eating habits. Recognizing the Holy Spirit as a personal companion, the episode offers practical ways to invite His guidance into our dietary choices, addressing hidden issues like overeating and fostering a deeper connection with God. Christina and Heidi provide the 5 Intentions to Spirit-Led Eating, emphasizing gratitude, mindfulness, and intentionality. Tune in to discover how aligning your eating habits with God's will, can lead to true peace and fulfillment in His presence.

Get details about our class starting July 17th at https://www.revelationwithin.org/blueprint

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

Hi and welcome to our podcast Revelation Within On the Go. I'm Heidi Biles-Maepperson, one of your hosts and the owner and lead coach of the RevelationWithinorg ministry.

Speaker 2: 0:12

And I'm Christina Motley, your other host, also a Revelation Within coach, and join us for this episode of Revelation Within.

Speaker 1: 0:36

Well, does God care about our eating?

Speaker 2: 0:39

Yes, absolutely, absolutely. What do you think?

Speaker 1: 0:44

Heidi. Well, you know, once upon a time I went into God's word with a different color ink than I'd ever used before and I started to underline, from Genesis on through, every time food or eating or whatever you know related to that was mentioned. I could not believe how often. I mean, even from the very beginning in Genesis, we know that there was a fruit. Yeah, the very, very beginning, yes, and of course, we all know the story of Jacob and Esau and Esau selling out for a bowl of stew. I mean, we could go on and on with different examples and I like to remember that 1 Corinthians 10, 31, one of my favorite verses, says so whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. And there's a principle there.

Speaker 2: 1:37

Yes, what would that principle be? Yeah, so we can glorify God with our eating. We can also not glorify God with our eating. We can also not glorify God with our eating. I mean, actually, when you think about it, eating is a huge part of our day. It just is. I mean, we eat. It's kind of like. You know, I think about sleeping. Sleeping is so important. We don't even think about how important it is until we don't get sleep, right, right, I mean, heidi, you just spent a month really struggling with sleep, with that virus that you had, and it's probably felt like having a newborn again, except there was no fun.

Speaker 1: 2:16

There was no cute little baby, oh my gosh.

Speaker 2: 2:20

I mean, eating is just a huge part of our day. We eat every day at least a few times. So the context of the passage is eating food sacrificed to idols. But the principle remains eating is something that God really cares about. It's important to him.

Speaker 1: 2:37

It is, and you know not only that, that first Corinthians verse. When I consider how eating and food and the consequences of eating have impacted my life over the years, anything that causes me so much concern and and for some of us, a lot of money, a lot of time, a lot of disappointment, a lot of heartache, yeah, anything that is that important to us and that our lives have revolved around so much is going to matter to our God, who's kind and loving and wants us to experience all he has for us. You know.

Speaker 2: 3:17

Yes, yeah, absolutely. And I'm just going to admit that I didn't believe any of that for a really long time. I mean, it sounds so great now and I'm totally on board now, of course, but for many, many years, many years, I thought this is not important to God. You know, he's got a lot of stuff going on in the world and with all kinds of people who need a lot more help than I do, and I'm just kind of a mess over here with my body and food and eating. You know, I just I really didn't think it was important to him, Right? So for years I thought this is what I need to do, I need to figure this thing out and I need to work really hard to figure it out and I'm going to try everything I can think of and then when I'm figured out, I'm going to go to the Lord and say, okay, let's talk about something important. You know, I just really I was embarrassed, I was full of shame.

Speaker 2: 4:19

I thought, how can this be such a big deal in my life and how, possibly, how can I not get this somehow under control? You know? That's what I thought and that's also what the world tells us. Right, and all my friends, we were, all you know, kind of in the same boat together. So really I didn't invite God in. I didn't think that it was important to him.

Speaker 1: 4:44

Yeah, in fact a lot of people, and I don't remember if I I'm sure I must've been amongst them, but a lot of people. It's almost like there's this sense of guilt that, oh, this is just such a small problem compared to so many people in the world.

Speaker 1: 4:59

And yet, when you think about all that it has caused in my life, here's my take on things. You know how some people will say well, you know, yeah, this is going on in my life, but it's not as big of a deal as what's going on in your life, and they downplay whatever it is. Well, I believe that whatever suffering we're going through, whether it's something self-inflicted, whether it's a great big through, whether it's something self-inflicted, whether it's a great big, humongous, pervasive thing, like a sudden upheaval in our health or a loved one wandering away and not being able to be in contact with it, whatever, whatever it is, I feel like it's kind of like my science background's coming through now. It's kind of like a gaseous substance. Gases, by definition, me through now. It's kind of like a gaseous substance. Gases, by definition, fill the shape and size of the container they're in and it's like if every life is a container.

Speaker 1: 5:52

I feel like what we're going through is like a gaseous substance. It fills my life with all of this stuff. It's like I can't just compartmentalize and set it off to the side and say, well, my suffering isn't as bad as her suffering over there or his suffering over there. God knows, it fills my life. I don't think he wants us to kind of stratify suffering and say, well, that person's really suffering because all these things. He wants us to just come to him and, like you said, invite him in. And we say that in almost every podcast, of course, and every class and every live we do.

Speaker 2: 6:31

Every, every, everything, revelation within. Invite God in. Invite God in. Invite God in.

Speaker 1: 6:37

Yes, and so that's really vital in this part, don't you?

Speaker 2: 6:41

think yes, one of the things that I used to think about was that somehow God was bound by time. I mean, I didn't think about that, but that's what I was believing, because I thought he doesn't have time for me. Only so much time in a day.

Speaker 1: 6:56

I mean what You're not in his day timer, you and your food problems.

Speaker 2: 7:01

Right. And so I would imagine that he had this calendar in front of him with thousands and thousands of people on it and that, you know, people with real quote unquote problems would be at the top of his list, and that maybe he would get to me later. And I just thought, no, I don't want to do that to the Lord, I'm just going to figure it out myself, and none of that makes sense. Lord, I'm just going to figure it out myself and none of that makes sense. But when I look at my actions for so many years, that's what I believed. Okay.

Speaker 2: 7:32

So what I love to think about now and I think I've shared this before on the podcast I love to think about how God, who is absolutely not bound by time at all In fact, he invented time, so you know, it's all his. He has a calendar, yes, but he has one for each of us, and so, Heidi, yours, I mean. It has dogs all over it and horses, and you know pictures of the ocean, all kinds of things. Mine has sunflowers all over it, and I'm just imagining that God has this calendar and he hands it to me and I open it up and every single line has my name on it, Every single line, because he's not bound by time and he's not bound by. Oh well, I can only talk to 500 people.

Speaker 1: 8:24

He can't say and he wouldn't say I can only be in one place at a time.

Speaker 2: 8:29

No, like we say, we say those things all the time. There's only so much time in the day and well, I can't. You know this and that I can't be everywhere at once.

Speaker 2: 8:38

Yeah, I mean, he is attentive to me and to you, heidi, at the same time, as if we were the only people living on this whole planet, and it's like whoa, and so it helps me to visualize a calendar with my name all over it. There isn't a single hour in the day that my name isn't on there, and so, of course, it's important to God. If something is stressing me, bringing me down, causing me shame, especially, I know that God really hates shame. He wants to get in there and he wants to be the one to fix it. I can't fix it, no way, isn't that the truth, that is so true.

Speaker 1: 9:18

And I think we don't recognize this fact, that it's really kind of our fleshly thinking that makes us think we got to clean ourselves up before we go to God. We got to get this under control. To be honest with you, I think even in our churches people are like well, the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness and self-control.

Speaker 1: 9:42

So if you are really living in the spirit, you're going to have self-control, yeah. And there's other passages they throw at us like God has not given us a spirit of fear but of love, power and self-control. Yeah, absolutely, those things are true. But it's like when I'm leaning into him, you know, and I think of other passages of scripture, we have to take scripture in context with itself. So elsewhere God says that his strength is made perfect in my weakness.

Speaker 1: 10:18

So, if I think, well, I'm not weak, I'm self-controlled, but what I know is true is that I'm not living like I am, then I need to turn to him and invite him to come into that place of weakness so that his strength will be made manifest in my life and he will get the glory. He loves giving good gifts to his children and he loves getting the glory for it. And it's not because he's self-absorbed, it's because he's worthy. He's worthy.

Speaker 2: 10:46

Well, and I think about the Holy Spirit. It's like, okay, the Holy Spirit, who is the Holy Spirit? To me, that's one of the things that I feel like I've been just really learning a lot about exploring in the past couple years. Okay, the Holy Spirit is God, and God gave us this companion, this constant companion, as a spirit who actually lives in us, and that's amazing and that's incredible. And so, who is the Holy Spirit? He is our 24-hour best friend. Yes, he is. Yes, he is, and he's our 24-hour counselor and guide, comforter and comforter and what else. I mean he's like everything, he's all that. God is, he is God.

Speaker 2: 11:41

So I think what a waste for me not to talk with him, not to share with him, to ignore him, because I'm so busy trying to fix everything myself. And here's the Holy Spirit living in me saying Christina, I'm right here. I know you're struggling with this. Turn to me. I've got thoughts and ideas and comfort and encouragement for you and loving, kindness and patience and all those good things. Why would I not turn to him in the moment of whatever I'm struggling with?

Speaker 1: 12:08

Yeah, well, okay, so a lot of people think of the Holy Spirit as an it and that, to be honest with you, there are certain things that are idiosyncrasies of mine. If you refer to the Holy Spirit as it, it drives me nuts. The Holy Spirit, he is a presence in our lives, he's a person, and it says that in the word that he will lead us into all truth, he will convict us regarding sin and righteousness, he will empower us, he will comfort us and guide us. I mean, he has all kinds of roles in my life, which is awesome, but what does he have to do with my eating?

Speaker 2: 13:48

Well, so if I'm struggling with something and it's ongoing, and for me the struggle with food and eating was very hidden I hid it away.

Speaker 2: 13:57

It was something that I felt a lot of shame about and it was hidden. So I mean, really I was, I guess I was trying to hide it from God too, and from the Spirit, because I was trying to just deal with it on my own, figuring it out on my own. That got me nowhere. I just kept going in circles trying to find the right thing, and so the Holy Spirit is the one who can teach me something new, who can move me forward and who can actually transform me, and that's where the renewing of the mind comes in, certainly, yeah, so I don't want to miss that. I mean, once I learned how to renew my mind, once I learned what that was and how the Holy Spirit was so intimately involved with my thoughts and all that I am, I didn't want to miss it anymore. I felt like, oh my gosh, how much have I missed? I've missed so much. I want to be so ready and so open and willing now to hear what he has to say to me.

Speaker 1: 15:01

Yeah, and what's interesting is because he operates within us, he can influence our thoughts, and what we think about is going to drive our beliefs, and our beliefs are going to drive the choices we make. If we see actions in our lives like overeating, like turning to food for comfort, or turning to food when I'm agitated, whatever it might be, I need to back up. What am I believing? And I could back up even further and look at what am I telling myself? Am I telling myself what the Holy Spirit is speaking to me about that? Probably not.

Speaker 1: 15:38

Probably not no. And for the person who says, well, I don't have the Holy Spirit, okay, so let's just set this little piece of theology clear Once you have come to Christ for your salvation, you have the Holy Spirit in you. Now that doesn't necessarily mean you're filled with the Holy Spirit. We'll save that conversation for another day. But if you look at Romans 8, 9, it says you, however, are not in the flesh but in the spirit. If in fact, the spirit of God dwells in you, anyone who does not have the spirit of Christ does not belong to Christ. Wow, that's Romans 8, 9.

Speaker 1: 16:17

And Galatians 5, 16 to 17 reminds me that the spirit and the flesh, my flesh, the way I operate, if I'm not surrendered to the Holy Spirit, they're at war with each other. It specifically says Paul is speaking here. So I say walk by the spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh, for the flesh desires what is contrary to the spirit and the spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want. Oh, my goodness.

Speaker 1: 16:53

And that's kind of where we get the idea of the intentions of spirit-led eating. We wanted to kind of take this episode and talk about the basics of spirit led eating, including why spirit led, why intentions Does God care about my eating, like we've been talking about, and really the intentions of spirit led eating kind of take into account that my flesh has its own ideas about food and eating, when and why and how much, and all of that and by setting intentions to live according to these five principles, I think we're much more likely to glorify God with our eating. What do you think?

Speaker 2: 17:36

Absolutely. Oh yeah, I love that idea. I mean, I love that idea of glorifying God with anything that I'm doing, and especially something that I'm struggling with. So that is beautiful.

Speaker 2: 17:48

I've heard a lot of people say things and maybe I even thought this for a while too. Well, I've just got an issue with you know, like old habits and behaviors Like I just need to create a new habit and you know they'll kind of minimize the whole issue. So here's how you know if it's more than that. Here's how you know if it's actually a stronghold in your life, whatever it is. Maybe it's not food and eating, maybe it's something else, but you'll know when it consumes you. As you mentioned, heidi, when you're thinking about whatever.

Speaker 2: 18:21

That is all the time when you're consumed, because you feel like you're constantly going in a direction that's not life-giving for you. I mean, that's when you know there is more to this than just some kind of a lifestyle that you could, you know, fix by following these five steps or whatever. That's not what we're talking about. We're talking about a stronghold where it's got a hold of you. It is consuming you, it is taking you down. Basically, that's what we're talking about a stronghold where it's got a hold of you. It is consuming you, it is taking you down. Basically, that's what we're talking about. It's a spiritual issue.

Speaker 1: 18:54

Yes, definitely, and it's connected very much to this simple question why do I, why do you? Why do we turn to food? Is it always as fuel? Am I fueling my body? Now, granted, god has given us delightful ways of fueling our bodies the tastes, the textures. It's awesome. It's a delight that he has given us a wonderful way instead of, just like I don't know, some lubricant fuel type thing that we pour into some. Yeah, anyway, he's given us the joy of having taste buds and experiencing his bounty in these lovely ways. There's no doubt he gave us food to enjoy, but he gave us food to be fuel that we can enjoy, that's the purpose?

Speaker 2: 19:44

Yeah, exactly, exactly.

Speaker 1: 19:45

But there's so many other reasons most of us go to food, and I think that's the purpose. Yeah, exactly, exactly. But there's so many other reasons most of us go to food, and I think that's the heart of the stronghold. It's like what are God's thoughts about that? That's one of our questions in our mind renewal. It's like what are your thoughts about why I'm going to food right now, god? Or what are your thoughts about what you want me to be doing right now instead?

Speaker 1: 20:07

So often I want to avoid dealing with something, so I eat because it also gives me pleasure. It's like an upgrade. I don't want to deal with the sadness I'm feeling and those are all things. God wants to be my main resource, my main go-to. He says whatever it is you're doing, I am. That's his name Yahweh. Jehovah means I am. He wants me to turn to him as the answer to whatever it is I'm seeking. I think of all kinds of other reasons I might go to food other than just pleasurable fuel comfort. He calls himself the God of all comfort. He says I am your God of comfort and compassion. That's 2 Corinthians 1,. Three to five when it comes to avoiding something. And I turn to food, I'm just reminded that Jesus said in John 8, 32, that the truth sets us free. Now the context wasn't food and eating, but it's a principle. Again, I don't need to avoid anything in my life that God has allowed. There is a way I can look straight at it and there will be a freedom that comes.

Speaker 1: 21:12

Food is not to be used by me, and I've done this so many times as a way to avoid the truth in my life.

Speaker 2: 21:20

Oh, my goodness Well, and I love the phrase that we often use in Revelation Within, which is counterfeit comfort. That really just helps me, that phrase. It's a counterfeit, it's a fake, it's something that I'm trying to put in place of what I really need, and so it helps me, because I have other counterfeits in my life too. There's other things that I will go to. It's not just food and eating, but for me, food and eating has been the big one, the stronghold, the one that's grabbed a hold of me, and I don't want to at all. Neither of us want to minimize how strong that is.

Speaker 2: 22:02

It is so strong at times. The pull to food can be, or to whatever your counterfeit comfort is that we're talking about food today. That pull is really strong. It is strong and I think for many of us, myself included, for many years I thought there is no getting out of this.

Speaker 2: 22:22

There is no hope for this. It's too strong. I go back to it again and again. I've tried everything, so I don't want to at all minimize that. We get it, heidi and I. We absolutely get how strong that pull is and how it goes deep it goes really, really deep.

Speaker 1: 22:40

It goes very deep, and so we want to continue this episode by talking about the five intentions of spirit led eating, because really we want to be intentional, we want to surrender ourselves to the spirits leadership. So that's the spirit led part. And, of course, because eating is something so many of us are surrounded by people who are eating ads of people eating and we've got to intentional about am I going to food for fuel? Do I need to go to God for some of these other things? He's probably. So we're going to talk about the five intentions of spirit led eating and before we rebranded to Revelation, within we had the eight keys to conscious eating, and that from the thin within roots.

Speaker 1: 23:24

And you know, to be honest with you, in 1975, when those keys were developed, it was secular.

Speaker 1: 23:29

Judy Halliday, who was the founder of thin within, wasn't a Christian yet, and while it was consistent with what she found in scripture after she came to Jesus in 1985, we thought, christina and I, when we rebranded, we wanted to recognize this need we have to go to God, so much. You know the number of times in a day when I think of food I now like to consider as a trigger in a positive way to go to God with my need. And so it's kind of cool that God has given us a requirement in our lives that can remind us how desperately we need him. And so we wanted to incorporate that fact a little bit, that dependency, into a restatement of the keys to conscious eating, and now as the five intentions of spirit led eating. So she and I prayed a lot over this. We reworded, crossed things out, inserted other things, moved things around and really sought God. And that's kind of why we have the five intentions of spirit led. That's Holy Spirit led eating. And, christina, do you want to read our little preamble?

Speaker 2: 24:40

that starts our five intentions my body is a gift from God to me and is fearfully and wonderfully made in God's image and by his careful and loving design. I am his beautiful masterpiece, his poetry in motion, one of a kind. I look to the Holy Spirit for his wisdom and loving leadership. Therefore, I will honor my God-given body with these intentions. So how I love that. Actually, I mean that's a beautiful paragraph to renew your mind with every single day. That is, it's so good, it has so much good truth in it, it's so encouraging. And those are God's thoughts, those line up with what he says in his word. Before we get into the intentions, I just want to say please, please, please, throw perfectionism out the window.

Speaker 2: 25:33

Yes, thank you very much, I will. Yes, don't even worry about tripping and stumbling, because you will, and it's okay. We're on a journey and we love to call it look and learn. We are constantly, heidi and I and everybody that we work with, we are constantly, daily, looking and learning with the Lord. There's no condemnation in Christ. We are walking with him in grace and in joy as he transforms us. So, please, please, think about that before you start thinking oh well, I'm not doing those. Well, which one should?

Speaker 1: 26:11

I try.

Speaker 2: 26:12

Well, that's impossible. Let's just go into it with a sense of God's amazing grace.

Speaker 1: 26:19

Let's expect great things of God. If I expect great things of myself, I'm going to be disappointed Again in my weakness. His strength is made perfect. I think he loves it when we say, lord, I can't do this, but I know you can in me. And really setting an intention is a good way of getting off on the right foot. But it's true, christina is exactly right on the money. We won't do this perfectly.

Speaker 1: 26:45

Years ago, when I was very involved in thin within ministry, at the very beginning of my experience with it, I would refer to my experience as a trail ride and I would talk about how that trail ride is when I'm holding it together, and it was kind of a fleshly way of thinking of it. But I think there's some benefit here and that is I would fall off the horse, which meant I would fail in my intentions to follow the keys to conscious eating at that time and I wanted to get back up on the horse. So that was kind of how I referred to that whole thing. I wanted to get over. Generally speaking, we will fall off the horse less frequently. I mean, there may be seasons where we stay on the ground a long time, but generally we'll also get back on the horse again.

Speaker 1: 27:37

Over time, you'll see improvement usually. Now that's not always true, because we all have, like these big upheavals in our lives, trials that hit us, and we revert back to behaviors that we have practiced for decades. And so, like Christina said, set aside perfectionism. It's a lie. All those things that go with it are what we often call little t truths. We think that our past should define what is true now, and it does not. Only God defines what is true now, and he says your body is a gift from me to you, child. I have made your body fearfully and wonderfully in my own image, and I have carefully and lovingly designed it. You are my beautiful masterpiece, child. You are my poetry in motion. You are one of a kind. I prize you, and as you look to me and my spirit for wisdom and leadership, you will experience what I have for you in this life. Your spirit will thrive, your body will thrive, your mind will thrive.

Speaker 2: 28:40

One of my favorite things about your trail ride story which I've thought about and heard so many times over the years, even though I'm not really a horse person. But one of my favorite things about that is that you shared with me and many others that when you are a person who rides horses, you have to prepare and practice falling and getting up. That's part of being someone who rides horses and loves horses and cares for horses. That was a huge game changer for me in my journey when I realized I need to be ready to mess up. I need to be ready to fall off the horse. It's going to happen and that took so much pressure off of me to that.

Speaker 2: 29:27

You know what? If I don't do this perfectly, I've just failed again, like I have a million times over my life. No, not at all. Expect the fall and have a plan with the Lord to be ready, and that's look and learn. That's my plan and, honestly, I use it every single day. There's so much peace there and freedom. It's like, okay, I'm going to mess up, but I'll be ready to get back on the horse. I know how to do it. I have a plan.

Speaker 1: 29:55

And friends, between what Christina is saying and making provision for the flesh. Making provision for the flesh has more to do with I'm going to plan to fail and, woohoo, I'm going to live it up and have a great old time and then ask God to forgive me for what I did.

Speaker 1: 30:08

No that's not what we're talking about. We're talking about being aware of the fact that we will slip, stumble, slide, fall, go sideways, and I will still have these intentions in place, but recognizing that I am a human being who will struggle and God is there to help me see what I could do differently. I'll never forget and you know, the horse riding illustration came out of my real life, from having horses, and I remember I have this one horse that wanted to just get me off his back, and when that happened on a trail ride, you had to either find a really good stump or a really good rock that you could get back up on the horse with, unless you had prepared to get up from the ground, and that's hard for a lot of us, especially on a taller horse. And so I took him down to the arena and I practiced getting on him from the ground because I knew sooner or later I was going to be on the ground. That would equate to I know I'm going to fail and I'm going to need that skill of getting back up on him.

Speaker 1: 31:09

The same is true in this journey with intentions to spirit led eating is there's going to be times when I don't even come close to waiting for being hungry, you know a true hunger signal and I want to recognize that. It's okay. It's okay as long as I have a plan for getting back on the horse again, getting going again, because that's what we really want.

Speaker 2: 31:32

Well, and God's response is always the same. We don't have to wonder is he going to be upset with me this time? Is he going to condemn me? No, absolutely not. His response is always one of love, compassion, patience. I mean he already knows what we're going to do. It's not like he's surprised, no, but his response to us I can count on that. He's not a human, he's not someone in your life to be compared with someone in your life who has always cut you down. That's not him. That's not who he is.

Speaker 1: 32:06

Even those of us who had really wonderful earthly fathers or have wonderful earthly fathers, a really good dad might say oh, I'm so proud of you for X, y or Z, you know what. I think God is proud of us all the time, all the time. I don't think he's like even a good earthly dad. I think he's very different. When we stumble he picks us up and says I am proud of you for trying, or here's some strategies for what you might need to do to overcome that hurdle. I mean, really that's the kind of Abba, daddy, father we have. It's not like any of our earthly fathers, no matter how good they were.

Speaker 2: 32:44

I totally agree.

Speaker 1: 32:46

Okay, let's get into them good they were, I totally agree. Okay, let's get into them the five intentions of spirit-led eating then. The first one is I will busy myself as the spirit leads until I prayerfully sense a physical hunger signal.

Speaker 2: 33:02

Talk to me about that, okay. So at first, when I first read this one and we were kind of trying to decide the words and everything I didn't like the busy myself part at first because I thought, well, what is that actually? I mean, that part was difficult for me. But now I really like it because what I realize is it's about the spirit leading. And so what am I busy doing all day? And so what am I busy doing all day? I'm working, I'm coaching, I'm parenting, I'm being a wife to my husband, I'm doing housework, I'm driving. I'm doing life things, just like you are. Everybody's doing life things, and so we are busy doing life. And that's what I think this first part is about. It's like just do your life, do your life as the Spirit leads. Whatever the Spirit's leading you to just do it, go for it. And then, and then what?

Speaker 1: 33:56

Well, I was just going to say busy yourself with life, like you were saying okay, and then recognize that we're not spending our day waiting for a hunger signal.

Speaker 1: 34:07

That's the point of busying yourself as the spirit is leading you live your life instead of okay. Is that a hunger signal? Is that a hunger signal? Or what we often call zero, is that a zero? Am I at a zero? Yet we want to busy ourselves with things that God has for us in the moments of our day and when our bodies signal for fuel great great.

Speaker 2: 34:31

But then it says prayerfully, prayerfully sense a physical hunger signal. What does prayerfully mean? That means I'm inviting God in. I want him in this with me. I have struggled for so many years. I haven't listened to my signals. I didn't even know I had a hunger signal. I was avoiding it at all costs for a long time, and so adding this prayerfully piece in here is so important. We're going to God. Lord, you, let me know. Let me know when I'm hungry. Help me to sense that physical signal. Leave me in this. I want to do this all to your glory.

Speaker 1: 35:09

So I really love that part about prayerfully sensing why don't you go ahead and tell us what the second intention of spirit led eating is?

Speaker 2: 35:18

Okay, I will invite the spirit of God into my meal with a heart of gratitude and praise. I love this one, so so, so much. So, again, inviting God in we've talked about that this time and every time, inviting God in, inviting the Spirit of God into Every time I put anything in my mouth, I want to invite Him in and I want to eat with Him. No more hiding, no more running into the pantry and shutting the door and you know which. I don't even have a pantry, actually, but you know. No more hiding. It's like let's bring it all into the light, god, I want to invite you into my eating, my meals, all of it, and so I love that.

Speaker 2: 36:01

And then, with a heart of gratitude and praise, I find and I know you do too, heidi that the more grateful I am for what God has given me in food and in my body, my imperfect body, and all the challenges that I have, but the more I am grateful, the more my thoughts line up with the Lord's, and he tells us over and over again in his word to praise him and be thankful. I mean, those are two of the big ones. I don't know how many, but there's so many. Be thankful, be thankful in all things. You know Thanksgiving, do it with Thanksgiving and then the piece with praising him. So this is hugely, hugely important, one of my favorite ones that really leads us in a way that the old keys did not.

Speaker 1: 36:49

Yes, that really leads us in a way that the old keys did not. Yes, the third intention of spirit led eating is I will choose food in a just right sized portion that delights my taste buds and causes my body to feel energized and strong. We could have added the word prayerfully anywhere in this intention as well, because really the whole goal is that we're leaning on the Lord and we want to invite him in. So one of the things I love about this intention is it recognizes I have agency. I get to choose which food I will eat.

Speaker 1: 37:24

I don't do it based on what people have said are good foods, bad foods or anything else. No diet can tell me what is okay for me. The Holy Spirit can tell me and I want to ask him. But I also want to begin to notice how my body responds both my taste buds but also the rest of my body, and that's really important. And as I do that, I will recognize that it may not take as much food as I used to grab at when I was eating, whether I was hungry or not.

Speaker 1: 37:57

It doesn't take much at all compared to what many of us have been led to believe, especially as we get older.

Speaker 1: 38:04

I'll just say that you know, it just does not take as much. But even back in the day when I was really going strong with the thin within keys to conscious eating, I remember that I did not need to eat very much, even though I was very active outside all the time moving stuff and my body still didn't need nearly the quantity of food that I had eaten previously, for years, and it's no small wonder I had trouble with a healthy size. I just didn't. So just right sized portions we're going to delight our taste buds and our bodies will feel energized and strong. God will lead us in what that amount is and what those foods are.

Speaker 2: 38:52

That is so true, heidi, and that was really my own experience. You know, when I first started really listening to my body, it's like wait a minute, I have no idea what a just right size portion is for me. I don't even know where to begin. I've been eating so much food that I'm never, ever hungry, like for years, and I struggled with my size as well and just kind of a constant overeating pattern that I had.

Speaker 2: 39:19

So what, what helped me just as a guide when I first got started, was that my physical stomach is about the size of my loosely held fist not my husband's fist or, you know, a teenager's fist or whatever it has to do be your own fist. And that kind of helped me as a guide, not as a rule or anything like that, just to kind of get started. And then another thing that helped me at first was just kind of cutting things in half or cutting back a little bit of the way you've been eating for a while, and that kind of just helped me get started. And then I went from there inviting God in and asking, inviting the spirit, to show me you know, I'm going to slow down and how much of this is just enough. Help me to find that, but those were just kind of some tips to get started. Yeah, great.

Speaker 2: 40:11

The next one is number four. I will create a peaceful eating experience by being present with the food and reducing distractions. When I started really kind of trying to eat this way and be a peaceful eater, I thought are you kidding me? I've got school-age kids. They are running around. I've got this giggly little girl falling on the floor during meals. Do you remember that, heidi?

Speaker 1: 40:37

That's my youngest. I do remember that. Oh my goodness.

Speaker 2: 40:43

We had friends over all the time. We were going here, we were going there, we were at grandma's, we were, you know, at the park. I mean, thinking about a peaceful eating experience I thought what does this mean? Does this mean like sitting at a table and having the table perfectly set and having this amazing three course meal and, by the way, I don't even like to cook. So I was really having a hard time with this one, you know. I thought, well, what if I'm at the park with the kids and all that kind of thing? Plus, you know, at the time I was a teacher at school. And peaceful eating experience, what I mean? I didn't even have time to sit down to eat.

Speaker 2: 41:24

So when I invited Gavin to this and I just sensed that he was just smiling and I don't know, just so sweet in his response to me because, of course, he created families, he created our busy lives. Many of us, well, all of us really. I feel like everyone I talk to is very, very busy for many different reasons, whether it's work, or family, or school, or the neighbors or church or there's just any number of things, and that's good. I mean, our lives are busy, we wear a lot of hats, and so how do I have an eating experience that is peaceful in the midst of busyness? Okay, and so God answered. You know, I asked him and this is a great question for you. If you struggle with this, ask him, so I'll give you kind of a scenario.

Speaker 2: 42:17

Now I have teenagers, and and beyond, and grown kids. They're all grown, but our youngest daughter still lives with us and she brings her friends over all the time, which we love, I love. I love them all, and so we eat together often and it is probably anything but peaceful that you would think of. It is loud and there's a lot going on and people coming here and there. The peace is inside of me. The peace is not has to be in my whole environment, and so this is kind of what I do.

Speaker 2: 42:54

I have my portion, I'm intentional, I think about what I have in front of me, I see the food, and then I'm engaging with the people and conversation and the laughter and all of that, and then I take a bite and put my fork down. In the moment that I take the bite, I see the food, I'm engaged with the food. It's just quick, it's in my mouth, I'm tasting it, I'm chewing it, maybe I take a sip of water or a beverage and then I'm back involved with a conversation, involved with what's going on around me. So in the moment that I take a bite, that's where my peace is with the Lord and he and I are together on this. I know he's with me, I've invited him in and I'm having that bite. I'm enjoying it, even in the midst of everything that's going on.

Speaker 1: 43:45

Does that make sense? Yeah, that's great, Christina. I think for me it's been a little bit different, because I tend to be my busiest in my head and I have to kind of nurture a quiet heart. I think you're saying that too, though it's just not as obvious when I picture what your dinner table was like back when your kids were little. What is the disposition of my heart and my mind? Is it? I want to be distracted by what's going on? I've got to make sure so-and-so is eating such and such, and they're arguing and all of that. Or am I still leaning on God and allowing him to be my peace? And so for me there's definitely a big part of it whether or not an eating experience is peaceful or not. For me, even now, when I don't have kids around, it's definitely my heart and my mind that I have to kind of give some tutelage to, and so I don't know if that makes sense. Does that make sense too?

Speaker 2: 44:52

It does, yeah it does and, honestly, there are a lot of times these days where it's just me, or just me and my husband now for meals. I mean, yes, we have those busy times a lot, but there is kind of a shift in the season of life that we're in that's happening, and so I'm asking God to help me with that and with you. Know what is a peaceful eating experience look like? When I'm all by myself, or with my husband, or with a friend at a restaurant, or with all my daughter's friends here and five more coming through the door with pizza in hand. All of that. I love all of the scenarios now and, yes, it's possible to have a peaceful eating experience anywhere, anytime.

Speaker 1: 45:43

One of my one-on-one ladies. She has, I think it's, four children, and to hear her describe her life, oh my gosh, I get stressed out. Hearing her describe her life, oh my goodness. They're all busy doing things and a mealtime is in and of itself without any kind of guidance would be, wow, a fiasco really. So it is hard. It is hard whether you have young kids or just pets cats, I mean, some people have cats. That could be a fiasco too, Depending.

Speaker 1: 46:21

I knew somebody who let cats up on his table. It was awful. Yeah, that's just me. But anyway, I think that it is hard. But, like Christina said, invite God in and ask him. You see what I'm struggling with God. You see that I'm having a hard time having a peaceful eating experience. I'm being distracted by all kinds of things. What would you have me do to be able to be more mindful of the food that is in front of me and that I'm enjoying, and mindful, of course, of the people who need me? Is there a way that I can do this, so that I can be at peace with the food and the whole eating experience?

Speaker 2: 47:03

Yeah, yeah, and there absolutely is, there absolutely is. So I love that really, okay. Number five is I will stop eating before my stomach is full, at that peaceful place, of just enough, okay. So this is probably the one that most of us struggle with the most.

Speaker 1: 47:24

Don't you think, heidi, oh yeah.

Speaker 2: 47:26

Yeah, this is harder, the zero kind of the emptiness. Okay, you know, I have a really strong physical signal and if I'm in doubt I just wait and it gets stronger and stronger. But that's not quite true for trying to find satisfied and a lot of us struggle with that, especially at first, and it takes some time. So, you know, make sure you're extending lots and lots of grace to yourself for this one. So I will stop eating before my stomach is full. So with full, what we're talking about is it's too much. You can feel the food pushing against your stomach. It just feels like it wasn't the right amount, it was too much. So what I want to do as a peaceful eater, as a spirit led eater, I want to just fuel my body with the right amount. So I don't want to go past that. You know, like at the gas station, I don't want to pour so much gas in that it starts coming out again. There is a right amount.

Speaker 1: 48:28

And everybody is a little bit different. So your peaceful place of just enough, and how much food it takes you that just right size portion to get to that, and how much it takes Christina might be very different or anybody else that you know, so be gracious to yourself in that.

Speaker 2: 48:47

Yeah, I mean. Oh, the other thing that's that's amazing about this God made our bodies in such a an amazing way is that it's not always the same so depending on our activity level, depending on what we've done that day, depending on what we ate yesterday.

Speaker 2: 49:05

I don't even know all the factors, but there's so much involved and so the same exact amount may be not enough on another day, or it may be too much on another day, and so that's a place where, you know, I love to invite God in and just ask him what's it going to be today? You know, help me to figure this out today. And so the place of just enough doesn't really have a signal as far as a physical signal, except for peacefulness. It's kind of a nothingness. It just feels right, it just feels like peace.

Speaker 1: 49:41

For me, often there's the lack of discomfort. Yes, so, there's discomfort that comes when I eat too much, and there's discomfort that comes when I'm hungry, and for me the best way to describe just enough is when I'm not uncomfortable. It's a wonderful feeling.

Speaker 2: 49:59

It is, it feels good. So one of the ways that helps me so much and this was in the keys to conscious eating is to slow down when I eat really. In the keys to conscious eating is to slow down when I eat really really fast. It's almost impossible for me to figure out where that place of just enough is. I have a really hard time when I'm eating fast or when I'm distracted, when I'm not kind of present with the food. But when I slow way down and take one bite at a time, put my fork down, those are just some of the things that help me. Then I can come to that place where it's like you know what I'm not hungry anymore, I'm not having any hunger signals and I feel totally satisfied right now. I'm going to push the rest away, put it away for later or whatever.

Speaker 1: 50:47

Yay. So we call these the five intentions of spirit led eating. And it's so important for us to be intentional because our flesh is going to wage war against this, that's for sure. We're always going to want more food, or we're going to want to eat when we're not hungry, or whatever it might be. But we can invite God in and keep leaning into him, depending on him for all of this, and he is there for us. It matters to him. It matters to him, yes, definitely does. And that, to me, is kind of how I can eat to the glory of God, like it says in 1 Corinthians 10, 31, that we started with whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all to the glory of God. As I use these intentions of spirit-led eating, as I make my intentions before each meal, before each day begins, I can give glory to God in my eating. I really love that.

Speaker 2: 51:46

Yeah, I love it too. Well, and just one more thought, because food and eating is life-giving for us, it's our fuel. Think of it as an opportunity to deepen your relationship with the Lord and your dependence on him. It's actually a beautiful thing. It's an opportunity. Every time those thoughts come to mind, or every time you're hungry, every time you're thinking, well, what should I choose for my meal? Or any anything at all that has to do with food and eating, think of it as an opportunity to invite the spirit in and connect with him and engage with him. I love that, and this whole journey has immensely deepened my relationship with the Lord.

Speaker 2: 52:31

I know, it has yours as well.

Speaker 1: 52:32

Well, it's been fun to watch you as you just become one of the biggest Jesus lovers I've ever known.

Speaker 2: 52:47

Well, we hope something here on our podcast Revelation Within On the go. Bye for now, we'll see you next time. Bye-bye, bye for now.