In today's interview with Amy Carlson, MS, RD, LD, Amy and Heather talk about the ways that "Purity Culture" a movement in the church through the 1990s, has paved the way for Diet Culture in the church. The duo explores the language we use around our food choices like "being good" or "being bad," how we admire those who can "abstain" from eating, and how we've put a lot of weight and value on our food choices to give us standing, worth, or value. Amy and Heather explore the good, bad, and ugly from purity culture and relate it to the ways we think about thinness, food, and the ways we eat toda ..read more

"But I feel better on a plan!" This is a sentiment Heather's heard many times and even said herself. But, today, she talks with a dietitian and eating disorder expert, Amy Carlson about what's underneath that feeling of needing a food plan to feel like we're doing "okay" in our bodies. Amy and Heather unpack why we feel guilty or like we're doing something "wrong" when we aren't following a plan. They talk about who and how we decide to follow certain diets or adopt certain food rules. They also talk about how many women hold tightly to the belief that they will feel better, more loved, less r ..read more

Today's episode is a compassionate letter to Gwyneth Paltrow who, on Instagram this week, talked about her "wellness plan" which included her sharing what she eats in a day. If you didn't get to see the interview, you can learn more in this New York Post article which quipped that Gwyneth's daily food routine sounded like, "colonoscopy prep."  But the goal of today's podcast is not to criticize or condemn Gwyneth. Instead, in this open letter, author and Christian body image coach, Heather Creekmore gently encourages Gwyneth with some data and science to help her see that her "wellness" p ..read more

Today Heather continues her conversation with Dr. Kari Anderson about binge eating. They discuss what's going on in the brain when we binge, how the brain sends signals that lead to a binge, how binges can connect with attachment and relational issues, how fear connects to inflammation issues, and more. Dr. Kari Anderson is a licensed professional counselor and is a national authority in the treatment of binge eating disorder. The pair also discuss: how to befriend your body, how to talk to your body, and what a difference this makes in our healing and recovery process after food, body, and ea ..read more

Today Heather interviews Dr. Kari Anderson, a licensed professional counselor, eating disorder coach, author, and a recognized authority in treating binge eating and Binge Eating Disorder (BED). Today, Dr. Anderson shares her story of struggling with food as a child and young adult. Heather and Kari talk about everything from Kari's secret affinity for downing sugar packets for comfort to going to Weight Watchers meetings and how Kari's faith and training helped her come to a place where she has peace with food and her body. Kari and Heather talk about stress eating, what binge eating actually ..read more

What do you do when you feel fat? Of course, most know by now that "fat" isn't really a feeling. Yet, how many of us say it? It's what we say when we don't know any other words to express displeasure with how our bodies look or feel. Today, Heather explores six things you can do when you feel fat. Heather talks about what's under the surface of our "bleh" body feelings and how we can ask ourselves questions to try to separate what we are feeling, emotionally from how our bodies look. Heather also talks about what we need to do to protect our body image and how, as Christians, there are certain ..read more

Today we’re going to talk about what to do if there’s a part of your body that you hate–that you want to change or maybe even are obsessing over changing. In particular, we're going to talk about hating our stomachs. But you can take today's content and apply it to any body part that bothers you. Heather shares how she tried to research and figure out what culture's advice is for those who hate their stomachs. In short: the answer is always to change it. It's as if your stomach is a broken pipe in your kitchen that you can fix by following these "3 easy steps." It's as if your stomach is compl ..read more

In Numbers 13 and 14 we read the story of Joshua, Caleb and the twelve spies that were sent out from the Israelites to scout out the land of Canaan. Canaan was the promised land - the land that God was leading them to and had promised to them after freeing them from slavery in Egypt. Yet, ten of the twelve men sent as scouts decided that they were too small to fight the inhabitants and take over the land. In today's episode, Heather explains how this story can help inform and encourage our body image issues. Was it body image issues that kept these men from taking the land God had promised the ..read more

On today's show, Heather re-introduces herself, shares her story, and explains in more depth the ministry of Compared to Who? Heather tells of how God helped her overcome a lifetime battle with food, a likely eating disorder, and other body image issues. She shares how God revealed to her she had made her body image an idol and how the revelation of the body image idolatry was life-changing. Heather also shares what Compared to Who? is all about, including the resources Compared to Who? offers beyond the podcast. Heather talks about her books, her coaching opportunities, and what's ahead for t ..read more

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