Relatable with Allie Beth Stuckey - Ep 951 ｜ What Does the Bible Say About Our Diet？｜ Guest： Chelsea Blackbird

00:00:00.620 What we eat matters. It matters not just for our physical health, but also for our spiritual

00:00:06.180 health. It matters to God. God cares about the body. Therefore, he cares about how we

00:00:11.860 steward the body. So how should we think of health and wellness and nutrition from a Christian 1.00

00:00:17.360 and biblical perspective? A Christian nutritionist, Chelsea Blackbird, is here today to break it 0.97

00:00:23.700 all down for us. She has been doing this for 20 years, and she has a lot of really interesting

00:00:29.100 insights, not just into physical nutrition, but also into our spiritual health and how these two

00:00:36.400 are tied together. This episode is brought to you by our friends at Good Ranchers. Go to

00:00:40.640 GoodRanchers.com. Use code ALI at checkout. That's GoodRanchers.com, code ALI.

00:00:54.000 Chelsea, thank you so much for joining us.

00:00:56.500 Thank you for having me. I'm excited to be here.

00:00:58.180 Yes. Can you tell everyone who you are and what you do?

00:01:01.100 Sure. My name is Chelsea Blackbird, and I love bringing together the topic of health

00:01:10.660 through a biblical lens. I never thought I would be doing anything like this, but about 20 years

00:01:19.580 ago, I was facing my own health challenges. I grew up with a genetic skin condition that I went to

00:01:29.320 doctors for for about 20 years, you know, finally kind of hit a dead-end road with them. They couldn't

00:01:34.500 do anything more for me. I took every cream, every pill that they recommended, had major surgery,

00:01:39.160 and then it was kind of like, we can't help you anymore. So there was that. I had chronic digestive

00:01:43.940 issues growing up, but I just thought they were normal. But it wasn't until I was diagnosed with

00:01:50.280 unexplained infertility that I really became desperate for a solution. And my husband was

00:02:00.620 not on board with the direction that the doctors wanted to take me. So I started researching,

00:02:06.220 looking around, found a doctor with a holistic approach. I found a really great book called

00:02:11.320 Taking Charge of Your Fertility. The holistic doctor changed my diet, gave me some supplements,

00:02:18.180 filled in some gaps, and six weeks later, I was pregnant.

00:02:21.080 Wow.

00:02:21.700 Yes.

00:02:22.120 So this is 20-ish years ago in small town Texas.

00:02:26.380 Yes.

00:02:26.480 How in the world did you go about finding this person?

00:02:29.120 How did I find him? Well, he was in the bigger town not far from me. Honestly, I can't even remember

00:02:36.200 how I found him. It was just through researching.

00:02:38.260 I guess God made the connection.

00:02:39.520 Yes. Yes. Yes. Absolutely. A divine connection. And that really started me on the journey of just

00:02:45.680 being hungry to learn more about that, about nutrition and health. And so I just started

00:02:51.020 reading and reading and reading and finally went back to become certified as a holistic practitioner.

00:02:58.420 And that's what I've been doing for the last 10, 12, 11 years. As I was going through this and

00:03:08.020 learning all of these things, I felt this strong pull from God to call myself the Christian nutritionist.

00:03:17.720 Every time I would read my Bible, all I could see was health advice, frankly. It was like God put a

00:03:23.400 lens over my eyes. And I was like, oh my gosh, this makes so much sense. There's so much information out

00:03:29.780 there, conflicting information. And so it just started to make sense to me.

00:03:32.880 You know, God made our body. Who knows better what our body needs than the creator of our body,

00:03:38.580 right? And so I really just started learning, diving into that. I really resisted. God,

00:03:47.440 I resisted that call when he was calling me to that because I'm like, I don't know enough about the

00:03:52.100 Bible, God. And I'm new to this nutrition stuff. And who am I? And sometimes I like to, you know,

00:03:57.380 eat chips and drink some wine. Maybe I'm not the best person for this job. But when God calls you

00:04:03.680 to do something, you just, you do it, you know, you, he wasn't letting up. And so here I am.

00:04:10.780 So what did your holistic doctor recommend to you that was so revolutionary in your life? And that

00:04:18.740 quickly, you said six weeks later, you were pregnant.

00:04:21.420 Six weeks. Yes. And it was a combination of reading that book, which really...

00:04:24.820 Taking charge of your fertility.

00:04:26.660 Yes. Re-taught me about my body, which honestly, I really hadn't thought of since fourth grade when

00:04:30.980 you learn, you know, you learn in school.

00:04:32.180 Yeah. I mean, that's most of us.

00:04:33.480 Yes. Who's talking about it? Who's really teaching you about your body and timing and hormones and all

00:04:38.540 of these things, right? Once you kind of get past that initial education. So it was a matter of

00:04:44.540 that. Also, he put me on a gluten-free diet.

00:04:47.800 Okay.

00:04:48.220 Um, and gave me some essential fatty acid, uh, supplements. Basically just, I was really

00:04:54.240 lacking in essential fatty acids.

00:04:55.680 And did he tell you what his thinking was behind the gluten-free diet?

00:04:59.180 No.

00:04:59.560 Because that was before gluten-free, you know, kind of has been trendier.

00:05:03.060 Right.

00:05:03.320 And it's not a trend for everyone, but over the past few years, it's been more common for

00:05:07.360 people to be gluten-free. But 20 years ago, it wasn't really.

00:05:10.340 It wasn't. I'd heard of it. I have a celiac in my family. I have a couple of aunts with celiac

00:05:14.860 disease. So it was familiar to me and I'd kind of toyed with it off and on. Um, he, he

00:05:20.460 really didn't. I knew enough that gluten could be inflammatory. And so that, I think that was

00:05:26.300 a big part of it. And at the time, I honestly didn't even understand the significance of the

00:05:32.140 fatty acids and why that was important. Um, but it, you know, just looking back now, I can

00:05:38.600 see my body was not ready to grow a baby. It did not have what it needed. And I think that

00:05:44.640 is one thing that enough people, people don't pay enough attention to is that when something's

00:05:49.900 off with the body, that is a sign that there's an imbalance or a nutritional need or something

00:05:57.720 that needs to be changed. And I always like to remind people that our bodies are not against us.

00:06:04.100 Our bodies are for us. God made our bodies incredibly smart and resilient and wired for

00:06:10.520 wellness. And when we give it what it needs, um, it can do its job better. And so always just to be

00:06:15.940 making those connections and being aware, um, of those connections. So what did it look like? What

00:06:21.480 has it looked like being a Christian nutritionist? What are you offering people? Um, really just

00:06:28.280 looking at health and nutrition from the purpose of the body. You know, I think a lot of us,

00:06:35.320 when we're thinking about health, we're thinking of it very much only from the physicality of our

00:06:40.580 appearance and how we look right. Um, I think as Christians, we really need to take a look

00:06:46.340 at the true purpose of the body. What is the purpose of the body? It is not to hit a certain

00:06:52.460 number on the scale or to, you know, hit a certain size of jeans or even to eat perfectly.

00:06:58.120 Our bodies are meant to be a vessel of the Holy Spirit. You know, first Corinthians 619 says,

00:07:04.900 do you not know that your body is a holy temple, you know, given from God, you are not your own.

00:07:11.480 So we are image bearers. We are the hands and feet of Christ in the world. And, uh, I believe that every,

00:07:17.700 that God has given every person, uh, gifts and a special way to bless the world. And we just show

00:07:24.280 up so much more fully to that, you know, to offer that to our family and our friends and our workplace

00:07:30.100 and our communities. When we feel well, when we feel well, we serve well, when we feel good in and

00:07:35.840 about our body. And so that is a huge piece of it is just kind of reframing the way that we look at

00:07:41.320 taking care of our body and that self stewardship, that stewardship that we are called to, um, to be in

00:07:47.120 these bodies. So how should Christian, that's how Christians kind of view the body. How do we

00:08:04.660 view food then? Because there's so many different messages that especially as women have been kind 0.81

00:08:12.620 of competing in our minds. I feel like, um, guys in athletics, they learned pretty early on that

00:08:18.820 food is fuel for us, or at least for me, I can't speak for everyone, but it felt less like I would

00:08:26.440 use food for fuel and more like I was competing against it or like competing against my hunger.

00:08:32.640 Right. Um, and you know, only wanting to eat as much as what would satiate you. You go through your

00:08:38.460 preteen, your teenage years, the worst thing that you can think of is not looking good in the mirror

00:08:44.300 or not being comfortable in your skin or not fitting into a certain size. And so you learn very early

00:08:49.920 on to kind of compete against your hunger, to compete against food, to see your body as an enemy. And so

00:08:56.480 how do you fight back against all of those messages that especially women have carried with us for

00:09:02.800 so long about what we eat? Right. First and foremost, we have to look again, as I said, the,

00:09:10.400 the creator of our body knows the perfect thing that our body needs. Right. And so when we look to

00:09:16.560 scripture, we know that he gave us foods from the plant kingdom, Genesis 126, and he gave us foods from

00:09:23.080 the animal kingdom, Genesis 9, 3. And our body requires, uh, certain things from both of those kingdoms to be

00:09:30.660 healthy. And again, you know, viewing the body as being healthy enough to do the work that we're

00:09:35.200 called to do in the world, to glorify the Lord, to do our kingdom work, whether that is being a mother

00:09:39.620 or being a professional, or, um, just being kind to the people in our community. You know, it's so much

00:09:45.280 of how we show up to do that, um, is determined by the foods that we eat, the functioning of our body,

00:09:51.620 the way we feel, our moods, everything that we put in our body determines so much about that.

00:09:56.800 And so as far as all the conflicting messages yet, there's so much, right? It's like,

00:10:02.220 should you be keto or carnivore or vegetarian or fat's bad? Are they good? I mean, so much has

00:10:06.820 changed just in, you know, my lifetime that it's overwhelming. And I think it's very hard for,

00:10:13.140 um, for all of us to really know what is the best thing to do here, but just taking it back to those,

00:10:18.660 those foundational elements, we need plant foods, we need animal foods. Each of those kingdoms offers

00:10:24.540 something very important for the body to run well. From the animal kingdom, we get our proteins,

00:10:31.380 our amino acids, essential amino acids that our body must use to repair and rebuild our body.

00:10:37.720 And from the, the plant kingdom, we get carbohydrates, we get phytonutrients, we get fiber,

00:10:43.200 we get some vitamins and minerals from both of the kingdoms. We get fats from both of the kingdoms.

00:10:47.640 And so when we start looking at the, uh, as food kind of as fuel, you know, we, it is a good thing

00:10:53.960 to, to come around and know that yes, our body needs to be fueled. Our body is constantly rebuilding

00:10:59.600 and repairing itself. I think a lot of people don't think about that, that our body is constantly

00:11:05.180 making new gut cells, new skin cells, new liver cells, new bones. Where do you get the material to

00:11:11.860 do that? Where's your body, get the material to do that from the food that you eat. And so if you're,

00:11:17.120 you know, eating ding dongs and soda, well, you're not giving your body a lot of good material to use,

00:11:23.140 to, to build your body, to run your body, to fuel your body. And so when we think of it that way,

00:11:30.260 just really understanding that we need this, these good materials for our body to be well,

00:11:35.620 to be sound, to be fit physically, spiritually, and mentally. And again, I think as women,

00:11:41.080 when we do change that viewpoint from, uh, you know, thinking of food and weight and thinking

00:11:49.540 all of these things that are against us and thinking, this is for us. This is for me. This

00:11:53.840 is so I can live into everything that God created me to be. And it's just a shift of, of mind.

00:12:00.080 Yeah, definitely. It definitely is, uh, I don't, I don't know if it's a trend or if it's just popular,

00:12:07.600 whatever it is, but to say that we should only be eating this or only be eating that,

00:12:12.820 or we should cut all of this or cut all of that. And I'm thinking of carnivore, I'm thinking of

00:12:18.380 veganism. And honestly, I know people in both of those camps who swear by how they eat, who swear

00:12:25.100 that all we need is leafy greens and vegetables, juice, things like that, and maybe even raw vegetables.

00:12:34.500 And then I know people who do carnivore who swear by that. And they say, it's so much protein. I'm so

00:12:40.800 full. I'm never craving anything. I'm never hungry. I've built so much muscle. And so, and then I, I know

00:12:47.100 people who have done veganism to help fight cancer and things like that. And so it's hard to argue with

00:12:51.600 people's personal testimony because if that works for them, then that's great. But I've also heard

00:12:56.680 other nutritionists like you say, well, we really aren't getting everything that we need. If we are

00:13:03.020 only eating from one food group, but it's hard for someone like me who doesn't have all the expertise

00:13:08.940 to, to really know what's true because these people who have these incredible stories, but also who seem

00:13:14.860 to know a lot more than I do or saying with such authority, no, if you eat meat, then you're probably

00:13:19.700 going to get cancer. Or if you eat leafy greens, those leafy greens are telling you not to eat them

00:13:25.180 because they're bitter. I'm like, I don't know what to believe. I don't know what to believe. I'll just go

00:13:29.300 to In-N-Out again. Right. Well, you know, I think there's a place, there's a time and a place for

00:13:34.520 therapeutic diets. And somebody could use a vegan diet or a carnivore diet or a keto diet

00:13:41.240 therapeutically. And there's nothing wrong with that. And that it's for like one purpose, one ailment

00:13:48.260 or for a specific purpose of trying to heal something? Right. Okay. Right. And temporary,

00:13:53.520 maybe three to four months, maybe longer. It can depend. But ultimately in the big picture,

00:13:58.080 I think the ideal diet, again, when we go back and look at scripture, Genesis 1.26,

00:14:03.300 God gave us plants. Genesis 9.3, God gave us meat. You know, and really that is the ideal diet,

00:14:08.860 a combination of, you know, clean versions of plant food and animal food is really what we are best

00:14:17.100 meant to eat. You know, and I encounter a lot of people that believe that because we originated in

00:14:22.820 the garden, you know, that we should be vegetarian. Yeah, I've heard that. You know, that's, that comes

00:14:27.680 up a lot. And I'd like to remind people that we did get kicked out of the garden. Yeah. And that God

00:14:34.200 gave us the permission to eat meat in Genesis 9.3. And not only that, but he gave us direction about

00:14:40.600 what is the best meat to eat. And when we look at the food laws he gave the Israelites in Leviticus,

00:14:46.280 I think it surprises people to know that what he recommended were the ruminant animals, cattle,

00:14:54.040 bison, deer, sheep, goat, all red meat. Right. Right. And that is very opposite of the narrative

00:15:01.660 that we hear today, that meat will cause cancer and such. And so again, that is one of those things

00:15:07.780 coming back to our, our godly compass for me anyway, that is when I come back to my godly compass

00:15:13.080 and think, okay, God recommended this kind of meat. This cannot be bad for me.

00:15:19.120 And when it comes to kinds of meat, how should we look at how things are being processed? I mean,

00:15:26.340 that's not something that I know very much about at all. I mean, I get my meat from good ranchers,

00:15:31.820 as people on this podcast know, but most people are going into the grocery store and they're just

00:15:37.760 kind of doing their best. They might look at the composition of, you know, lean meat versus fatty

00:15:43.260 meat, but that's about all they know. And I don't even know how to necessarily control how it's being

00:15:49.700 processed or anything. So how do we look at, if we're going to eat food from all these different camps,

00:15:57.100 how do we look at their characteristics? How do we make the best choice for the best things within

00:16:02.400 those groups? Sure. Well, when it comes to meat specifically, obviously it's just like it's best

00:16:09.340 for us to eat our God-given diet. It is best for the animal to eat their God-given diet, right? So

00:16:14.300 the, the more that we can source our protein from animals that were fed well, raised well,

00:16:21.980 that is ideal. You know, my husband is a, is a grass-fed cattle rancher. So, you know,

00:16:26.880 I see this up close and personal. That said, sometimes that can be hard to find. Sometimes

00:16:32.800 that can be out of people's budget, you know? And, and even labeling can be kind of confusing,

00:16:42.140 right? Because something can say this is grass-fed, but all cattle are grass-fed for part of their life,

00:16:48.600 but not a hundred percent of their life. So it has to be grass-finished. It has to be grass-finished,

00:16:52.880 right? Yes. So that means grass-finished means that they're only eating the grass, right? Because

00:16:59.260 if they're grass-fed, but not grass-finished, it could also, it could mean that they're fattening

00:17:04.660 up towards the end of their life with extra stuff that we wouldn't want. Correct. They're finished on

00:17:09.980 brain. Um, typically, and unfortunately it's usually not high quality. It's genetically modified

00:17:15.560 corn and soy. And so again, that's not, that can lead to illness for the animals, which would

00:17:22.160 require what? Require some shots, things like that. Right. Um, and so, however, I don't,

00:17:28.120 I don't like to scare people, put fear of people, you know, put fear in people about what to eat,

00:17:32.700 but I do have some tips about what you should do. You go to the grocery store and you're looking at

00:17:36.760 your meat. The thing is when you are choosing your, uh, your red meat, say your beef or your bison,

00:17:44.660 um, and those come from ruminant animals. I think this is so fascinating.

00:17:48.380 And what's ruminant? Ruminant animals are animals that have a four part

00:17:52.920 digestive system. Okay. This is different from a monogastric animal, like a chicken or a pig or a

00:17:59.260 person. We are a monogastric animal, one stomach. Okay. Okay. Ruminants have four stomachs. It takes

00:18:05.320 them closer to 24 hours to digest. They are typically they're, they're herbivores, right? And so they are

00:18:11.520 utilizing plant nutrition, turning it into amino acids and all of these wonderful nutrients that they pass

00:18:17.000 onto us when we eat them. And so it's something about this wonderful ruminant digestive process

00:18:22.760 that they can do that. But also that longer digestive process allows them more time and more

00:18:28.840 capability to process some of the toxic effects of, um, what they might be encountering. And so I tell

00:18:36.080 people if you are on a, a budget or you have a lack of access to things, really going for your,

00:18:43.260 your beef, um, is going to be more forgiving or a ruminant animal food, beef, bison, sheep, goat, elk

00:18:50.680 is going to be more forgiving in that kind of toxic arena. Whereas something like chicken or pork,

00:18:57.500 they hold on to more toxins. Yeah. If you will. And another thing to consider is that animals just

00:19:04.440 like humans hold toxins in our fat cells. That's where we store them. And it's beautiful. God's

00:19:09.800 beautiful design to keep toxins away from our vital organs. And so if you are unable to access

00:19:16.960 or afford, you know, grass fed beef or pastured chicken, um, something like that, or pastured

00:19:22.520 pork going for the leaner cuts is, uh, is a good idea. Okay. So leaner cuts of beef, leaner cuts of

00:19:30.020 meat. If you, yes. Okay. So that's less fat, which means less toxins that you would be getting.

00:19:36.040 The lower the quality. Okay. Then I would stick more for the lower fat, but otherwise,

00:19:42.740 if you are able to access, you know, grass fed beef, um, pastured pork or chicken, then I wouldn't

00:19:49.840 worry about that because, you know, animal fats offer fat soluble vitamins. There are health benefits

00:19:55.800 to eating the animal in its entirety. Um, if, if it's good quality. Okay. Gotcha. And then,

00:20:02.580 because we do hear so often that, well, I eat meat, but only chicken. I don't want to eat any

00:20:08.420 red meat. We are kind of made to believe that chicken is actually the healthiest form of meat

00:20:13.500 for us. But you're saying because of that, the one chamber. The monogastric stomach. Yes. Yes. We

00:20:20.140 could get more toxins from chicken than we would from beef possibly. Yes. And I don't want to scare

00:20:25.100 people from chicken. Yeah. Eat chicken, eat fish, eat, you know, red meat, eat all of it. Yeah. Just

00:20:30.220 please eat protein. Yeah. Please eat protein from animal sources. That's, you know, uh, I really try

00:20:35.740 to, uh, get people, so many women, especially under eat protein is a huge problem. Yes. I definitely do. 1.00

00:20:41.440 And I want to talk to you about that. Yes. Um, and so, uh, but again, when we're trying to make the best

00:20:47.480 choices we can, what we have access to, what is in our budget food is so expensive right now and it's tough.

00:20:53.200 And so if, you know, when we're in the grocery store making those decisions, yes, um, that red 1.00

00:20:59.060 meat is going to be more forgiving as far as tox toxicity and, um, going for the, you know, lower

00:21:06.040 fat cuts. It's not time to, you know, eat all the ribeyes if you are, you know, you can't get a very

00:21:11.360 high quality meat. Yeah. Okay. Let's talk about protein then. Okay. Because that is obviously one

00:21:17.340 benefit to a carnivore diet. They say you're going to get protein and that is one complaint that

00:21:23.060 people have, if they're going all vegan or something, that's just tough to get, especially

00:21:28.480 natural forms of protein. Of course you can get protein powders and things like that, but then you

00:21:32.880 run into all different kinds of ingredients. So you've already advocated for basically a diet that

00:21:38.540 takes the best of every kind of group. Yes. But how much, how much should we be eating of

00:21:46.340 what? Right. Because it's also been popular to say, just do almost all leafy greens and then kind

00:21:53.240 of add in the protein when you can, but it doesn't sound like that's what you would recommend.

00:21:58.240 I would, I recommend a pretty high protein diet. Um, I would say between 70 to 90 grams.

00:22:04.880 Okay. Um, most days, if you can swing it, that's high. Um, but a lot of people, not a lot of people,

00:22:10.400 but some would even recommend higher than that and recommend one gram of protein per pound of

00:22:18.380 ideal lean body mass. So lean body mass is everything in your body besides fat. It includes

00:22:25.360 your, your muscle, the water, everything. And so it's not your weight, but, um, like my ideal lean

00:22:32.060 body mass, um, at my height at five, six is if I'm remembering correctly is 108. Yeah. How do you

00:22:39.580 know that? There's a chart. Oh, you can just, you can just search it. Okay. So it's not individual.

00:22:44.040 It's really just for like your height. You can figure it out. Okay. Yes. And so for somebody

00:22:49.280 that is really targeting, uh, maybe weight loss or trying to tone up, build muscle, I recommend

00:22:56.920 going that closer to that. Okay. But for just kind of your everyday person and maybe somebody that's

00:23:03.000 not used to eating very much protein, 70 to 90 grams is kind of a nice range to go towards and

00:23:08.580 animal protein, because what we're after in protein are amino acids, essential amino acids. Those are

00:23:15.300 the building blocks of the body. That is what makes your body. That is what your body uses to repair,

00:23:20.380 build your cells. And we get those amino acid, the essential amino acids, so much more bioavailably

00:23:28.300 from, from animal protein than we do from plants. So animal foods, animal proteins are considered a

00:23:35.620 complete protein because they have all of those eight essential amino acids that we need in the

00:23:39.900 right ratios and the right amounts to each other. Okay. Whereas a plant protein has some of these amino

00:23:45.780 acids, doesn't have quite the amount of them, um, and not in the right ratio. So for example,

00:23:52.700 to get the same amount of protein, um, from say like quinoa and, uh, you know, a three ounce piece of steak,

00:24:00.720 you'd have to have like three cups of quinoa or like a little three or four ounce piece of meat.

00:24:05.840 Well, then what's happening? Well, I don't know about you. If I eat three cups of quinoa, I'm gonna

00:24:09.080 be bloated. Yeah. And I'm going to be hungry and like 30 minutes. Right. You're gonna be bloated.

00:24:15.320 It's not that filling. Um, and there's, there's a high energy or caloric load with that comes with

00:24:20.420 that. When you can get those amino acids that you need so much more efficiently from a small piece

00:24:25.200 of meat. And so that's where the animal kingdom shines, right? Is, is the essential amino acids

00:24:30.220 where your plant kingdom is going to give you that fiber and some of those phytonutrients that you

00:24:34.400 need. And so that's really what I like to remind people is that both kingdoms have their strengths,

00:24:38.920 right? But the amino acids, boy, the animal kingdom hands down is the winner there.

00:24:44.440 Okay. So 70 to 90 grams of protein you would say. And then what about fat and carbs? What are you

00:24:52.440 aiming for? Okay. So with fat and carbs, um, carbs, I like to keep those under about a hundred grams

00:24:59.680 and little, that can be ish. I'm kind of ish, you know, it depends, depends on how much you move.

00:25:06.700 Um, it depends on the quality of those carbohydrates, but, um, I would say the more real food, I would say

00:25:14.260 real food, the way God made it, the more real food, carbohydrates that you're eating from plants,

00:25:19.920 you know, your leafy greens and your, your produce basically. Okay. Um, you're, you can eat more,

00:25:25.740 you can get away with more. Um, but about a hundred grams or less is a, is a good target.

00:25:30.660 Okay. So for our carbs, you recommend getting those mostly from vegetables rather than say bread.

00:25:39.140 Ideally. Yes. Although I'm, I'm not against bread. I have to tell you that, you know, I was gluten free

00:25:44.460 for 10 years and in the last year I started milling my own wheat and baking bread. Wow.

00:25:51.680 That's awesome. Huge change. And so, um, so I eat bread every day practically. So I'm not,

00:25:56.360 but it's bread that you are making high quality, high quality. Um, and also that can fit in your

00:26:02.500 carb range. You know, that's the thing is that yes, you want to get a lot of vegetables. You want to get,

00:26:07.660 um, some fruit, um, some fruit, whole grains are not, you know, not a bad thing either. You know,

00:26:12.880 quinoa is not a bad food. Beans are, you know, have some, absolutely have some protein and have

00:26:18.820 some things in them, fiber and such again, fiber, some of those phytonutrients from the plant foods,

00:26:24.340 but the amino acids leave that to the, to the animal kingdom. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. And then, um,

00:26:31.420 fat, there are also some differing theories on how much fat we should have. There definitely

00:26:37.420 was a craze at one point in the nineties and early two thousands where like every snack would say

00:26:43.380 like zero grams of fat or no trans fat or whatever. Um, so what is your thought on how much fat we

00:26:49.960 should be eating? Right. Everything was low fat and now it's, everything's like full fat. Yeah.

00:26:54.360 Eat everything like that. So really, um, I kind of fill in the blanks with the fat after that. So if

00:27:00.220 we're eating 70 to 90 grams of protein, we are keeping our carbohydrates at about a hundred,

00:27:05.660 less than a hundred grams, then the rest will be made up from fat. And that can vary.

00:27:09.480 That could be, ew, 70 to a hundred grams of fat, 60 to a hundred grams of fat somewhere in there.

00:27:17.040 Once you kind of balance all those macronutrient ratios, the thing to remember is that carbohydrates

00:27:22.680 and fats are both forms of energy. Okay. And that's what our body uses as fuel. And so those are things

00:27:31.020 that we, we want to consider in relationship together. You know, when one is up, the other

00:27:37.260 needs to be kind of down. And so I always say proteins are steady, Eddie. We stay steady with

00:27:41.960 the protein. That's going to not going to change that much, but where we do some manipulation

00:27:47.780 is with our carbohydrates and fats. And so with the higher fat diet, it's, you're going to have less

00:27:52.520 carbohydrates that might be look more like 50 grams or 25 grams. Or if you're having more carbs,

00:27:59.080 we're going to bring those fats down a little bit more. So it's kind of a balance between them.

00:28:03.180 Just balance. And what would you say some of the best sources of healthy fat are?

00:28:07.240 From the plant kingdom, I would say extra virgin olive oil, coconut oil. Those are probably the

00:28:14.280 best from the animal kingdom, your butter, high quality tallow. Just those, again, if you are,

00:28:21.580 if you're able to source those good grass-fed meats or pastured meats, that fat has some good

00:28:29.000 fat-soluble vitamins in there. So, you know, if you think of our early ancestors, especially here

00:28:34.080 in America, that's, that is the fat that they would have eaten. It would have come from these 0.96

00:28:38.700 animal foods, right? Because in the early 1900s, they're not importing a lot of olive oil and coconut

00:28:44.240 oil, right? So they would have really relied on butter and tallow and lard and those things.

00:28:50.060 Yeah. And so that is, you know, and today it's, we're like, don't eat, don't eat fat,

00:28:56.220 don't eat butter, don't eat, you know, beef and all those things. But we got to think historically,

00:29:00.420 I think our common sense just flies out the window when it comes to this stuff.

00:29:04.200 What is a typical day of eating like for you, breakfast, lunch, and dinner?

00:29:20.280 So I eat a lot of eggs, love eggs. So the eggs, I did have a question about the eggs because we

00:29:27.220 talked about chickens and how sometimes just depending, they can have more toxins or they

00:29:31.960 have the propensity to have more toxins because of that single chamber of the stomach.

00:29:36.300 But does that count for the eggs? Like that might seem like a silly question,

00:29:42.260 but I don't know if it's the same concern that we have with the meat of the chicken.

00:29:47.040 Right. We do want to be concerned and aware of quality of the eggs. So again, the higher quality

00:29:52.960 of the chicken, the higher quality of the egg, you know, depends on what the chicken was fed,

00:29:57.960 how high quality the egg is. Again, you know, chickens are supposed to be out pecking around,

00:30:03.440 eating grass and grubs and different things like that. And when they do, they're very healthy.

00:30:07.500 They have healthy meat and they produce healthy eggs. The more that is, most chickens are kept in

00:30:13.520 a cage and they're, you know, they don't ever see the light of day and they're going to produce

00:30:18.940 these eggs. They're still going to have some nutritional value. They're just not going to be

00:30:22.460 as healthy as ones that are, you know, pastured. Right. So.

00:30:26.840 And the chickens are stressed out in those little chambers. Right. And I've heard that that can

00:30:32.160 affect also what gets into the egg, just like the different hormones and things that are happening

00:30:37.900 when you're under stress. They're different than the hormones that are present or elevated when you're

00:30:44.560 where you're supposed to be.

00:30:45.520 Exactly. Exactly. You know, when those chickens are fed genetically modified corn and soy, 0.99

00:30:51.480 you know, and there are people that are so sensitive that they could eat an egg that was

00:30:59.180 not pastured and it could set off a reaction because of what the chicken ate and produced the egg,

00:31:07.400 which is, you know, becoming alarmingly more and more common. Yeah.

00:31:12.340 You know, sadly, with food sensitivities and such. But so there's something to be said there.

00:31:17.120 But again, you know, not to scare people. I don't want to scare people off from eating eggs or

00:31:23.180 chicken or meat or anything. You just do the best you can. Yeah.

00:31:27.340 You know, you do the best you can. But the higher quality you can get, it's absolutely you're going

00:31:31.440 to get more nutrition. Right. It's going to be higher quality if you if you crack an egg.

00:31:35.080 So we have chickens. And when you when you see an egg that was passed from a pasture chicken,

00:31:41.620 I mean, the yolk is just this beautiful, vibrant, orangey yellow. Right. And then when you see the

00:31:47.780 yolk of an egg from a chicken that was, you know, didn't have as good a living conditions, it's very

00:31:52.640 pale, light yellow, light yellow. It's just not as rich in those and those vitamins and those

00:31:58.300 nutrients. And so you're just going to get so much more from those animals when they're fed well

00:32:02.820 and raised well. Yeah. So you eat a lot of eggs. A ton of eggs. Yes. A ton of eggs. So breakfast

00:32:08.360 might be something like scrambled eggs. Maybe I might scramble up some spinach in there. Some

00:32:12.820 cheese. Make like an omelet. Maybe a piece of toast with that. Lunch is usually leftovers from

00:32:19.740 dinner or I might make some tuna fish with apple. Tuna fish. Something like that. Dinner is usually a

00:32:28.260 meat and a vegetable and some kind of carbohydrate, like meat and potatoes and salad. Yeah. Like

00:32:35.160 husbands love me. I'm like, yeah, eat your meat and potatoes. Yeah. Tell their wives, yes. Yeah.

00:32:40.320 Make meat and potatoes. It's wonderful. Yeah. That's a very typical kind of meal. Okay. So

00:32:46.100 that's typically what you're eating. Are you a snacker at all? I try not to snack. Okay. And what

00:32:51.480 is your thought on snack? That's another theory that I've heard over the years that we should just be

00:32:55.100 eating little things throughout the day rather than the big meals. No. No, I know. You're right. I've

00:33:02.220 heard, you know, that is definitely one of those things. And I'm not, the thing is there's no one

00:33:08.660 perfect way that works for every single person, right? It really depends. I think ideally our

00:33:13.400 bodies should be able to have a meal and then go three to four hours and then have another meal. 0.61

00:33:19.720 What's happening in that time that you're not eating, there's a lot of digestion going on. Our

00:33:24.500 body needs to complete that digestive process. It takes two to three hours. When we're constantly

00:33:29.400 eating all day, we're keeping our digestive system engaged. And over time that can be hard

00:33:33.920 on the digestive system. Also in between meals, you know, your body is being able to

00:33:40.420 better switch between fuels for burning between being a sugar burner or a fat burner. If you're

00:33:45.560 constantly eating, you're really not giving your body enough time to burn stored energy,

00:33:50.640 the sugar and the fat on your body if you're always eating energy. So we want our bodies to be

00:33:55.320 able to have opportunity to burn some of that stored energy. But if we're eating all day,

00:33:59.980 that's not going to be happening. So eating, you know, three meals, sometimes two meals for people,

00:34:05.620 two meals and a snack. And in that case, that, you know, that's fine. That's not a big deal.

00:34:09.620 Sometimes I'm not that hungry for lunch. I might have something, a smaller meal, maybe

00:34:14.780 cottage cheese or something like that.

00:34:17.160 Okay. Okay. So you're down with cheese.

00:34:20.460 Oh, yes.

00:34:20.960 That's another thing, though, that some people are like, no, I know that you're okay with dairy

00:34:24.800 because of animal products, but some people are anti-cheese. So that's good to know. I like cheese.

00:34:28.860 I love cheese, too.

00:34:29.740 I especially love goat cheese. It's my favorite.

00:34:32.080 Yes.

00:34:33.140 Okay. What is your thought on intermittent fasting?

00:34:37.980 Love it.

00:34:38.700 You do?

00:34:39.520 Okay. Okay. I wasn't sure. Because again, this is highly contested stuff. Okay, tell me.

00:34:45.220 It's, you know, it's, this is another topic because intermittent fasting has, you know,

00:34:49.720 kind of had its glory and now it's being attacked, right? So I feel like everything has its moments,

00:34:55.000 you know, like, right, you know, like eat all the carbs, you know, with the food pyramid. No,

00:34:59.760 don't eat the carbs, eat all the fat. No, we're always, you know, building up and then tearing it

00:35:03.640 down. Same with intermittent fasting. I think what a good common sense thing to remember is that

00:35:10.900 historically people ate dinner and then they stopped and then they didn't eat till breakfast.

00:35:18.060 And that was probably about 12 hours. And it really wasn't until the onset of all the processed

00:35:23.840 food and food globalization and all this access to food all the time, right? It's, you know,

00:35:28.900 midnight snack, midnight snack, I'm drifting into the kitchen, making popcorn or eating ice cream or

00:35:33.460 whatever it is. That is not the natural, you know, what has been going on for forever and ever. This

00:35:41.500 is all of this eating all the time is really a new phenomenon and our body needs that digestive rest.

00:35:47.960 And so I love, yeah, stopping at about, you know, a decent time, not long after sunset, ideally,

00:35:54.740 and you give your body that time that needs two to three hours to digest. And then you go to sleep

00:36:00.440 and then your body goes into detoxification mode. When you eat too late, you extend that digestion

00:36:06.900 time and your body can't go into detox mode. What is detox mode? Well, at night is when we do all of

00:36:13.300 our repair processes. We're synthesizing memories. We are, our body's rebuilding muscle. It's repairing

00:36:20.420 tissue. Our hormones are resetting. Our hormones are telling our brain about how much energy we have

00:36:27.540 to store to burn. All kinds of things are happening at night, right? And so those are the things that

00:36:32.520 are supposed to happen when we are without food. And then there are certain things that are supposed

00:36:36.980 to happen during the day when we eat food. So it's really our circadian rhythm. And eating is supposed

00:36:41.720 to happen during the day, digestion, absorption, you know, utilizing and getting all this energy.

00:36:47.960 At night, we're meant to burn energy, burn fat, burn calories, repair, detoxify, and do all of those

00:36:56.160 things. Eating too late puts those processes off, delays those processes. So we really shortchange

00:37:02.960 ourselves from our detoxification processes when we eat too late. Okay. Gotcha.

00:37:08.880 And so that is one of the biggest advantages to intermittent fasting. And it doesn't have to be a

00:37:15.020 super long time, 12 to 16 hours. I average about a 14-hour fast most days. Sometimes it's closer to

00:37:20.880 12. Sometimes I'll go higher and it's 16. I think, you know, you definitely have to discern what's best

00:37:27.580 for where you are in your stage and season of life. You know, there's a lot of hormonal components and

00:37:34.220 such to it. And you don't want to get into almost like starvation mode. Because, you know, I've

00:37:40.120 unintentionally fasted to where, like, I'll say I'm running out the door and I just didn't eat

00:37:44.380 breakfast and then I'm on the go and I can't eat until one. Well, then all I crave is carbs,

00:37:51.540 sugar, that like quick energy because I'm so hungry. Yes. And so I guess there's some kind of

00:37:58.140 balance and it also depends on the time of day that you're doing it. Obviously, if you're asleep,

00:38:04.280 then I guess you and you can wake up and eat. That's different than trying to go all day and

00:38:09.940 constantly thinking about food and then just crashing, you know, at 3 p.m. or whatever.

00:38:15.680 Right. Ideally, we want to eat our food when the sun is out.

00:38:20.240 Makes sense.

00:38:21.040 Yes. I always say I like to eat with the sun in the sun. Eat when the sun is out. Eat with a very

00:38:25.600 receiving, grateful attitude. You know, give thanks to God for our meal that puts us in a state of

00:38:31.280 receiving and really helps our body prepare to release the digestive enzymes and the hormones

00:38:37.140 and everything we need to really receive and utilize that food well. Yeah. And then cut it

00:38:42.240 off not long after sunset. If we look biblically, their largest meal of the day was dinner and they

00:38:47.540 ate it right around sunset, but before it was completely dark outside. And so really trying to

00:38:53.680 wrap up dinner about, you know, dark and then going into that nice time in the evening and night when

00:39:00.460 we're repairing, sleeping, repairing, rebuilding, and resetting.

00:39:18.160 So you mentioned kind of stopping and thanking God for the food and that that's not a good practice

00:39:27.000 only spiritually, but also that that prepares our body. And so that just makes me think of how

00:39:33.320 often we're on the go with fast food and we're just grabbing it. And when it's like, when you know

00:39:39.540 it's bad processed food, you almost feel bad thanking God for it. You're like, please help this

00:39:46.320 go to the nourishment of my body, even though it's chicken fingers. And so I could see how that kind of

00:39:55.240 makes a difference in how we treat our food and how I guess our body receives those nutrients.

00:40:01.700 Yeah.

00:40:01.900 Yes, absolutely. Digestion begins in the brain and you have to be in a parasympathetic state,

00:40:07.300 which just means in a relaxed state. And when we're moving and we're working and we're thinking

00:40:12.600 about stressful things, we are in a sympathetic state. And so our body's not really in the state

00:40:19.780 of receiving where it's going to release these important-

00:40:22.240 It's in fight or flight.

00:40:23.040 It's in fight or flight.

00:40:23.940 Yeah.

00:40:24.260 Right. And I know, and I was thinking, you know, about you when I, my kids were babies. I mean,

00:40:29.440 I was just standing at the counter with a baby, like throwing food at people, like you're just

00:40:33.720 doing the best you can, right?

00:40:34.820 I feel like I never sit down and eat. I really, I mean, yeah, it's bad.

00:40:39.600 There's a season, right? But being more aware of that, sitting down when you can, because it is very

00:40:44.620 hard for your body to digest. And this leads to a lot of digestive issues for people.

00:40:50.360 And digestion is, if we can't digest our food well, well then I'll, you could be eating the

00:40:55.820 perfect diet. But if the nutrients can't get to where they need to go because you're not digesting

00:41:00.340 well, well, that's not helping, helping your body out. So yes, sitting down is huge.

00:41:06.600 What happens to your body when you're eating only in fight or flight mode? I mean, I'm just trying

00:41:10.920 to think through this logically. It seems like if you were really in fight or flight, like your body

00:41:16.240 would be like, okay, I got to hold on to this because I don't know, I'm in some, I'm running

00:41:20.980 from a bear or something. So I could see how it'd be difficult to lose weight again, even if you're

00:41:26.880 eating the right things, but you're always in fight or flight while you're eating, running. And what I

00:41:32.860 mean by fight or flight is like you're stressed, you're stressed out, which I know a lot of moms of 0.59

00:41:37.520 toddlers are stressed out. It's not like you're sad or angry. It's just, you got a lot of different

00:41:42.500 things vying for your attention. So I could see how it'd be difficult to lose weight in those

00:41:47.660 situations because your body might be thinking, I need to hold on to everything that I can because I

00:41:52.340 don't know when I'm going to get another meal or whatever. Yes, exactly. Hold on to the energy.

00:41:57.280 Absolutely. And so I do recommend as much as you can. I mean, being a mom of littles is a challenging

00:42:05.740 time, but I just don't think people even realize that we really, we need to be seated. Number one,

00:42:11.060 this was so funny when I was explaining this to my family, my dad was like, well, I just thought

00:42:14.700 if you're standing up, it just does, it's a bit straighter shot. No, you know, we need to be

00:42:21.940 seated. We have to be in that, that restful posture as much as we possibly can. We want to

00:42:27.060 chew our food really well. And it sounds like old grandma advice, but this is where we start

00:42:30.660 releasing enzymes that help us break down carbohydrates. You know, people are like, like

00:42:34.720 just cranking through, trying to hurry and eat. We don't release all those things. Our body has to

00:42:40.240 release the enzymes, the stomach acid to break down our food and that way and move

00:42:44.300 through the rest of the body so we can absorb the nutrients. And so, and yeah, so if your

00:42:47.980 body can't do that process well, and it's feeling like it's not getting the nutrition

00:42:52.700 it needs, yeah, your body will hold on to nutrition, hold on to weight for a rainy day.

00:43:00.600 Yeah. Yeah. Okay. That makes sense. I'm doing every, every possible thing wrong. I eat really

00:43:06.980 fast. I've always been like a fast eater. My husband and I both, um, both do. And I am

00:43:14.060 almost always eating on the go. My breakfast does not contain protein. I'm just telling all

00:43:20.180 myself here. It is typically now it is like it's sourdough bread, real sourdough bread,

00:43:26.180 not from the store that's actually made from scratch. So that's a little better and butter

00:43:30.660 and a little bit of salt. Maybe not the worst thing in the world, but also not the best thing

00:43:35.100 in the world to last me until like, I usually can't eat lunch until one 30. Right. Lunch is

00:43:40.440 honestly probably my hardest meal because I feel hungriest at lunch and I'm also still in some kind

00:43:48.560 of hurry. And so I also don't get a ton of protein typically. And I'm just saying this because I bet

00:43:55.520 there's a lot of people that can relate to this out there. I typically don't eat a lot of protein

00:44:00.020 until dinner and then, okay, it might be a steak or chicken or something with like sweet potatoes,

00:44:05.860 green beans. It's typically kind of the meal that you described to a green, some kind of carb and a

00:44:12.160 meat. So I know I'm not getting anywhere close to 70 to 90 grams. And every day I want it to be

00:44:18.400 different. And every day it's not different. And even dinner, I'm standing up and then sometimes it's

00:44:24.160 like, oh my gosh, we didn't even prepare for dinner. I forgot to take the meat out to thaw. Then it is

00:44:27.720 some kind of like takeout or something like that. And I also, I know some people say that they lose

00:44:33.480 weight when they're breastfeeding. I do not lose weight when I'm breastfeeding. I typically don't

00:44:37.460 start losing weight until like six months to a year after birth because I start breastfeeding less.

00:44:44.540 I don't know. When I'm breastfeeding, my body is like, I'm going to hold on to everything I possibly

00:44:48.680 can. And I have tried to cut things out or to eat less while breastfeeding and it affects my milk

00:44:56.020 supply. And so, yeah, anyway, that's like the state of my nutrition, which is not great at all

00:45:02.380 right now. A lot of it is just to be honest, like a lack of discipline and some laziness on my part,

00:45:09.000 just plain and simple. And some of it is just like not knowing what to do and just do every meal feels

00:45:17.020 like I'm just doing what works, you know? So, yeah.

00:45:20.240 It definitely takes some planning, you know, but I would say, yes, protein at that first meal of the

00:45:26.540 day is huge. It kind of sets the tone for the whole day, right? You'd be less hungry at lunch if you did

00:45:31.600 that, right? And protein is really important. First meal of the day, as we have been doing all our

00:45:38.660 detoxification process and repairing all night, our body's using all those amino acids, right, that we get

00:45:43.980 from protein to do that. So when we wake up in the morning, we're in kind of a catabolic,

00:45:48.220 kind of broken down state and our body needs a replenishment of those amino acids. And so it's

00:45:54.060 a really important time to restock the body with the amino acids for the day. I would say, you know,

00:46:00.300 the morning meal and then the evening meal are the two most critical times for the protein. And then

00:46:05.720 also, again, you know, like you're not going to feel as hungry. And yeah, by if you haven't eaten very

00:46:10.660 much and by the time one o'clock's rolling around, everybody's like, just give me anything.

00:46:14.380 Just put anything in here so I can keep going, right? Your body's really seeking energy and

00:46:18.180 we don't always make the best choices. But yeah, I make a one thing that kind of saves me. I make

00:46:23.920 I call it a high protein egg casserole. And it is a dozen eggs, a carton of cottage cheese blended

00:46:29.740 together over a pack of sausage, you know, cook sausage, put it in like a Pyrex pan, put some grated

00:46:35.960 cheese on top, and then pour that that egg mixture with the cottage cheese, lots of protein, eat a couple

00:46:42.680 squares of that. It's 30 grams of protein, which is a really nice, a really nice target.

00:46:47.920 Yeah, that is good. Because if you can do that for every meal, then you're good to go.

00:46:51.260 It's easy. We eat on that all week. Yeah. You know, so if you make that and you can have bread

00:46:55.280 with it too. And yeah, that is super easy. You don't have to follow a recipe.

00:46:59.420 Right. It's four ingredients. We make I make that every week.

00:47:03.420 If you had that with a piece of bread, oh, you would be you'd be solid. Yeah. Way better than

00:47:08.100 right now when I'm like always starving by lunch. And then you just just like everything else,

00:47:12.760 honestly, there's probably a spiritual lesson there. But when you allow yourself to get super

00:47:18.020 hungry and super desperate, you just don't make the best choices because you're really acting

00:47:21.800 emotionally. Right. Rather than it's like your discernment can't even really function because

00:47:29.620 all you can think of is the immediate hunger feelings of starvation and panic. Exactly.

00:47:35.760 Yeah. So if someone is coming to you for your services, like what does that what does that

00:47:43.480 look like? Does it is it individual? Do you have different packages for different stages of life

00:47:48.780 or what is that like? Well, I've recently moved away from one on one consultations. I feel like

00:47:55.600 the direction God has put me in is to really teach as many people as I can. And so I have a group.

00:48:04.560 It's called the Christian Health Club. That's also the name of my podcast where I talk a lot about this

00:48:08.240 information. And within that health club membership, I have all kinds of programs that address all of

00:48:13.920 these things. We address carbohydrate load and fasting and protein meals and timing and all kinds of

00:48:23.340 different things. Because one thing I want people to also realize is that it takes time to implement

00:48:29.000 these things. You know, there's it's a habit changing, ongoing process of making choices for our body.

00:48:36.700 It's not about a short term diet, 30 days, three months. We got to wake up every day and make choices

00:48:41.780 about the food that we make. And, you know, when we're going to go to sleep and the movement that we're going

00:48:47.440 to get. And so I I've just decided to move to really group programs to teach people kind of more

00:48:53.540 the comprehensive load of that and really take time to implement it with them. You know, and so that's

00:49:00.200 that's the way that I work with people now.

00:49:13.760 Do you give advice to moms about how to get their children? Because you're a mom of three and they're 1.00

00:49:21.320 older now. Yes. So but when they were younger, how were you implementing these principles for them?

00:49:27.200 Right. Just giving, cooking, making, giving this food. They do. They always want it. No,

00:49:34.560 you know. But what you have in the house, you know, as a mom, we have so much influence over what our

00:49:40.760 children eat. And I always say also, the most important thing to do, first of all, is to steward

00:49:46.340 your body well to be that example, right? Because they're watching. They're watching what you do. And they

00:49:51.740 do soak up so much more by observing you just the way they observe your marriage or the way that you work

00:49:56.840 anything. Also, the way that you take care of yourself or don't. So first and foremost, that

00:50:02.960 and when you are preparing and have that food making for yourself, you're also making it for

00:50:07.720 your family. And it's just it is. This is what we're having. This is it. This is what we got. If

00:50:13.680 you're hungry, this is it. This is what we're eating. And, you know, also, upgrading the best that

00:50:18.940 you can. I won't say that I don't eat perfectly. My family doesn't eat perfectly. But we do the best we

00:50:23.940 can. And I always try to upgrade our food. So do my kids eat chips? Yeah, they eat chips. But I'm

00:50:29.440 going to find the best upgraded version of chips that I can find, right? We're going to use, try to

00:50:37.260 find something that doesn't use seed oils. We're going to try to find something that, you know,

00:50:40.960 maybe is non-GMO. If I'm going to eat tortilla chips, they're going to be non-genetically modified.

00:50:45.480 You know, just making the best decisions that you can. Now, when they do get older and they get in

00:50:49.680 school, I will say I have teenagers and they don't want to listen to my advice.

00:50:55.220 Yeah. And when you start. Oh, really? My parents who are listening to this are thinking, wow,

00:50:59.240 Allie always listens to our advice. Right. Like every parent's like, yeah, of course they don't.

00:51:04.400 Well, and when you have less control, that's the thing is when they're little, you have so much more

00:51:07.980 control over what they're doing, you know, and then as they get older and make those decisions,

00:51:12.680 they're not always great decisions. But with my kids, I'm just praying and, you know, taking stock

00:51:20.280 in the fact that they have good roots. I've planted the seeds. They know. And I feel like

00:51:25.100 they'll come back around, you know, they'll come back around to it and they know that our food affects

00:51:29.180 our body. And so when they want to feel better, they know what to do. You know, it's just a matter

00:51:35.200 of them having to make that choice for themselves.

00:51:38.540 And again, there's such a parallel there too, with the Christian life. And I've heard that from

00:51:42.240 so many parents, they plant those seeds of the gospel. When they're young, they do everything

00:51:47.380 they can to disciple their kid. Then maybe they're discouraged because in the teen years or early

00:51:52.020 twenties or in college, it seems like their kids aren't following the path that they laid out for

00:51:56.780 them. But gosh, so often those seeds bloom later in life and the kids look back and they say,

00:52:04.840 gosh, I remember what I learned in church. I remember that Bible passage. I know that hymn.

00:52:09.580 And so, gosh, there are so many different ways that we can sow those seeds for our kids,

00:52:14.880 spiritual and also physical. You're right. They look back and they're like, wait,

00:52:19.800 I remember those lessons.

00:52:20.940 Right. I know. Yes. I know what to do. And so, yeah, I really do think they come back around.

00:52:26.540 And when they start caring, you know, kids are so much more resilient, but with that aging process,

00:52:31.740 you know, things don't work as well as they used to. And so like, oh yeah, maybe I should

00:52:35.780 eat more protein. Maybe I should, you know, I'd like my skin to look a little clearer.

00:52:39.820 Mom told me that this, you know, that. So yeah, they will come back around.

00:52:44.560 What is your, I would just say like final message or like, how would you encapsulate

00:52:49.320 what you wish people knew? I know this is a big question. There's probably a million ways that you

00:52:54.520 could answer it. But what do you wish people knew about being healthy, food, our bodies,

00:53:02.240 if you just had like, okay, you got 30 seconds to tell the world how to think about food and eating

00:53:10.200 and weight loss, dieting, all those things. What would you say?

00:53:13.880 I say the creator of your body knows the perfect foods for your body, made the perfect provision

00:53:20.440 for your body. Use the Lord, use God's word as your compass. Eat plant foods, eat animal foods,

00:53:27.680 know that your body is designed with an amazing resilience. It is always for you. It is on your

00:53:35.380 side. And when you give it what it needs, it knows exactly what to do. And just honoring that

00:53:42.300 self-stewardship and knowing that we use our body to glorify the kingdom, to be the hands and feet of

00:53:49.940 Christ in the world. As we started this, kind of coming back around, that our bodies take us through

00:53:54.680 this gift of life. And stewarding well means that we show up to all that God has called us to do.

00:54:01.080 And so always keeping that first and foremost, first and foremost, way over the scale, way over

00:54:06.360 the, you know, am I going to fit in my reunion dress or whatever it is, that is a very crown for

00:54:11.480 the day experience. It's very fleeting. But when we're taking care of our body as a vessel of the

00:54:16.600 Holy Spirit, it's just a complete different focus. And I think we do, um, we do take it more

00:54:24.280 seriously. Um, and, and, um, just, yeah, you know, definitely have a different viewpoint about it.

00:54:32.460 Exactly. And the Christian viewpoint is different because we actually care about the body more than

00:54:39.600 anyone because it is the dwelling place for the Holy Spirit. And that is the why behind so many of

00:54:46.760 God's commands. Of course, he cares about our hearts and our souls and our mind and all of that. But

00:54:52.440 nutrition, just as anything else we do with our body, it, it, it matters. It matters because God gave us

00:55:02.200 these bodies, uh, purposely and he loves our bodies. That's not just why he commanded the things he did

00:55:09.840 about food, but also part of why he gives us the commands that he does about marriage and sexuality,

00:55:16.340 how we spend our time, how we're supposed to refuse the temptation to worry, to be anxious, to fear.

00:55:23.600 All of these things have an effect on our bodies and God really cares about our bodies. He loves our

00:55:29.660 bodies. He wants us to love our bodies. And Christianity is so interesting in that it cares

00:55:35.120 about the body so much that we actually read about a resurrection of the bodies. Right. People

00:55:39.680 sometimes like think of human beings as just like, oh, well the body is temporary. It's just about

00:55:44.780 appearances. It's just superficial here today, gone tomorrow. Partly true in that, yeah, we're all

00:55:51.220 going to age and beauty fades and all of that, but the body matters forever. That's how much God

00:55:59.600 cares about the body, how much he cares about gender, how much he cares about life, how much he cares

00:56:04.920 about what we put in our bodies, that it actually lasts. It lasts forever. And it really is stewardship,

00:56:12.440 like you said. It is. It is stewardship. And, um, you know, and I'll just say that the body is

00:56:20.040 ground where the enemy really tries to, to interfere and get in, you know, if, if he can get in and make

00:56:28.480 us not only physically unwell with these health habits, but keep us in mind drama about our diet

00:56:38.560 and our weight and all these things. And it just distract us, distracts us from all that we're called

00:56:43.960 to do here. I mean, Eve was tempted by food, right? In the very beginning. And so, um, truly it is

00:56:52.100 spiritual warfare when we are, um, not stewarding our bodies and thinking of it in the way that,

00:56:59.420 gosh, this is the way that we show up in the world to, to be, uh, to spread God's love and his message.

00:57:06.920 Yes. And amen. And where can people find you?

00:57:09.480 The Christian nutritionist.com. That's where I am everywhere on Facebook, Instagram,

00:57:15.060 uh, website, the Christian health club podcast is where I go into all of these topics more deeply.

00:57:21.260 And so. Awesome. Well, thank you so much. I really appreciate you being here.

00:57:25.320 Thanks for having me.

Relatable with Allie Beth Stuckey - February 14, 2024

Ep 951 ｜ What Does the Bible Say About Our Diet？｜ Guest： Chelsea Blackbird

Episode Stats

Summary

Transcript

Relatable with Allie Beth Stuckey - February 14, 2024

Ep 951 ｜ What Does the Bible Say About Our Diet？ ｜ Guest： Chelsea Blackbird

Episode Stats

Summary

Transcript

Ep 951 ｜ What Does the Bible Say About Our Diet？｜ Guest： Chelsea Blackbird