This Life We Live in the Body: A Podcast about Gospel Centered Weight Loss

Hi. We know we've been AWOL for a while and you've missed us so much. Do you think eating some cookie dough ice cream might help you feel better? This episode (recorded a long time ago, actually!) is about eating our feelings.

Daven is our "little" brother who is extremely gifted with many talents and abilities. Recently, though, he faced a scary health issue that gave him a temporary disability. He joins us this week for a mini-episode to talk about how this experience has changed his perspective on this life we live in the body.

It's a party and we will eat if we want to! And we will do it to the glory of God. In this episode, we discuss the enjoyment of celebrating wonderful things in life with the food that also fills us--the sins and victories.

Sometimes we are really excellent at things, like Katie and meal planning, but sometimes Becki is our spirit animal!  Join us as we discuss the joys and difficulties of meal planning and grocery shopping to the glory of God.  Whether you're the expert or the trainee, we can all be sanctified in this area of our lives.

The scale provides one indicator of weight loss success, but there are lots of other ways to track progress. Tracking measurements, progress photos, and new clothes sizes can also tell you that your body shape is changing. On this episode, we discuss ways in which these "non-scale victories" can be helpful and encouraging, and ways that they can ultimately trip you up.

When we are trying to lose weight, what should our goals look like? Can a specific "goal weight" help or hurt our goal to lose weight in a God honoring way? This episode we explore the idea of having a goal weight.

Want to try Keto? Paleo? Whole 30? But don't know if you can do it in a godly way? Join our discussion on how the gospel affects our relationship with food and how we should or shouldn't approach diets that restrict what we can and cannot eat.

Can a weight loss tool like cardio exercise have spiritual implications? We think so! Katie, also, provides a unique (and vulnerable) perspective with her experience cardio exercise since her diagnosis with MS. How can we sin or glorify God when it comes to exerting our bodies to the point that we feel weak? Is it good or bad? Join us.

Becki, Sarah, & Katie discuss their experiences with counting calories. Why is it important? How can it be bad? Does it work? What does Jesus say about it?

Happy New Year! We're back! Is the fresh start of a new year inspiring you to make some new goals when it comes to your weight? What does the gospel say about that? Join us and learn with us.

The Gospel can feel slippery at times. It can be easy to slip to the legalistic right or the antinomian left. What can be done? How can we pursue a righteous life without boasting in our own strength? What can we “do” when we are supposed to rest in what he has done? This week we invite our favorite pastor (and dad) John Dubois to talk about it.

...if you continue in your faith, established and firm, and do not move from the hope held out in the gospel. Colossians 1:29 A different kind of episode today. This week we feature a sermon from our favorite pastor (and dad) John Dubois.

This week Katie and I spend a fair amount of time acknowledging our “hot mess” status. After a while of whining just a bit, though, we turn our attention to the gracious gift of the Lord's armor that is described as “the sword of the spirit” in Ephesians 6:17. Sarah is on maternity leave for the episode, but does edit this one for us!

In a somewhat loopy and scatterbrained late night recording, Becki and Katie discuss the Helmet of Salvation.

This week Becki, Katie, and Sarah talked about the Shield of Faith, with which we can extinguish the fiery arrows of the evil one.

We turned our attention to the “feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace” this week. This part of the armor of God does not have the most catchy name… for the sake of the podcast we shortened it to “readiness from the gospel.”

This week we turned our attention to the “Breastplate of Righteousness,” and were once again helpfully reminded that this is God's armor, not our own. We do not clothe ourselves with our own righteousness, but that which Jesus earned.

This week's episode kicks off a new “season” or “series” in the podcast. Becki, Katie, and Sarah start going to the Bible first to see what scripture says about body image and weight loss. We start this episode by studying the Armor of God as described in Ephesians 6 and, more specifically, The Best of Truth.

Yay! After our last few weeks of hiatus, here is our first episode back. This episode was actually recorded back in August, back before our break, so if we sound tired, you know why! In this episode, Becki and Sarah talk about the topic of comparison, and how and why it is a destructive tendency.

Just a quick announcement that we are taking the month off as a mini summer break. We will, Lord willing, begin dropping episodes again in the fall!

Join us and our special guest, Kelsey, as we discuss what it means to be too weak when we are in Christ. It may or may not come as a surprise to you that, in fact, we are too weak and our strength comes in Christ alone. What does that look like in terms of eating and exercise? Find out.

For a special one-off episode, Katie and Becki apply the gospel to a different area: housekeeping! It's officially "This Life We Live in the Body: HOME EDITION" What does the gospel teach us about cleaning our home and what does cleaning teach us about the gospel? We talk about it and find new ways to think about our weight loss journey too.

It is so hard for us when we feel like we aren't in control of a situation, but this is ironic for two reasons. First of all, our desperate attempts to control, manipulate, or fix one area of our lives usually manifests itself in lack of control in another area (like eating too much or too little). Second, we really are not in control of anything in the first place. Growing in the gospel requires us to let go of what we think we have control of and acknowledge God's utter sovereignty over all things. Only then can we truly rest.

We all find ourselves in busy seasons of life, but is that business keeping you from the important things? Join in our discussion of why we are so busy and what should be more important.

This week, Becki and Katie are joined by their friend, Michelle Alvarez, who shares her story of how the gospel and her relationship to food has intersected throughout her life. Michelle is the author of a 31-day devotional, Shattered: Through the Heartbreak and Healing of Abortion, inspired by her own journey of recovery and healing. Praise God, Michelle, for your story. Thank you for sharing it with us.

Every weight loss journey requires patience, and how we wish it wasn't so! Waiting without whining (or giving up!) is so difficult! Or am I the only one?

Do you ever find yourself thinking "I can do this all by myself" or "I have to do this all by myself"? You might be believing this lie more than you think... we found lots of ways that we deny our dependence on God, and a lot of them look like legalism. To unpack it all, we have a very special guest -- our first MALE guest -- Dan Dubois (Becki's and Katie's brother, Sarah's husband). Dan is a pastor, dad, and most interestingly, one of our very few male listeners. Thank you so much for joining us Dan!!

Consistency is the cornerstone of any successful weight loss plan, and that's why it's so frustrating when we feel like we are own worst enemy by constantly failing to stick with our plan. Why is consistency so hard? We look into that today!

This week Katie and Sarah are joined by good friend Julie Konieczny, who shares her own spiritual journey and how it intersects with the relationship she has with her body. Podcast Notes: - A Praying Life by Paul Miller - Identity Theft by Melissa Kruger - Hope When it Hurts by Kristen Wetherell, Sarah Walton - Instagram - Facebook - Little bro, Dave

This week we have our first podcast guest! Our dear friend and sister in Christ Trish Torres joins us to talk about the lie, "food makes me happy." - Instagram - Facebook - Daven

Life can get really hard sometimes. Does that justify loosening up the rules a little? Is a little mindless overeating ok when you've had a hard day? Why or why not? We talk about it this week! - Instagram - Facebook - Daven

"One more bite won't matter" "I'm not hurting anyone" "At least I don't [fill in the blank]" Well... yes, and no. In some ways, you're right. One more bite probably won't make that much a difference on the scale tomorrow... or hurt someone else... and it's certainly not as bad as [fill in the blank]. But do you know where it really, really makes a difference? In your heart. This week we tackle the lie "It [fill in the blank with your weight-loss related hang up] isn't that bad" - Instagram - Facebook - Our Bumper Music (and little bro)

Jesus can help you lose weight. It seems almost crass to say, doesn't it? The conversation about losing weight seems more at home on the cover of a grocery store check out lane magazine…. (“Shed Those Extra Pounds Before Swimsuit Season!” “Tackle Stubborn Belly Fat!” “How I Lost 100 Pounds While Never Skipping Dessert!”) …than it does in the halls of a church or the pages of your Bible Study. I have to say that this is how I thought about weight loss for most of my adult life. I never came right out and said it, but implicitly I internalized: God doesn't really care about this part of my life. He isn't concerned with my desire to fit into a smaller jean size…in fact it's vain and shallow even to think about! One problem with that line of thinking, though, is that it pushed me to seek ungodly (and often unsuccessful) solutions to my weight problem. The bigger problem with this line of thinking, though, is this: It's not true. Show Notes: - God of Creation by Jen Wilkin - Our Instagram - Our Facebook Page - Daven, our piano player and little brother

Last week we traced our fruit of a poor body image to it's root in pride, shame, and unbelief. This week, we speak truth to those roots. - Reclaiming Psalm 139 from the Clutches of Coffee Cups and Picture Frames - Jen Wilkin - The Freedom of Self Forgetfulness: The Path to True Christian Joy (Tim Keller) - Instagram - Facebook - Daven

Last week, Katie promised a story about Becki's weight training days, so we had to deliver! But the story got kind of long and meandering for the beginning of the official episode, so we are publishing it separately. Enjoy.

This week we start to tackle the lie "My Body is Unlovable or Unlovely" ...basically the many issues under the umbrella term "body image." We wanted to give adequate time to this particular topic, so we will be talking about this same concept next week as well. Some notes: - True Beauty by Carolyn Mahaney & Nicole Mahaney Whitacre - Risen Motherhood by Emily Jensen & Laura Wifler - Daven, who plays our music

This week, we tackle the lie "It's Hopeless." We first talk about the fruit that comes from the root of hopelessness, but then we also talk about how hopelessness is the fruit of an even deeper root problem. Then we apply scripture and speak truth! - @TheFoldingLady - Smart Nutrition with Jessica Penner - @ThisLifeWeLiveintheBody - @daven_plays_music

We know that every thought and action should be taken captive and made to obey Jesus, but how? This week we talk very practically about how to identify lies we are believing and how to apply truth to them. - Sam Alberry Tweet - Better: A Study in Hebrews by Jen Wilkin - Gospel Fluency by Jeff Vanderstelt - All About Boys with David Thomas, podcast by Rooted Ministries - Piano music by @daven_plays_music See pictures and more on our Instagram, @thislifeweliveinthebody

We know the gospel does in fact impact the way we feel about our bodies, weight loss, and fitness... but how does it actually work? How do we become righteous without doing it alone? What do we "do" if we are supposed to be resting? If I stop trying so hard, won't sin just abound? The answer is in John 6:29: “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.” - Our Instagram - The lovely piano music is played by our baby brother Daven

This week, Katie Morgan shares her story, following the threads of weight loss and gains and her understanding of the gospel. - Follow us on Instagram - Our brother Dave who plays the piano in our bumper music

This week, Becki Watson talks with another one of her sisters, Sarah Dubois, about her journey with body-image, weight gains and losses, and her understanding of the gospel. - Indian Trails Church in Spokane, WA - First Baptist Church in St. Johns, MI - Identity Theft, Melissa Krueger - Lovely music played by our talented little brother, Daven.

Our first episode! Becki Watson is joined by Katie Morgan to talk about her weight loss journey, and how she experienced the hope of the gospel in a real and tangible way. - Risen Motherhood by Emily Jensen and Laura Wifler - The Joy of Being by Citizens - Winds of Heaven, Stuff of Earth by Rich Mullins - Follow us on Instagram! - Piano music played by our amazingly talented brother, Daven