1 00:00:02,640 --> 00:00:06,560 Speaker 1: Life Audio. You're listening to episode one of a special 2 00:00:06,600 --> 00:00:09,760 Speaker 1: series on the Compared to You podcast called Waiting for 3 00:00:09,880 --> 00:00:13,800 Speaker 1: Weight Loss. We encourage to join our community free at 4 00:00:13,840 --> 00:00:17,360 Speaker 1: waitingfoweight loss dot com, where you can engage in the content, 5 00:00:18,040 --> 00:00:22,439 Speaker 1: have conversations around what you're hearing and learning each week, 6 00:00:22,720 --> 00:00:25,240 Speaker 1: and meet other Christian women who are on a similar journey. 7 00:00:25,360 --> 00:00:38,680 Speaker 1: Go to Waiting Forweight Loss dot com now today's episode. 8 00:00:42,960 --> 00:00:44,760 Speaker 1: I was in about the third grade and I remember 9 00:00:44,760 --> 00:00:48,360 Speaker 1: looking in the full length mirror and having a thought 10 00:00:48,400 --> 00:00:51,559 Speaker 1: for the first time, and that thought was my legs. 11 00:00:51,800 --> 00:00:54,680 Speaker 1: They're kind of too big. I should probably do something 12 00:00:54,680 --> 00:00:59,040 Speaker 1: to change that. Can you relate? I was in about 13 00:00:59,080 --> 00:01:02,120 Speaker 1: the fourth or fifth grade when a new fitness lined 14 00:01:02,160 --> 00:01:05,520 Speaker 1: for girls came out called Get in Shape Girl. I 15 00:01:05,600 --> 00:01:08,479 Speaker 1: was so excited to get that gym matt and tried 16 00:01:08,520 --> 00:01:11,600 Speaker 1: doing all the exercises it pictured. My mom bought me 17 00:01:11,680 --> 00:01:14,240 Speaker 1: pink tights and a blue and pink striped leotard to 18 00:01:14,280 --> 00:01:16,319 Speaker 1: work out, and so I look a little bit like 19 00:01:16,360 --> 00:01:19,600 Speaker 1: one of those workout girls from TV. But I remember 20 00:01:19,720 --> 00:01:23,040 Speaker 1: when she got those pictures developed thinking I didn't look 21 00:01:23,160 --> 00:01:27,120 Speaker 1: like them at all. Can you relate? I was on 22 00:01:27,200 --> 00:01:29,440 Speaker 1: my first diet before middle school. I had a whole 23 00:01:29,480 --> 00:01:31,800 Speaker 1: family of dieters, so it was easy to figure out 24 00:01:31,800 --> 00:01:34,240 Speaker 1: how to do that. I read my mom's little Weight 25 00:01:34,280 --> 00:01:38,200 Speaker 1: Watchers pamphlets, and sometimes we just cut out certain foods 26 00:01:38,240 --> 00:01:40,679 Speaker 1: or we do our own types of diets. I got 27 00:01:40,760 --> 00:01:43,280 Speaker 1: really good at dieting by the time I got to 28 00:01:43,319 --> 00:01:45,120 Speaker 1: high school. I was trying to see how long I 29 00:01:45,120 --> 00:01:47,480 Speaker 1: could go without eating. Most days, I could only make 30 00:01:47,480 --> 00:01:50,360 Speaker 1: it until about four or five PM, and then after 31 00:01:50,360 --> 00:01:52,600 Speaker 1: a busy school day, I'd eat whatever I could when 32 00:01:52,640 --> 00:01:55,320 Speaker 1: I got home. But I often felt like I failed 33 00:01:56,160 --> 00:02:00,200 Speaker 1: because I ate. When I told myself I wouldn't eat 34 00:02:00,320 --> 00:02:02,920 Speaker 1: that I didn't have more control over my body. I 35 00:02:02,960 --> 00:02:06,960 Speaker 1: hated eating. It just meant gaining weight. Can you relate? 36 00:02:08,360 --> 00:02:10,320 Speaker 1: I had a few boyfriends in high school, but never 37 00:02:10,320 --> 00:02:12,000 Speaker 1: really felt like I was good enough for a boy 38 00:02:12,040 --> 00:02:15,280 Speaker 1: to love. This fear was reinforced at my Christian college, 39 00:02:15,280 --> 00:02:17,639 Speaker 1: where I never dated much at all. When I finally 40 00:02:17,639 --> 00:02:20,400 Speaker 1: got out of college and started to have some romantic relationships, 41 00:02:20,760 --> 00:02:22,840 Speaker 1: I went a little further than a good Christian church 42 00:02:22,880 --> 00:02:25,480 Speaker 1: girl was supposed to go because it felt like these 43 00:02:25,480 --> 00:02:29,359 Speaker 1: guys really loved me. Finally, I felt like maybe my 44 00:02:29,440 --> 00:02:33,560 Speaker 1: body was good enough, but it never lasted. It felt 45 00:02:33,560 --> 00:02:36,040 Speaker 1: like it had to be there was something wrong with me. 46 00:02:36,919 --> 00:02:40,120 Speaker 1: If I looked better, then I would have gotten married earlier, 47 00:02:40,440 --> 00:02:45,200 Speaker 1: or at least had a boyfriend. Can you relate? Finally, 48 00:02:45,200 --> 00:02:48,000 Speaker 1: at each thirty one, I got married. Oh he was 49 00:02:48,040 --> 00:02:50,800 Speaker 1: a catch too, a marine fighter pilot. I was marrying 50 00:02:50,840 --> 00:02:55,040 Speaker 1: Tom Cruise, essentially, But I remember one time we were 51 00:02:55,040 --> 00:02:58,679 Speaker 1: sitting out by the pool and he was distracted or 52 00:02:58,800 --> 00:03:02,720 Speaker 1: upset by something. I didn't know what, but I decided 53 00:03:02,760 --> 00:03:04,680 Speaker 1: it must be that he was unhappy with my body. 54 00:03:05,440 --> 00:03:08,200 Speaker 1: I confronted him about it. He acted like I was crazy, 55 00:03:08,760 --> 00:03:11,840 Speaker 1: but his dismissal didn't matter. I was sure that was it. 56 00:03:12,680 --> 00:03:15,320 Speaker 1: That was the reason he was upset and distracted. I 57 00:03:15,440 --> 00:03:17,880 Speaker 1: wasn't enough for him. He wanted me to look better. 58 00:03:18,280 --> 00:03:21,680 Speaker 1: Obsessed over it, I got so mad at television commercials 59 00:03:21,760 --> 00:03:24,960 Speaker 1: or billboards that featured beautiful women. How was I supposed 60 00:03:24,960 --> 00:03:27,440 Speaker 1: to keep a husband when there are so many more 61 00:03:27,480 --> 00:03:32,440 Speaker 1: beautiful women everywhere to look at? Can you relate? All 62 00:03:32,480 --> 00:03:34,640 Speaker 1: my life, I'd longed to be a mom. I was 63 00:03:34,680 --> 00:03:37,160 Speaker 1: pregnant at thirty two and not on a diet for 64 00:03:37,200 --> 00:03:39,720 Speaker 1: the first time in my life. Of course, I paid 65 00:03:39,720 --> 00:03:42,920 Speaker 1: the price for that freedom, gaining fifty pounds. I worried 66 00:03:42,960 --> 00:03:44,840 Speaker 1: about whether or not it would come off after he 67 00:03:44,920 --> 00:03:47,520 Speaker 1: was born. Every time I went to the doctor's office, 68 00:03:47,560 --> 00:03:49,000 Speaker 1: it felt a little bit like I was at a 69 00:03:49,000 --> 00:03:52,720 Speaker 1: weight watcher's meeting, weighing in on those scales. Oh why 70 00:03:52,760 --> 00:03:55,520 Speaker 1: couldn't I be one of those thin pregnant women, or 71 00:03:55,640 --> 00:03:57,760 Speaker 1: one of those pregnant women whom you couldn't even tell 72 00:03:57,880 --> 00:04:01,880 Speaker 1: she was pregnant from the back. Instead, I was the 73 00:04:01,880 --> 00:04:06,000 Speaker 1: one everyone stopped, touched my belly and asked how many 74 00:04:06,000 --> 00:04:10,240 Speaker 1: babies you got in there? Just one? I'd reply, then 75 00:04:10,280 --> 00:04:13,200 Speaker 1: feel ashamed that I was too big. Otherwise they wouldn't 76 00:04:13,240 --> 00:04:17,920 Speaker 1: ask that, can you relate? I hit forty and really 77 00:04:17,920 --> 00:04:21,640 Speaker 1: thought maybe I'd escaped. Aging. Forty didn't seem so bad. 78 00:04:22,160 --> 00:04:26,040 Speaker 1: I felt like me. I looked like me. Forty nine 79 00:04:26,520 --> 00:04:30,880 Speaker 1: that was a different story. Hormonal havocs started changing all 80 00:04:30,920 --> 00:04:34,719 Speaker 1: the things. I changed BRA's ezes three times, and let's 81 00:04:34,720 --> 00:04:37,719 Speaker 1: not talk about my gene size. Nothing fit like it 82 00:04:37,800 --> 00:04:40,240 Speaker 1: used to. I was doing all the same things I 83 00:04:40,360 --> 00:04:43,320 Speaker 1: used to do, but my body wasn't responding in the 84 00:04:43,400 --> 00:04:48,160 Speaker 1: same ways. Can you relate? If I think about what 85 00:04:48,200 --> 00:04:51,520 Speaker 1: I've spent the majority of my life looking for or 86 00:04:51,560 --> 00:04:56,520 Speaker 1: waiting for, the answer would be two words weight loss, 87 00:04:57,440 --> 00:05:01,000 Speaker 1: not love, not toy, not peace, not rest, not a 88 00:05:01,040 --> 00:05:03,599 Speaker 1: closer connection with God or people. I mean, I wanted 89 00:05:03,640 --> 00:05:07,680 Speaker 1: those things too, But if I'm honest, priority number one 90 00:05:07,760 --> 00:05:10,719 Speaker 1: has always been driven by that little box on my 91 00:05:10,760 --> 00:05:14,640 Speaker 1: bathroom floor, the scale. It pronounced my value each morning 92 00:05:14,720 --> 00:05:16,760 Speaker 1: and dictated what kind of day I was going to have. 93 00:05:17,320 --> 00:05:19,359 Speaker 1: Good if it was the right number, of course, and 94 00:05:19,480 --> 00:05:22,159 Speaker 1: bad if it was the wrong. But there came a 95 00:05:22,200 --> 00:05:25,279 Speaker 1: time in my life when God interrupted my waiting. He 96 00:05:25,320 --> 00:05:27,479 Speaker 1: asked me to stop looking down at the scale and 97 00:05:27,560 --> 00:05:29,960 Speaker 1: start looking up at Him. I don't mean that to 98 00:05:30,040 --> 00:05:34,520 Speaker 1: sound overly poetic or simple. It certainly wasn't. It was 99 00:05:34,560 --> 00:05:37,200 Speaker 1: a process, and it took years and years. But I'm 100 00:05:37,240 --> 00:05:39,920 Speaker 1: not who I used to be. If you're brand new here, 101 00:05:40,400 --> 00:05:44,599 Speaker 1: my name is Heather Creekmore, and I'm wondering do we 102 00:05:44,640 --> 00:05:47,560 Speaker 1: have anything in common. I write and speak about body 103 00:05:47,560 --> 00:05:50,000 Speaker 1: image issues to women all over the world. But if 104 00:05:50,000 --> 00:05:52,360 Speaker 1: you're listening to the show for the first time, you're 105 00:05:52,400 --> 00:05:54,920 Speaker 1: here just in time because we started a brand new 106 00:05:55,000 --> 00:05:58,000 Speaker 1: series called waiting for weight loss. If any part of 107 00:05:58,040 --> 00:06:01,240 Speaker 1: my story resonated with you, certainly in the right place. 108 00:06:01,760 --> 00:06:04,640 Speaker 1: Over the next six weeks, the season of Blent, we're 109 00:06:04,640 --> 00:06:07,080 Speaker 1: going to be talking about this desire we hold to 110 00:06:07,160 --> 00:06:10,520 Speaker 1: lose weight. One of the most effective things we can 111 00:06:10,560 --> 00:06:13,039 Speaker 1: do as we think about our desires is to discover 112 00:06:13,360 --> 00:06:16,760 Speaker 1: just how long we've held them. Maybe it started early 113 00:06:16,800 --> 00:06:19,039 Speaker 1: for you, like it did for me. Or maybe it 114 00:06:19,080 --> 00:06:21,599 Speaker 1: didn't start until high school or college, or until you 115 00:06:21,720 --> 00:06:26,799 Speaker 1: met that one coach or one boyfriend or one boss. 116 00:06:27,839 --> 00:06:30,480 Speaker 1: Maybe it's only been since you've had babies, or since 117 00:06:30,520 --> 00:06:34,919 Speaker 1: you've entered the menopausal change. Years. Today, my challenge for 118 00:06:35,000 --> 00:06:37,920 Speaker 1: you is to take a second and just reflect, when 119 00:06:37,960 --> 00:06:40,919 Speaker 1: did your weight loss journey begin? What has it looked 120 00:06:41,040 --> 00:06:43,920 Speaker 1: like for you. I meet women every week who have 121 00:06:44,000 --> 00:06:46,719 Speaker 1: been trying to lose weight for decades. Others have just 122 00:06:46,720 --> 00:06:49,440 Speaker 1: been struggling a few years. But no matter where you're at, 123 00:06:49,480 --> 00:06:52,240 Speaker 1: I want you to hear you are not alone in 124 00:06:52,240 --> 00:06:55,760 Speaker 1: this battle. You're not the only one who hasn't figured 125 00:06:55,760 --> 00:07:00,440 Speaker 1: out the magic formula to unlock the combination to effortless 126 00:07:00,600 --> 00:07:03,760 Speaker 1: health and beauty. You're not the only one who has 127 00:07:03,880 --> 00:07:08,720 Speaker 1: tried all the influencers suggestions, bought all the things, and 128 00:07:08,800 --> 00:07:12,760 Speaker 1: still not seen their promised results. You're not the only 129 00:07:12,800 --> 00:07:15,800 Speaker 1: one who has spent thousands and thousands of dollars over 130 00:07:15,920 --> 00:07:20,360 Speaker 1: decades buying the plans, the potions, the pills, only to 131 00:07:20,440 --> 00:07:23,400 Speaker 1: ditch them after three weeks and then eventually have to 132 00:07:23,480 --> 00:07:27,000 Speaker 1: throw them away when the bottles expire. Can we all 133 00:07:27,080 --> 00:07:31,200 Speaker 1: just nod and agree the struggle is hard. This struggle 134 00:07:32,000 --> 00:07:35,760 Speaker 1: takes something from us. It starts to eat away at 135 00:07:35,760 --> 00:07:38,880 Speaker 1: our confidence. It affects our relationships, and it can be 136 00:07:39,040 --> 00:07:44,320 Speaker 1: down right depressing. So today I just want to encourage you. 137 00:07:44,320 --> 00:07:47,160 Speaker 1: You're not alone. Even if the enemy has convinced you 138 00:07:47,200 --> 00:07:50,640 Speaker 1: that you're the only one with your story, I promise 139 00:07:50,720 --> 00:07:54,559 Speaker 1: you you're not. I've coached hundreds of women around body 140 00:07:54,560 --> 00:07:58,120 Speaker 1: image issues, and I always hear their stories first. And 141 00:07:58,200 --> 00:08:01,000 Speaker 1: you know what I've learned. Although there are some ways 142 00:08:01,040 --> 00:08:03,600 Speaker 1: we are different, there are a lot of ways in 143 00:08:03,720 --> 00:08:07,560 Speaker 1: which we're all the same. In other words, what's underneath 144 00:08:07,560 --> 00:08:11,080 Speaker 1: our desires is more similar than you may think. And 145 00:08:11,160 --> 00:08:14,920 Speaker 1: what's under there isn't just a desire for better health 146 00:08:15,040 --> 00:08:18,320 Speaker 1: or a better body. There's some deep stuff down there. 147 00:08:19,080 --> 00:08:21,280 Speaker 1: If you're willing to put on your scuba gear and 148 00:08:21,360 --> 00:08:25,360 Speaker 1: dive now. We won't go too deep here. We'll start 149 00:08:25,360 --> 00:08:28,640 Speaker 1: with snorkeling, not oxygen tanks. But if you're ready to 150 00:08:28,720 --> 00:08:32,040 Speaker 1: dive in, I've got five hundred podcast episodes available you 151 00:08:32,080 --> 00:08:37,160 Speaker 1: can explore any time. But for everyone else, just spend 152 00:08:37,160 --> 00:08:41,559 Speaker 1: some time today again thinking about your journey, Pray about it, 153 00:08:41,720 --> 00:08:44,200 Speaker 1: write it out if you want to. Then ask the 154 00:08:44,240 --> 00:08:46,920 Speaker 1: Lord if there's anything he wants you to notice about 155 00:08:46,920 --> 00:08:50,439 Speaker 1: your journey, and then come back on Friday for more encouragement. 156 00:08:51,520 --> 00:08:54,160 Speaker 1: As we close today, in every episode, I just want 157 00:08:54,160 --> 00:08:56,719 Speaker 1: to pray for you. Will you pray with me to 158 00:08:56,840 --> 00:08:59,280 Speaker 1: Heavenly Father. I thank you for my new friend who's 159 00:08:59,320 --> 00:09:03,520 Speaker 1: listening to this podcast, and I pray that as she 160 00:09:03,760 --> 00:09:08,600 Speaker 1: heard my story today, perhaps you'll stir in her the 161 00:09:08,640 --> 00:09:11,720 Speaker 1: stories you want her to remember, the memories that will 162 00:09:11,720 --> 00:09:15,480 Speaker 1: be helpful for her to see where she's been on 163 00:09:15,520 --> 00:09:18,280 Speaker 1: her own weight loss journey. God, I pray most of 164 00:09:18,320 --> 00:09:21,720 Speaker 1: all that you'll encourage her heart, that she'll know that 165 00:09:21,760 --> 00:09:26,920 Speaker 1: she is seen, loved and accepted by you, and that 166 00:09:27,000 --> 00:09:31,600 Speaker 1: she's not alone, not in any sense. Thank you, Father 167 00:09:32,240 --> 00:09:35,680 Speaker 1: for your grace to us and help us as we 168 00:09:35,720 --> 00:09:39,120 Speaker 1: spend the next six weeks studying what it is we're 169 00:09:39,160 --> 00:09:42,360 Speaker 1: really looking for when we're waiting for weight loss, and 170 00:09:42,400 --> 00:09:45,439 Speaker 1: looking at ways we can wait well and keep you 171 00:09:45,880 --> 00:09:48,760 Speaker 1: at the center of our hope. It's in Jesus name, 172 00:09:48,800 --> 00:09:52,120 Speaker 1: I pray Amen. Well, thanks so much for listening today. 173 00:09:52,240 --> 00:09:55,600 Speaker 1: I hope you'll come back Friday as we explore another 174 00:09:55,720 --> 00:09:58,520 Speaker 1: topic on our Waiting for Weight Loss journey. And hey, 175 00:09:58,520 --> 00:10:02,160 Speaker 1: have you joined the community. We did have some technical 176 00:10:02,200 --> 00:10:05,160 Speaker 1: issues yesterday. You all tried to sign up at the 177 00:10:05,160 --> 00:10:07,920 Speaker 1: same time and it crashed the system. But it should 178 00:10:07,920 --> 00:10:10,480 Speaker 1: be working now. Go to Waiting for weight Loss dot 179 00:10:10,520 --> 00:10:16,520 Speaker 1: com and join us there. But compared to your podcast 180 00:10:16,640 --> 00:10:18,720 Speaker 1: is proud to be part of the Life Audio podcast Network. 181 00:10:18,760 --> 00:10:25,520 Speaker 1: For more great Christian podcasts, go to Life audio dot com.