After years of struggling with her own dysfunctional body-relationship, Marla Marla Mervis-Hartmann has transformed her experiences into services to help women discover honor and appreciate their bodies.
Marla has been featured at TEDx Salinas. Marla has followed her passion for women’s health down many study paths, including women’s sexual wellness; postpartum care; Restore Your Core educator; Tantra teacher certification; Yoga teacher training, and massage therapy. She has a Certification in Integrative Somatic Trauma Therapy. Marla is author of the upcoming book “BE-Friend Yourself~ A Guide to Freedom with Food, Peace with your Body & Confidence in your Life.”
Heidi Schauster, MS, RD, CEDS-S, SEP is a nutrition and body image therapist, Somatic Experiencing (SE)™ Practitioner, and Embodiment Warrior who writes about whole-self wellness. She is author of the award-winning book Nourish: How to Heal Your Relationship with Food, Body and Self and new book Nurture: How to Raise Kids Who Love Food, Their Bodies, and Themselves.
In this episode, we discuss the barriers kids face to having a healthy body image and how parents can help reframe things with thoughtful and intentional language around food.
Heather Creekmore writes and speaks hope to thousands of women each week, inspiring them to stop comparing and start living. The host of the internationally popular Compared to Who? podcast, she has been featured on Fox News, Huff Post, Morning Dose, Church Leaders, and For Every Mom, along with dozens of other shows and podcasts. She was a contestant on Nailed It, the hit Netflix bake fails show. Heather and her Marine-fighter-pilot-turned-pastor husband, Eric, have four children and live in Austin, Texas. Heather’s new book, The 40 Day Body Image Workbook is available now.
This episode features all the nuances between wanting to take care of your body without obsessing too much and getting caught in diet mindset.
Download and listen here or find wherever you get podcasts.
Alisa Keeton is the founder of Revelation Wellness, a nonprofit ministry that uses physical and mental health practices to spread the gospel by inviting participants to become integrated and whole beings through biblical teachings, on-line events, productions, and in-person retreat experiences. A fitness professional for over 30 years, Alisa is the author of The Wellness Revelation and Heir to the Crown and hosts the popular Revelation Wellness podcast with over 7 million downloads. Her new book, The Body Revelation, is available now.
Download and listen to this episode here, or find wherever you get podcasts.
Brittany Braswell is a Registered Dietitian who runs a private recovery coaching practice helping Christian women ditch food rules and negative body image so they finally get off the dieting hamster wheel and experience true and lasting freedom in Christ. She has been featured as a guest expert on podcasts, at virtual summits, in blogs, and at universities. She is the creator of two exclusive courses — one on improving body image, and another on recovering from disordered eating on her website here, both of which serve women using a Christ-centered approach.
In this episode, we tackle the tough topic of how our disordered relationship with food can often reflect a disordered view of ourselves and our purpose. Download here or find wherever you get podcasts.
A few days ago, as I was getting ready for the day, my youngest child, who’s five, squeezed my belly and asked me why my skin is different than his. He compared by attempting to squeeze skin from his belly, which obviously didn’t happen.
So I told him how my skin is more stretchy and elastic, and it has been stretched out quite a few times from getting bigger and smaller, and back again, because our bodies protect us and keep us safe by always changing. And how amazing is that???
I love warm weather and being in the sun, by the pool, or at the beach. I don’t love bathing suit season. Never have. But every year, I’m reminded of what my body went through in the last year to keep me safe. Whether that’s mood instability, weight gain or weight loss, autoimmune flares, gut issues, skin problems… our bodies do what they can to create balance in a continuously imbalanced world.
So when that same five year old catches me in action like this (while I am trying to prepare my skin for an upcoming beach vacation) and tells me, “lift your arms up” for the picture…. I let him.
This pose represents one more year that has passed with me in a vessel that has worked so hard for me for a very long time. One more year that I’m still swimming, maybe doggy-paddling my way through life… but keeping my head above water.
My body is amazing. So is yours. Don’t let your current disappointment in your symptoms keep you from being present for the sunshine.
What does it mean to make peace with food and your body? Why doesn’t restriction work? What does it even mean to give yourself “unconditional permission to eat?”
Holly Toronto has 4 years of experience helping highly driven women stop dieting and build resilience to toxic beauty messages. She uses an intuitive and spiritual approach that guides her clients towards self trust, confidence and Sovereignty over their entire being; body, mind and soul.
In this episode, we discuss how to break free from the back and forth cycle of dieting for GOOD, how to live your life in the body you have without judging or objectifying it.
Download here or listen wherever you get podcasts!
It’s been one year and a half since I stepped on a scale. She’s an old friend. We haven’t had the best relationship over the years. More like a dysfunctional one.
She doesn’t give me my worth or value. She doesn’t even tell me how healthy I am. But I used to let her, over and over again.
When her number is up, my mood is down. When her number is down, my mood is up. We can’t ever seem to agree on anything. Yet the codependency has existed for decades.
Some would say I fear her and what does that say about me? But I’m learning to see past her gaslighting and abuse, her finger-pointing and blaming.
I refuse to let an inanimate object steal my joy or give me fleeting confidence. I refuse to let a number tell me a story about my health – because health is about so much more than a number, or a diagnosis, or anything you can measure.
In my new online course, ReFOCUS 21, starting February 1, we are renewing our minds with truth and adjusting the way we look at health, habits, body image and chronic dieting!
It’s not too late to join us for 21 days of a new view of who you are – beyond what a number tells you. Each day’s content will be delivered straight to your inbox. Click the link here learn more and sign up!.
No matter who you are or where you live, we can all agree that the year 2020 shook things up. For many of us, 2021 is already proving to be just as challenging. You may have started off with good intentions, resolutions, goals, plans, or a word of the year. You said you were going to exercise more, eat better, read your Bible every day, or cook more meals at home. But it’s so hard fighting back the negative beliefs, those lies that tell you you aren’t doing enough, you’re lazy, you’re unmotivated, or you can’t stick to anything.
Maybe you are sticking to your goals. Maybe you’re really killing it in 2021 and you feel motivated – but you know something is missing in your spiritual life. You’re still plagued with a need to be better, do more, and perform.
I’ve once again teamed up with my friend Heather Creekmore, author of Compared to Who and The Burden of Better, to bring you ReFOCUS 21, a 21 day wellness course aimed to give you a fresh focus. They say it takes 21 days to create a habit, so our desire is for you to start renewing your mind in the way you think about body image, health, and diets. The group starts on February 1 – and each day’s content will be delivered straight to your inbox!
Upon joining, you’ll gain access to all the materials we’ll be discussing throughout the 21 days. Each day, you will receive two videos (one from Heather, one from me) to encourage you with a new perspective on physical, mental, and spiritual health. Topics range from nourishment, to balance, to habits, to movement, to satisfaction, and so many more!
My friend Heather Creekmore (Compared to Who) and I teamed up in January to bring a different kind of detox for the new year. We wanted to bring women a mindset detox, heart detox, and a spiritual reset about health and body image. It was a success!
We start our final round on November 30. In this 14 day e-course, you will receive daily videos from me and Heather, written inspirational posts, and tips for whole body health. I include a FREE recipe download for all participants, and Heather provides her ebook “Mountain Top Experience: Personal Body Image Retreat.”
The cost of the group is only $28. This includes two full weeks of daily content, an additional month of access (in case you get behind or want to watch the videos again!), interactions with me & Heather through the week, and a live Q&A call on Zoom where you can get your questions answered! Other online coaching courses may cost about the same –but you’re going to be hard-pressed to find a course like this that will give you direct access to the facilitators through Facebook conversations every day!
Here’s what a few past participants have said:
“Listening to the heartfelt, prayerful, and knowledgeable videos by Erin and Heather was like having good friends giving me a heart-to-heart. I looked forward to every single video and post, and gained a renewed and healthier perspective on food and body image. Thank you so much!”
“This was a GREAT value for my money. I couldn’t believe how available Heather and Erin were to answer my questions and dialogue about tough issues. I’m sad it’s over!”
“I loved this group so much. . .Every single post was so well planned. I liked that both Heather and Erin would reply to people’s comments. I learned tons from the posts and the videos but I also learned from the comment section.”
Sign up here! You don’t want to miss this opportunity to renew your heart, mind, and body this holiday season!
