Today we're talking about faith, food and fitness.

We're talking about how we can lose weight or get healthier from a biblical perspective and why it starts in our minds and how we have to change our thoughts to take true control of our health.

Join me as I have a guest expert on today that's going to talk all about these topics and I can't wait to share it with you.

Hey friend, are you craving deeper faith, renewed purpose and more joy in your everyday life?

Welcome to Faithfield Woman podcast that helps Christian women grow spiritually, pursue God's calling and embrace the abundant life he has for you.

I'm Kristen, an encourager, mentor, entrepreneur, wife and mom, here to uplift, equip and inspire you with faith filled conversations and biblical wisdom.

Subscribe now so you never miss an episode and join our faith fueled community.

For more encouragement today in the podcast, I want to welcome our guest.

Her name is Andrea Lynn and she's a faith driven health and wellness expert.

She's a speaker and she is the host the Christian Women's Weight Loss Podcast.

She's also a personal trainer and a nutritional health coach.

And I can't wait to have this conversation with her and share this with you because we are going to talk about faith.

We're going to talk about our health, weight loss for some of us and the spiritual renewal that is so tied to our lives, our calling and our, our health and how it's all really tied to what God really wants for us and he just wants us to have an abundant and a full and a purposeful life.

So I cannot wait to share this conversation with you.

Welcome to the podcast, Andrea.

Thank you, Kristen for having me.

I'm very blessed.

You know, this is my thing to help women just really get in that place of good health.

And I find that the body of Christ needs this more than ever.

Absolutely.

I, you know, I love talking about lots of things including health and wellness.

And I'm with you.

I just feel like so many of us, one, we don't necessarily always connect our health to every aspect of our lives.

And then two, I just think there's so much information that sometimes it can be overwhelming.

Right.

And so we just, we don't do anything in certain areas of our lives and sometimes that's about our health and wellness.

And so I'm excited that we're going to talk, you know, and get into the details today.

But could you start off with just telling us a little bit about you, about what you are doing in the world and just what life Looks like, oh, wow.

I feel like my life looks like this.

You and I talking about my passion every day, day in and day out.

But I help Christian women 30 and over lose 20 pounds in 12 weeks without starving or endless exercise while growing their faith.

This is something that I.

It's just.

It's put on my heart many years ago, actually, if I think back to when I was a little girl, even before I had a relationship with Jesus, I remember walking around my yard.

I lived in the apple orchards of New York.

And walking around saying, I really want to help people.

I really want to help people.

And I couldn't articulate anything but that.

It was just always on my heart to help.

And it's interesting how God paved the way and here I am.

But it's really just.

It's always on my heart to serve and support, especially women to get their body in good working order.

Because unfortunately, the enemy is going to try to take it out because it's God's.

And, you know, we need to.

We need to be aware of that.

And I think that for me, it's such a big topic because everybody skirts around that there's an enemy.

And, you know, I've had a history, like, just looking back on my life, like I was a. I call myself the survivor.

A survivor of, you know, molestation, rape, sexual assault, abuse, mental, you know, as a young child.

That's a lot, as we all know, that's heavy.

But those are not from God.

Those are.

That's all the enemy trying to infiltrate.

He was trying to infiltrate my life.

He did for a time.

Right.

But God, and this is why I feel so, I guess, driven to talk about this, to share about it.

And it's like, what you said, what do I do?

My daily time.

I do this all the time.

Even when I'm not.

I'm air quoting, working.

I still feel so drawn.

Like I literally will go to functions and be like, why are you eating that?

It's really destroying your health, you know, and never ever from a place of condemnation.

That's not my intention, but it's a place of like, hey, can we learn?

Can we just open our eyes to see?

You know, listen, the enemy infiltrated this world through an apple or whatever fruit it was, a fig, whatever they say, an apple, but you know, through food.

And so this is a big topic and it's really on my heart.

And so I feel like I eat and breathe it all the time.

Yeah, absolutely.

Love that.

So before we dig too much into the health aspect, although really the Health aspect is really the faith aspect.

Right.

But I do want to just touch on what you just said about the spiritual realm.

I agree with you.

I feel like even though I grew up a Christian my whole life, so, I mean, I always believed in God, all of this stuff.

But I feel like it wasn't until a couple of years ago that in public, you know, on podcasts, on things, that I started hearing more people talking about the spiritual realm.

And I'm not saying some people didn't, but, I mean, I wasn't hearing that as much.

And I was.

I never listened to Tucker Carlson before, like, when he was on tv.

I think the only reason I've listened to some of his stuff is because he became independent.

And so on occasion, I've listened to, you know, his podcast or show or whatever.

But he was somebody.

I was like, oh, my gosh.

Like, he started talking about spiritual warfare.

And he said, my whole life, I would.

I am from California.

He's like, we would have never talked about this.

He goes, but now it's, like, clear to me.

And I only bring that because when you see somebody like that, where he's like, I've never talked about faith, like, until recently.

And to me, I'm like, wow.

Like, it's changing in the world.

More people, not just in a prayer circle, not just in, you know, a small group, people are talking about there is an enemy in their spiritual affair.

Of course, it's in the Bible.

But my point is, is we're not always talking about it.

And so I love that you talk about that.

Sometimes the reason that we struggle with our weight or maybe making great health choices is because there is an enemy that doesn't want us to be our best, because then we can't do more of the kingdom work.

Amen.

You know, and so I just think that that's important to point out.

And what would you just share with us about that?

Because a big part of your working with people, you don't just start off.

Somebody might think, oh, okay, weight loss, right?

It's just about.

She's going to.

I have to eat something.

I have to starve.

But I know that you're.

Of course, there's some education, I'm sure, but that's not where it starts.

So what could you just share with us about that?

I think the best place to start is on what I already shared with you, just a little bit about my back history, because it'll also bring into what the question you just asked, which is all of the trauma from my past.

Opened the door, right?

It opened the door for the enemy to infiltrate.

And Because I only knew of Jesus, but I didn't know him.

And, you know, there's a difference.

There's a difference between religion and relationship.

And I didn't have relationship.

I. I had religion and.

And nobody was there.

And this is not to blame anybody.

It's just the way that my life panned out.

It's probably for a testimony that, like today.

But, you know, he.

The enemy infiltrated.

He infiltrated my mind, my soul, the depths of me that were just broken.

I felt unworthy.

You know, I went to performing arts college.

I was like, I am going to be a famous singer, dancer, actress.

That's what I'm going to do.

I based my identity in that because I wanted to prove my worth.

I wanted to show my people, the people that hurt me, the people that didn't believe in me, that I was worthy, that I would be accepted.

And what's interesting is I did go into that field.

I did get jobs, but I never had the big break.

But even when I got the jobs on the soap operas and they got the jobs in commercials and things like that, I still felt unworthy.

I still didn't feel like, well, this is not good enough.

Like, this is okay.

I could do better.

And I was always that girl who tried harder at school.

You know, if I didn't get that 98, I was like, oh, you know, and my mom didn't help because she'd say, why didn't you get a hundred?

And so there was all of that that I was grappling with a perfectionism to show, to prove that I am good, I'm successful.

And unfortunately, because I had so much hurt, I basically got into a lot of New Age occult practices.

This is in my book I share, because I was wounded, because I was searching for identity, because I was searching for healing.

I went down those paths because I didn't know any better.

I didn't know there was power in the Holy Spirit, that resurrection power that will heal and deliver.

Right?

I didn't know of that.

So.

So I opened the doors to, you know, going to psychics and tarot reading and.

And I started working in that field and.

And I would feel better temporary, but then it's like a workspace thing.

The next thing and the next thing, and the next thing and the next thing.

So I was 30 years in that, trying to heal.

And when I had a radical encounter with Jesus, literally, I hit rock bottom worse than ever in my entire life.

My son Became a strain.

My husband left, my grandmother died.

All of this happened within, like, the same few years.

And so when I hit rock bottom, and that's when I reached out and said, I think I need Jesus.

And it was the power of the Holy Spirit that kept drawing me.

You see, in the Bible, it says not by might, not by power, but by our power, but it's by the power of God.

And so I just kept saying yes, because I was so broken.

And what I know, because I've been in health and fitness for over 20 years, in nutrition and personal training, but now bringing faith as our number one pillar is that many women are still carrying the bondage of our past, allowing food to infiltrate and in going to food for comfort.

Yeah, because I think they've either forgotten that they already have victory through Jesus, or they never had the radical touch by the power of the Holy Spirit to really remind them of who they are and the power that they have inside of them as a Christian woman.

And so there's a lot of.

There's a lot of old wounds, you know, And I always say, Jesus took the whippings for us.

Why are we still whipping ourselves with shame and guilt when it comes to weight loss and health and food?

You know, don't take them.

He already took them.

But yet we forget.

And so I didn't know any better.

When I was a child, I had this radical encounter.

Jesus said, andrea, you know how to help women now I need you to help them in the kingdom to rise up and do what I'm calling them to do.

But they need their health in order.

And what I find is that there's so much deception.

And remember, deception, you don't even realize you're in it until you get out of it.

Right.

And so there's deception that the enemy has infiltrated even the body of Christ.

Remember, Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light, Second Corinthians, chapter 11.

That he's infiltrated our souls on some level.

And it always shows up when.

When a woman goes on this journey of weight loss.

Because, honestly, it's usually a lot of guilt, a lot of shame.

And I just really feel that you don't realize it until we take the lens, the word of God, place it under our health, and.

Or, you know, over top of the health, look through it with a magnifying glass and say, oh, I. I didn't even see that before.

And that's where.

Right.

The Holy Spirit brings that revelation and so that you can be delivered and healed.

And it's And I've seen it over and over and over.

Even women that have been in the faith for 30, 40, 50 years, you know, they're like, why never had this revelation?

Oh, so good.

Yeah.

I mean, one of the things I think you say is faith is the weapon that breaks the cycle.

It becomes an act of worship.

Right.

Because to your point, yes, it's the enemy or the devil that speaks in was one of the things, you know, doubt and lies and condemnation.

Right.

God is.

This is one pastor I'm going to share a quote of hers later, I think might really fit here.

But, you know, she was saying conviction is always clear from God and his instructions are always clear.

And it leads to life or it leads to resolution, not to shame and guilt and feeling defeated.

Right.

And so why don't you tell us a little bit about.

You talk about every time that when we start making health a priority.

Right.

Whether that's that we need to lose weight or we need to just get fitter.

Maybe we're tired easily.

Right.

There's so many things that come to you and they're dealing with, they're exhausted or they want to lose weight.

Both of those things.

Other things.

But you talk about that this isn't just about food alone, but then also every time we make a good choice, and I know the word good and bad isn't necessarily the right ones to use, but that's just what came to my mind.

But whenever we make a choice that's going to improve our health, tell us about that, because I love how you talked about that, about when we choose discipline over comfort.

I thought that was really interesting how you talked about that.

Yeah.

So that's so interesting, too.

Right.

It's like when we are choosing.

So let me, let me backtrack.

There's a difference between choosing and deciding.

If you look at the root word of decide, it means to cut.

And so as we're going on this weight loss journey, which, as you know, if we're losing weight, your cholesterol comes down, your blood sugars come down, your metabolism speeds like there's so many benefits to it, you know, we get stronger.

But as you're, as you decide to go on this journey that you are cutting from my old, these are my old ways, I'm going to cut from that and I'm going to decide then I'm going to turn and I'm going to, I'm going to take this on because you're becoming a strong, fit woman of God.

And you're not.

You're not doing this with willpower because honestly, willpower won't get you far.

It's going to burn out.

Right.

But you need to have the power of God and remember, oh, it's the resurrection power.

It's the Holy Spirit that produces these fruits of self control.

These, these fruits of even love.

And we are to love ourselves like our neighbor.

Right.

So it's these, these fruits that get to be produced in the process of weight loss.

Because you've decided, I don't want to be like her anymore.

That woman who goes into guilt and shame and overeats at night because she was stressed.

And I want to be the woman that runs to the Lord.

And yes, I'll have stress, but I'm going to handle it differently.

I'm not going to make food an idol anymore.

I'm not going to slide into gluttony because that's a sin.

I'm going to just follow the word of the Lord and I'm going to eat and drink and whatever I do.

Right.

I'm going to do it all for the glory of God.

And again, it's just deciding that we're going to cut from the old ways.

And the discipline comes from God.

It comes from the power of God.

Yeah.

Hope I answered your question because there's so many ways to know.

That was.

No, that was perfect.

I'm glad you went back and kind of explained that because I hadn't even thought about how you explained part of that.

So I love that.

Yeah, but you also were just saying, I think that when we choose the discipline or choose, like you said, we decide.

I think you also said that it's not just about our body changing, but you explained that we're training ourselves to say yes to God again and again.

In other words, when we make a choice and then we decide, I think it makes it easier every next time.

Yep.

When we, we are doing it for our kingdom work, for our bodies to be able to better serve, Right?

Yes.

God.

Every choice, every, every decision.

It's so easy to go into choices.

Because we say that.

But every decision you make is one step closer to, to becoming.

And a lot of times when we're making these choices, especially in diet culture ways, you know, we're caught in the cycle of guilt and shame and you're, you're doing it out of, I guess, necessity and restriction and deprivation and all of these ways that are not of God.

And when you do it, when you, each time you take that step, each time you make a decision that is moving the Needle in the direction you want it to go.

You know, it's like building on that foundation.

One choice, you can be like, yes, thank you, Jesus, we did it.

And then another and another.

And the next thing you know, you won't even have to think about it anymore.

It just becomes, you know, who you are.

That's what I always say to women that work with me is, you know, yes.

Do you want to lose weight?

Yes.

We will get you there for sure.

But ultimately, I want you to become the strong, fit woman of God.

Because when you become, you don't have to obsess about it anymore.

Yeah, I love that because that's absolutely sort of my philosophy as far as life.

Like, I have girlfriends who are amazing.

They're doing wonderful with their fitness, but they're always adding more and more.

And it's not that I don't add other things or do other things.

Like in my coffee, I put so many healthful things because I'm like, there's no way I'm going to get somebody to eat like, beetroot powder.

I'm not going to get it in another way.

I. I just have.

Can't figure it out because I don't always do smoothies.

So my point though is, is like, I just need it to be like, where it's easy to fit in.

And like you said, I don't have to feel like it's so overwhelming, like you said.

I want it to just be like, this works for me.

Right.

Like, I can do this pretty much every day, whatever the thing is, or most days or whatever.

So I am with you on that.

I think that's what most women want, isn't it?

They want it to.

To become something where it doesn't feel hard, but it becomes, like you said, who they are.

Like, oh, I'm somebody that does this.

Right.

I'm somebody that can build upon this.

Right.

Or whatever it is.

So I think that's so good.

What can you tell us about.

Because I know a lot of the work that you're doing, I think, with women is one is getting us in the word of God regularly and how we can use that.

Like, like you said, you have a couple pillars, so maybe do you want to share any of those with us?

Because I know a lot of it has to do with, right.

Our thoughts and what we think of ourselves or who, who we are versus who we can become in Christ.

So what would you just share with us about that as far as how we take back control of our health?

Yeah.

So the pillars that I work in are the faith, food and fitness.

And so you want me to focus on the faith piece right now?

Well, yeah, I guess I was thinking of when you talked about the pillars, like, yes, like just the defeating the enemy, renewing your mind and then going into the body.

I guess that's sort of how I was in the body.

Yeah.

And so I'm just going to pull from my book, which is part of this.

Right.

And so my book, the Christian Women's Weight Loss Victory Plan.

There are the three pillars of transformation that I talk about in the book.

The first one is defeating the enemy.

That's huge.

And that's one that we're not even thinking about, like have to defeat the enemy, but basically.

Right.

If you think about it, the Bible tells us that we're in a spiritual battle.

And you know, if you don't know you're in a battle, how are you going to fight?

Right, right.

If you have no idea, you're in a battle every day because we are kingdom citizens.

So every day you wake up, I want the enemy to say, oh, she's up versus haha, how can I snafu her today?

So defeating the enemy and you know, you want to just, you have to be in the Word in order to understand how to defeat the enemy.

Because God gave us the battle plan in the Word.

So number one, reading the Word is going to be a big part of defeating the enemy.

The other part is, what does God say?

Well, in Ephesians he talks about putting on your full armor of God as your protection to defeat the enemy.

Right.

But again, thinking of the sword of truth, it's the word.

So a lot of times the enemy will try to come in and into your mind and infiltrate your mind to say, you see, you already had that cookie at lunch.

You see, you can't do this.

I mean, it's as simple as that.

And some of us are like, that's silly.

But that's how he works because he's a spiritual being.

He's been around far longer than you and I have.

So he knows how to infiltrate.

And the mind is how he usually gets us.

And so we have to understand, okay, we need to defeat the enemy.

That's step one of the pillar.

Then that means you need the word of God to say, oh no, no, no, no, I am a child of God, I am made new in Christ, I'm joint heirs with Jesus, I have victory.

I mean, it could be as simple as that.

I'm air quoting because sometimes even that feels hard.

So That's.

I would say step number one, right, to defeat the enemy, is just come back at it with, no, because God doesn't say that.

This is what God says.

And at first it might not even feel real to you, but it's okay because it's a principle and word of God.

And so no matter what stands the test of time, it won't fail you.

Yeah, right.

So that's number one for that pillar number two, like you said, is.

Is renewing the mind.

So this kind of goes together with what I was just saying, because so many times we are thinking things you don't even realize.

For instance, I'm gonna.

I'm gonna share with you I did.

I love to just test myself on certain things.

That's just kind of who I am.

And this was quite a few years ago.

And I thought, I think I'm having too many negative thoughts, but I don't even know what they are.

So I did a little test, and I ate for three days straight.

I set my timer to go off at random times that I wouldn't remember.

And when the timer went off, I. I would pause and go, what was I just thinking?

And then I would.

I realized, whoa, my head is focused on the negative.

It's not focused on what God says and the truth.

And.

And I.

You know, we have to remember that in Romans 12, right?

It tells us that to be transformed, we have to renew our minds.

And our mind is our.

Our soul, our mind, our will, our.

Our thoughts, our emotions.

That's.

All of this is in there.

And that's a lot, you know, And.

And can I just remind every woman listening that it doesn't mean you're going to feel different right away that feelings are.

We should not be guided by feelings.

Listen, the Lord just spoke to me a couple months ago and said, andrea, surrendering to me is not a feeling.

You keep looking for a feeling, but it's a choice.

And so we have to remember, renewing our mind might not feel different, but it's a choice.

And so you're just going to keep.

It's like becoming, right?

We just have to keep picking up the sword, keep.

Keep focusing on what?

Where's my head?

Is it on God?

What does God say?

Oh, it's not.

Okay, let me bring it back.

So, you know, we have to keep doing that.

And then.

And then the third part is that the body.

And so the body will be transformed.

And.

And the thing is, is.

Can I just say that so many Christian women say, oh, I just feel like it's vanity.

No, this is not about vanity.

This is about stewardship of God's temple.

And when the soul, the mind, the will and emotions, when that soul of yours is in alignment with what does God say?

Your body.

And this is the way I describe it just to help us make sense of all this.

Our body's kind of stupid, really.

It really, it doesn't know.

It just, it's.

It follows its master.

Now, is the master of your body going to be the lies or is the master of your body going to be the truth?

It will follow its master.

So it, it will go, oh, okay, mind, sure, that's what you want to think.

Great.

And so then you're.

Let's just say you're thinking the word of God, right?

There's studies that show when your head is in a better place, you, your heart is beating differently, your brain is functioning optimally.

So even that alone.

But when you're in a better place in your mind, you're more likely to say, you know what?

I know that my body is the temple of God's.

I'm going to work out today, even though I don't like it.

And so then the body begins to transform because the soul is now plugged into the source, which is the Holy Spirit.

Absolutely.

I mean, there's so many studies at this point, not that we needed a study to tell us, but that show us that our thoughts directly affect, affect what happens in our body, in our cells.

They've done studies where they say when you suppress and repress feelings and you don't go address trauma, you don't do all these things that those you.

It can be one more factor in having chronic illness show up in your life.

In other words, because we're not addressing the things that need to get addressed and we're just push, push, pushing down.

It's because when we address them and then we can replace those thoughts, right, with thoughts that actually serve us and that are more loving to ourselves in our body and others.

There's a benefit, right, to all of ourselves.

I mean, it's just amazing to me.

So.

Absolutely.

If we keep telling ourselves things about ourselves that are not nice, right?

We might not think they're not nice, but oh my gosh, I'm so overweight or I can't, I can't ever do this, right?

All the things I look so horrible.

Whatever you're telling yourself, then you're not helping yourself get to a different, become something else, right?

And so we have to remember, pick something that you are willing to Say, right.

Even if you feel like, I can't say, oh, I'm so skinny because I'm not.

No, we're not saying that.

But you could say I'm, my arms are so strong, I could carry my child or look, I could walk for an hour.

Right.

Maybe I didn't go do some amazing different workout.

But you are very capable right now in your physical body.

And so I think we just have to start looking for the things that we can speak of ourselves.

Even if you're like, I can't say I'm so whatever.

Right, okay, well, maybe you can't say you're a size 2 and you're a size 12.

Right.

But you can say something that replaces some thoughts that you keep thinking about yourself.

So, yeah, I think it's so important and I absolutely see why that's above the transforming your body is because we have to kind of get our mind straight and our mindset straight, I would guess as well.

Exactly.

Yeah.

So, okay, so what if, what else that we haven't covered so far would you want to share with the listeners?

Just about, you know, all of this, what you cover, you know, the faith, the weight loss and the spiritual renewal.

I mean, the, again, the pillars that I work with are the faith, the food and the fitness.

Right.

Because there's a lot of people that are, that are like, okay, yes, it's your faith, but they don't quite understand.

And right now I pray that this has blessed some woman that she's like, oh, right, I'm on it.

I'm going to start grabbing my weapon, I'm going to start using the word and that will begin to bring that transformation.

I think the food piece needs to be addressed because there's a lot of women in the body of Christ because that's who I work with.

You, who you work with that are still out there doing diet trends.

Now, we can't, we can't fall into the diet culture trends because it's going to make you feel like you're in deprivation, restriction, starvation.

And I believe we are called to fast.

That's very different.

Biblical fasting is very different than starving yourself to try to get the scale to move.

So different.

Yeah, right.

And so what a lot of prob.

The problem is is that there, the, the diet industry is like a billion dollar industry and it's still growing.

And so that's why it's confusing because you see, oh, don't forget.

Oh, you got to take this now.

Oh, now you have to take this.

Oh, oh, don't forget to add this, and you're like, I can't keep up.

Right.

If I could give everybody, you know, just coming from a nutritional background, and I do give the women that I work with, like, here's your meal plan.

This is why we're building a lifestyle.

It's not about starving.

It's about learning, and it's about working with what God gave us to naturally speed up your metabolism, which we can, because after 30, the metabolism does slow, and after 30, we start to lose muscle, but we can shoot that.

And so my reminder to everybody is going back to the basics.

Meaning, are you eating what God provided you?

Are you eating whole foods?

Are you eating vegetables?

Like, to give an example, let's just say I'm just going to give you something maybe you can aim for.

You should be aiming for at least 8 cups of vegetables a day.

That's a lot for a lot of women, they're like, what?

Yeah, yeah.

But the thing is, is that when you do see, God gave us those vegetables because each one is different.

Each one has nutrients and vitamins that the body he gave us, they.

They partner with.

And it will sustain us and it will give us what we need.

And after a while, if you're eating different vegetables, your body will naturally crave something it needs.

So let's say your body's needing to detox a bit and you've been giving it some cauliflower.

Just.

I'm gonna, I'm throwing something out there at you.

Cauliflower is a, is a natural way to help the liver.

It's a natural, like cruciferous vegetables help the liver to detoxify so it will start to crave cauliflower.

And you're like, why am I craving cauliflower?

I'm not pregnant.

I'm over 30.

Right.

But it's because the body knows, oh, she need her.

Her liver needs a little boost.

Okay.

And that's how God designed it.

So if you aim for eating what God gave you, don't worry about all the supplements and the stuff.

If you're not just eating the right foods to start with, don't.

Don't buy everything out there.

Just come back to basics.

It's really not over complicated.

It's just that the world has overcomplicated it for us.

So I would say for food, start there and, you know, experiment with different vegetables.

Maybe you haven't tried.

And it's okay to have oil and butter.

It's okay, you know, if you want to fry your eggplant, go ahead and do that, I mean, just experiment.

So that's that in the food pillar and in the fitness pillar.

The other piece is, is that, you know, there is a way to exercise to.

We need to get strong, let's just put it that way.

We need to get strong and we need to stay strong.

So over 30, we can slow the process down of our, our muscles basically withering away.

They don't have to.

But a lot of women are so focused on cardio that you actually need to start implementing some form of strength in there.

And so I mean, what I, what I do with, with women is really just what I call the, the Victory fitness formula.

So I'm incorporating short 10 to 30 minute workouts that are like very precise, that will help your metabolism but also keep you strong.

So if you're not as a woman listening to this, doing any form of resistance training, start, and I just want to break this lie, you will not get bulky.

It's not possible.

We don't have the testosterone like a man does to get big and bulky.

We can't.

So do some, do some resistance training.

It's going to help tremendously with your weight loss, metabolism and strength.

Yeah, absolutely.

I love that.

No, those are both great tips for both of those areas.

And like you said, it's not in one area, right, that we, I mean, unless you're already doing too and maybe you need to add one.

But the point is, is it is holistic, right?

It is all the things we need to be paying attention to.

What we're eating, we need.

And then like you said, eating the things that are real food.

Yeah, right.

Especially the vegetables.

And then of course, like you said, you're right.

A lot of people don't realize as we get older that we need to be doing, you know, like you said, resistance training and make sure that we have b. I mean, Obviously if you're 30, maybe you don't have to worry about that yet, but have balance and that we are moving, you know, having movement so that we are strengthening, you know, our skeletal structure or whatever.

So yeah, so those are all really good, good, good tips.

Okay, what is one last thing that you want to share with the audience before I ask you the final question that we haven't already talked about or encouragement.

I would say, coming back to the faith piece, you know, if you have all these, well, I have to do this and I have to do that, like weight loss and health does not have to be over consuming of your mind.

If you don't have mental peace in this area that's not.

Not of God.

And so just to start seeking the Lord, say, lord, I surrender this.

This confusion, right?

I surrender this.

What I've thought to be truth that maybe is now not really true.

I just surrender it to you.

And so, Lord, show me the way.

Because he will, you know, if you sit with him and spend time with him, he will.

He'll always show you.

Even if you just.

Even if you don't and you ask him, he's going to show up and show you.

He's just.

That's the kind of God he is.

He's so loving and caring, and he wants us to be in good health because, you know, as Kingdom citizens, we're called to go and do what we are called to do.

And it's going to look different, probably than what Kristen and I are doing.

But you're a listener listening to this.

He's called you to go.

And so if your health is in your way, if you don't feel confident, if you just feel like, I'm just so confused, I don't know where to start.

Please just go to the Lord and just say, I surrender, Lord, help me.

And I know that.

I know that.

I know that he will help you.

Absolutely.

Yeah.

And even what you talked about, about the food is that our body knows now sometimes if we are eating a lot of less healthy choices, maybe it's kind of en masse.

But they even say with babies, if you gave them the choice of multiple healthy foods, they'll pick the food they need.

Like, they've tested it.

We just have to get back to that place.

If we have stepped away, maybe, and we're eating a lot more packaged food and things like that.

Right.

So our body will know when we start giving it the better stuff.

Right.

Like you said, like, why do you think some days you're like, oh, I really feel like I need whatever.

It might be some sort of protein, but it's probably because your body needed it.

Right.

Whereas other days you're like, I don't feel like having that.

I mean, we can listen to our bodies if we are giving it good choices.

Yes.

And here's the thing to that, though, Kristen, you know, some women I know listening this are going to say, my body wants sugar.

Yeah.

Yeah, I wasn't counting that as I. Yeah, I wasn't counting that as one of the like.

But I'm not in the world.

But you're right.

Yes.

If a listener is saying that, well, but my.

But.

But my body's craving sugar, it might be physiologically because it's.

It's.

It's gotten addicted.

So you can come off of that slowly, give it some good things.

Like what God designed honey, maple syrup, pure, you know, and come off of that sugar and take it to the Lord.

Lord, break me free from this addiction.

He is breaking people free.

I hear it all the time from drug addiction, opioids, and alcohol.

He can certainly break you free from sugar, right?

Absolutely.

Well, yeah.

And one thing that I.

And there's books on this, but I know is once we start giving ourselves a little bit healthier choices, even if you haven't cut something, you start wanting that less.

When we actually get more nutrients.

Yes.

I mean, typically, maybe not 100%, but you know what I mean?

So, yeah, I mean, like you said, it's just starting with one choice.

Right.

Deciding.

And so I love that.

Okay, so last question.

What is fueling you right now in life?

What's one thing?

Well, spending time with the Lord.

Lately, I have been.

It's nice here where I am in New York and just being outside on what I call, like, got my God.

Time walks.

Yeah, it.

I have to just say, you know, it's just.

I was like, lord, I don't want to leave.

This is so nice.

I just want to spend more time in your presence.

And.

And that's what gets me through the day is.

Is the time in his presence.

I'm just.

I don't know why I lived most of my life without it, like, why.

But I'm grateful that I have it now.

But that is what fuels me.

And I'm just ready for more and more and more people.

I can't wait to continue to get more emails and messages from women, how they've healed and how, you know, all of these testimonies of what God has done in their life and their health and then their.

And then their weight loss.

I mean, to me, that fuels me.

So between spending time with God and getting those testimonies, I'm like, let's go.

Bigger impact.

I love it.

That's great.

And I'm with you on that.

Like my.

Either being in my garden and working in the garden or going on my walks.

And sometimes I'll listen to a sermon or a podcast or music walking.

But other times, I know I'm just like, I need quiet, you know, because I get other time that I go outside and, you know, have that quiet time.

But yeah, there's other times where I'm just like, enough.

Right?

Like, and.

But I.

And.

But there's walks, like you said.

Just being in his creation and.

And feeling his presence is so, so important, I think, especially if you're a busy person and maybe that isn't something you've been f. It makes a big difference for sure.

Oh, yeah, definitely.

Okay, Andrea, tell us, how can people find out more about your programs, your book, your podcast, and all the other wonderful ways you're working with women in the world?

Yeah.

So you can go to my website, andrealyn.com the podcast is the Christian Women's Weight Loss Podcast with my name, Andrea Lynn.

And there is my book that just launched, which I'm excited.

I can't wait, like I said, to hear the testimonies.

It's the Christian Women's Weight Loss Victory plan.

You can grab that on anywhere.

Barnes and Noble, Amazon.

I actually even have a link that I can.

That I can give directly.

And if anybody has been grappling with this warfare, like, I know that my weight loss has been a spiritual warfare, I'm happy to give you the gift, which is what I give out, my free guide to winning the spiritual battle at weight loss.

And I'm happy.

I'll give you that, too, Kristin, so you can share that with them, because it's going to give you how to fight.

Like we talked about, renewing the mind and how to fight.

If you don't know how to fight, let's get this guide so that you can start that strong foundation.

Absolutely.

I love that.

All right, well, thank you so much for joining us today, sharing, you know, just these pillars of how we can all, you know, just focus on our health, making really healthy decisions so we can be our best selves.

Losing the weight, if that's, you know, one of the things we need to do.

And I just think it's so powerful.

And like you said, it's when we come together in community, we hear conversations like this and then we go to God with it.

We can.

We can all be healthier and where.

Whatever part of that journey we're on, just like our faith journeys, we just have to be encouraged and know that it's possible.

And so thank you for coming and sharing your heart and your focus with us today.

Yes, thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you for having me.

I hope our conversation today gave you some new perspectives on our health journeys and.

And how important our spiritual or faith journey and how really taking hold of our thoughts is so important to the other aspects of our fitness and food journeys to be our best selves.

And I also wanted to let you know that if you're somebody that is wanting to make a shift in their life and you either feel stuck or you're ready to step into something new.

I do do one on one coaching mentoring sessions with women.

You just need to go to my website and all the information is there.

But if you feel stuck in an area of your life, if you feel like you're ready to step into a new thing but you don't, you want to feel more aligned.

If you're trying to decide what's next, maybe you're trying to simplify a part of your life and say no to the hustle and hurry.

Or maybe you need a clearer roadmap as you build something.

A podcast, writing, a platform, an online business.

Or you just want your life to align better with how you'd like to live.

You want more time and financial freedom?

Reach out.

You can either DM me, you can email me, or you can book a session directly from my website.

But I love working with women, helping them get unstuck, helping them make a shift in their lives so they feel more aligned and ready to step into even more of what God has for them, but living the way God designed us to live.

Not in the hustle of the world.

If you're interested in learning more, head over to kristenfitch.

Com and you can find all the information there.

Thanks again for listening to the show and if you enjoyed today's episode, we would love it if you could take a minute to leave a rating and review on Apple Podcast because it helps our show get discovered by more people.