Cravings, Cortisol and Satan's Counterfeit Comfort

Galatians 5:16-18” So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever[c] you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.

LET’S TALK ABOUT THE HORMONE REALITY FOR WOMEN 40+

Hormone #1 — Cortisol- Your stress hormone. Women over 40 produce more of it and clear it more slowly. High cortisol increases:  ✔ belly fat ✔ cravings for sugar ✔ emotional reactivity ✔ nighttime overeating

Hormone #2 — Insulin-  Insulin resistance becomes more common after 40.
 Which means: ✔ more hunger ✔ more energy crashes ✔ more “why do I want sugar at 3pm every day?”

Hormone #3 — Estrogen Decline- Lower estrogen impacts: ✔ serotonin (your feel-good hormone) ✔ motivation ✔ satisfaction after eating

HERE IS A SPIRITUAL + HORMONAL SOLUTION:

1. Interrupt the spiritual moment - When cravings hit, ask: “What am I really needing right now?”  Peace?  Rest? Affection?  Relief? 

2. Stabilize your hormones with structure. 

• Eat every 3–4 hours
 • Include protein + fiber-filled carb + healthy fat
 • Drink 16-20 ounces of water every afternoon- ½ your weight in ounces total each day
 • Stop fasting too long- intermittent fasting can be beneficial for some as long as you’re meeting your macros
 • Don’t skip meals thinking it will help (it spikes cravings later)

3. Create a spiritual replacement habit-Pause. Pray. Plan 

Lord, show me the places where cravings have become comfort. Search me God and know my heart, test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive wayt in me an dlead me in the way everlasting. Thank you for that Psalm Father, let it be the anthem of my life. LEad me to daily repentance Jesus, change me, change my unhealthy habits. Realign my relationship with my body, help me rest her, love her, fuel her and speak LIFE to her. Teach me to see the trap, the trigger, and the truth. Thank Your for thoughtful reminders of Your faithfulness. Help my hormones stabilize, my mind settle, and my spirit strengthen through Your Holy Spirit inside me. Thank You for answered prayer, Amen.

Are you sick of trying diet after diet and NOT losing weight?

Hey there friend, I'm Lindy Schlabach, Christian Fitness & Nutrition Coach. I gained 100 pounds in my late twenties and struggled for years to get it off. Seven years ago, I found a basic system that worked and has helped me lose 90 of those pounds. I’ve been working with women in online fitness and nutrition ever since to break chains of diet culture, embrace their bodies and fueling instead of dieting.

In this podcast, I'll teach you how to:

• • Lose Weight in a Way that honors God without obsessing about the scale
  • Meal Plan and Prep for Your Family
  • Follow a MACRO based plan that allows you to eat the foods you love.
  • Recognize and pray through triggers keeping you stuck.
  • I’ll help you Plan your week and schedule your self-care time.
  • Cultivate a spirit of self-discipline in your workouts you actually enjoy.
  
  It's time to give God your health journey and watch Him make you new, from the inside, OUT.

Join The Biblical Weight Loss Framework: https://www.herweightlossmindset.com/framework

Join my FREE Community: https://bit.ly/JoinTheChristianWeightLossCommunity

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Transcript

Introduction

Hey, my friend, welcome back. Thanks for coming to hang out with me today. So we are gonna talk about something every woman over 40 knows too well, cravings.

Not the cute kind, the kind that hit after dinner when your belly is full and you know you're not one bite hungry. Maybe yours happens when the house is quiet or the stress is loud and your willpower feels like it left the building an hour ago.

Today, I wanna show you something deeper. Your cravings are not random. They're spiritual and hormonal.

They'll show where you're hurting and where you're being hunted. I know we don't want to, but let's go there. Are you sick of trying diet after diet and not losing weight?

Are you tired of doubting your ability to actually lose weight in a healthy way? Do you wish you could find a laid out for you plan that will help you stay accountable to your goals?

Hey, friend, I'm Lindy Schlabach, Christian Fitness & Nutrition Coach. I gained 100 pounds in my late 20s and struggled for years to get it off. Nine years ago, I found a system that works and has helped me lose over 90 of those pounds.

I've worked with women in online fitness and nutrition ever since.

In this podcast, I'll teach you how to reframe your thoughts about weight loss and your ability to achieve lasting results and lose weight in a way that honors God without obsessing about the scale and meal plan and prep for your family.

So grab your pre-workout and let's chat. Are you ready to finally release your weight for good? Join the Biblical Weight Loss Framework and let's take a Holy Spirit led approach to weight loss God's way.

What the heck does that even mean? That means that no more diets, no more calorie counting, no more buying into the last fad diet. We are going to dig in to what has been happening in your life over the last however many years, decades, etc.

And we are going to take a deep dive approach into healing those things. We're going to look at traumas, triggers, all of the hard things that we don't really want to deal with.

I know that this is going to be work, but the Lord has called us to lean on Him, to lean on not our understanding but His, to acknowledge Him and He's going to make our path straight. Sometimes that comes through accountability and coaching.

That is what the 90 Day Biblical Weight Loss Framework is. It's 90 days of group coaching in a safe space surrounded by like-minded people who are wanting to work towards what you want to work towards.

It is never too late to reach your God-given goals. So if you are finally ready to take a step, find us in the show notes at herweightlossmindset.com/framework. That's herweightlossmindset.com/framework.

I also do one-on-one coaching. You can find the link for more information on the website as well.

Biblical Cravings Battle

So Galatians chapter 5 verses 16 to 18 says, So I say, walk by the spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the flesh desires what is contrary to the spirit, and the spirit what is contrary to the flesh.

They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want. But if you are led by the spirit, you are not under the law. This verse has no room for shame.

It reveals something though. Cravings compete with guidance. They pull you toward distraction instead of direction towards the father.

I think it's also important that we remember this verse as well, from Ephesians chapter 6 verses 12 and 13.

It says, For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world, and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

Therefore, put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything to stand.

The beautiful reminder of this last verse is we have the full armor of God at our disposal, and God has already won the battle.

It probably doesn't feel like it at times, but leaning on that promise and standing that no weapon formed against you will prosper should keep us pushing towards our healthy eating and movement journey so we can continue to share the gospel as we're called to. 

Cravings: Counterfeit Comfort

So let's dig into the spiritual root of cravings, shall we? Cravings show up when comfort becomes your idol. Food itself is not sinful, but running to it instead of Jesus becomes a form of self-soothing that bypasses God.

Your craving is really saying, I need relief, I need rest, I need comfort. But the enemy whispers, you can get that faster right here, just eat. He offers a counterfeit comfort that's filled with shame and regret.

God offers peace. The enemy offers pacifiers. You know how awful you feel when you give in to a craving yet we still do it.

Why? Because we're not tapping into the Holy Spirit that lives inside of us. The next thing is that the enemy attacks when your defenses are down.

At night, when you're tired, when you're lonely, when you're overwhelmed, when you feel unnoticed, when you feel like nothing's working anyway. Cravings aren't about food. They are about opportunity.

It's opportunity for spiritual warfare. Either the enemy and our cravings are going to win or the spirit does and we cannot serve both. Who do you want winning the battle for your body, God, or your cravings?

God or the enemy? Of course, you know the answer, yet we still don't make the hard choice to obey and that has got to change. It is never ultimately about your weight, but where your obedience lies.

Hormones Drive Cravings

So I want to talk about cravings and the hormone reality for women over 40. These cravings are not a character flaw. They are chemical, spiritual, and emotional, all woven together.

But it is our responsibility to tackle them through Holy Spirit power. We can heal this area of our life, okay? So hormone number one is cortisol.

Cortisol is a stress hormone and women over 40 produce more of it and they clear it more slowly. High cortisol increases belly fat, cravings for sugar, emotional reactivity, and nighttime overeating. The enemy loves a stressed woman.

Because a stressed woman is distracted, she's discouraged. And when cortisol rises, cravings rise. Not because you're weak, my friend, but because your body is in fight or flight mode.

Learning to recognize these things will make a difference. Hormone number two is insulin. Insulin resistance becomes more common after 40, which means you have more hunger, more energy crashes, more why do I want three sugar at 3 p.m.

every day? But this is spiritual too, when the energy crashes, irritability rises, and that's an open door for lies of the enemy. You're failing, you can't control yourself, you might as well give up.

One bite won't hurt. Hormone number three is estrogen decline. When your estrogen is lower, it impacts your serotonin, which is your feel-good hormone.

It impacts your motivation or satisfaction after eating, which leads to I'm full, but I still want something sweet, or I don't feel done, I need one more bite.

It's not necessarily gluttony, oftentimes it's biology colliding with spiritual vulnerability. In that moment, that prayer, Lord, give me what I need, is the most powerful prayer you can say.

So many times lately, he's kept me from the pantry because I pray this prayer, or I'll say, Lord, I know I'm not hungry, can you take the thought of food away from me? And poof, it's gone.

At some point later, he will remind me of my answered prayer, and I always thank him for his provision. Ask and it shall be given to you, seek and ye shall find. We read that in Matthew 7,7.

Overcoming Cravings Prayer

We have to learn to interrupt the spiritual moment with a hormonal solution. So when your cravings hit, ask yourself, what do I really need right now? Peace, rest, affection, relief?

Then pray one sentence. Holy Spirit, take these thoughts from me, I lay them at your feet. It's going to break the spiritual momentum instantly.

And then stabilize your hormones with structure, not dieting, but discipline and consistency. Eat every three to four hours and include protein, a fiber-filled carb, and a healthy fat at every meal, four to five meals a day.

Drink 60 to 20 ounces of water every afternoon. Focus on half your weight in ounces total every day. And stop fasting for too long.

Of course, intermittent fasting can be beneficial for some, as long as you're meeting your macro and calorie count through the day. You cannot skip meals thinking it will help. It's actually going to spike your cravings later.

And this is never the answer. Less is not more when it comes to eating food. The average female burns 15 to 1800 calories at rest every day, which means you need a minimum of that to recoup and have a healthy energy level.

When those cravings hit, pause, pray, and make a plan. All you have to pray is one second, one sentence. Decide intentionally, and God is going to replace that craving with peace.

It's okay to be hungry now and again. Walk away from that craving and say, Lord, just let me be hungry for a minute. What are cravings showing up as counterfeit comfort for you?

Where is stress leading you to sugar instead of the Savior? I want you to think about three areas of work this week as you start to journal and apply scripture to each of those issues.

You have to take that second to pray before you dive in to a decision or a craving that you know you're going to eat something bad and regret later. Let's take a quick pause. Lord, give me what I need.

And then walk away. Father, show me the places where cravings have become comfort. Search me God and know my heart.

Test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me and lead me in the way everlasting. Thank you for that Psalm, Heavenly Father.

Let it be the anthem of my life. Lead me to daily repentance, Jesus. Change me.

Change my unhealthy habits. Realign my relationship with my body. Help me rest her, love her, fuel her, and speak life to her.

Teach me to see the trap, the trigger, and the truth. Thank you for thoughtful reminders of your faithfulness. Help my hormones stabilize, Lord.

Help my mind to settle and my spirit strengthen through your Holy Spirit inside of me. Thank you for answered prayer. Amen.

Hey, sis. I hope you enjoyed today's episode. If so, would you take 30 seconds and share it with a friend?

Also, please leave a quick review for the show on Apple Podcasts. It lights me up to know this podcast is helping you. Okay, it's time to go make a protein shake and get my sweat on.

No more standing in the kitchen waiting for motivation to appear. I will meet you back here for another episode. God bless.