Crunchy Stewardship

Healthy Eating as Spiritual Worship with Dietician Abby Coggins

• Chrissy Rombach • Season 1 • Episode 11

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In this episode of Crunchy Stewardship, host Chrissy Roach interviews dietician Abby Coggins. They discuss integrating Christian faith with nutrition, focusing on how to honor God through food choices and physical health. Abby shares her journey from culinary school to becoming a dietician and explains how her faith guided her career choices. The conversation covers practical advice on meal planning, overcoming unhealthy relationships with food, understanding fad diets, and the role of supplements. Abby emphasizes the importance of gratitude and stewardship in improving health. 


Episode Takeaway: 

In this episode, featuring Chrissy Rombach interviews dietician, Abby Coggins, who underscores that true stewardship encompasses our entire well-being—spiritual, mental, emotional, financial, and physical—all guided by biblical principles. Abby Coggins emphasizes that honoring God through nutrition means viewing food as a form of stewardship, making conscious and balanced choices, and prioritizing nourishment over fad diets or emotional eating. By taking care of our physical health, we are better able to serve God and our communities.


Chapters
00:00 Welcome to Crunchy Stewardship
00:59 Introduction to Today's Episode
01:17 Meet Abby Coggins: Dietician and Faith Journey
04:54 Honoring God Through Nutrition
06:30 Scriptural Guidance on Nutrition
07:52 Overcoming Unhealthy Relationships with Food
10:21 Understanding Fad Diets
11:46 Healthy Habits for Busy Families
17:21 Emotions, Stress, and Eating Habits
20:40 Considerations for Fasting and Intermittent Fasting
23:50 Advice for Overwhelmed Eaters
26:28 The Role of Supplements in a Healthy Diet
28:34 Choosing the Right Supplements
33:22 Early Christians and Nourishment
38:07 Final Thoughts and Getting Involved



Links: 

Nutrition Counseling with Abby Coggins: https://provider.faynutrition.com/book/abby-coggins/224722


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Chrissy:

Hello and welcome to Crunchy Stewardship. My name is Chrissy Rombach. On this podcast, we are passionate about learning and sharing knowledge to equip others to steward their spiritual, mental, emotional, financial, and physical health in order to honor God in every aspect of their lives. We take deep dives into what it means to steward our lives as God originally intended for us with the resources that God has given us. We look at topics like food, medicine, finances, mental health, and tons more through a natural lens and with a biblical foundation Before we get started in today's episode, if you've been enjoying our podcast, please make sure you subscribe and leave us a five star rating. This helps other people find our show in the future. And if you're not already signed up for a weekly newsletter, go ahead and do that by clicking on the link in the show notes. So today as we get started in our podcast, yes, it is just me, Chrissy, Katie is not here with me today because she just moved to Michigan. She's unpacking and everything like that. But the show must go on. So today's podcast is gonna be great. Nonetheless. We are interviewing a friend and dietician Abby Coggins. She has been a dietician now for seven years, and she's incredibly experienced in the world of diet and nutrition and leading people to honor the Lord with their nutrition. So Abby, as we get started, do you mind just like taking a minute and introducing yourself? Tell us where did you grow up? What initially inspired you to become a dietician, and how exactly has your Christian faith influenced you in that journey?

Abby:

Yeah, so I grew up in North Carolina and yeah, the road. To me, becoming a dietician is a little bit of a long one, but, I actually started out in culinary school, because I thought I wanted to be a chef and I ended up doing two years of culinary school and got certified in culinary arts and baking and pastry. But while I was there, I, during my coursework, I ended up taking a nutrition class and just fell in love with, the idea of not only like food and presenting food and making food taste really good, but also just like, how does food affect our bodies and what does it look like to make really good food, but also make it nourishing to where it, fuels our bodies. And, yeah, we're able to, not only, enjoy a meal, but making sure that our bodies are getting what it needs. So My Christian faith definitely influenced that journey because simultaneously I, during this time in my life, I was also just asking the Lord. I didn't really have peace about becoming a chef necessarily as far as like a career in the long run. Just like the hours and the crazy schedule, just, I didn't really feel like it aligned with the goals I was hoping to achieve. And, yeah. So I just really felt like, the Lord put it on my heart to pursue a different path, which, ended up, in me going to, starting over in a new city. And that's kind of where honestly my, faith in the Lord, like really took off in my relationship with him. So it wasn't only just like a career change and a school change, but also just like a true heart change and posture to the Lord. And so, yeah, so now I, about six or seven years, working in the field and yeah, it's just been an interesting journey and the Lord has definitely opened up a lot of doors for me along the way. As far as job opportunities, career opportunities, you know, I was able to work as a clinical dietician for about six years and then just recently, back in September of 2024, was able to move more into the nutrition counseling space, private practice space, which has honestly just been a game changer. And I love it. It's a lot of learning. Um, just. A new way of doing nutrition and dietetics. But it's been great. I feel like I've definitely been able to challenge myself and learn a lot of new things. But yeah, definitely I feel like the Lord has had his fingerprints and all of it. So yeah, it's just been really cool to see all of that play out over the past several years.

Chrissy:

That's awesome. I love to hear how the Lord has like guided you in your process and now you're counseling people on how to live their lives to their fullest potential through their nutrition by using the foods that God has given them, right?

Abby:

Yes.

Chrissy:

Yes. So, if you were to think about when you're counseling somebody, how can Christians honor God through their food choices and their physical health?

Abby:

Yeah, I definitely think us as Christians, you know, definitely viewing food as, a form of stewardship, a form of, you know, how do we honor God in all the things that we do. And I definitely believe that food plays a big role in that. It's something that we do every single day, three times a day, if not more. It's, you know, I think, I don't know, it's just such a communal, space like everyone has to eat. And I definitely believe, like as Christians, honoring the Lord and making sure that we're, treating our bodies well and giving our bodies what they need to function well. And so I think just whenever we're able to do that and we're able to take care of ourselves physically, it also just transcends into every other space, emotionally, spiritually, I think we're able to give more to the Lord and to others that are in our community whenever we are healthy and happy.

Chrissy:

Are there any scriptures that guide you in your philosophy on nutrition and caring for the body in general?

Abby:

I would say just kind of like piggybacking off of the last question, one verse that comes to mind is 1 Corinthians 10:31, which says,"So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God." I feel like that one really sticks out to me as far as like whenever I think of nutrition and health and just everything that we do in life, doing it all to the glory of God. And I don't think that the food that we're eating every day, which consumes a lot of our time and thoughts and energy, I don't think that that is separated from, the things that we give God glory for and the things that we are stewarding in our lives. And so I definitely think, putting some thought into what's going on our plate, and what we're putting inside of our bodies and how we do that and really steward them well. Just doing that, giving glory to God and all of that. So yeah, I think that would be, one thing that probably, guides my philosophy on nutrition and just caring for the body.

Chrissy:

What role does prayer or spiritual discipline play in overcoming unhealthy relationships with food?

Abby:

Yeah, I definitely think, unhealthy relationships with food are so common these days. Anything from just obsessing over diet culture or eating disorders. I feel like there's a new fad diet around every corner that we look, especially on social media with, you know, keto or intermittent fasting, or, there's just so many things out there I think that can really like, you know, not, that they're all bad, but I think it can definitely cause us to have like unhealthy relationships with food. And just like anything in life I think that we struggle with or we find difficult or a challenge or something that's, having a lot of space in our minds to where we can't, think about other things. I definitely think, surrendering that to the Lord, in prayer. I think, yeah, just coming to the Lord in prayer and just asking him for help in that area. It can definitely help surrender some of those thought patterns around food. And I think whenever we, find time to sit with the Lord and to sit in his presence, we're able to really find our identities first in him. And I think that that's a key part in, our Christian faith and journey, is finding our identity first in him and, not worrying about, every little thing. And not letting you know how much we weigh or what we look like, or, all of those things dictate our identities. and I think If we can kind of start in that place of just sitting with the Lord and learning about him, that so we can know ourselves better, helps, to navigate some of those negative thought patterns around food and how we choose the foods that we eat.

Chrissy:

You mentioned fad diets. Can you just real quick, give like a blanket overview of what is a fad diet and what in particular is important to keep in mind if somebody were to be thinking about trying one of them?

Abby:

Yeah. I think I would define a fad diet as. Something that has, a lot of popularity for a moment in time. So, whether it be like the Atkins diet or the keto diet or the carnivore diet, or the like fruit only diet or just like a raw diet or of people only eating like raw fruits and vegetables. I feel like most fad diets usually try and exclude one particular food group. So whether it's like an emphasis on limiting carbohydrates or an emphasis on, just very, very high protein usually I feel like that's what you see in fad diets is it's not a very well balanced approach. And what I mean by balanced is making sure that we're pulling from all of the macronutrients, so proteins, fats, and carbohydrates. So having an equal balance of all of those things is very important. And so, yeah, that's kind of how I would define a fad diet.

Chrissy:

Okay, next question. Can you suggest healthy habits for busy families who struggle to find time to eat well?

Abby:

Yeah, definitely. I feel like I have a lot of clients who are busy moms that are trying to feed families and even, my clients that are not moms, even just like as a single person, it can be really hard with busy schedules to find time to eat healthy and to prioritize cooking and preparation and yeah. So typically, I think one of the first things that I try to do is identify the barriers, like what are the barriers to eating healthy? What does that look like? Is it lack of time? Is it lack of knowing what to eat or, just lack of preparing? And so really just like starting there. Sometimes I think with busy families and especially moms who are trying to cook for families. It can be really hard if everyone has like a different preference or food aversions or things like that. So I think identifying the barriers is the first solution. And then coming up with just like small sustainable steps of, okay, what does it look like to create some sort of a meal plan? And so oftentimes I'll just recommend setting aside a couple of hours on a weekend to create a list of the meals for the next week, and whether it be batch preparing some things, whether it be just like cooking some proteins like chicken or beef or turkey, and having those things like ready to go and having like vegetables and everything kind of cut and chopped ahead of time. And so really, I feel like it just depends on the person or the family and how they like to eat or how they structure their weeks. But definitely like prioritizing having a plan going into the week,'cause I definitely feel like that sets you up for success, even if it's not perfect, just having a plan is better than not having one at all. And. Another recommendation that I would give someone would be to just always have like fresh fruits and vegetables ready to go washed, cut, prepared in the fridge for grab and go snacks. Just'cause like life does get busy, it gets crazy, but I think having something there that's, you know, nutrient dense that you can just grab and go, definitely can be a game changer. And then also just utilizing things like, slow cookers, instant pot, sheet pan meals. I think all of those types of things, you know, trying not to over complicate it, but, coming up with like easy solutions to get past the barriers, I think is key. So not feeling like you have to have this five star elaborate meal on the table every night, but it can just be something as simple as, chicken, broccoli and a sweet potato. So yeah, and you can dress that up and make it really nice. And then, yeah, I think just like also, you know, for moms that are trying to get healthy food on the, on their kids' plates, I think involving the kids and inviting them into the process of going to the grocery store and having them come with you or whether it be to the farmer's market and you make it like a family event, to where the kids are involved, they're seeing the food that's being bought and then inviting them into the kitchen to help you prepare it, help you make it. I think for kids when you invite them in on the process and they see what's being made, they're usually more likely to eat the fruits and the vegetables and those things, because they have some buy-in. So those would be a few of my suggestions.

Chrissy:

So Max and I have actually, done some of those things. I have a, as some of you listeners know, I am big on my shopping lists and my budget and everything like that. So every week on Tuesdays in particular,'cause Tuesday is the day that I'm off of work, and most of the time, not consistently, but most of the time I'm off of work on Tuesdays and I will literally take. Like two hours of my morning, I'll go through and create all the meals for the next week. And then I look at the sales and the coupons that each grocery store is having. And sometimes I even like plan my meals around those sales and coupons so that I don't end up going over budget when I wanna make like a super fancy meal and things like that. And then I'll actually go look at the websites for all three grocery stores that I go to and find the best price for each food. And it turns into a game for me sometimes of like, okay. How do I get the best quality food for the cheapest prices and stay within budget? And let me tell you, it can be kind of difficult sometimes, but it's really fun if you make it into a game. And especially I think getting, kids involved and saying, okay, well little Sally's gonna create the meal on Monday and then Jimmy's gonna create the meal on Tuesday. And to have each kid create their own meal for a day of the week to be able to actually be involved in the meal planning. I think that's really great in like actually getting their buy-in also, right?

Abby:

Yeah, absolutely. I would say you're a step at the step ahead of the game.

Chrissy:

Step ahead with no children. Yeah

Abby:

No, that's awesome.

Chrissy:

Okay, so next question. How do emotions and stress affect eating habits?

Abby:

Yeah, I would say that is a big one. I feel like for most people our emotions and stress affect our eating habits. Whether that be, through avoiding food and not eating it, or I feel like a lot of times whenever people get really stressed or sad or they're happy, I don't know. I think just like so many emotions surround our food choices, which is not always necessarily a negative thing. I think, using food as, I mean, anytime you think about a big celebration, there's usually some sort of like food at the center piece of that. So I don't think it's all negative necessarily. But I do think sometimes, like whenever we're sad or upset, or really stressed, I think we can tend to navigate towards the foods that bring us comfort, which doesn't usually tend to be nutrient dense foods.

Chrissy:

And that's not me and my, my mac and cheese and Chick-fil-A,

Abby:

Which is so good. And I don't think it's like bad necessarily to do that like once in a while, you know, if you've had a stressful day, but I definitely think. Sometimes if we navigate towards that more often than not, whenever we're stressed, usually I feel like it leads to more stress because we're not nourishing our bodies 9 times outta 10. After eating those things, you really don't feel as good as you thought you might in the moment. It might feel good to like just have that thing, to satisfy an emotion or have the comfort there. But I think in the long run, it doesn't make us feel good physically. So I think sometimes just like, whenever we're having a stressful moment or you know, we're really sad or upset, I think sometimes just pausing and getting outside or going on a walk, can definitely help with that. So that's one thing I try to do in my counseling sessions is just identify stress points of what are the things that stress us out and what are our coping strategies for those things?'Cause I think the more that we can get our coping strategies away from food related activities, the better off we'll be.'cause then we can just like make more sound decisions involving our food. And again, not that we can't have mac and cheese. I think every, every well balanced diet should include that every once in a while.

Chrissy:

I actually did find Annie's mac and cheese is not too horrible.

Abby:

Okay.

Chrissy:

In comparison to the other options.

Abby:

Yeah. Yeah. No, I'm all for that. But I think if we can not do those things in stressful moments, I think it'll help kind of heal relationships with food.

Chrissy:

That's good. And it, it definitely takes time also, for sure. It's not a quick fix. Okay. What should somebody consider before starting a fast, especially if they have health conditions?

Abby:

Yeah, I definitely think, if you have a health condition such as diabetes. Whether that be like type one or type two, or just any kind of, health condition where your blood sugars are very unstable or can drop pretty quickly. I think definitely important to consult your doctor or healthcare provider just surrounding, what that would look like as far as. You know, not having food for hours or days, because it can be dangerous if you need medications to manage your blood sugars. So I definitely think just like consulting your healthcare provider before going into like a multiple day fast, can definitely be helpful and recommended.

Chrissy:

Now, what about for intermittent fasting? That is, I think one of those big fad diets right now is everybody is super into intermittent fasting and everything like that. What are the pros and cons of intermittent fasting from both a physical health perspective and a spiritual health perspective?

Abby:

Yeah, I would say yeah, intermittent fasting, has definitely come on to the scene. And there's definitely research out there to support, you know, the pros of that. Which could be like, cellular health, so like strengthening the mitochondria. So whether that be like an 18 hour fast, you know, that's typically inclusive of your time sleeping. So, stopping food at a certain time, having 18 hours, while you're sleeping sometime in the evening, and then hours when you're sleeping, and then hours in the morning where you're not eating, and then having a four to six hour eating window during the day, those types of things can, help with, cellular function and regeneration, as well as like mitochondrial health. So there's definitely studies out there that support that. And I think the cons of intermittent fasting is, you know, it's not for everyone That doesn't always fit everyone's schedule. I think especially if you are, if you have like a very high functioning job, like if you're a doctor or a surgeon or someone who has to like really be on their A game, in the early hours of the morning, I definitely think like having, a well balanced breakfast can be the move. Especially with, I think research is also showing that intermittent fasting for long periods of time, is also maybe not the most beneficial for women who are trying to balance their hormones. And so, yeah, I definitely think, three balanced meals per day can be the way to go. Yeah.

Chrissy:

Cool. What advice would you give someone who feels guilty or overwhelmed trying to quote unquote eat right?

Abby:

I would usually say for someone just feeling stressed or guilty or overwhelmed. Just around food and figuring out what to eat, when to eat, how to best, you know, use food to nourish their bodies. And, I would just say like, letting go of the idea of this has to be perfect. Right. So just starting out with, typically whenever I meet with clients. Usually what I'll do is at the end of our session, after kind of going through, what their typical meal patterns look like, what their lifestyle and habits look like, I always start out with three small goals. And so I think just like small sustainable changes. So looking at it from a perspective of like, it doesn't need to be perfect. But we want to create a lifestyle change. And so I think just like setting three small goals of, just the basics, you know, like, are we eating balanced meals? Are we having our recommended servings of fruits and vegetables? Are we getting enough fiber in in our day? Are we hydrating properly? And so those are just some of like the key points that I'll try to touch on during a session with someone. And then we always just set, like, if someone's not eating any fruits or vegetables all day, I would never recommend. Alright, you need five servings of vegetables and four servings of fruit. We would always just start out with okay, every day, can you have a serving of fruit and one serving of vegetables? Can you drink 40 ounces of water consistently every day?

Chrissy:

I, I think that is the biggest struggle with my husband. I will buy so much fruit and he doesn't touch it. Yeah, not at all. I say, babe, what'd you eat for a snack today? Yogurt. Did you know there's an apple in there? Oh yeah. And Oh, it's so hard. Yeah. I'm like, just an apple a day. He goes, how about we start with an apple every other day? Yeah.

Abby:

Yeah. And I think sometimes that's what people need is just the basics and to set those small goals of, yeah, maybe it is an apple every other day versus an apple every day, you know? And then. Whenever people get to that point where they're doing that consistently and they're not thinking about it, then we up it and increase it to slowly create those changes. So kind of like habit. Habit stacking.

Chrissy:

Habit forming is great. Very difficult to do, but in the long run, very beneficial. Yeah. Overall. Yeah. Yeah. Okay, so switching gears a little bit, we're gonna look at supplements now. Can you define supplements and what role should they ideally play in a healthy diet?

Abby:

Yeah, I would say, yeah, I mean, just kind of in the word, you know, I definitely think supplements should be something that we use to supplement our diet. So, whenever we think about a healthy diet, we really need to look at, not only macronutrients like we talked about a little bit earlier, of having a balanced meal of proteins, fats, and carbohydrates, but also making sure that those foods are micronutrient dense. So making sure that they have a lot of the vitamins and the minerals and those things that our body needs to function at a cellular level. And so. Yeah, I think it's definitely important to have all of those things in the diet, but unfortunately, I feel like even, with our best efforts to have a very nutrient dense diet, oftentimes people will be deficient in certain things. And so I think it's totally okay to use supplements in that regard to supplement our diet. And if you go get testing done and see that you're deficient in certain things, I think that's whenever we should kind of introduce supplements is to fill in the gaps. Because 9 times outta 10, even when we're trying our best, we're usually not gonna be perfect or able to hit every single little thing, and that's okay. And I feel like that's kind of where supplements come into play.

Chrissy:

So not to rely on as the primary form of nutrients. But as a secondary form in addition to the food that we're already eating.

Abby:

Yeah, absolutely.

Chrissy:

The high quality food. Mm-hmm. What are some red flags that people should watch for when they are choosing a supplement?

Abby:

Yeah, I definitely think, I think first and foremost before even like looking to go get supplements. Again, just to like reiterate this, I think getting tested for nutrient deficiencies should be step one. So getting with your healthcare provider, getting tested for, you know. Vitamin D, Vitamin B12, like your B vitamins. I think getting tested for all of those things just to see where the deficiencies lie before we start to add all of these things. But then I definitely think when the time comes and you're picking supplements, definitely, making sure that supplements are third party tested is very important. So like USP or NSF, would be some things to kind of look out for.

Chrissy:

Sorry, can you identify those USP and NSF?

Abby:

So NSF stands for National Sanitation Foundation, which just provides certifications, for different supplements, just ensuring, certifies the manufacturing facilities, just making sure that there's good manufacturing practices involved. And it does, typically, this testing process would include, just label claim reviews. So making sure that whatever they say on their product, there's, you know. Whatever is inside the bottle backs that, and then there, this usually includes a toxicology review and a contaminant review. And USP stands for United States Pharmacopia, which is a scientific non-profit organization that sets quality standards for medicines, dietary supplements and foods. And so this would, this testing would usually verify that the supplement contains the ingredients listed on the label and that the ingredients are at the stated potency and that it's free also from contaminants and that it dissolves properly.

Chrissy:

You know, that's actually really good to hear because so many times I've heard you can't trust the things that are on a supplement label.'cause, they're not like followed by the FDA and so there's no way to guarantee that what's on the label is actually what you're getting. But you're saying with these two, the NSF and the USP standards, they actually do have what's on the label inside the supplement.

Abby:

Yes. So I think, yeah, just making sure that those are present.

Chrissy:

So these are green flags

Abby:

on the label, green flags,

Chrissy:

green flags to look out for.

Abby:

Yes. And I would also just say too, I think whenever you're looking for, a multivitamin, which I typically recommend a multivitamin. For most people, just, I think it can help kind of like cover the gaps for things that we might have deficiencies in. So I definitely think whenever looking for a multivitamin, I think making sure that it has methylated B vitamins, especially for folate, so methylated folate, and then a methylated B12. I think those things, those two things are super important, especially if you're trying to get pregnant or lactating. I think having those methylated B vitamins is crucial.'Cause sometimes there's a certain gene mutation that if you are not able to process folate correctly, you won't absorb that. And so the methylated version of that is crucial. And I think just like methylated B vitamins in general I think are good for everyone. I think they just absorb better. And so I think just if you're gonna spend your money on something, just get the better quality version.

Chrissy:

And folic acid is not the same as methylated B folate, correct?

Abby:

Yes. Okay. It's diff, I mean, same vitamin. It's

Chrissy:

It's just processed differently into your body.

Abby:

It's already broken down.

Chrissy:

Your body can absorb the methylated better than the folic acid.

Abby:

Yeah.

Chrissy:

Okay. Mm-hmm. That's how I understood it.

Abby:

Yes.

Chrissy:

Are there any vitamins or minerals that the general population is often deficient in?

Abby:

Yeah, I would say the two most common that I usually see, would be Vitamin D and Vitamin B12. I feel like those two are usually the most common micronutrients that need to be supplemented. Especially B12 if you're vegan or vegetarian. Or the elderly population can be really low in B12. So this is why I usually just like recommend a multivitamin because you're able to cover some of those gaps. And sometimes even with a multivitamin, you know, you could still be deficient. And that's why I think getting these things checked,'cause you might need a little bit extra of one thing. But yeah, I would say definitely Vitamin D and Vitamin B12. Sometimes women can typically be lower in iron. So just something to kind of keep an eye out on and get checked for.

Chrissy:

Great. How do you think early Christians approached healing and nourishment and what can we learn from them?

Abby:

Yeah, I definitely think, whenever we think of, I guess early Christians, would we define that as like,

Chrissy:

like New Testament, Christians, new Testament first, the Book of Acts.

Abby:

Okay. Okay. Okay. Yeah, so I would say, yeah, it definitely probably follows more of like an Eastern medi. I mean, they were, you know, in the Middle East, so I definitely think it follows more of like an Eastern medicine practice where, you really are looking at foods as your, primary source of healing and help. And so I definitely think, just viewing our relationship with food like that as okay, this is not just something that I am not just like eating, I guess, for enjoyment, but eating also as a form of taking care of our bodies, kind of like we talked about earlier, like stewarding our bodies well. And I know now, you know, in 2025 in the US we're definitely more of a culture that's focused on western medicine'cause that's where we live is in the west and I think that things are slowly starting to shift in the opposite direction towards more like holistic, integrative, how do we use like herbs and supplements and things like that to help heal certain things versus just jumping straight to the pharmacy. I think we're heading back in that direction a little bit, but there's just certain things that. Might feel a little bit out of our control, like the way that our food is processed or grown or, so I think just like having, the time and the energy and the effort to looking at where our food is coming from, where it's sourced from, because a lot of us are not, we don't have gardens, we're not growing our own food. So I think, it is a cool way. I think probably, I mean, I don't know. I'm assuming the early, like there was probably markets that they went to and they were probably either if they weren't growing their own fruits and vegetables, there were markets where they were going and like talking to people and you know, it was more of a communal. I think even like getting your groceries was probably more of a communal aspect, as well as the way that their meals were shared. I feel like there was probably a heavier emphasis on, you know, sitting around the table and enjoying your meals without distraction, which I think can be so crucial for our physical health and not only our physical health, but our emotional health and our spiritual health. So I think sitting around a table and giving thanks to the Lord for the food that is in front of us and then enjoying that with our friends and our families. And I think that invites, a level of communication that might not happen, at any other point during the day. And so I think that can be really healing for a lot of people is yeah, sit around a table and enjoy a meal with friends and family.

Chrissy:

That's great. Alright, as we bring this interview to a close, I have one last question. What is one piece of advice that you would give to Christians who want to improve their health as an act of worship?

Abby:

Yeah, I think, I think starting from. A place of gratitude mm-hmm. Is definitely, you know, one piece of advice that I would give for someone who's wanting to just improve their health, especially as Christians. Like how do we do that as a form of worship? And I think, looking at it from a perspective of, wow, I'm so grateful that God has given me. This life and this opportunity to be here on earth. And I think just to do the things that he's called us to do here. And yeah, giving thanks to Him just for, you know, having our health and, honoring him in the way of just eating foods that help to steward our bodies and to help them function well and to do the things here on Earth that he's called us to do. We need the nourishment to do that. So I definitely think, starting from a place of gratitude of I don't have to do this, but like I get to do this.

Chrissy:

That's great. That's great. Well, thank you so much for coming on Crunchy Stewardship today. I've really enjoyed interviewing you and learning about diet and nutrition and ways that we can use it as a form of worship. For our listeners, if they're interested in meeting with a dietician or potentially meeting with you, is there a way that they can, sign up to have dietician? How do you say it? Dietary counseling?

Abby:

Yeah, diet nutrition counseling. Nutri. Nutrition counseling. Yeah.

Chrissy:

Is there a way that they can sign up to get nutrition counseling with you or one of your colleagues or anything like that? And, yeah. How can they get involved in getting their health to a better place?

Abby:

Yeah. I currently work with a platform called Fay Nutrition, F-A-Y, and I can give you my booking link if you wanted to.

Chrissy:

Yeah.

Abby:

Post that.

Chrissy:

We'll put the website link, below, somewhere in the description box.

Abby:

Yeah, definitely. So that's one way to get involved. And yeah, on that platform you can see a variety of different dieticians with different specialties. But yeah, I accept insurance, so anyone that has Blue Cross Blue Shield, Aetna, there's a long list of things. UnitedHealthcare, I accept pretty much all insurances except for Tricare. Or like I, no Medicaid, no Medicare, but other than that, I pretty much accept every other insurance provider. So yeah, it's free. It's usually covered by your insurance. So I think it's this like hidden gem that not a lot of people know about. Like, you know, if you can meet with a dietician Even if it's just once a month, I feel like it's helpful to have those like check-ins just to see like where am I? You know? Yeah. Um, and yeah, just to have that accountability.

Chrissy:

Great. I love it. Thanks, Abby.

Abby:

Yeah, absolutely.

Chrissy:

All right. Well, I will make sure to put Abby's website in the description link below so that you can go and click on it and get involved in her company and in dietary counseling, to make sure to get your nutrition back on track so that you can honor the Lord with your body and your mind, and your soul and your food. So, before we end today, thank you all for tuning into our conversation. Make sure you subscribe and join us over on our Facebook group where we are continuing the conversation. Our Facebook group is called Crunchy Christian Mamas on a Budget. We would love to hear what resonated with you on this podcast and continue this conversation. So we'll see you over there. Until next time, I'm Chrissy and thanks for listening to Crunchy Stewardship.