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The thief comes to kill and destroy. I have come that you may have life and have it more abundantly. Bodies in Christ. It is time for a Kingdom Health Transformation with Mike James.
All right. Good afternoon out there in the light land, the light church as it's called. This is Mike James with Bodies in Christ, a Kingdom Health Transformation. I appreciate you tuning in today. And you know, today we're going to revisit some things that we talked about before a little bit before we have a special guest jump on in a few minutes here. But I did want to also just let the people know out there listening that we're about to embark on a healthy church challenge.
Okay. So if you're out there listening and you're part of a congregation and you want to get this information to people in the church, we're going to challenge church, challenge a few churches on a little healthy quest. It'll be fun. Also, it'll help people to really get their health in line, of course, before we get into the holidays, right? Because we know the holidays, you know, we're going to do some things that, which is fun. We're going to celebrate. We're going to feast.
We're going to do all those things we do during the holiday season. But before we get into that, there's a period that we're designating to help churches to reach out to the congregation and do this healthy church challenge. If you're interested in getting information to your church, or if you are a pastor, minister, or, you know, you go to a church, which most of us do, you can text 336-638-1007 and just, you can put in healthy church and that will let me know that you want information about the healthy church challenge.
So again, that's 336-638-1007. And we're going to be talking about the healthy church challenge. So I'm looking forward to that because, you know, we've done some group things before and that's a lot of fun. It's a lot of fun and it gets everybody involved and kind of pull in the same way because health is important, y'all.
That's the new frontier. It's really for us as God's people to, you know, do what we can to help these bodies, which are the temple of the Holy Ghost, to be able to carry out the mission that God has given us without the obstruction of ill health. Because healing and health is a promise.
It's one of the promises of God. And, you know, even in his words, as he said, he wished above all things that you prosper and be in health even as your soul prospers. So, you know, we're going to get into a special guest here in a minute and we're going to be talking to her. She's one of the people that's been through one of our classes back early in the year that we do. And she's on the journey herself and has done, you know, extremely well on the journey. And so I wanted to have her just share some of kind of what she's been through and then share also where she is in her journey.
And again, just kind of open up and have a conversation so you all can hear and, you know, it may inspire you to, you know, to just start the journey yourself. So what I'm going to do right now is I'm going to introduce to some of you, again, one of our students, she's a good friend of mine. I've known her for years, but I'm going to see if Kelly is here with us and she's going to share with us a little bit. Kelly, are you there?
I'm here, Mike. Okay. Excellent.
Excellent. So now Kelly, again, as I mentioned, we've been friends for a while, but you got involved with the class Bodies in Christ, the program that we do. And if you would, I want you to introduce yourself. I know, you know, you, of course, a busy professional, you have a lot of great things going on, but most importantly, you're a woman of God, which is, you know, of course the, the paramount thing. And so I want you to share a little bit about yourself and then tell us a little about, a little bit about your health journey.
Yes. So, um, thanks for having me on Mike. I am, I'm originally from the Charlotte area and, um, I've been in like the pharmaceutical biotech industry for, gosh, probably about 30 years. And then just most recently transitioned, um, to be in a leadership coach and facilitator in diversity, equity and inclusion. But there was a thread that went through like my whole career, which was travel, uh, travel for extended periods, whether it was flights or driving, and then, uh, also, um, sitting sometimes for extended periods, uh, but a lot of eating out. And I think, uh, that really, uh, influenced my relationship with, with food quite a bit.
Okay. So how, how so, so I think what, what really happened was I would get things on the go all the time. Fast forward in the more, you know, fast food in the morning, I'd pick something up at McDonald's, you know, on my way to the first office I was in sales and then in management and it's still on the road, you know, and even in marketing, when I went there, it would be in an airport, you know? So picking something up always on the go, you know, if you looked in my car, there were bags and there were bottles, bottle waters, you know, uh, and I'd say, well, at least I'm not having full sugar sodas, but I'd have, you know, bottles of diet Coke and stuff and still be eating the fast food.
Um, and then trying to sit in my exercise, uh, when I could, and then a lot of times I would be active. I've run five marathons, but I was trying to outrun. Yeah. Wow.
It's wonderful. But I would be trying to outrun a diet that was not so great, you know, and I tried a lot of things. I've done Weight Watchers, um, and I tease Weight Watchers that, you know, like the last time I went back there, I said, well, you know what they say? And they said, what? I said, the eighth time is the charm.
Literally. I think I've done eight, um, going back and forth. Um, uh, Jenny Craig, uh, whatever it was, but it was always that cycle of lose a little bit of weight and gain it back, lose, lose some weight, gain it back. Right. Right.
A lot of people, yeah, a lot of people find themselves going through that, especially, you know, after, you know, after 40 years of age, a lot of times people feel their metabolism has slowed down, but, but there are some, I have some thoughts around that too, but why did you decide to try this biblically based, uh, program? Um, and I'm sorry, Mike, there's some music in my ear. Okay. Can you hear me now? But, uh, yes, I can hear you. So tell me your question again. I said, I said, now in, in lieu of what you mentioned about, uh, you know, trying different things and Weight Watchers, the eighth time being the, the charm, so to speak, but why did you decide to try this biblically based, uh, but why did you decide to try, uh, this biblically based program?
You know what? I think it was the invitation by someone I knew and trusted in you. I knew you had lived the life. I could see what, uh, it had done for you personally. Um, and honestly, how you age backwards and, uh, and also with God being the center of my life, I think sometimes it happens in our life where we're going to Bible study, we're doing things there, you know, we're volunteering, we are doing all the things, but then we will shut God out of certain areas of our life and not even realize we're doing it. Sometimes it takes place in our relationship, uh, where we're, we kind of check God at the door. I got this, you know, with this dating relationship or whatever. And for me, it was probably in food.
Okay. You know, I just, I had the word fully, but did I really apply the word to this area of my life? And I would probably say I had not.
And, um, or I had before, but then I, I had kind of gone away from it. Uh, so that's what really attracted me to, to really apply the word, um, in that area and see what God, you know, really wanted to say. No, that's awesome because, you know, of course, as believers, one of the things as, as you mentioned, Kelly, is there's a word in, there's a word for every area of our life in the word. And, you know, a lot of times we will rely on other things and look to other places, but that Bible is, is literally a roadmap for this journey here on earth. And that, and that relates to any area of our lives. You know, a lot of times I, you know, I, people get probably tired of hearing me talk about Genesis 1 29, but that's in the, in the first part of the Bible.
I mean, it's simple, but now science is coming in and backing up that if you eat the closer you eat to Genesis 1 29, the better off you're going to be. So now let me ask you this. So how are you doing? What are some of the changes you're doing? What are some of the changes that you've experienced and kind of share with us a little bit about your journey and even what it was like being in the class and again, where you are now? I think during the class, and you may have shared this already before, but 12 weeks and we're eating whole foods. I think that was probably one of the biggest changes is backing off of the processed food, uh, and feeling how my body felt, uh, by not, uh, having some of those things, all the salt, the dairy. Um, and real, I think I told you, uh, when we were doing, uh, when we were eating vegan, you know, for a few days every week or for doing that period of time raw vegan, I felt like somebody had just taken a pin and just let the air out of me because I didn't realize the fact that sodium had, and those processed foods really had on my body.
I think that was one of the biggest, um, differences. And also in my energy level, uh, and then losing weight. I think over, uh, the time period I lost about 15 pounds and my relationship with food began to change because each week we look to the word, what does God say about our health? Um, about his vision for us. And I think, uh, I don't know, I think I had a vision for where I wanted to be, but just really looking to the word to kind of map that out, uh, that Genesis vision, right?
Of what I should be. And I was a biology major in school. Um, also took a nutrition class. I knew what to do, but when you see it in the word and really pay attention to it, um, you do see how God was the original physician. And he knew when he says, you know, no scavengers, uh, that's shrimp, you know, and when you see of what the nutritional makeup, how much cholesterol is in shrimp, like, that is so amazing that God knew that he knew that already.
You know, some of the things that he has and says, you know, really, let's not do this. Um, but, uh, that food can really be medicine. I think throughout the program I began to have, um, a sense of peace with food. Cause I think I just always was at war with food, um, bad food, good food, you know, just thinking all different kinds of things and having such a sense of stress about what I ate.
And I think God brought me to a place of peace. Wow. That was the biggest thing.
Yeah. That's, that's real interesting there. When you, you mentioned how you were at peace with food and not having the stress around it. And you know what, you're not the first person that has come up with that and mentioned that in the class, that they were at peace with food.
So that, that's a kind of consistent thing going there. So we're going to take a break here for, uh, for a minute, Kelly, and then we'll, we'll be back and we'll pick up here. And I got a couple other questions for you.
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Visit them and experience the difference. Call 336-373-8344 and online at CrawfordChiro.com. All right. All right. Welcome back. I'm glad you all are here with us.
And I have a special guest. If you just joined us or if you've been listening, we have Kelly on the line and she's been through one of our Bodies in Christ courses that we do occasionally. As I mentioned on the earlier episodes, we do one-on-one coaching, we have classes, we have courses. As a matter of fact, as I mentioned in the outset of the program, we're also going to do a Healthy Church challenge. So if you're a part of a congregation or if you would like your church to get involved in a health initiative, you can just text me at 336-638-1007 and just put in the in the body of the text Healthy Church Challenge. So again, I'm back here with Kelly.
And Kelly, again, I want to pick up a little bit where we left off. So you mentioned some of the things in the program that really helped you and put you at peace with food, which that's a big deal, not having stress around eating or anything like that. So now let me ask, why do you feel like this program has worked for you and kind of where are you now in your journey and what are some of the things you find yourself doing and why do you feel like the program has worked for you? I think the program worked for me because it was focused on the Word of God, that there was the encouragement and support by you and by the other people who were in the group that I was going through, that class that I was going through. So we supported each other, which I feel like a lot of times we so need because at times it does get hard.
It does, you know, you have setbacks. And so to have others who are right there with you going through the same thing and encouraging you, it means so much. And I think also why it worked for me was because with Whole Foods, you're not having to do a whole lot to them. So with a really busy lifestyle, it was easy, you know, to have a baked potato or to eat nuts.
Yes, eating nuts is good. And fruits and, you know, having a really good salad. I found that I didn't have to cook as much, honestly, because eating Whole Foods just like God designed.
Yeah, that's always a good thing. And it does simplify things for you quite a bit, you know, when you know what, you know, what items you're going to eat. And then, too, even as how did your snacking change? You know what, my snacking changed in that I didn't really have to think about my snacking as much because I kind of knew where the boundaries were. What is it of food?
Is it in its natural form? Good. If it's not, then you know what, that's not something. I think, though, with snacking, it kind of, it definitely changed in that I did not snack as much because I felt very satisfied by my meals.
Okay. So that need to keep snacking throughout the day was no longer there. No, that's a good point. That's a good point because, you know, a lot of times we eat out of habit, you know, and sometimes we're not necessarily hungry per se, but, you know, we for a number of different reasons. It can be stressed about something.
It can be, you know, just bored. I mean, it can be a number of different things, but just being conscious of, you know, why you're eating and then also conscious of what you're eating because we had one of our partners on the show. She's been up here several times. She's a behavior health professional.
Crystal Nickerson with Choice Behavioral Health, you know, any of you out there, you can look her up if you need to reach out. But she talked about that whole emotional eating model, which we went over that some in class as well, and how, you know, that's that's an issue for a lot of people because we do tie a lot of emotions into food because, again, food is something we celebrate around something we, I mean, it's, you know, food is good. We bond around food. So, you know, a lot of different things we do around food. But then, too, how do we encourage healthy behavior, even around those emotions? And Crystal really got into some great information that she shared with the audience here. On just how to kind of modify emotional eating and how to go about that from a from a mental health standpoint.
So that was good. But now let me ask you this, Kelly, because, you know, you talked about a number of different things and how, you know, the word was a big part of this. And that really helped you to see things differently and also being at peace with food. Not having the stress around it, because stress can cause your body to carry more weight. And a lot of people don't realize, I mean, it doesn't just have to be stressed from a job.
But like you said, if you stressed about what you're eating and what you're going to eat and things like that, you know, it's stress. Right? Right. Right. So now this is what I'm gonna do. I'm gonna shout out one of our sponsors and then and then we're gonna I'm gonna ask you another question.
And we'll be ready to man Tom Floss. But speaking of stress, whatever, whatever our sponsors is gifted healing, massage and body work. And that's an Erica artist. She's a licensed massage therapist. And she feels like her gift from God is, you know, what she does with her massage work. Because some of her, you know, if if if you're coming in to see her and, you know, whether you have, you know, some knots in your in your muscles or you just have stress that you need relief, you know, if you're open to it, she prays, she prays with you, not necessarily out loud, but she prays while she's massaging you so that, you know, God's healing touch will also, you know, touch your body as well. And, you know, it's it's it's it's it's it's it's it's your body as well. And so if you, you know, need a massage or feel like you have stress that you need to get rid of, then she's definitely a great person to see. That's gifted healing, massage and body works. And then Jericho artists. So Kelly, we're coming to the end here.
That was that was quick. But let me ask you this. What would you say to believers out there in the listening audience that's listening right now who may have challenges with their health and also with weight loss? Because, you know, that's a big deal. The doctors may tell them, hey, you need to lose some pounds or whatever. What would you say to, you know, again, the listening audience out there as relates to as it relates to those things? You know what I would say and so many of us have do have health challenges, goals that we have not accomplished or think that is not even possible for us as it relates to our health.
And I would say this is your time to to really invest in you. Many of us are busy with our families. And we're so focused on taking care of everybody else that we don't stop to take care of ourselves.
And I would say this is the time for you to take care of yourself. And I was really reflecting on this other day, Mike, about why is it especially in the African-American and the black community, do we struggle so much with health? And I was thinking, I think it's part of the post-traumatic slavery syndrome of when you have people who don't value your life, sometimes that can really jump off and get on you. And then you don't value your life. But we have a savior who loves us beyond measure, who does value us.
And therefore, we have to value ourselves, you know? Wow. That's good. That's good. That's good stuff, Kel.
And that that's a whole man. We look we may have to get you back on and talk about what you just said, because that's a mouthful. And, you know, unfortunately, you know, we're at the end of the show, but that's a mouthful. We definitely are going to have to have you back. We can continue the conversation. But family out there listening like family.
Definitely. I want to thank Kelly for coming on. And listen, you all know we'll be back here next week. You'll also be able to listen on Saturday morning. But remember, the best is yet to come. Beloved, I wish above all things that you prosper and be in health, even as your soul prospers. Tune in every Thursday at 3.30 p.m. and Saturday at 9.30 a.m. for a Kingdom Health Transformation with Mike J on the life. This is the Truth Network.
