Latest / Cultural Wars | America Out Loud News / Returning to God’s design in faith, food, and discernment

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Returning to God’s design in faith, food, and discernment · Cultural Wars | America Out Loud News

• 0:06
  Welcome to the toe.
• 0:09
  Take a deep breath.
• 0:11
  Take the higher roles.
• 0:13
  It's what they always say.
• 0:14
  Let's see if they know the way.
• 0:16
  They won't take it from me.
• 0:20
  But don't have a dumb self-whitswibe-juice to dream.
• 0:24
  You made your own.
• 0:25
  So kid can scream.
• 0:27
  The people laughed with a never-ending force.
• 0:31
  You never had the chance.
• 0:33
  So watch with this calm my friend, because this is what welcome back to the Nurses Report.
• 0:56
  I'm your host, Ashley.
• 0:58
  And I'm a registered nurse, functional medicine practitioner.
• 1:01
  And today we're going deeper than nutrition.
• 1:04
  We're talking about design.
• 1:06
  Because I believe with everything I've seen clinically and everything I've experienced personally, that's so much of what we're seeing right now, the chronic illness, the hormone dysfunction, the fatigue, the anxiety, it's not random.
• 1:21
  It's the result of how far we've drifted from what God originally created, from the food, from the rhythms, from the way we care about our bodies.
• 1:31
  Because if you're looking at the beginning, food wasn't confusing.
• 1:36
  There were no labels, no ingredient list, and no debates over what was healthy.
• 1:42
  There was provision, there was simplicity, and there was design.
• 1:46
  And now we're living in a world where food is manufactured, modified, stripped, injected, preserved, colored, and then marketed as health food.
• 1:57
  And we wonder why people are sick.
• 1:59
  So today I am joined by Annalise.
• 2:03
  And I'm gonna let you say your last name because I did not ask you how to say it, and I don't want to butcher it.
• 2:08
  But we're gonna be talking about um what it really means to return not just a whole food, but to God's design for nourishment, healing, and stewardship of the body.
• 2:19
  So welcome to the nurse's report and tell everybody your full name since I um I did not prepare properly.
• 2:27
  Thank you.
• 2:28
  That's okay.
• 2:29
  Yes, and I actually go by my first and middle name is what's all over my socials.
• 2:33
  So it's Annalise Xaviera.
• 2:36
  Xaviera.
• 2:36
  Okay, it's it looks really, I was like, if I try this, it's not gonna sound good.
• 2:41
  So I'm gonna let you take that.
• 2:44
  But welcome to the nurse's report.
• 2:46
  Um, I always like to start with my guest just by asking a little bit about, you know, to tell our listeners who you are and kind of what led you to where you're at now.
• 2:57
  Sure.
• 2:58
  Um, so like I said, my name is Annalise.
• 3:00
  I am married with one boy who is a toddler and keeps me very, very busy.
• 3:06
  We homeschool and we have chickens and land and all the things to keep us busy here, too.
• 3:13
  Um, my husband also works from home, so we're just we're busy around here all the time.
• 3:18
  And to keep it short, but give you a little background.
• 3:23
  I got here, I started this journey about two and a half years ago.
• 3:27
  God started to reveal to me that there were some things out of order in my life in this area with food, and started to kind of open my eyes to some of the things you were mentioning with the food system and just the way that food is being marketed to us now and how is it was affecting me and my body.
• 3:43
  And so that sparked this whole journey, and we started making little changes one thing at a time and led us all the way here.
• 3:51
  Awesome.
• 3:52
  I love that you said that you started your journey by one thing at a time because I feel like it's very overwhelming to people.
• 4:01
  And so they just give up.
• 4:03
  They just don't make changes because the changes seem so overwhelming.
• 4:08
  And by just kind of doing one thing at a time, I think it is just it's doable, you know.
• 4:14
  If if you kind of think about one or two things you want to change and focus on that and then move forward.
• 4:20
  Is that kind of what you did?
• 4:21
  You didn't dump out your whole pantry in one day and replace everything.
• 4:26
  Yes.
• 4:27
  So this was the first time a couple years ago that I really started approaching this from a biblical standpoint.
• 4:35
  And that looks very different than what the world tells us to do, right?
• 4:38
  Because the world and diet culture, we've all been, you know, exposed to it to some degree, probably.
• 4:44
  And we've all, you know, I think are familiar with that cycle of change everything right now overnight.
• 4:50
  You need to have all your systems, you need to be like in the gym, you need to have all your pantry swapped out, throw everything away, try this whole new meal plan with all this food that you've never tried before.
• 5:00
  And we think it's a discipline issue when we can't stick to it, right?
• 5:03
  We're so hard on ourselves when really that's not what we're called to do.
• 5:07
  You know, the word says that God on our small steps of obedience.
• 5:11
  So that's what started to be revealed to me was this is gonna look way different than what the world has told us it needs to look like.
• 5:18
  It's yeah, because it doesn't need to be an overnight overwhelming overhaul of your kitchen.
• 5:23
  It needs to be one small faithful step at a time.
• 5:26
  That's what actually creates something sustainable.
• 5:32
  Yeah, and we're not, you know, we're not talking about perfection.
• 5:36
  And I think you're right, like we are probably our hardest critics and are so hard on ourselves and feel so defeated.
• 5:44
  Um, I think even I work with a lot of patients that they're like, well, my doctor told me to eat like this, or my doctor put me on this diet, and and I just can't seem to do it right, and then you just beat yourself up, you know, and it doesn't have to be that way.
• 5:59
  God created this, it's very simple if you really think about it.
• 6:04
  So, what is what is biblical eating?
• 6:08
  If you had to kind of sum it up.
• 6:11
  Sure.
• 6:12
  And yes, what you said.
• 6:13
  It is not about perfection, it's not about legalism and rules.
• 6:16
  The Bible doesn't give us a specific diet plan, okay?
• 6:19
  We're not talking about, you know, necessarily the old testament dietary laws or the Daniel Fast.
• 6:25
  A lot of people immediately their mind goes to those things.
• 6:28
  But what I'm talking about with biblical eating is simply taking the values and principles that are echoed all throughout the Bible and applying it to this area of your life as well.
• 6:38
  You know, a lot of us live our life with thinking, okay, well, food's over here and my faith is over here, and they're separate, but they're not.
• 6:45
  If you really get into the word and what I'm trying to always, you know, put out and teach on my pages, is that the word of God has a lot to say about this topic, a lot to say about this area of our life.
• 6:56
  And if we can start applying those principles, what God says about us, what it says about how um intentional he was with the design of us and our food, like you said earlier.
• 7:07
  If we can start applying all of that to this area of our life, there's just so much freedom, and it looks so different than than anything that you've probably tried before with diets and trends in the world.
• 7:21
  Yeah, I um I think it it's hard because coming, you know, from a nursing background.
• 7:28
  I was trained, you know, you have your patient in the hospital, and you say, well, you're gonna follow a heart-healthy diet, you're gonna follow a kidney diet, you're gonna follow a diabetic diet.
• 7:38
  And it was very clean-cut, but also very confusing.
• 7:44
  Because if you send somebody out into the world and say, eat a heart healthy diet, if you've been to the grocery store lately, that means you're buying Cheerios, oatmeal, um, maybe some yogurt, you know, other things that they brand it heart healthy, and it's expensive, it's overwhelming, and it's not healthy at all.
• 8:05
  And I think the core of a lot of what we're trying to do in medicine with diet is to get back to the basics, because I think God provided most of what we need to heal through food, and we just dismiss that so easily.
• 8:24
  So I love that, you know, you make it so simple and um welcoming for anyone to try.
• 8:33
  Like this isn't just it's not a diet, it's it's a way of eating.
• 8:38
  I love that so much.
• 8:39
  I think simplicity is probably the key.
• 8:42
  And God put it everything we need in the food that we have, what he's provided for us.
• 8:48
  Um, what kind of changes did you experience as you um as you started to change your diet, like physically, but also spiritually.
• 9:00
  Yeah, so I'll just start with physically.
• 9:04
  So I was when I started this, I was about a year postpartum with my son.
• 9:09
  And at the time I was 30 years old, but I was having joint pains going up and down the stairs.
• 9:14
  Like my body was so inflamed.
• 9:17
  And they told me, well, you just had a big baby.
• 9:20
  He was nine pounds, so you know, so they're like, well, that was just hard on your body.
• 9:24
  That's what I got told.
• 9:25
  But I'm thinking to myself, 30 years old, I don't care if I had a big baby.
• 9:28
  There's no way that I should be experiencing pain and inflammation like this at 30 years old.
• 9:34
  And so, um, so I was having actual physical problems during this time, and just the mental fogginess of you know, having a young child is already taxing on the mind, and you know, pregnancy brain doesn't really go away, it just becomes mom brain for life.
• 9:52
  So, you know, I just but we don't realize sometimes I didn't realize how much the food and the the processed, you know, artificial.
• 10:00
  Ingredients and sugars were just, I mean, making that, but times 10.
• 10:04
  So when I started making changes, I started swapping out one thing at a time.
• 10:08
  I got the mental clarity and the natural energy back, you know, instead of being on three cups of coffee a day.
• 10:14
  I was having more of the natural energy back in my system.
• 10:17
  The joint pain completely went away.
• 10:19
  All of the inflammation and bloating and everything I was experiencing gone.
• 10:24
  And so I, you know, the cravings, the sugar cravings, because sugar was like the biggest that had the biggest hold on me.
• 10:32
  Always going for a sweet treat.
• 10:34
  So not feeling like I was physically constantly craving food or sweets anymore.
• 10:41
  But then, yes, on the spiritual side, it just gave me it gave me a different perspective on what it looks like to be obedient in this area of my life.
• 10:53
  To be within God's will for this area and understanding that of course he cares enough about us to be intentional with what he provided for his creation and how we're supposed to take care of, you know, ourselves in this body that he's given us.
• 11:08
  And so it just I it did strengthen my relationship because I got to experience closeness with him in an area that I had never really even considered bringing him into before.
• 11:20
  Yeah.
• 11:21
  Yeah, I think um, you know, this past Sunday at church, the my pastor was talking about the spiritual warfare that's just going on in the world and how it's it's everywhere.
• 11:35
  It's in the news, it's in the schools, it's in our food, it's in our water system, it's in pharmaceuticals, you know, it's everywhere.
• 11:45
  And I he always says it's more spiritual than you think, you know.
• 11:49
  And I I do, I agree.
• 11:51
  I I feel like there is this war on our health, you know, like we're we're being attacked, and we really have to kind of refocus and think about what God wants for us, and to just kind of I think remove ourselves from a lot of the chaos, right?
• 12:12
  Like, you know, all the marketing and the diets and the recommendations and get back to just simplicity and real food, right?
• 12:23
  Eat real food.
• 12:24
  That's the what's trending now, which I love, but um, it doesn't have to be so complex.
• 12:32
  I think we make it harder than it is.
• 12:34
  And what you were saying about um, so I had my babies were nine pounds as well.
• 12:40
  So I have big babies.
• 12:42
  And you know, it is pregnancy is just hard on your body, I think.
• 12:46
  But you're right, like you shouldn't feel that way.
• 12:50
  Um, I think after my second baby, I really focused.
• 12:56
  Well, during the pregnancy, I focused a lot on food, and I felt better than I ever had.
• 13:02
  Like I felt so good when I was pregnant.
• 13:05
  And then after I had him, I recovered and bounced back so much quicker than my first baby.
• 13:11
  But then I noticed that, you know, you're up late at night, you're stressed, all the things.
• 13:17
  I would grab a bag of pretzels and just snack on pretzels.
• 13:21
  I would forget to eat.
• 13:23
  I would just grab things that were super quick, super easy, and kind of fell back into some bad habits.
• 13:30
  And then I started rapidly gaining weight.
• 13:35
  I was fatigued, I was depressed.
• 13:39
  And I mean, was it all the food?
• 13:42
  Probably not all the food.
• 13:44
  There was hormones, but I think food led me down that path when I had been recovering so well and then just took like this left turn, and it was hard to come back from.
• 13:54
  So I think that's um, you know, that's something people have to think about is medical providers want a tangible reason why you feel the way you do.
• 14:05
  So blaming it on pregnancy and the baby and and all of that is easy, but it goes deeper beyond that.
• 14:11
  All this food causes so much inflammation.
• 14:14
  Um I I love, you know, that you said that because I think for so many women, you're looking for something to put your finger on.
• 14:24
  It's this lab, it's this gin, you know, your genes, it's this um problem that you have going on, but it doesn't have to be a diagnosis, you know.
• 14:35
  Um with your I I love like your recipes and stuff.
• 14:40
  And so that's one thing I want to bring up to our listeners is we're not talking about sitting down and having this minimal meal where you feel like you're deprived from all these good foods.
• 14:55
  Like the foods you eat look so good.
• 14:58
  And you do provide a lot of like recipes and and meals and things like that on your on your social media.
• 15:05
  So if you're not following her, you definitely should.
• 15:08
  But you don't feel deprived, right?
• 15:10
  Like you do you feel restricted?
• 15:14
  Not at all.
• 15:15
  This is the most free that I've ever felt with food.
• 15:18
  And it's because I mean, the the true freedom is it of it is that you stop thinking about food all the time.
• 15:24
  You know what I mean?
• 15:25
  It's not food noise.
• 15:26
  Yes.
• 15:27
  And that's the thing too, is that whenever you start making the changes in this area, swapping one at a time, you allow your body to do what it was designed to do and heal.
• 15:38
  You know, whenever you get all the artificial ingredients out, if there really is a root issue of something going on, it's so much easier for you to understand and identify in your body.
• 15:48
  I was able to identify certain sensitivities I have to even just something like certain nightshade vegetables were kind of wreaking havoc on my digestive system.
• 15:57
  I never would have been able to pinpoint that if I hadn't got the junk out, you know what I mean, got the unnecessary noise out.
• 16:05
  And then over time, I was always my whole life.
• 16:09
  I described myself as a volume eater.
• 16:11
  Like I wanted big portions.
• 16:12
  I always I never felt like I was satisfied and you know, would always go for it.
• 16:17
  It wasn't going to be one cookie, it was going to be let, you know, let me have a few every time I had a craving.
• 16:23
  And over time, eating this way, honoring my body in this way, I finally regulated.
• 16:30
  And I've heard this from followers on my page too that are doing this along with me, that after a while, it's like something just flips and your body regulates, but you have to give it that time and that space and get the junk out to allow it to heal.
• 16:44
  Because now I don't experience cravings like I used to.
• 16:48
  And I don't over eat or feel like I have to eat as much as I did before.
• 16:52
  Your body just naturally gets into the rhythm it was created to live in.
• 16:57
  But a lot of us just don't even give ourselves the chance to get there.
• 17:02
  Yeah.
• 17:03
  Yeah.
• 17:03
  And, you know, and then if if you're not making these changes now, unfortunately, a lot of the times it does lead to illness.
• 17:12
  And then you're having to make changes quickly.
• 17:15
  And that's a lot harder to do.
• 17:18
  You know, if if you're, you know, experiencing some symptoms, you can make these changes kind of slowly and and and get used to it and not feel so overwhelmed.
• 17:28
  But I actually I have a um a client that I'm working with now.
• 17:32
  She's young, but she does have um cancer and the cancer is on her pineal gland, which kind of regulates all the hormones in your body.
• 17:43
  So she has that, and um, she's getting treatment.
• 17:46
  And the first thing they told her is you have to completely change your diet.
• 17:50
  Like no more fast food, no more processed foods, limit your red meat, you have to eat mostly a plant blake.
• 17:56
  And she was she's so overwhelmed by it all because now she's faced with this health condition that is dependent on her making these changes.
• 18:07
  And it's so much harder.
• 18:09
  And I'm I'm working with her to help her make that not seem so overwhelming and a little more simple and um, you know, it doesn't have to be hard.
• 18:18
  But, you know, if the earlier you start, you can prevent a lot of these disease processes.
• 18:24
  I mean, we're talking about hormone dysregulation, inflammation in the body, like you said, it wrecks havoc on all of your systems, every single system in your body can be linked back to inflammation when you start to have problems.
• 18:38
  Um, you know, I think if if you can start making the changes now, it just it makes going forward a lot easier.
• 18:47
  Preventive medicine, which we don't really practice here.
• 18:51
  Um, but I think food is the preventative, right?
• 18:55
  Um and I even see like you had one my husband was really excited about, and I haven't done it yet, but you had like uh a chocolate peanut butter egg for Easter.
• 19:07
  So I think it it's it's eye-opening to people that you don't have to to feel like you're on a diet all the time and you can enjoy these foods.
• 19:15
  So I do have to make that for him.
• 19:17
  Reese's peanut butter cups are like his weakness, and I need to make something that's a little more healthy.
• 19:25
  But um, but I loved like your Easter recommendations and I think holidays are hard for people, right?
• 19:31
  Do you do you have big family holidays?
• 19:34
  We're we don't.
• 19:36
  We're kind of out here um in the middle of nowhere on our own, but which I love, yeah.
• 19:41
  Yeah, yeah.
• 19:42
  But I do a lot of cooking for like events, like we go, our church is like it's a very small church.
• 19:47
  And if there's something happening, we're cooking for it, you know.
• 19:50
  So we're in the south.
• 19:51
  And that's just that's just how it is.
• 19:53
  So yeah, I do a lot of cooking for the community and cooking for church.
• 19:56
  So yeah, so we are we do have oh, that's like chosen family.
• 20:00
  Family gatherings that way, yeah.
• 20:02
  Yeah, because I think you know, the holidays, it's um, I think people are excited about them, but they also dread it, you know, because you know that you're gonna be faced with all of these foods that you've been trying to maybe avoid.
• 20:13
  Um, I can even say, like when I worked in the hospital around the holidays, it was like there were donuts and cake and bagels and people would bring big baskets of stuff, like it's always right there in your face.
• 20:25
  But you said something I think very key is that the the longer you're removed from it, the less cravings you have, and it gets easier to walk away from those foods, right?
• 20:38
  I mean, you don't feel like you need them and it doesn't.
• 20:41
  I think people think about them a lot.
• 20:44
  For instance, like if you have ice cream in your freezer, you might think about that ice cream all day long and eventually you break down and you eat it.
• 20:52
  But once that's been removed, a lot of those sugar cravings go.
• 20:56
  And then if you're out and there's ice cream, it's easy to walk away from it, or it's easy to not buy it in the grocery store.
• 21:03
  Um, but speaking of grocery stores, do you do you grow a lot of your own food or because I know it sounds like you're kind of like on a homestead?
• 21:14
  Yeah, so we are starting that part now.
• 21:17
  I'm always encouraging the believers that follow me to just take one faithful step of obedience at a time.
• 21:24
  So my step this week was I planted an herb garden.
• 21:28
  So we're starting with um like all of our own homegrown herbs.
• 21:33
  So that's my step because I can't even um keep a houseplant alive.
• 21:36
  So we're gonna start there.
• 21:38
  Girl, I feel you.
• 21:40
  Um, I and last week the the girl that I had on, we we talked a little bit about gardening and stuff.
• 21:46
  And I think my philosophy is like you just have to go for it and you learn as you go.
• 21:50
  You can make it again, like eating.
• 21:52
  You can make it really complex and make it hard, but it doesn't have to be.
• 21:55
  Herbs are a great place to start, and then you can use them in cooking, you can dry them, you can use them in tinctures and stuff.
• 22:03
  So I I love having an herb garden.
• 22:06
  And for people that don't have like big yards, you can just grow them on your kitchen counter.
• 22:11
  So I think that's that's a good place to start.
• 22:14
  So if if someone's shopping in the grocery store, how how do you avoid all of the marketing and the poor choices that are that are out there?
• 22:24
  Do you have any kind of what do you do when you go to the grocery store?
• 22:29
  I guess.
• 22:30
  Yeah.
• 22:31
  So I always tell people this is where I start believers every time is just to start with awareness.
• 22:38
  Start reading labels.
• 22:40
  Because yes, it's getting more and more confusing.
• 22:44
  The marketing is getting better and better.
• 22:46
  It'll even get me sometimes.
• 22:47
  Like I've been reading labels, and I can usually pretty easily recognize at this point what's gonna be good and what's not.
• 22:54
  But there are it'll get me even sometimes where I'll look at the front of a package of something, and I'm like, oh, this actually looks like a great option.
• 23:00
  I flip it over, I look at the label, and it's full of junk because it is, it's just getting harder and harder.
• 23:07
  It's more and more confusing.
• 23:09
  And so I always say start with awareness.
• 23:12
  Um, because after, you know, I kind of got convicted about this.
• 23:18
  I remember sitting in my place of study, and then I walked over to my pantry and I looked around and I was like, so overwhelmed.
• 23:25
  Like everything has to go.
• 23:27
  I hadn't, I had no idea what was actually in the food that I was consuming.
• 23:32
  I had no idea that there were unnecessary ingredients, the food dyes, the artificial sugars, all of that.
• 23:38
  So I always say at the grocery store, start with awareness.
• 23:41
  Start reading the labels of the food that you're buying, and just try and prioritize.
• 23:48
  You know, making clean, healthy swaps one at a time.
• 23:51
  So you don't have to start at the grocery store and the next week you're buying 100% organic, farm raised, you know, all of that.
• 23:59
  You can start with even one microcategory at the time at a time.
• 24:02
  You know, like I always say, maybe start with your cooking oils and at the grocery store this week, just start reading labels and maybe replace one of your cooking oils with something a cleaner option, you know, instead of the vegetable or the canola oil, go for an avocado or a coconut oil or something, you know, more natural.
• 24:17
  So just start with awareness.
• 24:20
  And as you go, as you do this, it's gonna be easier and easier at the grocery store to be able to identify quickly what's some, you know, a trusted brand and what's not.
• 24:30
  And when in doubt, always just like you said, keep it simple.
• 24:34
  I eat very simply and just have a lot of systems in place to make sure that I have enough variety.
• 24:41
  And um, I'm actually working on a six-week biblical eating reset right now that is going to walk people through step by step.
• 24:49
  Yes, because I think a lot of it is there's overwhelm that comes from where do I start at the grocery store?
• 24:54
  How do I actually do this?
• 24:56
  So, yeah, that would be my first thing is just raise awareness.
• 25:03
  That's I mean, I think that's that's really good advice.
• 25:06
  Cause I you kind of have to take a step back and realize not everybody knows how to read a label.
• 25:14
  I mean, not that you don't know how to read, I I get that, but you look at the packaging.
• 25:18
  I mean, I feel like it was probably deceiving, but you used to feel like you could rely on the marketing.
• 25:27
  You know, so if something said, good for your heart or hi in omegas, like you looked at that and you trusted it.
• 25:34
  And then I feel like it kind of moved to you started looking at how much fat was in something.
• 25:40
  You know, we went through that low fat craze.
• 25:43
  So, and people have always been really and providers, doctors are still gung-ho on this.
• 25:50
  But calorie counting.
• 25:52
  So when you tell someone to read a label, they flip it over and they just look at the calories, you know, and um, or the fat grams.
• 25:59
  And that's really I I tell people, I'm like, forget all of that.
• 26:03
  Just look at the ingredients because you really can't go wrong if you have good ingredients, whether no matter how many calories are in it, if you're eating real food, that's not something that you really have to have to monitor, you know.
• 26:17
  Um, so yeah, reading food labels.
• 26:20
  I think that six-week program is amazing because to get started, it feels overwhelming and you do kind of need some, you feel like you need guidance and some help.
• 26:31
  So um, I think that's awesome that you're gonna do that for people.
• 26:35
  I think it once you commit and you get to the end of that six weeks, then you have the skills and the knowledge and the tools that you need to to be successful on your own.
• 26:46
  Right.
• 26:46
  Um, so yeah, and another thing I would say too, with the um the marketing, I think we have to be extra careful right now.
• 26:55
  And I'd love to hear your thoughts on this.
• 26:57
  We do have to go to a break, but what I was gonna say is I feel like marketing's changing to get to health conscious people because of the Maha movement and everybody's talking about this now.
• 27:10
  You notice packages are changing and they're gearing it towards you.
• 27:14
  But if you read that ingredient list, it is still not healthy and it still has a lot of junk in it.
• 27:20
  So I want to talk a little bit more about that when we get back.
• 27:23
  So you guys hang out with us.
• 27:24
  We'll be right back on the nurses report.
• 27:27
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  Sprite can be found online and at all fine natural retailers.
• 30:21
  So welcome back to the nurses report.
• 30:24
  I am here with Annalise.
• 30:25
  Today we are talking about biblical eating.
• 30:28
  And we are going to put in the show notes how to get in touch with her.
• 30:32
  And she is developing a six week plan to help people get started.
• 30:36
  So before the break, we were talking about, I kind of mentioned quickly because we were running out of time there.
• 30:42
  But I wanted to talk about this whole like Maha movement, this uh move towards eat real food, healthy foods.
• 30:50
  I think it's great that it's being talked about.
• 30:53
  Even if you don't agree with with everything that's being put out there, it is on the forefront of everybody's mind.
• 31:00
  Um, and faith seems to be a more popular topic that it I hear people talk about it more now than I have in the past, which I think is great as well.
• 31:11
  But I do think that there is, like we said, spiritual warfare, there's people that are gonna try to take advantage of that.
• 31:20
  So I don't know if you've noticed um in the grocery stores, you see things marketed towards being healthy, towards, oh, you know, we removed this ingredient or the dyes or whatever, and the packaging looks different.
• 31:34
  It's the same old brands, like for instance, um, Doritos.
• 31:38
  Have you seen their new bag?
• 31:40
  Um, they market it like it's this healthier Dorito.
• 31:44
  But if you look at the back, first of all, Doritos, like what kind of nutrition are you getting from Doritos?
• 31:50
  But I get it, people love them and they're gonna buy them.
• 31:52
  Um, and maybe it is a better option than the original ones.
• 31:57
  But if you look at the ingredients, it's still full of of junk.
• 32:01
  So, do you feel like like this is there's gonna be people that that are trying to take advantage of this movement, I think.
• 32:08
  Yeah, absolutely.
• 32:10
  And as awareness raises and people are paying more attention, you have to understand too that marketing is gonna get even sneakier and or even I guess more strategic is the right word.
• 32:21
  Because they'll start using the buzzwords that everybody, you know, starts hearing.
• 32:25
  Like it'll say no artificial dies or no food dies on the bag, like you were saying with like a bag of chips.
• 32:30
  And people are looking at that saying, oh, okay, yeah, we're trying to eliminate dyes.
• 32:34
  That's a great option.
• 32:35
  Not realizing that yes, when you flip over the bag and read the label of the ingredient list, it's still full of all of these artificial ingredients, preservatives, things that we were just never designed to put into our bodies.
• 32:50
  And how frustrating is it that you know, you you're here thinking that you're making a good choice.
• 32:55
  You're trying to be better, you're trying to, you know, food is can be overwhelming enough as it is.
• 32:59
  And now to add the confusion of you think you're making a great healthy step for your family by purchasing something based on the marketing, only to find out that, you know, there's some, you know, maybe hidden things on that ingredient label that they're counting on you to overlook.
• 33:15
  Yeah.
• 33:16
  Yeah.
• 33:16
  And I even heard um recently they're they're changing to like beetroot, you know, for for color, but now they're making an artificial beetroot color instead of actually using beetroot.
• 33:31
  And I just, I don't get it.
• 33:34
  Like just be simple.
• 33:35
  You know, I I buy products for my kids.
• 33:38
  I'm not perfect.
• 33:39
  I wish I just ate a whole food diet and we never had like any kind of processed foods.
• 33:44
  But, you know, I've I've bought um like candy and and different things that have no artificial dyes in them.
• 33:51
  And the color does come from natural sources, uh, spirulina, beetroot, and things like that.
• 33:58
  And in other countries, they do that.
• 34:00
  So now it's like they're taking this step forward to remove red dye 40, but we're gonna replace it with another artificial food dye that we don't know anything about.
• 34:11
  I just it's really maddening.
• 34:14
  I just I guess it's to save a dollar.
• 34:18
  Maybe I don't know the purpose, you know.
• 34:22
  Um, do you so do you use any kind of like um do you do you buy products with with like natural coloring or are you strictly like whole food?
• 34:34
  Where are you at in that process?
• 34:35
  Because I I think people get discouraged if they're like, oh my gosh, I can never eat anything pre-made ever again.
• 34:42
  And I don't think it has to be so dramatic.
• 34:45
  You know, you can find um some alternatives.
• 34:48
  Yeah, no, no, no, no.
• 34:50
  And it is definitely not about perfection.
• 34:52
  We are not perfect over here either.
• 34:54
  You know, I try and make good decisions for my toddler, but sometimes he wants the yogurts with his favorite character on them.
• 35:01
  You know what I mean?
• 35:02
  And we just it's okay, you know, it's not about never eating sugar or never eating a sweet treat again or anything like that.
• 35:10
  It's just about intention in this area.
• 35:13
  And you know, really wanting to nourish your body with food that is going to truly sustain you because that's how food was designed for us, right?
• 35:23
  It was meant to be nourishing and sustaining.
• 35:25
  You know, and the Bible also says that everything is permissible for us, but we're not to be mastered by anything.
• 35:32
  So just because you can doesn't mean you should.
• 35:35
  And you should not have anything that you're serving as a second master.
• 35:39
  And for me, sugar was a second master.
• 35:42
  If I had a craving, I was I had to give in.
• 35:44
  I was not saying no.
• 35:46
  I was going to it when I had stressful, overwhelming days, right?
• 35:50
  So that's what I'm talking about when I'm talking about having intention and aligning biblical principles with the way that you eat.
• 35:57
  It's not about, you know, not having a slice of cheesecake at your favorite restaurant when you go out or never having some like better for you treats.
• 36:05
  We'll buy some of the like cleaner ingredient cookies from the store and I'll make everything from scratch, right?
• 36:10
  But it's just about that.
• 36:12
  Things are back in the right order.
• 36:14
  Food doesn't have authority over you like it maybe did at, you know, before you started making these changes.
• 36:20
  That's that's what I'm always trying to lead people towards, not anything like perfection and food lists and you know, because then we're getting back into the diet culture approach of food, right?
• 36:31
  Yeah, yeah.
• 36:32
  Amen.
• 36:33
  I I love that you said that because I I feel that if if we can add in the spiritual component and use our faith and prayer to help guide us and making these decisions, it all becomes very clear.
• 36:50
  It's it's not so chaotic, it's not so confusing.
• 36:54
  Um, and like you the authority, people are addicted and driven by some of these foods.
• 37:03
  Um, I mean, I even I have a stepson that is just he has to have McDonald's, right?
• 37:10
  Like he feels that in his soul.
• 37:12
  Like he has to have it.
• 37:15
  And when you're so controlled by these things, I think it leaks into other parts of your life, like not just your health, but like your mental health.
• 37:25
  And if we can shift that back to reminding ourselves, we serve one God.
• 37:31
  And like you said, these things should not have authority over our life.
• 37:35
  It makes the decision so much clearer.
• 37:38
  I mean, I even, well, I I will say a prayer before I go into Costco with my two children for my own sanity, but also to help guide me to to make the good choices and to get the right things to nourish my family.
• 37:53
  So I think prayer can be um very helpful in in making these changes and teaching your children, you know, to pray and and ask for guidance and to pray over our food to be grateful for the food that we have is prayer.
• 38:11
  I'm guessing a big part of of your life and family.
• 38:16
  Yes, absolutely.
• 38:17
  Um, but I will say before I started bringing God into this area of my life, I had never prayed about this issue.
• 38:25
  I had always just tried to approach it through my own strength, my own discipline, again, keeping my faith separate from my food.
• 38:33
  But yes, prayer is what I always recommend, especially with the believers who like me were dealing with sugar addiction or like it's that one soda or drink that they just cannot give up, right?
• 38:45
  I always say go to prayer.
• 38:48
  You know, the word says that God's always gonna give us a way out when temptation hits.
• 38:52
  So, you know, there were times where I was literally standing at my cabinet and I was like, you know, God give me my way out.
• 38:58
  You said you're gonna give me my way out.
• 39:00
  Please help me in this moment right now.
• 39:02
  And like you said, just invite, I mean, when was the last time, if ever, that we've just invited him to go into the grocery store with us, right?
• 39:09
  Give me the wisdom, you'll let help me with the discernment that I need while I'm going through here, you know.
• 39:14
  And so, but we just again, we don't involve it.
• 39:17
  Yeah.
• 39:17
  So prayer started becoming a lot bigger, you know, part of this area of my life.
• 39:22
  And it will bring the clarity, like you said, too.
• 39:26
  God will give you clarity if you go to him and say, I need help in this area.
• 39:29
  Show me what I need to change in my kitchen in my routine.
• 39:32
  Show me the first thing that I need to cut out, you know, because if he's convicting you in this area, he's trying to call you up and refine you and prune you for some reason.
• 39:41
  So, yes, yes, prayer is always the first line of defense.
• 39:46
  Yeah, and I think um, I think it's it can be underrated, right?
• 39:51
  Because I I've had times in my life where prayer was not something I made a priority, and then trying to make it a priority was almost.
• 40:00
  A chore.
• 40:01
  I and I don't mean that in a bad way, but I had to remind myself, this is something that I need to do today, right?
• 40:07
  Like it was on my checklist.
• 40:09
  And the more you do it, I mean, now I just find myself, I'll stop in the middle of anything and pray.
• 40:17
  And we we pray before bed, we pray before meals.
• 40:20
  And if I'm feeling anxious, confused, nervous, you know, you stop and you ask for prayer.
• 40:26
  And it can be such a good tool in easing anxiety and just finding your balance again, you know, and and being filled with the Holy Spirit to be able to do God's work and to make good choices.
• 40:41
  Um, because ultimately that's you know, that's what we're here for.
• 40:45
  And I I think we've, as a society, we've become so obsessed with what we look like, what we're wearing, what we're eating, our status.
• 40:56
  There's so many things that have taken priority over God.
• 40:59
  And if we just get back to the basics, make him the priority, everything else becomes super easy and super clear.
• 41:06
  Um I do feel, do you feel it?
• 41:10
  Like there's uh kind of a movement right now where especially younger people seem to be going back to God.
• 41:19
  Um, because I I think there there was a big shift.
• 41:22
  I don't know the numbers, but um, I think my husband had had been telling me like now within the last year, there were more people that declared that they were not religious and more people were not going to church than ever in the past.
• 41:38
  But I feel like that's shifting.
• 41:40
  Do you feel that?
• 41:41
  I do.
• 41:42
  Um, especially because I serve in the high school ministry at my church.
• 41:48
  So I I see firsthand this next generation, and I'm telling you, they are hungrier for God than ever before.
• 41:57
  And when I was growing up goosebumps, I know.
• 42:00
  And I mean, to see they're they're the first ones to run to the altar.
• 42:03
  They don't care, you know what I mean?
• 42:04
  So yes, it's it's powerful.
• 42:07
  Yeah.
• 42:08
  But and I think I watch them praise at church, their hands up on their knees, and it's like inspiring.
• 42:15
  Um, because as you know, I get reserved about that, you know, it's like I'll raise my hands a little bit, but you know, the the kids, they're just they're all in.
• 42:25
  I love it.
• 42:26
  Go ahead.
• 42:26
  I didn't mean to interrupt you.
• 42:28
  Yeah, no, it is, yeah.
• 42:29
  I'm seeing the same thing.
• 42:30
  And it's when I was in that age group, that, you know, 18 to 25, that was, I mean, I was in the world fully.
• 42:40
  I was walked away from my faith at that time.
• 42:42
  So to see, you know, and in the past, I think, you know, a lot of that age group was, you know, walked away from church and then maybe came back when or walked away from faith and came back whenever they started families.
• 42:56
  But yeah, you're seeing a shift now.
• 42:58
  That age group, the young adult age group in the high school through young 20s, they are sticking to their faith.
• 43:06
  They are like sticking to the roots, and I think that that's a huge change.
• 43:11
  And I want that more than anything because they are the that's the generation that's gonna keep, you know, the kingdom going and ministry alive because yeah, they're prioritization of God first and being open about it, keeping their childlike faith all the way through, you know, transitioning to adulthood.
• 43:31
  I do believe that it's shifting, the tides are changing, and it's I love to see it from this perspective.
• 43:37
  It is, yeah, it's so exciting.
• 43:40
  I um I I was walking with my husband.
• 43:42
  We were like walking from church back to our car, and we had to, you know, it's packed.
• 43:47
  So we had to park kind of far away.
• 43:49
  And we were walking with like they were kind of behind us, um, these young like teenagers, and the way that they were speaking and talking about their faith and like revisiting the sermon that they just listened to and talking about what they were gonna do in the community.
• 44:06
  I mean, I just looked at my husband with tears in my eyes and I was like, this is how I want to raise my children.
• 44:12
  You know, I want them to feel this and and to be like good stewards and um it's just it's so awesome to see.
• 44:21
  And I I don't rem I feel like when I was a teen, I was not that convicted.
• 44:29
  You know, I went to church.
• 44:30
  I grew up in church, but then I, you know, turned to 18 and I just went on with my life.
• 44:36
  And I I kind of left God out of it.
• 44:39
  Huge regret, by the way.
• 44:41
  But um, I realized how how much more difficult my life probably was because of that.
• 44:47
  Um, so I think it's just beautiful to see.
• 44:50
  And I think they're gonna have an easier path because they easier in some ways, right?
• 44:54
  It's gonna be challenging in other ways, people that will um, you know, condemn you for your faith and and and make it harder.
• 45:01
  But I think when you have God at the forefront, it it does make your path a lot easier.
• 45:07
  Um with this chronic illness epidemic, um, I mean, personally, I feel like a lot of that has to do with this um lack of God and and this uh just warfare on our on our health.
• 45:26
  Um and working in the hospital, I would see people how do I put this?
• 45:32
  Um kind of get through disease and get through illness easier if they had faith than those that were without faith.
• 45:42
  Um, do you do you see that like kind of just in our uh ill we have a huge chronic illness um epidemic going on?
• 45:52
  And um, I feel like God is is kind of void from from some of that.
• 45:59
  Yeah.
• 46:00
  Um I will say that watching people go through illness, obviously not as closely as as you do every single day in your line of work, but there's a difference in the peace that someone has, you know, when they have God walking through it.
• 46:20
  And there's a difference in even sometimes the approach of how they decide to, you know, live and manage their disease whenever they have God on their side and they're seeking things like more natural ways, like, you know, how can I work with my body the way that God designed it, right?
• 46:40
  With food, with fasting, with the way that he designed for our bodies and our souls and our hearts and everything to all be tied together and work together.
• 46:49
  So yeah.
• 46:50
  Yeah.
• 46:51
  I um this was I I forget exactly when it was, but I I did an episode with um Diana Burgess.
• 46:59
  And so for the listeners and everybody, if you haven't listened to it, I would go back and listen to it because her faith is beautiful.
• 47:07
  And she was, she's a nurse.
• 47:09
  Um, she was in a plane crash, and by all means, probably should not have survived.
• 47:17
  Um, and she lost, they told her she would never walk again.
• 47:22
  She has very strong faith.
• 47:23
  And she prayed every day.
• 47:25
  People were praying over her, and she had faith in God.
• 47:28
  And let me tell you, she was my nursing instructor and she ran circles around me.
• 47:33
  So, you know, I I think you you also have to not believe everything that everybody tells you, you know.
• 47:42
  Um, you're gonna die, you're not gonna walk, you're gonna be sick forever and just put your faith in God.
• 47:48
  And God has a plan that I don't know what it is, right?
• 47:51
  And we have to acknowledge that his plan might not be for you to walk again.
• 47:56
  Maybe there's another purpose, but not letting man dictate your future and what you're gonna do, but trust in God.
• 48:06
  Um, because I've I've seen these miracles firsthand, you know, it it happens, and it's beautiful.
• 48:13
  Um so I I am like you said, I'm just I'm super excited to see what what all these young kids are gonna do with their faith and that it's there.
• 48:22
  But you know when you have something to hold on to and to not be fearful of the future and fearful of death, that makes that makes a difference in in how you live, right?
• 48:38
  Yes, yeah.
• 48:40
  Obviously, I mean, I believe we are all here for a purpose because we all play a part in the body of some in some way.
• 48:50
  But when you have your sights set on heaven, on you know, being in finally in the same place as God, right?
• 49:01
  It's yeah, it changes your perspective on this world on your time here, on purpose and on how and on how you see God's plan for your life too.
• 49:10
  You know, you can either fight it or you can just accept that his plan always works out way better than ours does, even if it looks totally different, which it usually does, right?
• 49:20
  Any anything, it's almost laughable at this point.
• 49:22
  If I'm like, okay, well, it's gonna go this way.
• 49:24
  I almost have to laugh to myself and say it's probably not, but it'll always look better, right?
• 49:29
  And so yeah, when you live with that understanding that just you're you're held, you're okay, you're taking care of, you know, that there is a plan, there is a purpose for everything, even including, you know, maybe disease or pain or struggles in this area.
• 49:45
  Yeah, it just it changes your your perspective and the way you live while you're here.
• 49:50
  Yeah.
• 49:51
  I um so I went through a time where my mom was diagnosed with cancer, she had stage four cancer.
• 50:00
  Her.
• 50:00
  Unfortunately, she did not make it.
• 50:02
  But we were um when we first were dealing with all of this, and um, I kept praying every night.
• 50:09
  And I'm like, look, God, I need you to spell it out for me.
• 50:14
  Maybe write it down and tell me exactly what you need me to do.
• 50:18
  And I was so demanding of like, I don't need a sign, I don't need a hint.
• 50:23
  I need you to just tell me, right?
• 50:25
  Like I was desperate for some guidance on what I needed to do.
• 50:29
  And um one night I had a dream, and y'all are gonna think I'm cuckoo, but this was real.
• 50:34
  So I in my dream, it was my pastor at church, and I'm standing in my driveway, and he comes walking up the driveway like preaching.
• 50:43
  And I'm like, there's no congregation, you know, but he's preaching, and he gets right next to me and he stops and he looks at me and he's like, just turn to God.
• 50:53
  And then he just walked off.
• 50:55
  And so I woke up the next morning and I was like, it was so vivid.
• 51:00
  And I'm like, all right, I still don't know what this means, but this is what I'm gonna do.
• 51:06
  And I literally just threw everything, my faith, my uncertainty, everything.
• 51:12
  I I put it in God's lap and took it off of mine.
• 51:15
  And lo and behold, everything started falling into place.
• 51:21
  We were able to get her care.
• 51:23
  The um church provided resources, they provided food, they provided counseling, they provided money, and it was just overwhelming the support that we had.
• 51:34
  So I think that I I remind myself of that, like just turn to God.
• 51:40
  Sometimes it's literally that simple when we're trying to make it so hard.
• 51:46
  And it doesn't have to be.
• 51:48
  Um, but you know, I think this conversation, what we're talking about today is not, it's not about going backwards.
• 51:56
  It's not about like eating what Jesus would would eat, you know, and grapes and olives and pita bread.
• 52:03
  You know, it doesn't have to be like that, the fish and loaves.
• 52:06
  I mean, by all means, eat fish.
• 52:08
  And but I think this is about returning to what was what's always been true, um, what God has provided for us.
• 52:16
  So if you have just kind of um to to wrap things up, like advice where for people kind of where to start, and if there was one thing that they could change or do today, what would you what would you tell them to do if they're hungry for for this?
• 52:37
  Yeah.
• 52:38
  Um, and it kind of goes along with what you just said in the journey that you walked with your mom is that just seek God first, seek him first in this area of your life.
• 52:48
  That's all that biblical eating is just God, what's your will for my life in this area?
• 52:54
  So, first things first, just surrender in prayer.
• 52:58
  God, I don't want to do this by my own strength anymore.
• 53:01
  I want to know what your will for my life in this area is, and I want to take faithful steps of obedience every single day that just keep me in alignment with you with how you created me and just start with that.
• 53:14
  Start with presence with him and start with awareness.
• 53:16
  Just start paying attention to the foods you're consuming, what's in them?
• 53:21
  And if you just start there and you stay in presence with him, if you remain in him, like you are saying, he will continue to guide you.
• 53:29
  What seems impossible now is gonna be second nature.
• 53:32
  You'll be teaching it to another believer, you know, if you just give God a little time and space to work in this area of your life too.
• 53:39
  Yeah.
• 53:40
  And I think too, um, finding a community that's supportive, you know, like you, you're involved at church.
• 53:46
  Um, of course, following her on social media, you know, so for all my listeners, because I I get recipes, I save a whole bunch of your videos to to go back and um to use these recipes, or if it's like a good reminder for myself, like, man, I love what you just said, you know.
• 54:03
  Sometimes we need those reminders and we need that community of support.
• 54:07
  So finding a good church, finding good online communities, um, just to help guide you and support you, it makes it seem a lot less um challenging and difficult when you have people, you know, to support you.
• 54:20
  So, where can people find you if they are looking to follow you on social media or um, I know you're working on the six-week plan, but where are they gonna be able to hear about that if that's something they want to do?
• 54:34
  Sure.
• 54:35
  So um, like Ashley said, she'll put my spelling in the show notes, but I am on Facebook, TikTok, and now YouTube.
• 54:43
  So it's just my name, Annalise Xaviera on all across all platforms.
• 54:48
  And yes, I share recipes, tips.
• 54:51
  I have a daily verse series if you want to dive into like where should I start in scripture with all of this?
• 54:57
  And yes, I'm working on the six-week biblical eating reset.
• 55:00
  It will be coming out and launching the Monday after you listen to this episode.
• 55:06
  So um, if yeah, so that'll be on my page, and you can find all the info on that there if you want more of a step-by-step, I'll hold your hand through it way to start.
• 55:15
  Awesome.
• 55:16
  No, I love that because I think that makes it just seem less overwhelming, less challenging when you have that support.
• 55:22
  And if you already don't have a community to support you, like this is this is the the way to go um to walk you through it.
• 55:30
  And I so, and just you're not aware, but we're starting like a um a Bible study, and we are talking about using some of your tips and your verses and your videos kind of to coincide with what we're learning in scripture.
• 55:48
  So I think you're impacting so many people out there.
• 55:50
  And I just I really love what you're doing.
• 55:53
  And thank you so much for being on the show today.
• 55:56
  It's been so much fun.
• 55:57
  Um, and for the listeners, you know, you can find the nurses report um daily on America out loud at 10 a.m.
• 56:05
  And then of course, our shows all go to podcasts the next day on your favorite podcast app.
• 56:11
  We'd love to hear from you so you can um email the nurses directly, just go to America out loud and you'll be able to find our email and reach out to us directly.
• 56:22
  We'd love to hear from you.
• 56:24
  So thank you guys so much for listening and thank you so much for being on the show.
• 56:29
  Yes, thank you.
• 56:30
  This was amazing.
• 56:32
  Thanks for listening to the nurses report.
• 56:38
  It's time at this.