All Things Skin, Wellness & Faith

Don’t Be Hindered By Holiday Hunger Be Built By Holy Discipline

• Natasha Dias • Episode 27

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We explore how holiday indulgence can numb discernment and drain energy, then offer a simple path to enjoy the feast without losing focus. Through scripture, practical wellness tips, and prayer, we show how moderation, fasting rhythms, and gratitude create clarity and peace.

• setting up a wellness and encouragement combo
• confronting holiday indulgence and culture’s norms
• practical portion strategies and sugar awareness
• tying overeating to sluggishness and low clarity
• consecration, discernment, and nonconformity
• fasting as a steady, Spirit-led practice
• the body as a temple and daily stewardship
• protecting dreams, prayer life, & assignments 


SPEAKER_01:

A podcast will live double weight and find the thing there and wellness and house and the first third well. I'm the home of half of the road. I'm liking the police officer in the five months. And the case of the number of hours and courage eight hours as we dive into our things in wellness and faith.

SPEAKER_00:

Good day unto you. Welcome back to this month's wellness session of All Things Skin, Wellness and Faith. Today's episode is going to be a combination of a wellness. We're going to touch on some things that are going to be beneficial on the wellness side, but I'm going to call it a combo episode today because it's also going to be some encouragement as well, just like we do on our breadcrumbs. And really, what we're going to start to talk about is a season that we're in, which is the Thanksgiving season. I mean, I can barely believe that we are just a couple weeks out from Thanksgiving. This is all coming up so, so fast. I don't know how you're feeling about time or the holidays or the how the days are going by, but it just seems like everything is going by so fast. I feel like I was just talking about summer and sunscreen and back to school. And now we're already embarking on the holiday season. We're already coming up on Thanksgiving. Shortly after that will be Christmas, and then we will be bursting into 2026. I cannot believe it. So with that being said, we really need to get it together on the wellness side. We needed to get it, get it together on our spiritual side, and that is what we're talking about today, as we do always on all things skin, wellness, and faith. And today, like I said, since we are embarking, just coming up on that Thanksgiving season, that is exactly what I want to talk about. A little bit of discipline, a little bit of self-control. This episode today is definitely going to be one that may step on your toes a little bit per se, may give you a little bit of poke, but it's all in a good way. Um, we all know that there's no condemnation in Christ. None of this is, you know, being said to kind of ridicule you in any way, shape, or form, but just mostly to, you know, help us to do better together. This is, you know, me talking to myself. Every time I've told you guys before that every time I speak something to you, it's a message that I've generally received for myself. And what I receive from myself, I like to pass it on to you as the Holy Spirit gives it to me. So, what are we talking about today? We're talking about the Thanksgiving season, which is a time, as we all know, a time of indulgence, a time of family and friends and gathering, but it's also a time where we tend to get a little bit out of control. And when I say a little bit out of control, mainly I'm speaking on eating for myself. I don't consume any alcoholic beverages. I will touch on that briefly, while that's not the focus of this episode. But as a believer in Christ, I don't feel that there's any benefit of alcohol consumption into my body per se. Every believer has their different convictions with that, but I just personally and biblically don't really see a need for it. Um, like I said, the Bible says, you know, I believe it's Paul that says, you know, everything is permissible, but it's not beneficial. So I'm gonna leave that up to you and your walk and your relationship with the Lord on how you feel about that, as far as, you know, what he convicts you of. I know that we all have different convictions on that, but I'm going to stick to the topic at hand today, which is just basically talking about indulging on in the holiday season, indulging on snacks, treats, foods. Maybe you're a person that has a sweet tooth. I know we all enjoy the pumpkin pie, the pecan pie, the apple pie, the egg custard pie, all the different treats and all the things that go on at holiday time. The stuffing, the mashed potatoes, the sweet potatoes, the turkey, the gravy, all the good things. The list goes on. You know, all the fixings and all the good things that we love to indulge on on a holiday season. But what I want to speak to you all about today is just having a spirit of self-control, which is also biblical. We are called as believers, as followers of Christ, to, you know, exercise self-control. And that is self-control in all things. That's self-control in our actions, our words, how we interact with others, and especially what I want to focus on today is self-control with what we eat, what we consume, and what we put into our body. And this is not only from a biblical point of view point of view, this is also from a wellness point of view. We know what happens at holiday time when we get, you know, stuffed, we feel really full, we may feel bloated. There's a lot of things that we eat that we shouldn't, sugar, carbs, all those things, you know, the white potatoes, if we're eating mashed potatoes and rice and things to those nature of that nature, um, the carbs are all converting to sugar. And so if you have, you know, your carbs and then you have, you know, your sweet potato pie and all those things, you're getting a double portion of sugar. If you're not burning it off right away, which most of us are not really concerned, you know, with exercising and working out during this holiday season, we tend to gather, we tend to go from house to house to mom's house, aunt's house, grandma's house, whose ever house you're going to. And we tend to, you know, hang out, we talk. Some of us may watch a football game, but there's a lot of, you know, sitting around talking, and there's not a lot of physical activity. And consuming a lot of carbs, a lot of sugar, sugars, and things like that, and not having a way to actively burn it off immediately is definitely not good for the body. We know that turkey can make us feel sluggish. We know why the turkey makes us feel sluggish, but me personally, I don't consume meat. I mean, I may cheat and have just a little bit of turkey could it because it kind of goes well with everything this Thanksgiving. I'm not sure. Um honestly I'm going to pray on that one and see what the Lord gives me. But whatever I am eating, I'm definitely going to be mindful with my amounts. And that's what I want to speak to you about today. So we definitely want to enjoy all the good things that are being made, but we want to make sure that we don't overindulge, that we don't go into an area where we're just being gluttonous and to the point that you're just like, oh, I ate so much. I feel stuffed. And that feeling, you know, is really can be uncomfortable. It comes with gas, it comes with bloating, it can come with heartburn, an upset stomach, and all these things are signs from our body that is letting us know that these things aren't good for us. While we just take it as oh, small, minute things, it's really signals that our body is giving us, showing us that these things lead to bigger health risks, bigger health concerns, and more long-term problems. And also, what happens is when you consume a lot of sugar, a lot of carbs, things like that, it's hard to break that cycle. What usually happens is you have a little bit, you'll have some on Thanksgiving Day. Then we have the leftovers after Thanksgiving Day. And typically, a lot of people have that time off from work, so you're just going back to the fridge. I know for me and my family, what we used to do is like we would live like a whole week off the Thanksgiving season, um, the Thanksgiving meal. And doing that Thanksgiving season, we would just have like Thanksgiving pretty much almost for like breakfast, lunch, and dinner. That is not ideal. That is not the most healthiest thing to do. I mean, even though we have Thanksgiving foods that, you know, do consist of some healthy things, the um, depending on your traditions or your cultures, you may have greens, you may have um salads. I know I don't know if there's a lot of people that are big on salads at Thanksgiving, but we do have like a lot of you know casseroles or spinach and things like that. But we also want to be aware of while we're having these things, we are consuming, like I know there's a cream spinach casserole that I love that has a lot of dairy in it. Dairy is not really good for you. The sweet potatoes carry a lot of sugar, the white potatoes are carbs, carry a lot of butter, sugar, things like that. And even when you're having a little bit, I know what we do in my house is we tend to make our rounds. We'll go from one house to another. Even if we're having a little bit, we want to be mindful of what that little bit is. Because if you have a little bit at one house and then you go to another and another and another, well, eventually that little bit is all going to add up to a lot. And I feel like this is no new information, this is no groundbreaking information that we're disclosing today, but this is more so a rehab, um, a retake on the Thanksgiving season and just you know, a reminder more than anything to just reel it in a little bit. And I feel like really, as I tie it in spiritually, where we are right now, I feel like as believers, we are really called to a different time in this season that we we are in right now spiritually, and the last days, you know, which we are in right now, and I think obviously we don't know if Christ, if his reappearance is going to be in our lifetime, in our children's lifetime, or our grandchildren's lifetime lifetime. But one thing I can tell you is that from the sign of the signs of the times and the things that we are all seeing depicted in the Bible that are happening in real time in real life, I think we can all agree that we are really, really near. And we all know that the Bible says that when Christ comes back, that he's coming back from a spot for a spotless bride. So I think right now, for believers, more than anything, this should be a time that we are exercising consecration more than ever. I think that we are really in a point and we should be living this way at all times. But I feel it's really important right now that we just really hone in on like where we are biblically with the times and what's being said, and that we are being mindful to prepare ourselves for his coming. And we are being mindful that we can hear and that we can see that we are exercising wisdom and discernment, that we're in alignment with our prayer life, our spiritual life, because deception is really at an all-time high right now. Deception is at an all-time high in so many areas. We have so many, you know, AI-generated things, so many, um, what I what did I want to speak on? Pretty much like the mark of the beast and the microchips and the technology and all these things that are said in the Bible, in Revelations, and many different parts of the Bible that speak on the times and where we're at now. And I think it's really important that while we not get paranoid or we not turn into so-called conspiracy theorists, I think it's very important that we do remain aware. What the Bible tells us is that the enemy comes in sneaking, he's not gonna come in, you know, like a roar lion, he does come in like a roaring lion, but it's in a very sneaky, planned out, strategic way. And if we see the way things are turning, we see the technology, the cell phones, um, even just going to Whole Foods and just seeing that, you know, I can scan my hand and to pay for, you know, my bill, or you can see what's going on in the UK, I believe it is, where I just saw a couple of weeks ago in the UK that they're making digital IDs mandatory, where we have the real ID necessary for travel. All these things, digital passports, all these things are all coming to pass. And we really need to be mindful that we are aware and that we are discerning and that we are going before the father regularly because the only way we can have true discernment is to be in alignment and in, you know, communion with the father and with the father daily. And when I say daily, I don't just necessarily mean your morning prayer time, your afternoon prayer time. We need to be at a point that we are communing with the father throughout the day, where we are really seeking what he has for us to do through every single decision, large or small. The Bible says, when you seek me with all your heart, where you find you will find me. When you cry out to me and you find me as vital and necessary, then I will answer your prayers. And how I'm relating this really to eating is because when we're eating and we're eating in a really gluttonous type of way, it does make us lethargic. It does, it pulls away from our discernment. Think about it. When you eat and you eat a lot of food, the first thing you want to do is you want to lay down, you want to rub your stomach, you don't feel good, you don't feel like reading your Bible, you don't feel like you know going into prayer time. It is a total distraction. If you go all the way back to the beginning of Genesis, food is how mankind was first tricked. It's what the serpent used was food. It's no different today. So we really need to be mindful of not only what we're putting into our bodies, but also how much. And that's what we want to focus on today. I mean, right now, I feel like we are really called to a season of consecration. I think more than ever, we need to be fasting and we need to be praying. And I feel like our fasting and our prayer life, it needs to be increased, it needs to be upped. I know generally a lot of churches do start off the beginning of the year with a corporate fast, but I believe that fasting and praying is something that should be done in our regular personal lives as well. I don't think we have to wait for, you know, a pastor or someone else to call us to a fast, or we have to wait for a bad situation to happen, you know, where we feel where we feel stuck and we're called to fast. I feel like fasting and praying should be a regular part of our Christian lifestyle, just to make sure we are breaking those ties with foods. We are not coming under, you know, any type of, uh, what's the word I want to use? Not coming under any type of idolatry, I guess you could say, with food. I know from time to time I can definitely feel in my spirit when it's time for me to come call a fast for myself. I know it's a period that, you know, even right now as I go through that type of season where I'm just like, okay, it's time to push away your plate. I think the more closer you get to the Lord, the more He will be He will begin to reveal to you what your prayer life, what your fasting life looks like. It's definitely going to be different for everybody. Some people are fasting once a month, some people may be fasting once a week, some people may be fasting one or two meals, some people may be fasting, you know, only a 12-hour period of the day. But whatever your fasting lifestyle looks like, I believe that the father will detail that in your personal time. And I definitely think that we should be challenging ourselves. Like, definitely, your fast is called by the Lord. But if you've been doing the same fast for like the past six or seven years, and don't get me wrong, there are people that have medical conditions and things of that nature that prevent them from being able to do like the absolute fast or things like that. So you're gonna go within, you know, how the Holy Spirit and I say more so the Holy Spirit than I say your doctors, because I'm just gonna put a little disclaimer on here. If you have medical conditions that prohibit you from being able to fast, uh absolutely uh absolute fast, then definitely don't go and do that. But I believe that if you are in proper alignment with the Lord, that he will tell you what he wants you to do. And I do believe that it needs to be a sacrifice, it needs to be challenging, it needs to be not something that you say, oh, I'm just going to, you know, fast TV, I'm going to fast social media. I mean, definitely add that in there as well. But I feel some form of food sacrifice does need to be in place in your fasting. Like I was saying before, right now we are really called to a time of consecration. I feel that more than ever, that I discernment needs to be on point. And this is exactly what fasting does. It brings you to that point that you know, you start to hunger. Instead of hungering for food, you put your focus on the Lord, you put your attention on the word. The Bible says that man does not live on bread alone. So we know that the word is our bread of life. So we definitely want to try and push away from our plates and begin to seek the Lord more. And during the time of fasting, as you get more seasoned in this, you definitely come to a time where you start to look forward to fasting because the revelation and the wisdom that the Lord starts to, you know, reveal to you. You start to, once you start to embark on that, you know, one or two times, you begin to look forward to that. You begin to want to hear and crave what it is that he has to say to you. So it's very important that you know we're keeping ourselves in alignment with that. Romans 12 and Romans 12 and 2 tells us to do not do not be conform to the patterns of this world. The patterns of this world that I'm speaking on right now, excuse me, is a gluttonous behavior that is just rendered as okay during the holiday season. You hear so many people say that, you know, oh well, it's holiday time. Enjoy yourself, you know, just indulge just a little bit. We don't have to do everything that the world does. We are in this world, but we are not of this world. I love Romans 12, too. It's such a key and staple verse. I really want to read that today to you, read that to you guys today. But what I want to read it to you from is from the message translation. I know a lot of times we hear it in the NIV, we hear it in the NLT, and we know it's just overall the gist of it is don't come in alignment with the things of this world. But I love the message version because the message version is really, really raw. It kind of pokes at you a little bit. And I feel like as believers, sometimes we get comfortable, you know, in our areas. So I feel like a little good poke, a little thorn in our side is good for us to have, you know, from time to time. Not time to time, really all the time, just to keep us in alignment with his will, not to keep us under condemnation, because we know that the Bible says there's no condemnation in Christ, but just to keep us in alignment and most importantly, to make sure that we are growing in our walk with the Lord. So here I have for you Romans 12. It's actually one and two out of the message version. And it reads, so here's what I want you to do: God helping you. Take your everyday, ordinary life, your sleeping, eating, going to work, walking around life, and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing that you can do for Him. Don't become so well adjusted to your culture that you fit, that you fit into it even. I'm sorry, I'm gonna repeat that again. Don't become so well adjusted to your culture that you fit into it with even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You'll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down its level to its level of immaturity. God brings the best out of you, develops it well, develops well informed a well-informed maturity in you. So I love, love, love, love that version. It just breaks it down in such a way it's not, you know, as raw as some of the message translation can be with other scriptures, but it just really, really hones in on everything. Take everything you do and lay it before God. Take everything you do, and this is what the father was speaking to me the other day to just lay everything before me and make sure everything that you do is pleasing to me. It's not pleasing to you, it's not what you want, but make sure it's pleasing to me because when it's pleasing to me, then I can grow you. So it's like even in the season where we have, you know, the world, like I said, just telling us, even family members may be, you know, pressuring us to just live a little, live a little. Oh, you know, your Christianity, you don't have to be so rigid and so tight. No, I have to come in alignment and agreement with what my father says to me to do. Um, really, like I said, consecration is a process where we decide to set ourselves apart, and that's what we should be doing. I mean, we're not fasting unless that's what he calls you to do during the Thanksgiving season. And if he calls you to fast during Thanksgiving and you go through it strong, kudos to you. I salute you. I'm definitely not in that season right now, that's not what he's called me to do. He has called me to a fast in this season, but it's not in the Thanksgiving season. But if that's what he calls you to do, as believers and followers of Christ, we have to be obedient to what he says. But consecration is important, it's very important that we consecrate ourselves, and it's a process where we decide to set ourselves apart. As a disciple, we are meant to be disciplined. As you can see, the word disciple and discipline, it's the root word of it. So we have to discipline ourselves. We have to, you know, just like that verse says, do not be conformed to the patterns of this world. Holiness is a fuel for reformation. And if Christ, and I really feel it's something that Christ is really calling his body to, it's calling the church to right now. If and we have many scriptures that will line up with this. We have Proverbs 23 and 2 that tells us if you're a big eater, put a knife to your throat. So it's calling us to a form of discipline in that scripture. At some point, we have to be responsible and we cannot just justify everything with, oh, it's Thanksgiving, and I'm going to indulge. We have to look at the big picture. There's another scripture that I wanted to reference, and I actually referenced this in a speaking, um, a speaking, not a speaking, in a conference that I did a couple years ago, and it's 1 Corinthians 6 and 19 and 1 Corinthians 6 and 20, and it tells us that our body is a temple of the Holy Spirit. Christ has redeemed us as at a high price. So we really need to make sure that our bodies, as temples unto him, are well cared for. We have to be mindful of what we're ingesting, and like I said, how much. 1 Corinthians 6 and 20 tells us that Christ paid a high price to us. So we must honor him with our bodies. It is important that we realize that these bodies that we have serve as a temple. We have to take care of these temples in order that we can walk out his will for our lives, in order that we can do the assignments that he's called us to do. We as believers, we have an assignment. We each have a call, we have assignments, we have things that we are supposed to be doing for the kingdom. And if we're out of shape, if we're unhealthy, if we're, you know, bogged down with diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, all these things that come as a result of improper eating, then we cannot serve in the kingdom in the way that he's called us to. So we have to be mindful of what we're doing as far as the way we're eating and what we're ingesting. As followers of Christ, like I said, we must be disciplined in all that we do in every area of our life. We should not only, we should not only adhere to the Lord's teaching, but we should also live it out through practice and through commitment. And that's what we have to do during every season, during the holiday season, during a regular Monday through Friday at all times. As believers, I really feel that we must not only accept the beliefs of Christ, but we also have to, like I said, be disciplined. We have to live them out, we have to walk them out because it's like this. It's very simple. Every disciple is a believer, but not every believer is a disciple. Discipleship is something that requires a deeper level of commitment. So as we go through this holiday season, let's just be very mindful about how we're walking through this holiday season. Let's be very mindful that as believers and disciples of Christ, that we are here on this earth, just like it says in Esther for such a time as this. While we are to, you know, have a level of enjoyment. And he definitely says that, you know, that we are to have an abundance as we're here on earth. I don't believe that that abundance should be on our plates. I believe that we should always be mindful of our assignments and our callings and anything in any way that the enemy will try to trip us, may try to trip us up in. And that's gonna be with food, that's gonna be with, you know, arguing, anything. There's so many different levels of how the enemy is gonna try and sneak in and attack us that we have to make sure that we have our eyes open and our ears open. The Bible speaks about in Isaiah having eyes to ear, eyes to see, and ears to hear. And we have to make sure that every way that he tries to sneak in, that we're spending time with the Lord so that the Lord can make us aware of those things. One thing I also want to speak on really quickly before I wrap this up is just your dreams. Your dreams are a time of communication. And one thing that I notice is that when I indulge and when I eat, even if I'm eating a plant-based diet, which is what I eat, there is still plant-based junk food that you can eat. And when I'm eating in a way that is not in true alignment, you know, with what's good for my body and what's not in alignment with my calling, I will notice that my dreams are hindered. Either I don't remember my dreams or I just don't dream at all. And that is not good because dreams are direct communication with the Lord. So if you can't hear what the Holy Spirit is saying to you, if you can't get your assignments, you can't get your calls, you can't get your warnings because he does give us a lot of warnings through dreams, then you are being hindered, which is exactly what the enemy wants to do. And trust me, he's sneaking, he's sneaky, he comes to kill, steal, and destroy. So he's going to try and hinder your call, your assignment, in any way he can. So let's just be mindful this holiday season for our health and well-being, but also for our call and our duty as kingdom servants. Let's be mindful of how we're eating during this holiday season. Let's exercise a spirit of self control, all right, guys. That is pretty much what I want to roll off for you today. That's what the Holy Spirit gave me this morning today in my prayer time. I hope that this helps you, encourages you from both a spiritual aspect and also a wellness aspect, and I pray that you are really. Blessed over this holiday season. Enjoy your foods within moderation. Enjoy your family. And let's also remember to just keep in alignment with our prayer time. Keep in alignment with you know of the Lord with the Lord and what He has for us. And just make sure that we are just not allowing the distractions of the enemy to throw us off of our call. So as always, with a full episode, I'd like to leave you guys with a prayer. So let me just leave you a quick prayer for today. Father God, I just thank you once again for the opportunity to deliver this message to every listener that is on here. I pray, Father, that they are blessed and that they are highly favored. I pray, Father, that the holiday season is a blessed time where we not only come together with our families, but I pray, Lord, that we grow deeper in you. As we grow deeper in you, Lord, I ask that you continue to give us a spirit of wisdom and revelation, Lord. I pray, Lord, that as we get this with wisdom and revelation, that discernment is also a part of that. That you speak to each and every one of us as to what our calling is, how you want us to walk our calling out, and to use discernment with what we consume and we put in our bodies. As our bodies are a temple of the Holy Spirit, we want to make sure that everything that we do, Lord, is pleasing to you. So, Father, I just ask for your blessings and your favor to continue. I pray that every listener that is listening has a blessed Thanksgiving, Christmas, or whatever holiday season they are celebrating. I pray that there are blessings upon blessings upon blessings that are rendered out to them. In the name of Yeshua, I pray and I say amen. All right. Thank you guys for linking me your ears. I pray blessings over your holiday season. And remember, let's enjoy this season, but let's not overindulge. All right, love you guys. Until the next episode. Ciao for now. Bye.