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When life gets hard, does what we think we believe hold us up, or does it crumble under the weight of doubt? I'm your host, Dr. Lee Warren- I'm a brain surgeon, author, and a person who's seen some stuff and wondered where God is in all this mess. This is The Spiritual Brain Surgery podcast, where we'll take a hard look at what we believe, why we believe it, and the neuroscience behind how our minds and our brains can smash together with faith to help us become healthier, feel better, and be happier so we can find the hope to withstand anything life throws at us. You've got questions, and we're going to do the hard work to find the answers, but you can't change your life until you change your mind, and it's gonna take some spiritual-brain surgery to get it done. So let's get after it.
When life gets hard, does what we think we believe hold us up,
or does it crumble under the weight of doubt?
I'm your host, neurosurgeon and
author, Dr. Lee Warren, and this is the Spiritual Brain Surgery Podcast,
where we'll take a hard look at what we believe, why we believe it,
and the neuroscience behind how our minds and our brains can smash together
with faith to help us defend it, share it, and live it out.
You've got questions, and we're going to do the hard work to find the answers,
but you can't change your life until you change your mind. and it's gonna take
some spiritual brain surgery to get it done, so let's get after it.
Hey, hey, spiritual brain surgery family, Leanne Ellington here,
and I'm honored to be your guest host once again for today's episode.
Dr. Warren invited me back to continue this special three-part series,
and I'm so grateful to be here with you.
And so if you missed part one, we talked about the spiritual cost of food and
body fixation and obsession, and how these struggles don't just impact your
health or mindset, but they quietly rob you of your peace and your presence,
and yes, even your connection with God.
And so we unpacked how body shame and food obsession can become spiritual distractions,
stealing your bandwidth, drowning out God's voice, and keeping you in a constant
state of self-focus and self-judgment.
But we didn't just leave it there. We also started laying the foundation for
what real freedom can look like and how healing your relationship with food
in your body isn't just about willpower or self-control, it's about rewiring your brain.
Reclaiming your God-given identity, and partnering with the Holy Spirit to write a new story.
And so if you haven't had a chance to listen to that one yet,
I definitely recommend going back and checking it out because it really sets
the stage for where we're headed today.
Because today we're diving into something that's been on a lot of women's minds
lately, and that is Ozempic, but not in the way that you might expect.
Because we're not here to debate medications or weight loss shortcuts,
we're not even really here to talk about Ozempic at all.
What we're here to do is get curious on a brain level and a spiritual level
about why it's working for so many people and what that tells us about the real
root of food obsession and emotional eating and the cycle of losing and regaining weight.
And there's nothing to judge here, right? Only to explore.
We're simply looking at what's happening scientifically with compassion and
curiosity so that we can understand what your brain might actually be needing
underneath all of that food noise.
Because here's the thing, there's a science behind what Ozempic actually does
in your brain, and once you understand it,
you can actually learn how to create those same effects naturally,
but without prescriptions or side effects and not in the quick fix kind of way
that leaves you right back where you started.
And so today I want to walk you through how to create what I call the natural
ozempic effect in your brain and create a brain-based shift that calms cravings,
quiets the food noise, and helps you finally feel like food is no longer the boss of you.
But first, we've got to talk about the problem. And let's just say this out
loud together, just in case no one has said it to you recently,
or maybe this is a holy interruption for a second, if you will.
But I really want you to pause here and really breathe in the truth,
because if you've been stuck in the cycle of overeating and emotional eating
or binging, it's not because you're broken or because you're weak.
And it's definitely not because you just haven't found the right diet, okay?
I believed this lie for years. I thought I was the problem, like that if I could
just muster up more discipline or find the perfect plan, I'd finally be free.
But all that did was deepen the shame, okay?
Because every time I air quotes failed, I took it as more proof that I was fundamentally
flawed and that I wasn't strong enough or maybe that I was too far gone.
But the truth is I wasn't broken, I was hurting and I was using food to soothe
the parts of me that I didn't know how to bring to God, right?
And so Psalm 34, 18 reminds us that the Lord is close to the brokenhearted and
saves those who are crushed in spirit.
And so if you've been walking through food battles and body shame,
that verse is for you because God doesn't turn away from your struggle.
He draws near and he isn't far from you.
He's right there in the pain, in the struggle, in the cravings,
and he's not asking you to be perfect.
He's inviting you into healing. And here's something most women don't realize.
God isn't the only one who sees your struggles. Your brain and nervous system
is responding to it all too, okay?
And the real reason this keeps happening is because your brain is wired to seek
food. And it learned that pattern somewhere along the way, and you've just been
unknowingly rehearsing it ever since.
And so there's a part of your brain called the food-seeking circuit.
And this isn't just some woo-woo concept. It's backed by brain scans and clinical
research and validated neuroscience. science.
But when that circuit is balanced, food is just food.
And you eat when you're hungry, you stop when you're full, and you don't think about it all day long.
But when that circuit is overstimulated, which can happen after years of dieting
and food rules and emotional eating and you stress, even body shame does this, right?
It goes haywire. That circuit goes haywire.
And that's when you crave food when you're not even hungry or reach for carbs
or sugar when you're overwhelmed or anxious or exhausted, or just think about
food constantly, even when you don't want to.
And I want to be super clear here. This is not a willpower issue. That is a wiring issue.
And it's like your brain has been using an old GPS system that was programmed
during the chaos of dieting and restriction or emotional stress.
And even though you want to get somewhere new, like, you know,
peace and freedom and trust in yourself, your brain keeps rerouting you to the
pantry or the fridge. And again, it's not because you're broken.
It's because those old coordinates are still running the show.
And so Proverbs 4.23 says, above all else, guard your heart for everything you do flows from it.
And I'll add, guard your brain too, because when your heart and your wiring
are out of alignment, everything else flows from that. So why does this matter?
Well, because this wiring is the reason why you can lose 20 pounds and gain
back 25, and you can white knuckle your way through whole 30 or keto and binge
in secret a few weeks or few days later.
And it's why you can know what to do and still feel powerless to actually do it.
And I've seen this story play out hundreds of times and I've lived it.
I used to weigh nearly 250 pounds. I lost over a hundred.
I ran a fitness business. I helped women transform their bodies.
And yet I still thought about food all the time.
And I still feared gaining the weight that I lost back. and I still didn't feel free.
And so why is that? Well, it's because even though I changed my behaviors,
I hadn't changed my brain, right?
And so that's where Ozempic comes in. And yes, it helps people feel full faster.
And yes, it calms the hunger signals and it quiets the background buzz.
But here's what it doesn't do.
It doesn't heal your thoughts, okay? And it doesn't heal your self-image and
it doesn't change the subconscious beliefs that say that you're broken or untrustworthy or a failure.
And here's what most people don't realize. Ozempic and similar medications have
actually been around for a while. Like they're not new.
What's new is how popular and widespread they've become.
And because of that, here's what I'm now seeing inside my stressless eating practice.
So women who went on one of the meds, right?
They lost 50 pounds and they gained back 60. Or they lost 100 and gained back 110.
I'm seeing that a lot. And it's not because they're lazy or because they failed.
But it's because they never change the wiring that caused the patterns in the first place.
And so whether you lose 10 pounds, 50 pounds, 150 pounds, if you don't rewire
your brain's default settings, your old behaviors will resurface.
And the weight won't be the only thing that returns.
Like, so will the shame and the fear and the obsession.
And that's why willpower isn't enough and why weight loss isn't enough.
And that's why you can't out-diet or out-medicate your brain.
And I want to be really, really clear about this too. Like I'm not against Ozempic.
It can absolutely be a powerful, even life-changing tool, especially when used
under medical guidance.
But what I've seen over and over again is this.
Medication might quiet the symptoms, but it doesn't heal the root cause.
And that root cause lives in your brain, which is exactly what this episode
is about. So let's talk about how to create the natural ozempic effect in your brain.
Because, you know, the real reason ozempic works isn't because it gives you superpowers.
It's because it regulates the food-seeking circuit in your brain.
And so what if you could do that naturally?
And what if you could train your brain to calm that circuit without side effects,
without restriction, and without needing a prescription? Okay.
That's what I help my clients do inside the Stressless Eating Mentorship,
but let me walk you through the three layers of how it works so that you can
start understanding this for yourself, okay?
So layer one is calming that overactive circuit, okay?
And this is where it's about getting your nervous system out of fight or flight
mode because when your body is stuck in stress, your brain keeps scanning for
food as a coping mechanism.
It's like having the smoke alarm constantly going off even when there's no fire,
right? And so instead of trying to silence the alarm with willpower,
it's about going straight to the circuit board.
And so I teach my clients short science-backed tools to flip the off switch
on food noise, things that activate your parasympathetic nervous system and
regulate that stress response that's been very dysregulated for a long time.
And really just to tell your brain, like, you're safe.
Like, food isn't needed here to fix this.
And so if you're like me and somebody who can never sit still to meditate or
calm your monkey mind long enough to do any good, let me reassure you like that
does not disqualify you. Right.
And that's actually why I teach my clients how to hack their nervous system
through the sensory system, because I remember the first time somebody told
me to just relax or try meditating when I was spiraling.
And I thought, like, are you kidding
me? I can't even sit still for two minutes, let alone clear my mind.
And that's when I learned about sensory regulation. And it's not about thinking your way into calm.
It's about experiencing safety in your body. And that's when everything changed for me.
And so Exodus 14, 14 says, the Lord will fight for you.
You only need to be still. You only need to be still.
And so for those of us whose brains never learned how to sit and be still,
we need help learning how to do that, right? It's not normal.
It's not something that we naturally necessarily know how to do.
And so one breath, one sense, one nervous system signal at a time.
And again, it's not woo-woo.
And it's actually not complicated. It's really your God-given biology.
A lot of us, my clients included, just need to be shown how to do it, right?
Isaiah 26.3 says, you will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast
because they trust in you.
But it's about helping your brain and body access that peace physiologically
so that your spirit can rise above the food noise, right?
We've got to learn how to keep that perfect peace and have our mind steadfast, right?
And so layer two is all about rewiring your emotional patterns.
And this is where your beautiful brain needs to be retrained when it comes to
those habit loops that got connected between your emotions and between food.
Because let's be honest, if you eat when you're overwhelmed or bored or anxious
or lonely or burnt out and there's no judgment, I've done it all, right?
But it doesn't mean that you're broken. It just means that your brain has built
a neural highway from emotions leading to food.
It's like your brain's internal GPS only knows one destination when you're hurting,
and it's the pantry or the fridge, right?
And so here's the good news. You can build new roads, right?
You can build new patterns and new options that meet your emotional needs without food.
But you definitely need to learn how because this, unfortunately.
Isn't something that we're taught.
And so in this case, it's about learning to become emotionally available to
yourself instead of turning to food in those moments.
And it's a radical shift where you go from, you know, numbing and stuffing your
emotions to actually nurturing them.
And again, it's a skill that we're not taught how to do.
And so back in the day before I created Stressless Eating, I would have countless
nights where I wasn't hungry at all, but I found myself pacing toward the kitchen
anyways. Or I'd like look up and I'd be like, whoa, how do I even get in the kitchen, right?
And it wasn't out of craving, but it was actually out of loneliness.
And that simply became a habit and a fired and wired response.
And none of it was conscious.
It was my brain just doing what it got wired to do.
And so eventually I realized like, wow, my brain didn't know how to sit with
that ache, to sit with that loneliness.
It only knew how to feed it. And that's when it clicked. Like this wasn't about food.
This was about what I was asking food to do for me.
Right. And so it's like an interesting question. It's like, what am I asking
and relying on food to do for me and be for me and support me in ways that food
was never designed to support me? Right.
It's like when David says in Psalm 139, 23, search me, God, and know my heart.
And that's what we're doing, just learning to be present with what's really
going on inside instead of handing it over to a sweet or salty snack, right?
Like, imagine this, if you called the same friend every time you got upset,
but that friend only knows how to hand you cookies.
You know, they mean well, but what you really need is comfort, not sugar.
And that's why we need to teach our brain a process that helps build new friends
in your brain, like new pathways that actually offer presence and support and
self-regulation when things get hard.
And as 1 Peter 5, 7 reminds us, cast all your anxiety on him because he cares
for you. And that's what this step is.
It's about learning to become a safe place to cast your emotions instead of
carrying them alone or handing them off to food.
And just like driving a new route over and over builds muscle memory.
Building new emotional coping patterns builds neural memory.
And you stop defaulting to sugar or sabotage and you start supporting yourself from within.
And really, this is the heart of the rewiring process.
And so back to our topic at hand, okay?
Think of it like this. Ozempic can turn down the volume of food obsession,
but it can't change the station that your brain is tuned into.
And so if the music that the metaphorical radio station in your brain is playing
is, I'm not enough, or I can't be trusted, or I'll always be this way,
then even in silence, your spirit is still listening.
And that's exactly what needs to be changed, not just the noise,
but the actual narrative.
And honestly, that's what we're doing right here, right now,
by creating these awarenesses and learning new truths about what's really happening in your brain.
And therefore, we are changing the narrative just right now, right here.
And that brings us perfectly into layer three, which is rewiring your beliefs and identity.
OK, and this is the part that almost no one talks about, because let's be honest,
it's not the sexy part, right?
It's not marketable, like lose 10 pounds in 10 minutes like social media is trying to sell you.
But it's the key to you actually unlocking lasting peace and actually freedom from this burden.
Because even if your cravings disappear and even if your emotional eating fades,
if you're still carrying beliefs like I'm not enough unless I'm thin or I'm
not good enough unless I'm thin or I always mess this up or,
you know, I can't trust myself around food or maybe I'm just a food addict. That was a big one for me.
Then those beliefs will pull you right back into the same old patterns because
behavior always follows belief. Okay, let me say that again.
Behavior always follows beliefs. And it's not just any beliefs,
it's those hidden buried ones, like mold growing under floorboards, okay?
You don't always see them, but they shape how you walk through the world.
Because here's the truth, you cannot out-diet your brain and you cannot outsmart your self-image.
You will always end up back in alignment with what you believe to be true about yourself,
like what you think you're worthy of, what you actually trust yourself with
and what your identity basically says is normal for you. It really is that simple.
You can't out-diet, out-medicate your brain, okay?
And that's why I take every single one of my clients through a proprietary three-steps
belief overhaul process. And it's not to just think positive or love yourself
more or any of those platitudes that we're, you know, being told to just kind
of, you know, paper over actual emotions.
And this isn't about taping affirmations on your mirror and hoping that they
eventually sink in. That doesn't work either, right?
But I'm talking about meeting you in your doubt, right?
Like meeting you in the places where those affirmations, honestly,
they make you secretly roll your eyes where, you know, even scripture feels
true in your head, but maybe it's not feeling true in your heart.
You're like, okay, I know that that's true.
I know that that's what God says, but why don't I feel it? Why don't I believe it, right?
Because if the words don't feel true and if your nervous system is resisting
them or if they don't resonate, your brain will not download them.
And so instead of trying to force new beliefs on top of old resistance,
we go straight to the root and we uncover the blocks and we rewire the stories
that your brain has been looping on for decades.
And we use science-backed tools to get underneath the old identity that you've
been living in and replant new beliefs that are actually aligned with how God sees you.
And not just so you understand it logically, but so you feel it in your bones.
I mean, just imagine this, like God hands you a brand new name tag and it says
worthy and beloved and already enough.
And your only job is to wear it, not earn it, not strive for it,
not prove it or lose weight for it, just receive it. That's what this rewiring process helps you do.
Not just say you believe it, but live into it as your new default.
Because your true identity isn't something you have to fight for.
It's something that you were designed to return to.
And so Ephesians 4.23 reminds us to be made new in the attitude of your minds
and put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.
So this isn't self-help. It's more like self-reconstruction,
like reconstructing your identity, but not just logically, right?
Not just knowing that he loves you in your head, actually feeling it in your
body, actually living into it as your new identity.
And so Romans 12.2 says, do not conform to the pattern of this world,
but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.
And this is that actual mind renewal.
Like, we don't just hope you feel free. We make freedom your new normal,
not by fighting the old behavior, but by transforming the beliefs that made
the behavior necessary in the first place.
And that is how you stop trying to be free and actually become the woman who is free.
Because only when your beliefs are aligned with your God-given identity will
your behavior start to reflect the freedom that's already yours. Okay, so let's recap.
So first, we've got to calm those circuits, those overactive circuits that are
in your brain by resetting your nervous system and flipping the off switch on food noise, okay?
Next, it's all about rewiring the patterns.
You've got to break the emotional loops that got connected between food and
feelings and emotions, right?
And then it's just about reclaiming your identity and replacing shame-based
beliefs with God's truth about who you are.
That is how you create the natural ozempic effect, not just in your brain, but in your soul.
And I worked with a woman who lost 90 pounds on Ozempic, but gained back 95.
And more than that, she gained back the shame, the food fear,
the obsession, because she thought that her weight was the real problem.
But even after losing it, she felt just as out of control, just as insecure and just as unworthy.
And that's what happens when you turn off the smoke alarm, but you don't put out the fire.
You can lose weight and you can suppress the appetite, but if the wiring underneath
hasn't changed, it's only a matter of time before it all comes rushing back.
But here's the really good news. When you do address the root and when you calm
your nervous system and you retrain your emotional patterns and you rewire your beliefs,
you don't have to restrict and you don't have to obsess and you don't have to
micromanage your way to peace.
You just are peace. You are free.
That is what I mean when I say the natural ozempic effect.
And it's not a drug or a fad. It's science. And it's your nervous system.
And it's your subconscious beliefs.
And it's all 100% changeable.
But here's what I really want you to take away today. You are not failing.
You are just fighting against wiring that wasn't designed for the modern food
world. And you don't need more willpower.
You need a new relationship with your brain.
And no matter how long you've been stuck, and no matter how many times you've
tried and failed, it's not too late to change the wiring that drives it all.
Because your brain is not your enemy.
It's your operating system. And you can update it.
And you can rewire your cravings and heal your self-image and you can find peace
with food and your body and your spirit.
But that will never come from another diet or weight loss attempt because the
problem and thankfully the solution are in your brain.
And the power to heal all of this is absolutely already inside of you.
It just needs to be accessed.
So maybe today is your day to ask yourself, you know, what belief are you ready
to release about who you think you are, who you think you have to keep being,
or the belief that your brain or your body is stuck for good?
And what truth are you ready to receive?
The truth about what's been really keeping you stuck and what will actually set you free.
And let God meet you there.
But notice what I didn't say, right? I didn't say ask God for more discipline.
And I didn't say ask him for more willpower to restrict or control.
And I didn't say to just keep taking a food-based approach to a soul-level struggle.
What I'm saying is to invite God into the root, into the wiring,
Invite him into the wound because that's where the real healing happens.
Not through striving, but through surrender and not through performance, but through presence.
Let him meet you in the place where your freedom starts so that you can be restored for good.
Isaiah 43 tells us you are not defined by the fire you walked through,
but by the one who walks with you.
He is doing a new thing. Even now it springs up. Do you not perceive it?
Love that verse. And that new thing, it is not just a new habit or a new mindset.
It's a new identity and new wiring and a new way of being in your biology, in your brain,
and in the place where spirit and science collide and where neurons begin to
fire differently and where your nervous system can learn what safety feels like
and where your self-image can get rebuilt.
Like not in the image of diet culture, but in the image of God.
And he's not just renewing your thoughts. He's renewing the very system that
houses them because that's the kind of God we have.
That's the kind of healing that our God offers.
And so that's where I'll leave it this week. But I'll be back with the final
episode in this series where we will talk about how body image is a brain problem
and not a vanity issue. And you don't want to miss it.
And so, hey, if this conversation resonated with you and you want to learn more
about the work that I do, or, you know, if you're just ready to go deeper into
healing your relationship with food or your body or yourself,
I've got a few ways to help.
And so first, if you're ready to turn off the part of your brain that's constantly
obsessing about food or your weight or your next plan and actually rewire it
for peace and freedom, then head on over to stresslesseating.com.
That's where you can access the Stressless Eating Sneak Preview.
It's a free on-demand workshop where I walk you through the exact brain-based
strategy I teach my own clients to heal them from the all-or-nothing food and body battle for good,
but without restriction or punishing your body or subjecting yourself to years of therapy,
and definitely without ever having to use words like macros,
low-carb, or calorie burn.
I've laid it all out for you over at stresslesseating.com.
And if you love podcasts, I've got two shows I'd love to invite you to check out.
The first is Outweigh, a show that I co-host with radio personality Amy Brown,
where we help women break out of the food and body prison and finally take control
of their health and happiness without restriction,
obsession, or dragging it out for years in therapy.
You can listen to Outweigh wherever you get your podcasts.
And the other is What's God Got to Do With It? So this one's my solo show,
where we talk about body image, self-worth, food, and all the things that women
struggle with from the perspective of where brain science and faith collide.
It's vulnerable, it's real, and it's made for women who want both transformation and truth.
And as our dear friend, Dr. Lee Warren always says, you can't change your life
until you change your mind.
And the good news is, you can start today.
So that's it for today's episode of Spiritual Brain Surgery.
I'm your guest takeover host, Leanne Ellington, and it has truly been a gift
to spend this time with you.
And this isn't goodbye. It's just see you soon because I'll be back next time
with episode number three in this series.
So until then, take care of your brain, guard your thoughts,
and just remember, you are not broken.
You are beautifully wired and you can rewire anytime you choose.
You are not stuck the way things are because God designed your brilliant brain
to grow and heal and change right alongside you.
So bye for now. Thanks for listening. If you like the show, please subscribe
wherever you listen and be sure to follow me at Dr. Lee Warren on Instagram and YouTube.
And to get the most out of the show, make sure to get my free weekly self-brain
surgery prescriptions.
Sign up at drleewarren.substack.com and I'll send you the powerful thought biopsy worksheet for free.
Drleewarren.substack.com every Sunday since 2014, I've been bringing you my
best prescriptions for how you can smash faith and neuroscience together to
become healthier, feel better, and be happier starting today. I'm Dr.
Lee Warren reminding you to have a very self-brain surgery day.