Should I Be Avoiding Processed Foods? The Great Clean Eating Debate

Let’s be honest for a sec.
If you’ve ever stood in the grocery aisle debating between the “organic, non-GMO, clean” label and the one that’s two bucks cheaper, wondering if you’re about to poison your family (or your testimony 😅)… you are so not alone.

Clean eating has become one of those buzzwords that sounds holy and healthy, but deep down can make us feel anything but free.

In episode 187 of the Faith-Filled Food Freedom podcast, I tackled one of the most common food fears I hear from my clients: Should I be avoiding processed foods?
And girl, buckle up, because we’re breaking chains, not bank accounts, today.

What Even Is “Clean Eating,” Anyway?

You’d think after years in the nutrition field, we’d have a universal definition of “clean eating,” right? Nope. 🙃

Everyone seems to define it differently. For some, it’s “only foods from the earth.” For others, it’s “nothing with preservatives, sugar, or that you ...

Why Intuitive Eating Hasn’t Worked (and the 3 Keys to Food Freedom That Lasts)

Have you ever tried to assemble a piece of IKEA furniture without looking at the instructions? 🙋‍♀️ (Yep… guilty over here.) At first, it feels freeing. Like, “I’ve got this! I’ve done something similar before. No big deal.”

But then… you realize you’re missing a peg. The back panel is on upside down. And suddenly, what was supposed to be a cute bookshelf is wobbly, crooked, and one sneeze away from collapsing. Oy vey!

That’s exactly how so many women try to approach intuitive eating.

You hear about it. You’re intrigued. You decide to toss out all the diet rules and just “eat what sounds good.” But before long, things feel wobbly. You’re confused, frustrated, maybe even convinced something must be wrong with you.

Friend, hear me on this: If intuitive eating hasn’t worked for you, it’s not because you failed. It’s because you were missing pieces of the foundation.

And today, I want to walk you throug...

Ever feel like everyone else got the secret playbook for how to “just eat” without spiraling—and yours got lost in the mail? 😅 Maybe you’ve stared down a barbecue plate, praying for the willpower to “be good,” while secretly wondering why this feels so hard. If you’ve ever wished you could just be a normal eater, you are so not alone—and girl, I’ve got good news.

Normal eating isn’t some elusive thing reserved for Instagram influencers and nutrition nerds. It’s for you too. Yes, even if you’ve struggled with food guilt, body image obsession, or that all-or-nothing mindset for years. In this post, we're gonna break down what normal eating really is, how diet culture has distorted it, and how you can start taking steps toward freedom—starting today. 💃

Let’s dive in.

What Does "Normal Eating" Even Mean?

Spoiler alert: It doesn’t mean salads and sparkling water every meal. And it definitely doesn’t mean restriction, earning your food, or obsessing about calories.

In fact, trying to...

How much weight do you carry?...

I’m not asking about the number on your digital scale, but about the burden you carry because you never think your body is good enough.

Today, I’m sharing the mic with my friend and fellow-podcaster, Jennifer Taylor Wagner, to help you answer the question: “how do I see my body as good, even when it doesn’t feel that way?” Jennifer shares:

• 🪞Her own body image battle that began in Kindergarten and bled into her adulthood
• 🔨 Tips to break the scale’s power over you
• 👟 How you can begin the journey of body-trust when your body doesn’t seem trustworthy
• ☺️ What it means for your body to be GOOD, and you can see it as such—just the way it is, right now.

Jennifer’s Story

Growing up, Jennifer’s body was bigger than most of the bodies around her. As a result, she was mocked and bullied from Kindergarten onward. The negative comments she received scarred her and eventually became part of her identity. She began to define herself as broken, not OK, u...