Dawn Damon: My guest today is an award-winning author, speaker, and joy seeker. That's an awesome thing, right? And a weight loss warrior. Her stories of transformation and her coaching show how really inspire, educate, and encourage women to shed the extra weight that they've been carrying, that's literally and figuratively. To finally step into the joy that they deserve, would you please welcome my guest today, Christine Trimpe.

Hey, Christine.

Christine Trimpe: Hey, Dawn. Of course, I'm overjoyed to be here with you. Thank you so much for the invitation.

Dawn Damon: Absolutely. Thank you. And I just kind of teased it out a little bit, but I know that the listeners today, want to hear your story. I personally love stories of overcoming a victory. A hundred pounds being lost is no joke. You are a weight loss warrior. Tell us a little bit about yourself.

Christine Trimpe: Thank you so much. Yes. I love to inspire and motivate people. I never in my wildest dreams, Dawn would have imagined that God would call me to be a coach, a writer, a speaker, but it's my absolute delight to encourage women, inspire them to take a step, take a bold step, a brave-hearted step.

This is not for the faint of heart, of course, but God really did. It quit me. He called me out of the pit of despair, and I'll just share a little bit of my story. Got to this turning point. I was morbidly obese and went on an anniversary trip with my dear husband. We were celebrating 25 years and wanted to make the best of it, so we went to Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado.

Now, he had planned out a couple of trails that he wanted to hike, and the first one was pretty mild. It was pretty flat. It was a one-mile trail around Bear Lake. And then he's like, well, I want to climb up next to Nymph Lake. And so I saw the post marker and it said it was a half a mile. And I was like, well, I can do another half a mile. But this trail was straight up. So I looked up and of course, being in the Rocky Mountains, I was at a much higher level of elevation than here living in Michigan. Right. I live pretty much at sea level, but I tried to use that elevation as my excuse when I couldn't climb. I had to stop halfway up that path and I just could not go another step. I was gasping in air and You know, I said to my husband, I think it's the elevation, but truly it was so much more than that. It was about the heaviness that I was carrying physically, which I thought was the biggest thing that I was carrying, but in hindsight, I realized now how much emotional baggage I was trying to carry up that mountain and how spiritually depraved I was in that season of life, so I sat on a stump.

On the side of that mountain. And I remember just saying a little prayer, like, God, I just want to feel better because I felt like such a disappointment to my husband. I did tell him to go off without me. And he did, you know, he made it sure. He's like, are you sure? Are you sure? And I'm like, yes, it's fine.

So I had sunglasses on. No one would see the tears that were welling up in my eyes. But in that moment, when I just cried out to the Lord, I said, I just want to feel better. I never imagined what was going to happen to me with a weight loss story because at that point I'd been trying dawn for 30 years to rid myself of the obesity that I had carried for three decades, and I didn't have much hope I just thought I was always meant to be this way.

But wow, that is where my turning point story is. That's where I truly testify that God met me in that moment. Just like what David writes about in Psalm 40, you know, I was in that muddy and my re pit and praise God. He lifted me up and he set me on a solid rock and he gave me a new song. And I love to sing.

So I love to sing this song about freedom and the greater joy of living in him because I did go on to lose a massive amount of weight. It's just my absolute delight to be able to show women that there is a way there is a way give them hope. And it's so, I still pinch myself, Dawn, like, I can't believe the Lord gave me this story and that I have the privilege and the honor to help women find their way to this freedom and greater joy.

Dawn Damon: Amen. It's so wonderful. And, I know we're going to unpack your story because the listener right now is probably going, how did you do it? How did you do it? But before we get to that, I do have a question. When you talked about it, you didn't realize how much emotional baggage you were carrying. I'm always curious because I work with a lot of trauma and I help women overcome it.

I know sometimes we have emotional baggage. Because we feel shame about our weight, but sometimes we weigh because we feel shame about our emotional baggage. Did you ever figure out what your situation was?

Christine Trimpe: I have to tell you that the emotional part of this journey was indeed the most difficult. I've gone through, I have wrestled through a lot of this and I can pinpoint back to my childhood. I was a really tiny child, but as soon as the years of puberty started coming into play, I started putting on weight and then I became a chubby child and I did get bullied a lot in school. school, I was the youngest girl in school to develop and to have to wear a bra.

So I remember the horror, just the trauma at the time. I was a pretty resilient child. I did have a group of good friends. I had a great family, you know, I grew up in a Christian home, but I can still look back and I can remember, I have flashbacks through this whole journey. Exact conversations that took place that spoke this shame over me. I did carry that around a lot. I got to the point in my adult life where I slated a lot because I didn't want to walk into a room of women and feel like I didn't belong. I. Actually felt like I didn't fit in, in a lot of spaces. I mean, physically I was barely fitting in airplane seats, but emotionally, I just tried to protect myself and, you know, carry that as close to my close inside my broken heart as possible.

So yes, the emotional baggage. It just feels so good to like be dropping that, you know, bit by bit through this journey.

Dawn Damon: Yeah. Powerful. So then would you say that there was an addiction to food or an addiction to sugar? You became a certified health and wellness coach. You've certainly had to address the sugar addiction at some point in this journey.

Christine Trimpe: Oh yes, absolutely, I never would have called myself a food or sugar addict before, but you know, going through this journey, you learn a lot about yourself. You really have to reflect. I always encourage my coaching clients to write, just write, write, write, just start journaling this stuff out. Any little memory that comes to mind, put it on paper.

So I am actually, yes, I became passionate about being a certified health and wellness coach because, um, Women started coming to me like, how did you do this? Then we can talk more about that in a second, but I am almost, I'm very close to being a licensed practitioner for a super powerful assessment tool called sugar to evaluate our level of sugar carb food addiction.

And yes, I am a full-blown recovering food and sugar addict. And the one thing that I would love to encourage your listeners to do. Today is what I learned through this process, what was really a big, huge aha moment for me when I learned what sugar and a diet high in carbs, which is our standard American diet.

You know, this is the food environment we live in when I learned what that was doing metabolically to my health and to my brain. So I had this aha moment when I heard a doctor say in a video, that this is not your fault. And I thought that's really interesting. How can this not be my fault? Because I'm obviously the one carrying around this extra hundred pounds, right?

But so I began to learn more like we have a brain disorder. We can become addicted to sugar and food, just like an alcoholic becomes addicted to alcohol. And it is a very difficult thing to break. So All of the dietary mantras that I was living under like everything in moderation and eat less and move more wasn't working for me because if I did have a slip-up and I did decide to like to eat the birthday cake that would trigger sugar cravings or food cravings and then it would open up this vicious cycle of falling off the wagon again and again and again and I could be so good at following my Weight Watchers points for months and months and months.

And then decide to indulge in something. And then I would just find myself back right where I was before. So, yes, I am a recovering food-sugar addict. And I actually wrote about that. My first published piece was a piece in a Redemption Press compilation, and it's called Finding Freedom from Formidable Food. Oh, that's what God has set me free from. Yes. Because we have to eat. We have to eat. So, well, that's just it. We have to find this. balance and where is this freedom and how can we live a healthier lifestyle for, I always say, when we show up, God shows off. And that's what this is all for, right? Yeah. I love that.

When we show up, God shows off because God is ready to help us in our journey and not even just help us do it through us. Like that's the power of the Holy Spirit working.

Dawn Damon: Yes. Power and anointing and deliverance through us. Now you talk about holistic then. So, so many people, when they talk about diet, they feel punished. They feel, you know, and that is what part of that hamster wheel, if you will, you know, that cycle of doing out for so long and then finish up feeling punished and that they have been, you know, Drifted to the point where they just, I just want to have fun. How do we incorporate it in a holistic way and just change our relationship with food? Really?

Christine Trimpe: Yeah, it is truly one of the hardest things that I've ever done in my life. And, again, I love to have the privilege to help coach women through this because, um, I never appreciated it before, but God gives us wholesome, whole foods, which from what I call God's good smorgasbord. As you begin this process of laying down the foods that are not serving your health well, like even for me, it was to the point where I did a liquid shake protein diet for 10 months and I didn't cheat once. I survived on liquid protein shakes. And as soon as they reintroduced food to me, It was whole wheat bread, whole wheat pasta, baked potatoes, sweet potatoes. And my weight started bouncing back again.

So I had to learn for myself, what types of food, even if they are from, you know, a whole foods source, because I had metabolic dysfunction and insulin resistance. I have to be very careful about that kind of stuff. So the whole holistic approach is. Getting the mindset, laying it down, surrendering, like, Lord, what is it that I should eat, could eat to help fuel my health, to help live healthy and, and better for your glory. So I do incorporate this in my journey, this is what I did. I incorporated the faith walk of it. My food, my fasting, my feelings, and my fitness, and all holistically, I bring it together, and that's what, for me.

The five pillars of my program are, but like, we have to put that all into place because there are so many women out there who are just like me, who can follow a program and that you would not believe Dawn, how many women have said to me, I never thought to bring the Lord into this journey. I just thought it was something in my control because so many of us are so good at this, keeping this control so tight and not being willing to show up and surrender this to the Lord and just asking him for help. Like his promises are so good. And when they have these aha moments, then the whole holistic health comes together, the physical health, the emotional health, the spiritual health. And that's where the freedom is. And that's where I gained my greater joy, which is. When you have this greater joy in your heart, you can't keep it to yourself. Like it overflows. You just want to sprinkle joy everywhere. I will. You're definitely filled with joy and we can see that on your countenance.

I get to see you now and again at these conferences and you do, you radiate joy, but you know, you're talking about holistic. And I so agree with that. And your five pillars, because if you think about it, as a car or something. You can't go down the highway with a flat tire. You can't go down the highway with no oil in your engine or if your door is broken off, it all has to work together.

And I do know I've had many friends who have, some have lost this weight and they'll say, I don't know who I am right now. I'm afraid of living life as a thin person. I've only known this identity and I have a few friends now, maybe four or five who have actually lost a hundred pounds and many of them have said the same thing.

Dawn Damon: Did you? Have a sense of knowing this is who I am. It all has to work together. How do you do that by yourself? I have to imagine ladies listening. You need a coach. You need somebody to walk with you in this process, right? Yes. There's so much involved. Of course. Sometimes we need like extra support as far as mental health therapy, trauma therapy, all of that. So many of us are carrying this weight because of the trauma, which is what you would be so familiar with.

Christine Trimpe: Right. But yeah, holistically in hindsight, it's like, ladies, we need to pull this, all of these pieces together. And for what worked for me is. The root of all of this physically, my root was insulin resistance, my blood sugar imbalances, and insulin hormone imbalances, but spiritually I was craving all the wrong things.

I was filling up my life. I was trying to comfort myself. I was filling those nooks and crannies like all the holes in my soul I say with food and that was my idol that was like my comfort that's where I would go when I was distressed or overwhelmed or depressed or even when I was happy I mean we love to eat.

When we're celebrating too, right? It's like, Oh, this gives me a great excuse to eat two pieces of cake. So I had to realize like, and God brought me right to it. He brought me right. When I began picking up my Bible, like you said, in that introduction, because I had more energy, I started picking up my Bible first thing every day, and I haven't set it down.

And one of the first books I studied was Ephesians. There was just a bomb dropped on my heart in Ephesians 2 where Paul's writing about the cravings of the flesh and all the fleshly things. And I had already been moving past that and realizing that God was setting me free from that. And I was filling my cravings now.

By spending time daily in his word. So that's really the key to my victory was being in his word every day. And if that's the only thing that my coaching clients take away is to pick up the Bible every day and spend time in his word, there are going to be changes in their lives. There's going to be heart changes, which is where the most important change takes place.

Dawn Damon: So the million dollar question, maybe you've already alluded to it. How did you lose the weight? Was it the liquid diet, the shakes every day?

Christine Trimpe: Oh, no, that was the worst diet I ever had. That's what I would imagine. I wish I had all that money back cause that was not cheap. But so what I did is, I learned that sugar was a major hormone disruptor cause I had just been diagnosed with sleep, apnea.

So I started like, how can I improve this situation? I wanted to improve my sleep. So I started going in on hormones, which I'd never been interested in, in the past. And then very shortly after I got the sleep apnea diagnosis, I started having painful ovarian syndrome. And my doctor ordered an ultrasound and then I was diagnosed with fatty liver disease.

I was like, that's what really scared me straight. And that's what really had me dig in to do the research. And I learned that sugar is a major hormone disruptor and I made the decision. It took me a couple of months to get there. I was racking my brain like, does, what does this mean? What does this mean by sugar?

So I learned sugar is not just the sweet stuff. It's the carbohydrates, the high carbohydrates, the grains, things like that. So I began the daily of laying it down, just surrendering it. And I did it step by step. I didn't like to go all in, but eventually, I landed on a ketogenic lifestyle with intermittent fasting.

Dawn Damon: Yeah, no, that's great. We appreciate that detail because there are many women listening. I can imagine those who are struggling with health and some chronic health issues. What advice do you have, if any, for someone who feels like they do have that, but they want to begin this weight loss journey?

Christine Trimpe: Yeah, I love a step-by-step approach, and I admire the women that want to go all in with both feet, and you know, I can help them with that as well, but It takes time to like start rewiring your brain and not only just physiologically, but emotionally like you have a lot to deal with.

Why am I eating? Why am I wanting to run to food? I just got into an argument with my teenage daughter. Why am I standing in front of the pantry? You know, and it's a lot to process. And getting support, having someone hold you accountable, that's priceless. So, step by step, and then just start, really, if there's one scientific piece I could give you, is to really explore what sugar in a diet, the standard American diet, is doing to your health.

If you've been diagnosed with metabolic syndrome or insulin resistance or pre-diabetes or type 2 diabetes, if you have chronic pain and inflammation, chronic headaches, acid reflux, all of that stuff went away from me for me when I quit sugar. All reversible. All of it is reversible.

Dawn Damon: Yeah. It's crazy. And who doesn't want to live? I mean, what a horrible sentence to live out the rest of our years in bodies that are broken and hurting and crippled with pain and arthritis and inflammation because most disease comes from inflammation. When we can take authority over it, I'm not saying it's easy, but it is possible. Yes. And it's doable with Christ and with community and with coaching, I believe.

You've written a book about this and you have a supportive community. Tell us about your book because it's coming out in January, but your coaching is happening right now.

Christine Trimpe: Yeah. Yeah, I love this. The Lord put on my heart, the word sugar freed, and I hope that people get the implication of what the freed means.

You know, it is the freedom in Christ. It is the freedom to step into feeling well, feeling energized, and feeling like. I know God created each and every one of us for a purpose. And I didn't know that he did that for me. In fact, I never even thought that God cared about the way I cared about my health.

But then again, during those 30 years of my weight loss, and wandering woes, I call them those desert years. I was never reading the word of God. You know, I was not regularly picking up my Bible reading. I was going to church occasionally. So that's why I called myself a casual Christian all those years. It was in hindsight, like, Oh, I knew better.

I knew better, but God has a plan and purpose for each and every one of our lives, and it might not be that you get healthy till you're, you know, You know, in your sixties, seventies, which is amazing. Women are doing it all the time and I love it, but God has so much more in store and so much more planned.

And he does call us to care for our bodies. This one temple that we have on this earth. It's the temple of the Holy Spirit. And so I have a better understanding. I show up every day in my quiet time with this daily surrender. It's a steadfastness. I am not perfect by any means. I sometimes overeat on even my keto foods, you know, but it's just a daily thing.

My job as a health and wellness coach is to try to be at least one or two steps ahead of the women who come to me. And so I take that responsibility really seriously too. And I want others to come along, like, come along ladies. It's totally doable. I'm in my seventh year now of living at a healthy weight and crazy.

And after 30 years of dieting and weight regain, rebound weight, rebound every single time. The fact that People who live this lifestyle and stay committed and stay true to it are keeping the weight off is a true testament to the power of God, of what he can do with his whole food. His good, good, good smorgasbord is what I call it.

Dawn Damon: Yes. That is really incredible. And you know, I want to follow up with this also, and I want to hear about your book one more time, the title, and if they can find it. Yes. You know, someone listening might say, well, I've never had, you know, weight problem. I mean, I can eat and, and I love what, you know, that you mentioned that sugar also was causing brain fog.

Yeah. Well, you said it really briefly about inflammation. And so, for midlife women. And again, my audience, listen up, bravehearted women, do you experiencing memory lapses and you're feeling sluggish and you're tired and you don't have the energy? It's true that sugar could be the culprit.

Christine Trimpe: Yes. Right. Oh, absolutely. It is your food choices impact. Your day-to-day so much. It zaps your energy. It can leave you living with brain fog, you know, wanting that mid-afternoon nap when you're working in your office and you're like, Oh, I just need a big lunch full of carbohydrates and now I need a nap. Like, and I don't experience any of that anymore, which is incredible.

It's crazy to me. Yes. And that's, that's what the sugar-free lifestyle is all about. And I'm so grateful for that fun word that God gave me sugar freed, like come on, like, it's freedom, freedom, and greater joy. The subtitle of the book is Stop Losing Your Weight Loss Battle and start gaining your victory.

Because it's available. It's there. It's there for you. You got to put in the hard work, but you got to show up. You have to show up and then God will show off.

Christine Trimpe: Oh, yes.

Dawn Damon: Any way that we can support you? How can women find you?

Christine Trimpe: Yes. Well, they can find me. I have a free guide called Crush Your Cravings, which is like the, one of the root causes of how I got myself into this mess and how I got myself out of it. ‘Cause God did flip the cravings of my life and I no longer crave sugar and junk food.

I'm craving more and more of him to satisfy and satiate me. So I have this. free guide, crush your cravings, the ultimate wellness guide for Christian women. And they can grab that crush your cravings guide. com or I'm sure you're going to put it in the show notes too. So if they connect with me there, I'll be sharing announcements about how the book is progressing and when it's going to be available for pre-order and even inviting people to be on my book launch team.

Dawn Damon: Yes. And what if they want to say, Hey, I want to be in your Facebook community, or I want to start coaching with your addresses?

Christine Trimpe: Yeah. So also grab the Crush Your Cravings guide, and there's an invitation in there to my free Facebook community called Weight Loss by faith, the sugar-free sisterhood. You will definitely be hearing from me about my coaching program, coaching opportunities, how we can connect, and how I can work with you. I would love to help you. So crush your cravings, ladies come and join me. That's really, truly what has changed my life.

Dawn Damon: My guest today is Christine Trimpe, the bravehearted woman and founder of the Sugar Freed Sisterhood.

Christine Trimpe: Yes.

Dawn Damon: Gotta be a part of that. How amazing is that? Thank you so much for being with us today. We're proud of you. We're proud of the journey and for being a pioneer in this way. You know, you did the hard work so that you could reach back and help others get there as well. And we're so grateful for that.

Hey, ladies, avail yourself of this. If you find yourself struggling in any of these areas, Christina's available, you know, I'm available and we're here to support you and love you. There's no woman left behind again. Dawn Damon, your Braveheart mentor. I'm going to leave you like I always do. Is this your moment to find your brave and live your dreams!