In this episode of Healing Mindset, host Nazish sits down with Dr. Laurette Willis, Cognitive Behavioral Therapist and creator of Weight Loss Without Will Power, to unpack how your mind and brain quietly drive your habits around food, body image, and self worth. This is not another “willpower and discipline” lecture. It is a practical breakdown of how renewing the mind and retraining the brain can shift emotional eating, cravings, and long standing patterns that keep you stuck.
Dr. Laurette shares how scripture based affirmations, CBT tools, and simple neuroscience practices can help you interrupt a craving in real time, build new neural pathways, and step out of the “I am the problem” story. If you are tired of dieting, self shaming, and starting over every Monday, this conversation gives you a grounded, faith infused framework to create sustainable change in your mental health, weight journey, and daily life.
About the Guest :
Dr. Laurette Willis is a Cognitive Behavioral Therapist (CBT) and the visionary behind Weight Loss Without Will Power. A former compulsive overeater, alcoholic, and smoker, she rebuilt her life using faith, mindset work, and neuroscience based tools. She is also the founder of PraiseMoves, known as the Christian alternative to yoga, and supports women of faith globally to renew their minds, retrain their brains, and release weight from the inside out.
Key Takeaways:
Renewing the mind vs. retraining the brain. Renewing the mind is grounding yourself in truth, scripture, and more empowering self talk. Retraining the brain is the neuroscience side, building new neural pathways so different choices become easier over time.
Your self talk is your operating system. “I am stupid, I am lazy, I always fail” turns into a mental script the brain obeys. Shifting to “I am learning, I am capable, I have the mind of Christ” starts to rewrite identity and behavior.
Thoughts are not commands. A thought is like a bird flying overhead. You do not have to let it build a nest. You can notice, reject, or reframe it instead of automatically acting on it.
Bilateral stimulation to break cravings. Passing an object from hand to hand while speaking a boundary based affirmation can interrupt a craving loop so you choose more intentionally, especially with emotional eating.
Five daily anchors. Pray and plan, drink water, move your body, journal, and protect your sleep. These simple, repeatable habits support mental health, nervous system regulation, and faith based weight loss.
You are more than your body. You are spirit, soul, and body. When spiritual and emotional fullness increase, the need to use food for comfort naturally decreases, making weight loss more sustainable.
The content shared in this podcast, including any discussion of physical health, mental health, diet, weight loss, medications, trauma, or nervous system regulation, is for educational and informational purposes only. It is not medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. It does not create a doctor patient, therapist client, or any other clinical relationship.
Always consult your physician, licensed mental health professional, or other qualified health provider with any questions you have about a medical condition, mental health concern, medication, or treatment plan. Never ignore professional advice or delay seeking it because of something you heard on this podcast.
If you are experiencing a medical emergency, thoughts of self harm, or a mental health crisis, contact your local emergency number or crisis hotline in your country immediately.
How to Connect with the Guest :
Listeners can connect with Dr. Laurette Willis and explore her faith based mindset and weight loss resources here
Faith Fueled Weight Loss Blueprint and free mini course
Christian Weight Loss Kit
Christian meditation and scripture based mindset tools
Christian Meditation Kit
Main website : https://drlaurette.net/
Christian alternative to yoga
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