How Core Beliefs Are Formed and Why Healing Food and Body Image Starts There
For many years, I believed my struggles with food and my body were about discipline. I thought if I could just try harder, eat better, or finally get it right, peace would follow. What I did not understand then is that food was never the root issue. Belief was.
Our core beliefs shape how we relate to food, our bodies, ourselves, and God. Until those beliefs are gently uncovered and healed, food often becomes the place where deeper wounds surface.
What Core Beliefs Really Are
Core beliefs are deeply rooted conclusions we form about who we are, what we can expect from others, how safe the world is, and how God relates to us. They operate quietly beneath our thoughts and behaviors, often outside of conscious awareness.
In food and body image struggles, core beliefs often sound like:
“My worth is tied to my weight”
“My body is something I have to control”
“I cannot trust myself around food”
“If I lose control, everything will fall apart”
“I am only lovable when I am disciplined”
“My body is a problem to solve”
“God is pleased with me when I am doing well”
These beliefs do not show up as beliefs at first. They show up as urges, rules, guilt, fear, comparison, or the constant feeling of needing to do better.
Scripture reminds us that transformation begins internally. “As a man thinks in his heart, so is he” Proverbs 23:7. What we believe in our hearts eventually shapes how we live.
How Core Beliefs Are Formed
Core beliefs are formed through experience, especially during moments of vulnerability. They often take shape early in life, but they can continue developing through adulthood.
Beliefs around food and body image may form through:
Hearing comments like “You would be so pretty if you lost weight”
Learning that praise came when the body was smaller or more controlled
Being comforted with food when emotions felt overwhelming
Growing up in environments where emotions were ignored or minimized
Repeated dieting cycles that taught the body it was not trustworthy
Spiritual messages that emphasized self control without grace
In these moments, the brain is trying to make sense of what is happening. It asks survival based questions:
What does this say about my body?
What do I need to believe to be accepted?
How do I avoid rejection or shame next time?
The answers to those questions become beliefs such as:
My body causes problems
I have to manage myself carefully
Food is dangerous
Food is my only comfort
I am safest when I am in control
These beliefs are not chosen. They are formed.
Why These Beliefs Feel So True
Core beliefs feel true because they are formed in emotionally charged moments. Neuroscience shows that experiences paired with strong emotion are stored more deeply in the brain.
If shame followed eating, a belief forms that eating is wrong.
If comfort followed food, a belief forms that food soothes pain.
If approval followed weight loss, a belief forms that thinness equals worth.
Over time, the brain looks for evidence to support what it already believes. This is why someone can logically know they are more than a body, yet still feel intense anxiety when the scale changes. The belief lives deeper than logic.
Food behaviors often feel automatic because they are responding to a belief, not hunger alone.
Why Food Becomes the Coping Tool
Food often becomes a coping tool because it works in the moment. It calms the nervous system, distracts from pain, and offers relief when connection or comfort feels unavailable.
When food consistently meets an emotional need, beliefs begin to form such as:
Food helps me regulate my emotions
Food is there when people are not
Food helps me feel numb
Food fills what is missing
At the same time, opposing beliefs can exist:
Food makes me out of control
Food is the problem
I cannot trust myself with food
This push and pull creates the cycle so many people feel trapped in. Food is both comfort and enemy, not because food is the issue, but because beliefs are divided.
The Importance of Revisiting the Memory
Healing begins when we stop asking, What is wrong with me? and start asking, What happened to me?
When we gently recall the memory or season that gave life to a belief, compassion replaces shame.
A belief like “I cannot trust myself” may trace back to a time of emotional chaos.
A belief like “My body is unacceptable” may trace back to repeated comments or comparisons.
A belief like “I need control to feel safe” may trace back to instability or unpredictability.
Revisiting these memories with God allows us to separate the experience from the conclusion we drew about ourselves.
Inviting God Into the Memory
God is not limited by time. When we invite Him into a memory, He meets us there with truth, clarity, and compassion.
Many people discover that God was present even when they felt alone. Others realize that the belief they formed was never something God spoke over them.
“The Lord is close to the brokenhearted; He rescues those whose spirits are crushed” Psalm 34:18.
When God enters the memory, beliefs such as:
I was alone
I was too much
I was the problem
begin to loosen their grip.
Turning Core Beliefs Over to God
Once a belief is identified and understood, it can be surrendered.
Surrender does not mean denying that the belief once served a purpose. It means releasing it now.
This often sounds like:
This belief helped me cope
It made sense at the time
I no longer want to live from it
I trust You with this part of my story
God does not shame survival strategies. He honors the heart beneath them and gently offers something better.
Replacing Lies With Core Truths
God does not leave empty spaces. When a belief is surrendered, He replaces it with truth.
Some common exchanges in food and body image healing include:
False belief: My worth is tied to my body
God’s truth: I am fearfully and wonderfully made Psalm 139:14
False belief: I cannot trust my body
God’s truth: My body is a temple of the Holy Spirit 1 Corinthians 6:19
False belief: I need control to be safe
God’s truth: The Lord is my refuge and strength Psalm 46:1
False belief: Food is my comfort
God’s truth: God is my comfort and sustainer Isaiah 41:10
As these truths are repeated, practiced, and lived out, the nervous system begins to settle and behaviors begin to shift naturally.
Living From a Renewed Foundation
Freedom with food does not come from stricter rules or better plans. It grows as beliefs change and safety increases.
This healing process invites curiosity rather than control:
What belief is being activated right now?
Where did I learn this about my body or myself?
What does God say instead?
Romans 12:2 reminds us that transformation happens through the renewing of our minds. Renewal is not instant. It is relational, layered, and gentle.
A Final Reflection
If food feels emotionally charged, your body feels like an enemy, or eating feels tied to shame, fear, or control, the issue may not be food.
It may be unhealed core beliefs.
God is patient with this process. He is gentle with the places that learned survival instead of safety. He is faithful to replace beliefs formed in pain with truth spoken in love.
Healing happens one belief at a time.
One memory at a time.
One truth at a time.
And every step is held by grace.
Reflective Journaling Invitation
Take a few quiet moments and allow yourself to respond honestly. There is no right or wrong answer here. This is simply an invitation to listen with curiosity and compassion.
• When food or my body feels emotionally charged, what belief is usually underneath it?
• When did I first learn this belief about myself, my body, or food?
• What was happening in my life during that season?
• What did I need in that moment that I did not receive?
• What does God say about me, my body, and my worth instead?
As you write, notice what comes up without rushing to fix it. You may want to ask God to meet you in the memory and speak His truth gently over it.
Healing does not come from forcing new beliefs. It comes from allowing truth to be received in places that once learned survival.
Take your time. Grace is not in a hurry.
If you find yourself wanting guidance as you explore these beliefs and memories with God, Made for More coaching is a space where this kind of healing work is gently supported. You can book a free discovery call HERE
