Heart of Dating is thrilled to welcome Meredith Foster to the show!

She was previously known as "beauty guru" StilaBabe09" on a Youtube channel in 2009 and spent her teenage years growing up in the online space accumulating over 4 million subscribers.Her mission is for all women to know their worth, identity, and purpose. "Beauty is a light in the heart!" Author of "Fostering your Best Self" and podcast creator "Unfiltered Faith"  
Her intention is to use her God given gifts and testimony to inspire and empower others to overcome their trials and to choose JOY!"

Today, Meredith gets #real with us about her journey of overcoming an eating disorder and how she became confident in her own skin.

Could you share a little bit about yourself?

• Meredith shares a bit about her Youtube journey in high school and grew up in the public eye of that. 
• She lost herself in her teenage years and God restored who she was created to be. 
• Meredith is passionate about women finding their true worth and their identiy
• A lot of her testimony talking about her issues with her own body image and she overcome an eating disorder.

You talk about growing up in the public eye? How was that?

• It's tough to feel like you’re putting on an “act” at times
• You feel a lot of pressure to not make mistakes when so many people look up to you
• Kait said you have to say to yourself “Nothing less, nothing more, come just as you are”
• Comparison kills your joy so we have to filter what we look at in the age of social media

90% of American Women are unsatisfied with their bodies and body image is one of the biggest insecurities so many of us face. Could you tell us more about your story and how your insecurities in body image were sort of shaped?

• It’s easy to get sucked into TV and media and as you grow up in this world of media, its very easy to get sucked into trying to mold our image into something unattainable
• Meredith talks about how she began comparing herself to the rest of the Youtube world and she wasn’t strong enough in her identity and she truly began to struggle with comparison
• The enemy will lie to you and tell you that you’re not enough and you have combat these lies with the truth and that is that you were made in the image of God.
• In 1 Samuel 16:7 it says, "the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”
• The standards of comparison are always shifting and because of that we’ll never arrive to perfect acceptance in society

What led up to the habits you started forming in high school and your eating disorder?

• She had various people tell her that she wasn’t thin enough or good enough.
• She was rejected by guys and she assumed it was because of her body and they thought that if she could get thin enough, the guys would like her.
• Because she didn’t see her own worth, other people didn’t see her worth.
• She went on a journey of having to see herself through the lens that God sees her.
• She was looking for the approval of man instead of the approval of God
• “We’re not creating to perfect our image, but to reflect His image” -Cambria Joy
• Eating disorders in a way end up being a numbing mechanism that keep us from facing those lies and fears we have.

What broke in you and what was your concept of beauty as you were going through this?

• Meredith talks about how she was never at peace with the way she looked and stayed in this place of striving
• It was a lot about control. Controlling how she looked and how others perceived her
• “When we’re trying to control, we’re not trusting God”- Meredith Foster

What was it that you were feeling on the inside while you were going through your eating disorder?

• Meredith talks about how she felt secure and safe when it came to her eating disorder and exercising.
• She tells her story about how she started to have disordered thoughts about how she looked while going through it and a group of friends at the time took the issues public and in snowballed into rumors that made her feel like she couldn’t control what others were saying about her.
• Her eating disorder was Meredith’s way of coping with what she could not control.
• “You're more than your body, you’re more than your appearance”

What were some of your side effects of having a negative view of your body?

• She talks about how she wasn’t herself and even friends saw that in her.
• She was always cold, hungry, and moody.
• Meredith also talks about her recovery period and how that was hard emotionally and she had a hard time looking in the mirror as she started to gain weight.
• She also talks about how shame and fear were things she had to overcome while recovering from her eating disorder.
• She had to sit on God’s love to overcome the fear and stop partnering with the lie telling her that she was never going to get better

What were some practical steps you took to help you heal and take back your power and build up your confidence?

• Meredith said a lot of it had to do with the people she surrounded herself with and her friendship choice. She had to befriend and surround herself with people that would speak life into her.
• She had to filter what kind of content she was taking in, even if it meant unfollowing people on social media that just triggered her negative views on her body image.
• She had to guard her heart and guard her mind.
• If we’re obsessing over the way we look, then we’re not spending enough time focusing on the one who created us.

How has your confidence changed since overcoming your eating disorder?

• Meredith talks about how she really hasn’t dated but feeling comfortable in her own skin now has made her more confident around men
• Her joy has come back and she knows that now she’ll be ready to date because she’s able to be confident in who God made her.

Connect with Meredith:

Follow her on Instagram HERE

Subscribe to her Youtube Channel HERE