You Were Made to Heal: Holistic Health & Plant-Powered Living for Black & Brown Christian Mamas

Nermin Walker, PhD

You Were Made to Heal is the podcast for Christian Black & Brown mamas ready to take control of their health and their family's future. If you're done with quick fixes and ready to heal from the inside out, you're in the right place! Hosted by Dr. Nermin Walker, licensed therapist, researcher, and holistic health coach, each week we dig into plant-powered nutrition, low-tox living, and mental health — all while staying rooted in Jesus and justice. You were made for more than exhaustion, more than being dismissed, more than watching the women before you carry what was never theirs to carry. Because healing goes deeper than just the number on the scale — it's about knowing who you are and Whose you are. So whether you're listening in between work meetings, while folding laundry with a toddler climbing you like a jungle gym, or during a quick grocery run, let's reclaim what's always been yours. Because, here, we believe health is resistance, healing is sacred, and your wholeness is non-negotiable — starting now. 🌱 Ready to take that first or next powerful step toward your health today? Grab my free Low-Tox Guide to get started: https://faithfullysprouted.myflodesk.com/lowtoxswaps Connect with me on Instagram at: https://www.instagram.com/the.melanated.holistic.coach

Episodes

  1. 6d ago

    When the Scale Won’t Move: Holistic Weight Loss for Black & Brown Women Over 40

    Not seeing weight loss results yet, even though you're drinking your water, eating your veggies, and getting your walk in? In this episode, I'm sharing what holistic weight loss actually looks like for Black and Brown women, how looking at your whole health (not just the scale) helps you see progress sooner, especially if you're over 40 or in perimenopause, and how to turn hard days into data instead of defeat. Plus, I'm going back to the basics for the last 10 weeks of the year, and I'd love for you to join me. In this episode: Why new habits take about 65 days to feel automatic, and why missing a day doesn't ruin it What to track beyond the scale: sleep, energy, and mood Why the scale tells you even less over 40 and in perimenopause, and what your body needs in this season Why Black and Brown women are taught to come last, and what it looks like to see ourselves the way God sees us My back-to-basics plan for the last 10 weeks of the year, mind, body, and soul, and how to build your own This week's Take It to the Root challenge: Drink half your body weight (lbs) in oz of water! So if you’re 180 pounds, aim for 90 oz of water.  Resources: Free Low-Tox Swaps guide. Grab it and you'll be the first to know when group coaching opens in 2027.  Want to go deeper? Grab Holistic Fall Guide for Melanated Mamas with 50+ swaps for your whole family ($27). Limited 1:1 coaching spots for getting off the diet rollercoaster and healing from the inside out..for good. Book a free 20-minute Flourish Call to see if it's a good fit!  All three links are also in my bio on Instagram @the.melanated.holistic.coach Sources: Lally et al. (2010). "How are habits formed: Modelling habit formation in the real world." European Journal of Social Psychology. David et al. (2014). "Diet rapidly and reproducibly alters the human gut microbiome." Nature. Greendale et al. (2019). "Changes in body composition and weight during the menopause transition." JCI Insight. Health is resistance. Healing is sacred. And your wholeness is non-negotiable — starting now. Important note: This episode shares my personal experience and is meant for education and encouragement. It's not medical or mental health advice. Please talk with a qualified healthcare or mental health professional about your individual needs. Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

  2. Oct 20

    No One’s Coming to Save Us: Keeping Your Promises to Yourself When Type 2 Diabetes Runs in the Family

    About a month ago, my husband landed in the ER with his blood sugar at almost 500 and an A1C of 12.1. After just one month of us revamping his nutrition (alongside his medication and walking), his fasting blood sugar hit the 80s for the first time this weekend, well below even prediabetic numbers! So why are the promises we make to ourselves the easiest ones to break, until something forces us to decide? I'm sharing the decision that happened overnight for him, the one I keep making again and again for my daughter, and why keeping our health promises matters more than ever for Black and Brown mamas- especially when type 2 diabetes, prediabetes, or PCOS runs in the family. Because no one's coming to save us, and that's exactly why health is resistance. In this episode: Why some health decisions happen overnight, and others you keep making again and again What the numbers say about type 2 diabetes and heart disease in Black women, and why more of our kids are being diagnosed The simple shift that makes a daily health commitment actually stick How decision fatigue keeps you renegotiating with yourself every morning, and how to stop How grace keeps you both out of the shame cycle and coming back to the next meal, the next workout, and the next morning, plus this week's Take It to the Root Resources: Rooted & Restored: Blood Sugar Balance Edition. An 8-week coaching program starting November 2 and carrying you into the new year.  If you're navigating PCOS, pre-diabetes, type 2 diabetes, insulin resistance, inflammation, or just tired of feeling exhausted and dismissed. No diagnosis necessary. Only 6 founding spots! Learn more about Rooted & Restored: Blood Sugar Balance Edition See the smoothie corner and connect on Instagram @the.melanated.holistic.coach Sources: Office of Minority Health, HHS (CDC data, 2022 and 2024). "Diabetes and Black/African Americans.” American Heart Association. (2015). "Sex Differences in the Cardiovascular Consequences of Diabetes Mellitus" NIH. (2020). "Diabetes continues to rise among American youth" MSD Manual Professional Version, "Diagnostic Criteria for Diabetes Mellitus and Impaired Glucose Regulation"  Health is resistance. Healing is sacred. And your wholeness is non-negotiable — starting now. Important note: This episode shares my personal experience and is meant for education and encouragement. It's not medical or mental health advice. Please talk with a qualified healthcare or mental health professional about your individual needs.

  3. Oct 13

    "Why Can't I Stick to Anything?" Faith, Quick Fixes & Holistic Weight Loss

    If you’ve been searching for holistic weight loss that actually lasts, and you keep finding yourself back at square one asking, “Why can’t I just stick to anything?”, sis, this episode is for you. I’ve tried paleo, fat-free, low-carb, intense bootcamps, a 21-day juice cleanse, and a thousand supplements I couldn’t afford (or even swallow, lol). Every one of them worked, until it didn’t. In this episode, I’m getting honest about why we reach for quick fixes, why they stop working, and what actually changes when you heal from the inside out: mind, body, and soul. I also share a dream my oldest daughter had that completely changed how I think about the difference between running from something and running toward something. In this episode: Why wanting fast results isn’t the problem, and why there’s no shame in it What a quick fix really does to your body, from hunger hormones to insulin resistance, and why the weight comes back The shame cycle, and how the diet industry profits every time you start over Why you need a vision that’s bigger than the discomfort of change Closing the gap between who you say you want to be and how you’re showing up today How a trip, a cleanse, or a new program can become its own kind of running One question to ask before you try the next thing: Am I chasing a quick fix, or am I healing at the root long-term? Next episode: Follow the podcast so you don't miss next week's episode about what to do when. you're in the messy middle, when you’re showing up but still doubting whether you can trust the process.   📋 Free Plant-Powered Low-Tox Wellness Guide - Take your first (or next) step in your health journey with some simple powerful swaps.    📱 Connect on Instagram: @the.melanated.holistic.coach 🌱Health is resistance. Healing is sacred. And your wholeness is non-negotiable, starting now.

  4. Oct 6

    Jesus, Justice & Holistic Health: You Don't Have to Choose Here

    What if Christian holistic health meant you didn't have to choose which part of you gets to heal? If you've ever felt like you had to leave part of yourself at the door just to get healthy, this episode is for you. For years, I showed up as pieces of me in every room: wellness spaces, church, therapy, justice spaces. I rarely saw women like me represented there, and I never felt like there was room for all of me. So I built the space I never had. Today, I'm sharing what's really behind the name Faithfully Sprouted, why so many of us quit in the breaking right before the breakthrough, and the five pillars this show stands on: Jesus, justice, mental health, plant-powered living, and low-tox living, and how they're all connected. Because when your mind, body, and soul finally get to heal in the same space, nothing has to be left behind. In this episode: Where the name Faithfully Sprouted came from, and why the breaking is part of the sprouting Why unfamiliar doesn't have to mean hard Hagar, "the God who sees me," and what it means to be truly seen Why health is resistance, and the systems shaping Black and Brown women's health Taking every thought captive: why your mind and body can't heal in separate rooms Whole-food plant-based (WFPB) living as medicine, and low-tox swaps without the fear Resources: Take your first (or next) step with my free Plant-Powered Low-Tox Wellness Guide Coming next week in Episode 3: the quick fixes that kept me starting over for 20 years, and what finally grounded me in real healing Documentary mentioned: They're Trying to Kill Us Scripture mentioned: Genesis 16 (Hagar) and 2 Corinthians 10:5 (captive thoughts) Connect on Instagram: @the.melanated.holistic.coach Sources: American Heart Association, Go Red for Women: Heart Disease and Stroke in Black Women Narayan KMV, et al. Lifetime Risk for Diabetes Mellitus in the United States. JAMA, 2003. Health is resistance. Healing is sacred. And your wholeness is non-negotiable — starting now. Important note: This episode shares my personal experience and is meant for education and encouragement. It's not medical or mental health advice. Please talk with a qualified healthcare or mental health professional about your individual needs.

  5. Oct 6

    3 Diagnoses, 3 Dismissals: Creating the Roadmap My Family Never Got

    Have you ever been dismissed by doctors, for yourself or your babies, and walked away with no roadmap? Or watched type 2 diabetes run through your family and wondered if you're next? This episode is for you. In this first episode of You Were Made to Heal, I'm sharing the story behind this podcast. Three diagnoses: mine at 21, my daughter's at two, and just two weeks ago, my husband's in the ER. And every single time, the same message: try harder, let's wait and see, but never a roadmap. So I stopped waiting for someone else to give me one. I'm getting real about the shame that kept me stuck for 20 years, the phone call that opened my eyes to endocrine disruptors, how low-tox, plant-based swaps (one at a time) helped me lose 40 pounds postpartum by getting to the root, the faith that carried me through it all, and how I started creating the roadmap my family never got. This one is for every Christian Black and Brown mama who's ever felt unheard in a doctor's office, or blamed herself for struggles she was never taught to understand. In this episode: Three diagnoses, three dismissals, and why "try harder" was never a real health plan My PCOS (now PMOS) diagnosis, and everything nobody told me How I lost 40 pounds postpartum without willpower or shame My husband's ER visit, and why type 2 diabetes can often go into remission Hagar, the God who sees you, and why shame loses its power when you name it Resources: Take your first (or next) step with my free Plant-Powered Low-Tox Wellness Guide: https://faithfullysprouted.myflodesk.com/lowtoxswaps Episode 2 is already up! Jesus, Justice & Holistic Health: You Don't Have to Choose Here Connect on Instagram: @the.melanated.holistic.coach Health is resistance. Healing is sacred. And your wholeness is non-negotiable — starting now. *Important note: This episode shares my personal experience and is meant for education and encouragement. It's not medical or mental health advice. Please talk with a qualified healthcare or mental health professional about your individual needs.

5
out of 5
4 Ratings

About

You Were Made to Heal is the podcast for Christian Black & Brown mamas ready to take control of their health and their family's future. If you're done with quick fixes and ready to heal from the inside out, you're in the right place! Hosted by Dr. Nermin Walker, licensed therapist, researcher, and holistic health coach, each week we dig into plant-powered nutrition, low-tox living, and mental health — all while staying rooted in Jesus and justice. You were made for more than exhaustion, more than being dismissed, more than watching the women before you carry what was never theirs to carry. Because healing goes deeper than just the number on the scale — it's about knowing who you are and Whose you are. So whether you're listening in between work meetings, while folding laundry with a toddler climbing you like a jungle gym, or during a quick grocery run, let's reclaim what's always been yours. Because, here, we believe health is resistance, healing is sacred, and your wholeness is non-negotiable — starting now. 🌱 Ready to take that first or next powerful step toward your health today? Grab my free Low-Tox Guide to get started: https://faithfullysprouted.myflodesk.com/lowtoxswaps Connect with me on Instagram at: https://www.instagram.com/the.melanated.holistic.coach

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