Jessica Vaughn I Know Your Worth

Jessica Vaughn I Know Your Worth

  • Home
  • About
  • FREE
    • 5 Day Devotional
    • Body Prayer Printable
  • Shop
    • Books
    • Journals
    • Devotionals
  • Work With Me
    • Join My Team
    • Virtual Bootcamp
  • Blog
  • Contact

Body Image

February 9, 2015 By 14 Comments

 

Body Image

I always try to write about what is going on in my own life. I write from experience. I write from pain and heartbreak. I write from joy and happiness. I just write.

When I write, I feel like I am honoring God and living out a special purpose for my life. I don’t know how many of you are regular readers of my blogs. Would you please leave me a comment below this blog and let me know? I would just love to hear from you and know you are out there reading and getting inspired.

A common topic around this time is weight loss. How much weight can someone lose, what new nutrition habits are you going to be into this year, and so on. These aren’t bad things because I coach people on a regular basis about this. I run challenge groups specifically geared toward weight loss and nutrition. The thing that, I would like to think, separates me from the rest is that I love to work on what is going on inside of you. If I have ever trained with you or met you in person, I am always asking questions. Not to be nosy, but so that I can understand what makes you tick. What makes you think the way that you do? What holds you back from losing weight and eating right? I want to know. The main topic I want to talk about today is body image.

I have seen extreme competitors and followed them throughout their journey of being lean to gaining weight – a healthy weight, I might add. I follow them mostly on IG because it is the easiest to follow. What I love about the ones whom I follow is their genuine openness about their healthy eating addiction, their obsessive working out, and their negative body image. When I say “knowing your worth”, this is HUGE when it comes to body image. God brought to my attention a season of my own life.

I’m pretty transparent. I am willing to share almost anything in hopes of inspiring someone. For a period of time in my life, fitness was a go-to for me. Lifting weights for almost 5 years now has been a huge passion of mine. What I didn’t know was this passion was slowing turning into an addiction that I didn’t always enjoy. Like anything, lifting can become an addiction. It’s how some people cope with life. It’s how some people get attention. It’s how most feel confident about themselves when, in fact, they are the complete opposite of confident. I would like to consider myself a pretty confident person but what I realized is how I viewed myself and my body wasn’t always the most positive. I’m not saying I am fat. I’m not saying I don’t have muscle and I am not strong. What I am saying is I look in the mirror and think “Why am I not stronger or why doesn’t my muscle show more? Is eating this going to take my muscle away and make me fat?” I know it sounds crazy, right? And I know I can’t be the only one.

With that being said, I realized how working out became more of a chore than a fun activity for me to to take care of my body. I was in competition with everyone. Two years ago, I weighed roughly 100 pounds. I didn’t really know how2013-05-28 17.10.30 frail I looked until I went back and looked at some pictures. I guess I have always had a fear of gaining weight, which stems from some things from my childhood. You almost subconsciously hold onto certain words and phrases that continue to be in the back of your mind.

As I continued to work on my own worth and my own image, I really became closer to the Lord. All of my identity is in Him. So when I read about having no idols, it stings my heart. Why? Because I am my own idol, to be honest. I worried for so long about the size of my bicep and the number on the scale. Day in and day out, those thoughts took over my life. Instead of good things consuming my mind, fitness and working out were on my mind.

Which brings me to why I am writing to you today. Recently, I realized again how much of those thoughts had crept back in. Working out is something that started to become a chore that I’m almost losing passion for it. I had to stop myself and ask myself, “Why am I working out?” I have to be willing to be honest and tell myself the truth. Is it to live a healthier, balanced life mentally and physically OR is it to just have a nice-looking outside appearance? Thoughts like “If I eat this or that, am I going to get fat?” started coming back in. One huge thing I have learned is that I don’t have to entertain those thoughts. I don’t have to agree with them. I have to question whether they are from God. Do they produce fruitful things in my life or the complete opposite?

What I am trying to help you understand is that you are not what your thoughts say you are. You are what God says about you. You have a million thoughts a day and if all you hold onto are those negative ones, you will never live with peace within yourself. EVER.

2014-01-28 08.34.00I used to hate to skip a workout out of fear. I would double up on workouts in a day. Now, I am able to skip a day or two and not feel pressure. Most people think I am in the gym for multiple hours a day in a week. Right now, I have been comfortable with around 4 hours a week. Four days with roughly an hour of workout. I’m always active with walking and/or doing physical activities depending on the week and the season. In the summer, my girlfriends and I love to have walk dates. The part that people don’t realize is that your results come with ample rest and proper nutrition. I’ve set a goal this year to eat more fruit and to start cooking even more meals to meal prep. So far, I am doing good but not perfect. I have never had too many specific fitness goals and I think it was because I also forced myself to “look good” on the outside. Now, I am going to take February and spend time meditating even more on His word and what He says about me. It’s a time to really focus on being healthy all the way around. It’s feeling so good to be able to release these strongholds I have had in my life. For me, it’s about freedom. When I have freedom, I have peace. When I have peace about me, I don’t need to compare myself to anyone. This, my friends, is what I wish for you!

Please leave a comment below! Let me know you were here!

Know your worth,
Jessica Vaughn

Edit_9973

Filed Under: Health and Fitness Tagged With: a heart after jesus, body image, body image issues, confidence, Fitness, god, health, issues with body image, jessica vaughn, know your worth

Comments

  1. Nichelle says

    February 9, 2015 at 3:47 pm

    So Helpful! Thank you

    Reply
  2. jamie gamble says

    February 9, 2015 at 5:38 pm

    You are amazing! Thank you for what you do! I follow you on fb and you inspire me!i have had body image issues my entire life. Used to be really overweight..bulimic and even hospitalized for it when i was a teen. I am now 29 years old with 3 kids who i love so so much! I have lost weight after each child the CORRECT way..exercise and eating right:) keep doing what you are doing! God will continue to bless you because you honor him WHICH IS AMAZING!! BLESSINGS!

    Reply
  3. Raman says

    February 22, 2015 at 8:12 pm

    I’ve been surfing on-line more than three hours noaydaws, but I by no means discovered any fascinating article like yours. It is beautiful value sufficient for me. Personally, if all website owners and bloggers made just right content material as you probably did, the web can be much more useful than ever before.

    Reply
  4. Jenn D says

    March 4, 2015 at 10:26 pm

    WOW!! Thank you for this! I’ve dealt with body shape issues for years. Now at 35; I can say that I LOVE my body. I teach fitness classes twice a week to stay strong; not skinny. I also have MS which is also my motivation for working out & eating fairly healthy. I’m not perfect; but I do not beat myself up anymore for not eating perfect & for missing a day or two at the gym. God bless you & keep motivating others!!

    Reply
  5. Noelle says

    March 9, 2015 at 1:20 pm

    I receive your blog by email and I look forward to reading your message every time they come through. I’m 29 and have also struggled with finding a healthy balance between working out to stay healthy vs working out obsessively to calm negative self thought. You have a wonderful way of bringing me back to reality and reminding me that I live for God and I want to stay healthy to do his work, not so that I can show off a six pack at the beach! Thank you for your words! God bless.

    Reply
  6. Brittany says

    March 9, 2015 at 1:59 pm

    you’re such an inspiration . & this blog really touched me in a since . your words are beyond encouraging . I really needed to hear this . thank you!

    Reply
  7. Michael says

    March 9, 2015 at 8:04 pm

    Jessica you rock you are such a good inspiration on so many fronts

    Reply
  8. Clarissa says

    March 11, 2015 at 1:13 pm

    This was definetly something I needed to read! It’s true we need to ask ourselves why do we want this? It’s great to see that even you suggest with this issue of body image! Thank you!!

    Reply
  9. Veronica says

    March 16, 2015 at 5:30 pm

    Hey Jessica,
    Wow youre awsome! 🙂
    I soo much needed to hear this today. I used to see you pop up on my facebook feed at first i thought you were just a random encourage person but finally one day i press like on your page and end up being a big bleesing for me! I love how you talk about this physically but most improtant the inside of us the heart. Be bless jessica.

    Reply
  10. Richard says

    May 16, 2015 at 11:05 am

    You have come a long way when you have identified addiction(and why), from leading a healthy lifestyle. If you didn’t have that mental health balance going for you, I wouldn’t even be following you. You would be seriously, just another fanatic. I’m with you because of the way you are engaging your journey. The ups and downs, the self realizations, the overcoming of the mental and physical obstacles.

    Reply
  11. Joshlyne says

    May 31, 2015 at 12:16 am

    Thank You For this message, I love to read articles and things that rejuvenate my mind and gives me insight on what is more important and valuable to myself and my lifestyle, God Bless You !

    Reply
  12. Marian says

    June 30, 2015 at 3:07 am

    Wow amazing. My first time visiting your blog because I saw your post on fb. Your words or encouragement and faith is really inspiring! I am glad to have read your blog tonight.

    Reply
  13. Anna says

    July 16, 2015 at 10:17 pm

    Thank you!

    Reply
  14. Jasmine says

    August 24, 2015 at 3:10 pm

    I absolutely read your blog and your fb posts. You have no idea how many times something you say just hits home with me. Nor the number of shares I’ve sent (via fb, text, e-mail, however) because something you said just perfectly coincides with something a friend is going through. Thanks for all you do, I am constantly uplifted by your fb feed and blog.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Jessica Vaughn

Follow Me On Instagram

  • With the rushed pace that most airports bring my husband
  • I dont need to be SEEN to be KNOWN If
  • Im always asking the Lord to teach me through my
  • We make the Gospel complicated We make His love unreachable
  • Its easy for us to believe Jesus went to the
  •  A face that says Friend why do you keep
  • In high school I wanted to be the popular girl
  • Instead of focusing on what God has given me I
  • To the woman with worry God has a great resume
letsconnectonpinterest

Articles

  • Living by Faith
  • The Beginning of My Journey
  • Help is Required
  • Dieting is the worst way to lose weight. 
  • When You Feel Less Than

Tags

a heart after God a heart after jesus beachbody beachbody coach beachbody coaching bible business christian closer to god coach coach fitness Coach with beachbody create success encouragement entrepreneur faith faith in god Fitness fitness coach goals god have faith hope how to how to lose weight inspiration jessica vaughn jesus know your worth lose weight losing weight mindset prayer priorities relationships scripture shakeology success tips walking with god weight loss work at home work at home entrepreneur work from home workout
line
Home | About | Contact | Free Stuff | Shop | Work With Me | Blog | Privacy Policy Facebook youtube-2-128 Pinterest Twitter