Aside from latter elementary school and my junior high years when I was still little-girl-chubby, I never wrestled with being overweight. Though I don’t currently struggle to maintain a healthy weight, I do struggle to maintain a healthy body image.
The past few years have been a battle. Telling myself God’s truth wages war against my obsessive desire to be thin by the world’s standards. I’ve spent my fair share of hours and days berating myself for that last cookie or for choosing a burger over salad. My attitude towards food alternates between overly indulgent and unhealthily self-controlled.
Clearly, I’m still in battle.
Loosing baby weight is probably still a couple years in the future and I’ve never had 100 pounds to loose, but I resonated with much of Jessica Heights message in her new e-book, 100 Pound Loser.
Jessica successfully lost 100 pounds (wow!), and though she shares her strategy for losing weight, I appreciated her emphasis on just being healthy – physically, mentally, and spiritually.
Physically Healthy
God gave us our bodies and we have a responsibility to keep them in peek condition.
Mini goals should be everyone’s best friend. Large tasks – whether weight loss or book writing, or marathon running – can seem daunting. Broken down into approachable chunks staves off immediate defeat and discouragement.
I also like Jessica’s attitude toward cravings. Best to indulge a craving with moderation than try to ignore it or pacify it with a subpar substitution.
Mentally Healthy
Body image issues can weigh heavily on the mind. Battling against your body to lose weight or to keep from gaining weight is exhausting. The way you view yourself in the process is just as important as the end result.
“When it comes down to it, issues of weight do affect the way we look, but they also affect the way we feel, and the way we function, emotionally and physically.” – JH
Spiritually Healthy
The spiritual components of a healthy body image is what I struggle with the most. I rarely tell myself the truth – the truth that God created my body, therefore, it deserves my respect. God cares more about my health than me being a size 2.
I love Jessica’s paraphrase of Proverbs 31:30.
“Conformity to contemporary beauty standards is deceptive and a stick-thin figure is fleeting, but a girl or woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.”
That’s what I want to model with my body image and what I hope to instill in my daughter some day.
100 Pound Loser by Jessica Heights
Jessica has managed to offer her perspective on major weight loss while keeping the focus on holistic health and respect for what God has given us to steward.
Even if you don’t’ have 100 pounds to lose, this book offers exhortation and application for dropping excess body image baggage.
Find Jessica’s book on Amazon.
Emily C Gardner 