2008 Top Bods - Jessica Boyd - Faith & Fitness Magazine

Author: Brad Bloom

Department(s): College Fitness

Read time: 12 minutes

Updated: April 15th, 2018

Jessica Boyd Age: 20

University: Abilene Christian University Year:

Junior Degree she is pursuing: Bachelor of Science in Exercise Science, Minor in Nutrition

Height: 5’6” Weight: 130 lbs.

Faith & Fitness Magazine: Do you eat any fast food or junk food? Come on, be honest. Tell us how you indulge and tell us how easy it is to eat bad at college.

Jessica: Yes, I eat fast food and junk food, but not very often. I believe everything is okay in moderation and so I choose when I want to have my splurges and then try to make up for it the next day by eating healthier. When I eat fast food or junk food I try to stay away from anything fried. Sometimes I will splurge and get something like fried chicken but now that I think about it I rarely eat anything fried. The thing I have the most trouble staying away from is sweets. I have a major sweet tooth and always want a little something sweet to eat after a meal. My trick is to chew a piece of gum and instead of me eating something else I did not need the gum fulfills me. It is difficult to not get into bad eating habits at school with everyone around you eating out all of the time. The main thing is I just don’t feel good when I eat junk food too much. My body knows when I start to get off track and quickly reminds me of it. I feel so much better when I eat healthy.

F&F: How do you stick to eating healthy? What kinds of foods do you buy? Do your friends support you in that?

Jessica: The way I stick to eating healthy is by making my own food at home. When I go to the grocery store there are several things I look for. I buy lots of fruit, vegetables, whole grains, and protein. This semester I haven’t had much time to cook so I bought a lot of frozen vegetables but the important thing is that I am getting vegetables in some way. My breakfast every day is a whole grain, fiber-rich cereal and soy-milk. I’m not sure when I switched to soy-milk but when I drink milk it is either soy or skim. I don’t think people realize that little changes in the way you buy food or prepare it can make a huge difference. When I prepare meals I use things such as egg substitutes instead of regular eggs, olive oil instead of vegetable oil, low fat cheese, natural sugar, some whole wheat flour along with the regular flour, whole grain pasta or bread, the healthiest butter I can find, and I try to stay away from foods that have high fructose corn syrup or anything hydrogenated. My friends definitely notice my diet. It actually gets very frustrating sometimes. I get a lot of “Come on Jess, just splurge a little!” I try to explain to everyone that I do splurge but I only do it when I really want to. I really enjoy eating healthy and feel better when I do, so it can become discouraging when others are trying to get me to do otherwise.

F&F: When did you really start working out and why? What motivates you to live a fit lifestyle?

Jessica: I have always enjoyed eating healthy and exercising but I think it wasn’t until my first year of college that I really started working hard at it. My goal had always been to not gain the “freshman fifteen” and I definitely accomplished that goal! Once I started learning more and more about nutrition and exercise in my classes for my major is when I started implementing more of what I learned. When you learn about how healthy it is for your body to eat nutritious foods and exercise, it is hard to want to do otherwise. It is the same thing knowing how bad something is for you. Knowing that fried foods and hydrogenated foods are so unhealthy helps me to choose healthier options when choosing what I will eat. What keeps me motivated to exercise is the way I feel when I exercise. It is amazing how much better my body feels and operates when I exercise regularly.

F&F: How does your fitness lifestyle play a role in your relationships with the opposite sex?

Jessica: I have a boyfriend of three years now of whom I am planning to marry so my focus is not looking good to try and attract other men. Of course I want to stay healthy and in shape for my boyfriend but the main thing that motivates me is my desire to feel good about myself. When I exercise I feel so much better about my body, which gives me more confidence in life.

F&F: So, let’s say you’ve put in a hard week of classes and you managed to get in all your scheduled workouts at the gym. Tell us how you’ll put on the show tonight: What do you wear to look stylish? Do you do anything special with your hair? Favorite fragrance? What else makes up the total package?

Jessica: The main thing I put more time into when I go out is my clothing and hair. When things are so busy and tiring during the week it gets hard to want to put a lot of effort into looking good. Since I exercise often I wear a lot of athletic clothes during the week. When it’s finally time to go out and have fun I’ll wear something nice and flattering to my body and straighten or maybe even curl my hair. My absolute favorite fragrance is August, by Hollister. They actually aren’t selling it anymore, which is very upsetting, so I’ve been trying to use it sparingly!

F&F: Do you think young women deal with a lot of unrealistic expectations? How do you deal with it?

Jessica: I definitely feel better about myself because of the way I keep my body in shape but it can sometimes become a struggle when I start to worry about how I look more than what God thinks of me. I feel this world we live in places way to much pressure on how a young woman should look. Just as many other girls do, I constantly struggle with the way I look. I have to be careful about reading magazines or about comparing myself to other girls on campus because I will start to beat myself up that I don’t look a certain way. I know God wants me to take care of my body but that it is not important to Him if I am a certain size or weight. I have to continually remind myself that God made me who I am and I need to be happy with that.

F&F: What does it take to live healthy on campus?

Jessica: I’ll be honest that this semester it has been tough to stick with an exercise routine because of how time consuming school has been. Although it gets tough, I usually can’t go very long without exercising because I just start to feel bad. Just as with the way I eat, my body knows when I am getting off track when I don’t exercise. The most beneficial part of staying active and healthy is the way I feel. I feel so much better when I exercise and eat healthy and my body operates so much better. As I mentioned before, when I feel better about myself I am able to be much more confident in my day-to-day life. To live healthy on campus it definitely takes a good deal of motivation and I also think it takes education. When people don’t know that what they are or aren’t doing is bad for them, why would they do otherwise? It takes knowing how to choose healthier options and making the effort to schedule a workout into part of your day. If I don’t tell myself at the beginning of the day that I will exercise then it probably won’t happen.

F&F: Tell us about your cardio, strength training and stretching. How do you set your fitness goals? Do you play any sports too?

Jessica: I usually try to workout 4-5 times a week. I do cardio on the elliptical or treadmill on all of my workout days and do strength training on 2-3 of those days. On the days I don’t do strength training I will do an hour of cardio and on the days I strength train I do 30-40 minutes of cardio. When I workout I usually like to workout for an hour and a half but as long as I get a workout in is all that matters to me. For strength training I try to make sure I do some sort of exercise to incorporate all of my body. I always finish with abdominal work on strength training days doing things such as core work on the stability ball, crunches, bicycles, and planks on the ground. At the very end of my workout I always stretch for 3-5 minutes. When I set fitness goals it’s usually something like wanting to work on toning up or wanting to reach a certain time or distance in my cardio workouts. It usually depends on the season. When summer comes around I usually work harder because I know it’ll be time to wear a swimsuit soon. As for sports, I really only play them for fun. When I play sports it’s usually tennis, sand volleyball, or golf.

F&F: Plenty of college students across the country excel in their academic work, exercise regularly and build a healthy social life. Personal spiritual development though usually isn’t a high priority for college students. Is it for you? How so?

Jessica: Spiritual development is definitely a priority for me because I know I will get nowhere in life without God as my guide. Similar to how when I exercise I feel better, when I spend time with God I feel better. Just as with my exercise routine I have dry spouts with God, but He usually reminds me He is there, waiting for me to come back. I continue to learn that whenever I am working harder in my spiritual life and spending more time with the Lord, things in my life seem to run more smoothly and I am able to be more positive towards life.

F&F: Do people see your faith in Christ as readily as they see the peek condition of your physical body?

Jessica: I hope they do. After all, my faith is what is most important! I feel that with the activities I participate in, or don’t participate in for that matter, people should be able to see that my faith is important to me. I love to go on mission trips and I am a member of Big Brother Big Sister here in Abilene. I feel that things like these activities demonstrate my faith more than anything else.

F&F: How do you live out your faith? Do you think your attitude plays a role in how others perceive your faith?

Jessica: I guess the main way I live out my faith is by having a positive attitude about life. Since school is a huge part of my life right now that is where I am in contact with people the most. I try to have a positive attitude whenever it comes to school and I hope people can see that in me. A lot of people will choose to have a bad attitude when they don’t enjoy a class but I’ve realized a negative attitude will get me nowhere. When I choose to have a positive attitude, classes and life in general become a lot more enjoyable. If I remember that my whole life comes down to pleasing God then it becomes much easier to demonstrate a positive attitude. I feel that if people see that I have a positive attitude all of the time then maybe they will know that there has to be something contributing to that, which is my relationship with God.

F&F: Plans for the future? How are your plans shaped by God? Does the whole physical training thing factor into that somehow?

Jessica: Right now I am a little unsure of my plans, or God’s plans, for the future. I feel God has placed a soft spot in my heart for mission work with children so I definitely will want to continue to participate in mission trips throughout my life. As for my future job and day-to-day life I am not quite sure which direction I will go. Whatever I do, it will be in the health and fitness field because that is what I love. I am very excited to work in this field because it will also help me be motivated to stay healthy and keep up my exercising as I become older. As of right now I am very interested in pursuing pre and post-natal fitness, which is working with pregnant women. I feel God may be calling me to that area. More and more children are having health issues, which can even start before a child is born. If I could get mothers and their babies off to a healthy start I think that would be so rewarding.