HoW to Form Healthy Habits

I don’t know about you but when it comes to keeping habits, I am usually a little all over the place when it comes down to it. Of course, the intentions are always good, but sometimes I lose focus, lose interest and my big plans usually fall flat.

After many attempts at fighting the desire to form a habit and then rebelling against what’s expected I have figured out some secret weapons informing and keeping habits.

· Tip #1: Learn how YOU operate.

One of my favorite things I did last year was take the Myers Briggs personality test and learn more about me as a person. When you learn more about how you operate it can make all the difference in how you begin to approach things like forming habits.

For Example as an ENFJ, I know that I can be a bit, well VERY idealistic. In order to combat this, I need to reel myself in a bit and start small with forming habits but keep my big ideas at the forefront to keep me motivated!

You can find the test HERE https://www.16personalities.com/free-personality-test and use your results and the next three tips to start to build the healthy habits that you want!

· Tip a#2: Give yourself a time slot.

Sometimes if I know there’s no definite ending point I won’t even begin trying, even if it’s something I actually want to do. So instead start with a week-long commitment and when the week is over, start your week goal over again.

This way if you have a hard time committing to something long term by keeping things simple you’re more likely to continue with it, especially if you realize you actually enjoy doing it.

· Tip #3: Show yourself some Grace

Okay so one thing I find about forming habits, after a few weeks (or days) of staying on track something might get in the way and you have the time, forgot, or maybe just chose to not do it. In these situations, I usually get discouraged and quit since my plans for perfection have been derailed. This is where the grace part comes in.

It’s good to remember that nobody is perfect no matter what their Instagram feed looks like or how they come off. Everyone gets derailed, and it’s OK the only thing you have to worry about is to keep moving forward.

· Tip #4: Remind yourself WHY you started

When you first decide what habits you want to form write down a list of WHY you want to make the habit. If you want to go to bed early because you don’t want to be grumpy with your family in the morning then write it down. This way if you start to move away from your new habits you can take a look at the list and use it as motivation to stay on track!

Hopefully, with these tips help you feel motivated to form and keep those healthy habits!

Thank you so much for stopping by and checking out this post!

As always, lots of love and have a wonderful day!

-Sonya

New Year New You

New Year New You. 

So I know this is coming a little late in the season, and all of you probably are killing your new year’s resolutions but I wanted to just take a minute to write about the whole New Year new you.

New Year new you, is something I have seen all over social media and it got me to think about what New Year new you actually means. For me, I tend to fantasize January 1st seeing a perfect version of myself. Waking up before the sun to smash out a workout, reading my bible, blending THE PERFECT chocolate smoothie, etc. 

When in reality, I might accomplish this the second or third day because January 1st means waking up late, reaching for the leftover chips and chocolate, and chilling. This lasts for a few days and then I get serious and start to attempt to work towards what I want to happen for the next year. As you might have guessed this also lasts for maybe longer than a week and then I am back to plain old me.

Now I don’t know about you guys but this whole New Year new me doesn’t seem like the most productive plan. Therefore; this year I decided to nix the New Year new me and stick to plain old Sonya Peacocke, the aspiring wellness blogger, and awkward situation maker. I know that In order to accomplish my bigger goals in life I have to stay focused on living a life that is honoring and pleasing to God. In Colossians 3:23 it says “Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men”.

We are created perfectly by God and there’s no need for a “new you”, but there’s always room for growth. For now, I will simply look at goals like they are a continuation of my whole life and morals. I don’t need to lose 15lb this year, but I want to continue being active and eat well to honor the body God gave me. I don’t want to earn a certain amount of money, but I want to continue encouraging others because of my desire to share Gods love.

I don’t know about you guys, but I don’t want to feel like every January I have failed just because the world is telling me I need to be or do something better. I want to always feel the desire to grow and change so that I am ready for whatever God has in store for me.

Missed you all and hope you had a wonderful Christmas/Thanksgiving!   

Thanks again for stopping by,

-Sonya

How to Regain Focus and Motivation

I don’t know about you guys but when it comes to other people I love to love them. It’s not me being weird or anything, but I genuinely aim my day at helping people become a better version of themselves. People are amazing and I love to see others accomplishing big goals, going out of their comfort zone, finding joy and accomplishments, etc. It makes me feel on top of the world when I see others do these things, and I strive to help them accomplish this!

The amazing part of blogging and Instagram is it gives me a platform to encourage others, but lately it’s felt more of a reminder of failure at giving you guys my all. Emotionally and physically I feel drained, and I almost like a fraud coming here to help motivate you while figuring out how to even motivate myself. Thankfully I have a loving God who gave me perseverance and an amazing husband to lift me up with encouragement.

In Romans 5:3-5 it says “More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.”.  Now I don’t know about you, but to me this means the fact I feel so defeated is exactly why I need to keep on persisting through this time of trial!

I don’t want to be one of those people who in the midst of a personal trial I give up because I would be admitting everything I have felt called to do and have done would be worthless. I know when God calls you to do something it indeed is worth more than rubies!

Whether or not you are a believer in Christ I know we all feel a strong pull to do something in our lives and it is easy for us to get derailed. We tend to feel small and alone in these times, and for me I tend to accomplish everything I need and more before even reconsidering taking a second look at what needs to happen in my life. I want to just stand here for you and for my future self to keep searching in these times of distress and demotivation. For every person rediscovering there passion and drive for something looks different so don’t do what you think is expected, do what you know works for you!

For me I tend to always spend my free time with people, I love deep conversation, getting to know others and experiencing deep emotional connections, but I have a hard time finding the time to be alone and reflect. I am realizing if I want to be there for you guys, I have to also stop and be there for myself.

If you are struggling in this area take some time for yourself whether it be alone time, time with family and friends, time spent researching, dancing, cooking, etc. Do something today to recharges and brings you energy and motivation! When you feel your best you create more, you love people more, you accomplish more and overall feel like a weight has been lifted from your shoulders!  

Now if words from my human brain didn’t encourage you here is some scripture I find inspiring!

·         Proverbs 12:25 “Anxiety in a man's heart weighs him down, but a good word makes him glad”

·         Romans 12:12 “Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer”

·         1 Thessalonians 5:11 “Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.”

·         Deuteronomy 31:6 “Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the Lord your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you.”

·         2 Timothy 1:7 “For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.”  

Thank you so much for stopping in and taking the time to share some love,

-Sonya

How to Enjoy the Small Victories

I don’t know about you guys, but when it comes to accomplishing goals I go 110%, up until about the half way point. For example, I started an eight week fitness program and the first four weeks were fantastic, but the last four have been a struggle. It’s not that my body can’t do it, but it’s my mind that tells me to stop. I haven’t seen or felt the drastic change so I try to tell myself it’s not working or I decide to neglect a workout because I convince myself I have too much to do. Of course this is all while I lay on the floor watching IG stories on how to make Halloween cakes…It is a good trait to think big, but when I don’t see the big change immediately I give up, thankfully I have my husband to keep me grounded when it comes to these things.

He constantly reminds me that in order to get where you want to be, your confidence is going to drop and spike and you have to push through. What you’re passionate about will drive you to learn more so you can overcome the down slopes and keep moving forward. And in order to see the big results I have to give it time, effort and consistency without letting the fear of failure or inability getting in the way.  

A big part of what gets in the way of doing these things is not recognizing all the little victories along the way. Think about having a clean house. You don’t just pull out the dust pan and brush, stand there for an hour and poof your house is clean. You have to individually approach each part of the house. When the floors are cleaned you move on to the windows, and from there the messy drawer, and so on.  You would not have a clean house with all the small victories of different areas of the house. It is the same for our lives, weather your looking to get healthy, change your habits, improve relationships, etc. It’s not going to happen overnight, but when you take time to appreciate the little victories you will come to see the value in what you are doing.

If you feel unmotivated to finish or even star working towards a goal, take some time to journal some of the little victories that have helped get you this far. You might be surprised at how many victories you have accomplished that have helped you reach that point.

After you write down your accomplishments take some time to make a list of small victories you would like to accomplish to help you work towards your goal. This will help you get excited and help you to see as you go along just how much ability to accomplish what you set your mind on! 

Give it a go and let me know what you guys think!

Thanks again for stopping by!

-Sonya Peacocke

How to Stop Emotional Eating

Emotional Eating

I don’t know about you guys, but when it comes to how I snack it all comes down to emotions. I say snack because eating three balanced meals a day is easy. I look forward to my smoothie breakfast, my salad for lunch and my hot meal for dinner. This is all good and well until I look in-between the lines, where I see the secret snacking and quick bites of food here and there. Then there is the “I AM SO STRESSED THAT I NEED THIS CHOCOLATE ANYTHING TO RELAX AT NIGHT”….Yeah so maybe that’s a bit dramatic, but maybe it’s not…?   

I find that I eat when I am disappointed or proud of myself, I eat when I am bored, when I feel happy or sad and for any other occasion in between. This is not to say that all is lost and I have no way of changing the way I eat. The real situation is that I have the power to change my habits and rituals, but that it takes time effort and a willingness to do what it takes despite how scary it feels.  

Eating in general is an extremely emotional experience that is often tied with memories and feeling of guilt, pleasure, pain, etc. This emotional experienced paired with a life that encourages mindless eating can wreak havoc on personal goals health wise. We don’t only have to deal with the emotional aspect, but that food is at the ready for us 24/7 and opens the opportunity to easily eat on the run  or while we are preoccupied. I don’t know about you, but the opportunity to sit for half hour to enjoy a meal is a rarity and the busy lives we lead don’t exactly encourage creating homemade nutrient dense meals.

The problem we face here is the loss of connection with food as well as with our emotions, we can however work towards improvement. Here is a good starting point to become a more intuitive eater in order to stop the emotional roller coaster of eating in-between.

·         Start a Journal.

Yes I understand you might have heard this before, and it is daunting thinking about tracking the food you consume, but let’s take a step back and look at this tool a little differently.

If you feel like it is too overwhelming, start out with journaling 2-4 days per week. With your journal entries don’t just focus on food, but focus mainly on how you were feeling, whether or not you were actually hungry, and in what setting you were eating in. If this is confusing here’s an example from my own personal journal.

“…Today I entered the kitchen tired and slightly dehydrated. It was an hour past when I normally ate lunch and had worked out that morning. I felt happy and confident from my accomplishments that day. Once I opened the fridge I grabbed ingredients for a salad and then proceeded to instead toast some bread and ate an egg sandwich, two slices of cheese and half of my salad. In between I snacked on random bits and pieces from the meal as well…”

This might seem like a lot of detail, but it helps you to determine the situation you put yourself in around food and how easy it was to go off track. I could have gone for lunch an hour early to prepare a well-rounded meal and focus more on taking the time to sit down and eat.

This tool helps your brain to connect the dots and realize when you are choosing to eat based on emotion or hunger.

Now Emotional eating is not something to be ashamed of or worth giving up over, it is a struggle that even though it is small, still causes harm. Instead of giving into the temptation of something familiar, work on becoming uncomfortable. Start a journal and make a plan to stop the bad habits and create new ones. The more you take the time to understand why you are turning to food the more power you have.

I don’t know about you, but I don’t want food to be my safety net, rather I want it to be a tool. A tool to help me stay healthy and active with my children and family. I want to put aside my obsession with food and instead God with worshiping him rather than food and allowing Him to have the control rather than passing it over to myself. I want a life that is simple and pleasing to God, where I don’t have the overwhelming focus of food to distract me from the life He has lead me to lead.  

This week I was reading in Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 and found it an encouragement to remember the importance of the process…

 “For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted; a time to kill and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; a time to weep and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; a time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; a time to tear down, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; a time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace.”

Hope you all have a lovely week! 

-Sonya