How to Avoid Burnout / 2019 Goals

I don’t know about you, but January was one heck of a month. I keep seeing all these memes of people saying how January felt like the whole year and figured I would talk about it a little bit with you.

When it comes to the New Year there are a lot of positive vibes flowing the first week. Things like people starting over with a clean slate, forming new habits, working towards a big project, etc. and then life happens. Your apartment floods, you get sick, you realize you forgot to pay a bill and now you have to pay a fine. These types of thing happen whether or not you have a plan to reorganize and revamp your day to day life. We end up idealizing what our year will look like and by February feel disappointed we weren’t’ able to put life together in four weeks.

The new-year cycle is far too familiar with us filling January with possibilities and February filling us with disappointment. When we start to feel disappointed instead think about November and December. The months where we get the opportunity to take a look back on the year and express our gratefulness for everything. We take time to reflect on the good and bad, to see the changes in our personal lives and get excited because in just a few weeks we get a whole new 12 months!

I don’t know about you but I want to feel like every month, week, or day is a new opportunity to achieve something great! I want to acknowledge the fact of each day is a gift from God and we can accomplish anything because God has given us the chance. It says in Lamentations 3:22-23 “The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.”

Instead of focusing this month on what stopped you from achieving goals and filling your days with regret for how you might have spent your time, rejoice in the time God has given you! Each day we wake up, each day we have a chance and as long as you wake up these chances never end. They last all day, all week, all year, and all you have to do is decide what attitude you are going to greet your day with.

Start with a grateful heart and an optimistic attitude and before you know it every day will feel like January first.

Psalm 118:24 “This is the day that the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.”

Thanks again for stopping by,

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 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

Healthy Tips of the Week

I don’t know about you guys but I have my fair share of struggles when it comes to eating in a way that helps my body thrive. Thankfully I have some wins in there as well and since this is a page where you guys can come to find encouragement and helpful tips I figured why not dive into some of the ways I am working to better myself and work through my struggles.

SO here we go, a little look into the day to day life of someone looking to improve and facing the #strugglebus just like you!

First of all let’s check out a positive change

·         Sipping vs. Gulping

Recently I have become aware of the fact that even though I drink enough water its usually because I guzzle down half or even all of my 32oz tumbler of water after not touching it for hours. This makes me feel bloated and sick to my stomach like I just ate a whole thanksgiving spread. It’s one of those aha moments where you think that even though you’re getting a bad result from a habit, you’re still technically doing what you’re supposed to do. In this situation it’s getting enough water, but in reality flooding your system isn’t much better than getting less than what you’re supposed to.

In order to stop the bad habit I am working on consuming as much water as needed, but through sipping my water throughout the entirety of the day. This helps your body absorb what it needs without the constant urge to pee everything out…   

For me I haven’t done anything too fancy to change the habit except for make myself accountable by telling you guys about it here. Since accountability is how I work this for me is perfect, but if you’re looking for something more tangible think about getting a water bottle with ounce markers to tell you how much you have been drinking. Soma fancy ones have time slots as well to help you along your way!

Here’s a negative shift

·         Sugar vs too much Sugar

Okay, so my body is extremely sensitive to things like sugar, caffeine, medicine, smells, etc. My mom was an angel as the smell of bug spray made me burst into tears, sugar made me a crazed hyper thing and medicine usually made me feel like crap.

It only makes sense that in my older age of 23 that nothing has changed except for the fact that I can control myself a little better. That being said I have recently lost the will to keep my sugar & caffeine addiction at bay, especially late at night. 

One of my problems is that I have filled the house with more sugary treats than low sugar treats. For example I have had a healthy supply vegan chocolate, fudgsicle, ice cream and cake…yeah not a good environment for the one who does not have much will power. SO this week I am making sure to have on have treats on hand that are filled with nutrients, low in sugar, and still super tasty!  

Here’s a sneaky recipe for one of my favorite treats that fit the criteria!

Sugar free Vegan Chocolate Parfait 

Ingredients

·         1 serving coconut or almond milk yogurt. 

·         1Tbsp. cocoa powder

·         ½ tsp. unrefined stevia powder 

·         ¼ cup frozen raspberries

·         1tbsp. chia seeds 

·         Pinch of salt

·         Gluten free granola (find the recipe here! https://www.sonyasopencupboard.com/recipes-1/3/4/2018/5-ingredient-gluten-free-granola)

Mix everything together in a mason jar for that authentic hipster look and top it off with my 5 ingredient gluten free granola if you really want to get fancy.  

So without further adu here’s to a week of sipping water and keeping the sugar at bay!  

Thanks for reading!

-Sonya Peacocke

How to Stop Feeling Overwhelmed

I don’t know about you guys, but lately I have been feeling a little bit overwhelmed. Maybe it’s the summer coming to a somber end where events wrap up and we look forward to bringing routines back into play. To me this is almost like a January 2.0 where you’re trying to wrap up from the holidays and realize you have a million and one things to accomplish. Silly things and big things that have somehow been neglected, but now stare you down as they wait to be accomplished. For me this includes paperwork, folding laundry (instead of leaving it in a big pile on the floor…), planning out meals, blog posts, etc.  

Thankfully we go through this seasons like this fairly often so we have to learn more each time, right? This season I have learned a few important things that I felt I should share even though you guys are probably way ahead of me on the productivity train…Even so here are my tips and tricks for working through times in life where things are crazy and all you want to do is get things back on track!  

1)      Set Obtainable Goals

To start out, an important part of getting back on track with life is to set yourself up for success. This means set goals, but don’t set them so high that they are impossible to accomplish, leading to a disheartening feeling that it can’t be done.   

For example I tell myself the whole house needs a deep clean on a Sunday, while also wanting to workout, finish a blog post and spend time with my family. This is OBVIOUSLY too much work, but honestly I have attempted this goal before, and yes I have failed…SO don’t set yourself up for failure, but set yourself up for success!

This leads to my next few tips.

2)      Start Small

So when I decided that I needed to set more obtainable goals I still felt overwhelmed by everything that needed to be accomplished. Instead of freaking out (which I started to do), I took a step back and just focused on the little things. I cleaned my hairbrush, which is no big deal, but seeing that clean and neat helped me to feel accomplish and get a little taste of satisfaction that comes along with order and cleanliness. 

After this small thing I moved on to cleaning the dishes, making the bed, etc. and before I knew it the house was clean enough that I didn’t feel overwhelmed and I could move on to my next task with ease.

3)      Show Yourself Some Grace  

I have a really hard time with this one, as I never take the time to appreciate the work I have accomplished and move on to the overwhelming feeling that I need to do more. If I find myself in this situation I again take a step back and take a good look at what I have done.

If you have a hard time doing this I suggest taking a break in between tasks to do something calming such as going for a walk, listening to happy music, having a conversation with a loved one. This helps to put your day into perspective as well as break your tasks up so that you actually can see the progress you have made! 

4)      Be Patient

Your life will not be organized overnight and that you’re going to have to be patient. What helped me is knowing how many weeks left of school I had. Because I knew when my time would free up more after school I allowed myself to do what I could within the minimal amount of time I had without giving up my sanity. This helped me to minimize stress help me stayed focused on the task at hand. 

Overall these tips and tricks have helped me to manage stress and be encouraged seeing that I can accomplish more than I thought I could with more grace than ever thought possible!

I hope that you guys enjoy this post, and that is will help you enjoy whatever season in life you are in, no matter how busy!   

Until next time!

-Sonya