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

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

How To Eat Healthy During the Holidays // 4th of July

Staying on track during a Holiday// 4th Of July

I don’t know about you but holidays are my absolute favorite, not only because of the party but because it’s a time to fill your life with people and food you love! The sad part about it is that for several years I found myself miserable when it came to big events because the food would cause so much stress. I have always ether gone to the extreme of avoiding everything except the veggie platter or to the opposite end of the spectrum where I eat everything including the food I don’t want. Seems crazy, I know, but this was the reality.

As you guys might now I started the Candida cleanse again about three weeks ago in June, fully aware that 4th of July was right around the corner. 4th of July is bigger than Christmas here in Florida, so there’s a lot of opportunity to fall into my old habits, but I wanted this 4th of July to be different. I didn’t want to feel regret or like I missed out on anything while also being content.

I decided for the sake of breaking the cycle I would approach things differently. I would chose my absolute favorite healthy foods and treat myself to them in moderation, I would try to stay hydrated and allow myself a little wiggle room to enjoy some things that were not allowed on the candida cleanse, but wouldn’t cause any turmoil. Instead of choosing healthy options that stuck strictly to the diet I would eat things than bent the rules. The catch was that in bending the rules I would be content to stop there. I wouldn’t feel the urge to go overboard or be too controlling and overall I think I achieved just that.

Here is a little recap to show you what I decided to eat and avoid, but more importantly the MINDSET that I kept through the whole day.  

·         Coffee was a go for the morning and I paired it with Gluten Free toast. One slice with egg, bacon smashed avocado and the other with homemade sunflower butter and cacao nibs.

·         Lunch was a frozen banana smoothie bowl

-          Banana

-          Sunflower Butter

-          Chocolate Protein

-          Ice

-          Almond Milk

·         Snacks consisted of several cucumbers and carrot sticks as well as fruit such as watermelon and blueberries. I also had a few things like Gluten Free pretzels and homemade cookie dough bites that were not candida approved, but helped me to avoid eating chips and other foods that would have bothered my stomach.

·         While everyone sipped on beer and mixed drinks I stuck to fancy water, aka a splash of Pomegranate Bai with water and cucumbers. I also enjoyed a Hard Kombucha and La Croix sparkling water.

·         Dinner was nether here, nor there I had a few different small meals after lunch but they were mainly salads and then pulled chicken as well.

Overall the say was a success both with food and with family and I look forward to taking what I have learned and applying it to every future gathering!

Happy 4th of July! I hope you guys had a great one!

Hot to Eat Healthy While Traveling

Traveling
Recently I jetted off to Cali for a fantastic getaway with my sisters, the trip in itself was wonderful but one thing I struggled with was my digestion. I attempted to eat healthy the whole time, but found that some of the key habits in my day to day life I didn’t uphold and that made all the difference.

My first mistake was not drinking enough water. I lost my water bottle due to an attempt at going through security with it filled with water (whoops). Since I didn’t have my water bottle I didn’t drink half as much as I needed.

I also am a big fan of coffee but don’t drink it that often, but of course this was vacation so I decided to enjoy a few cups a day. Now some people drink it to help their uh…digestion, but let me tell you I did nothing but throw things off. That being said I enjoyed every 1st 2nd & 3rd coffee run of the day because it was quality time with my sisters, and something that I would have regretted to miss out on.  

Besides the lack of water and increase of coffee I found that I began to eat a lot more things I normally avoid. Things like corn, processed sugar, soy, coffee, etc. these foods can be okay for some people, but for people with extremely sensitive tummies such as myself, they can really wreak havoc.

Overall it took me about a week to not feel like my stomach was going crazy and to recover from the jet lag. This trip was a tester for myself as I have another upcoming trip where I will be traveling for much longer and in a place where all the food is completely different (any guesses?).

My plan for keeping everything good is to first stick to SIMPLE foods a few days before traveling and afterwards. Things that I know are simple and good for me such as probiotic rich foods, steamed vegetables, low amounts of sugar etc.

I will also be investing in another water bottle that is easy to carry around and MAKE SURE not to lose it…Along with this I will try to keep focused on drinking more as it is easy to forget while traveling.

On the plane I will attempt to fast for the length of the flight. Flying in itself can mess with your digestive system, and to add in the complimentary “roast beef” dinner just doesn’t equal a good time.  

This has all been a type of experiment and though it wasn’t that much fun dealing with the aftermath, I am excited to put what I have learned to the test and update you after the next attempt at traveling!

Until next time,

Sonya

How to Balance a Social Life & Healthy Eating

I don’t know about you guys, but for me I have had a hard time balancing a social life and healthy eating. Back in the days where I was counting calories I would simply order seltzer water and lime because it was free and low calorie! A win-win for sure, or so I thought. Now don’t get me wrong, seltzer water and lime tastes great, but not ideal for a meal replacement which is exactly what I was using it for.

After ending my days of calorie counting I found myself overloading on all the food that I wasn’t able to have beforehand and grew accustomed to over eating. This led to a different reason to be stressed, because I couldn’t stop myself from eating until I was almost sick. This meant that the whole time leading up to eating and afterwards I would be consumed with the thoughts of food rather than enjoying the time spent with the people I love.  

After a few years of trial and error I have come to a point where I have a better understanding of how much I need to eat and how I should be eating. I know that I’m not facing my last real meal for a few days, or that I am eating a food I have put in the “don’t touch” category. I can stop at one plate of food, but I also feel free to go for seconds without guilt. I know now that if my friends want to go out for a treat I won’t shut them down. I am okay if there’s nothing on the menu for me because I will plan ahead with snacks and order a seltzer with lime because it’s delicious.  

This being said, I still have many struggles when it comes to food, but because I have put my faith in God he has strengthened me to keep moving forward. Lately I have been reading a devotional created by Cambria Joy and two verses have really captured my attention. In Matthew 11:28 it says “come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” and Philippians 4:6-7, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.”

Even though I still fight it, I have decided to let God be in control of my life. It has taken quite a bit of time, effort, and tears, but through it all God has been my strength.

If you find yourself stuck in an unhealthy mindset when it comes to food, take it to the Lord and read through Philippians 4:4-13. Search the bible for encouragement and pray for strength, it is only through God and his grace that you will find complete healing!

Now go enjoy an evening out at a restaurant with friends or a date night in with your favorite treats and I will do the same!

Sincerely,

Sonya