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 Overcome Daily Obstacles

I don’t know about you guys, but when it comes to food the daily struggle is real. I stopped eating for about 8 months at the beginning of college and ended up lighter than I had been in middle school. I was extremely underweight and unhealthy. Thankfully I discovered food again and with some trial and error, I am now a pretty healthy person.

What people don’t see is the struggle that goes on in my mind and in my heart every day. I don’t walk past a mirror without checking to see if I “look skinny” and I don’t drink chocolate milk without thinking to myself I just messed up big time (Yes I’m drinking chocolate milk right now). This might not seem so bad, but these types of thoughts and habits are consistent and can leave me feeling like I am little to no value in this world. It sounds dramatic, but whatever your struggle may be, it is easy to get to a place like this.

For quite a long time I tried to work through this problem on my own which sparked my interest in health and wellness. I focused on changing my mindset, my diet, my sleep pattern and I relied on Instagram as a focal point to remind me what I wanted from this life with God as an afterthought.

Even as I began to progress and make positive changes I suffered in my attempt to become my own source of stability. Even with loves ones supporting me I realized you can’t stabilize your life all by yourself. This is not to say that people can’t heal and begin to do better with the help of other and a positive mindset. What I am saying is the only way to truly overcome these obstacles in life is to lean on the Lord Jesus Christ. Proverbs 3:5 says we should “Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.” and in 1 Peter 5:7 it says “Casting all anxieties on him, because he cares for you”…Did you see that last part there? He actually CARES for you.

We all face a daily struggle, and no matter how different they are each is extremely real and extremely difficult to overcome. I do not want to learn to live with mine, but I want to fight and change the way I think and feel every day so that I can focus on what is truly important. The only way I have experienced true relief from my burdens is when I am focused on God. He is the one who has brought me to a place where I can love myself, where I can take the voices of failure and replace them with rejoicing in the life he has blessed me with.

The next time you feel yourself in a situation where your daily struggle seems to become a heavier burden every day take a look into why you are feeling that way. Take a look at what you have been spending the most time on and what you have been prioritizing.

I know that for me it’s when life gets busy and there’s not enough time in the day for God. When I don’t read my bible when I don’t spend time in prayer or keep the burdens on my heart to myself. I struggle when I choose my own strength instead of looking to God for his help.

Thank you so much for stopping in and I can’t wait to talk to you guys again!

Thanks again!

-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

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