The Sonya Looney Show

This is an episode of Crush It Mondays.  Each week, I’ll bring to you an inspiring message, habit, or contemplation to get your week off to a powerful start.  In this week’s episode, I want to talk about an interesting story and experience I had. Check out the previous episode about The Four Agreements. https://www.sonyalooney.com/the-four-agreements/ Give Back to the Show   Listen Now \    

You guys wrote to us with questions and we answered!  In fact, we had so many requests we recorded a 2-part series of your Plant-Based FAQs.  Excited to share with you and please reach out if you have any questions!  Topics Discussed in the Podcast  How often you should be eating Where to find recipes and meal planning Caloric Intake for Athletes How to stay motivated Change overnight or change gradually? How to make cooking easier Is Beyond Meat healthy? Difference between vegan and plant-based Can you get all essential amino acids plant-based? What about complete proteins? How to get enough protein without eating soy, gluten, or beans? What are phytates and are they bad? Vegan pregnancy Vegan preganancy notes: 1.8x more iron than non-vegetarians. Support the Show If you would like to support the growth of my show, I’d love your contribution on.  Patreon.  The current production of this free show is primarily supported out of my own pocket and a small portion is covered through the donations on Patreo

This is an episode of Crush It Mondays.  Each week, I’ll bring to you an inspiring message, habit, or contemplation to get your week off to a powerful start.  In this week’s episode, I want to talk about imposter syndrome. I'm sure most of you have heard this term before, but let's define it.  It's characterized by internally refusing to believe you are as good, accomplished, competent, or capable as others perceive you to be.  Basically, you feel like you're a fraud or that you just got lucky to get to be where you're at.  You won by accident or you were promoted by luck.  People with imposter syndrome tend to overwork themselves to ensure they are keeping up and have feelings of inferiority, even when others consider them experts.  What is dangerous about this way of thinking is that you are afraid to step off the hectic treadmill of hard work because you're afraid everything will fall apart.  People with imposter syndrome have a difficult time celebrating their success or accepting their achievements. If y

You guys wrote us with questions and we answered!  In fact, we had so many requests we recorded a 2-part series of your Plant-Based FAQs.  Excited to share with you and please reach out if you have any questions!  Topics Discussed in the Podcast  Quick stories of how we changed our diets How to lose weight How much protein do you need Sources of protein Is soy bad for you? What to eat on a bike ride How can it help autoimmune disorders Iron sources and how much iron you need how to absorb more iron overcoming social pressures of eating plant-based how eating plant-based helps your performance as an athlete List of some of the foods we mentioned: Protein Sources: -nuts & nut butters -blend soft or silken tofu into your smoothie hummus use soymilk instead of other milks All have 15g  of protein: w/iron, zinc, and folate 1 cup black beans, chickpeas, edamame, 3/4c lentils, ½c peanuts, 1/4c peanut butter, 1/2c tempeh, 1/3c tofu, 1/2c almonds, 6T pumpkin seeds (also high in leucine), 1/2c sunflower seeds,

This is an episode of Crush It Mondays.  Each week, I’ll bring to you an inspiring message, habit, or contemplation to get your week off to a powerful start.  In this week’s episode, I want to talk about will power. What is willpower?  It's another word for self-control.  How many times have you blamed lack of willpower for failing to change a habit?  Don't worry, it's natural and all of us do it.  There's a reason why x% of New Year's Resolutions fail and why it's so hard to make habits stick.  We say "I won't do this thing anymore" or "I will do this other thing every day." We stick to it for a while, and then the wheels fall off.  It's not that our intention isn't there- we truly want to do those things.  So why can't we stick to it? It turns out relying on willpower alone does not work.  The topic of willpower has been a focus of numerous scientific studies over the last several years.  Are there areas of the brain responsible for willpower?  Why do some people seem to have more willpower than others?  Ho

Alison Tetrick is a force to be reckoned with.  A cowgirl at heart (literally, she grew up riding horses on a cattle ranch), Alison's attitude, work ethic in all areas of her life, and commitment to excellence makes her stand out.  She has a very impressive list of accolades in cycling including a Bronze Medal at Road TTT World Champs, multiple Sea Otter wins, has raced the Giro de Rosa and more recently, has made a name for herself in the gravel world with 1 win and 2 podium finishes at Dirty Kanza.  Alison loves to ride her bike and it shows with the ultra-endurance gravel events!  Not only is Alison an incredible athlete (and need I mention she played NCAA tennis and won the first half ironman she entered), but she has quite the academic resume.   She has a BS in Biochemistry, a nutrition degree, and an MS in Clinical Psychology. But things haven't always been easy for Alison. In 2010, she suffered a traumatic crash in a road race, shattering her pelvis and incurring a severe Traumatic Brain Injury that le

Ryan Gottfredson, Ph.D. is a mental success coach and cutting-edge leadership consultant, author, trainer, and researcher. He helps improve organizations, leaders, teams, and employees by improving their mindsets and mindfulness. Ryan holds a Ph.D. in Organizational Behavior and Human Resources from Indiana University and is a leadership and management professor at the Mihaylo College of Business and Economics at California State University-Fullerton (CSUF). Dr. Gottfredson commonly asks, "what is the mindset that is important for success?"  Many people answer, "a positive mindset."  While a positive mindset is correct, it leaves little descriptive information or ways to improve.  He has identified 4 key elements of what creates a success mindset to help you as an individual and help how you and others work in a team or even in relationships.  We'll get into growth vs. fixed, open vs. closed, prevention vs promotion mindset, and outward vs inward mindset.  If you're curious where you fall on the spectrum, he

This is an episode of Crush It Mondays.  Each week, I’ll bring to you an inspiring message, habit, or contemplation to get your week off to a powerful start.  In this week’s episode, I want to talk about confidence and how it relates to self-acceptance. Be honest, how often do you beat yourself up?  Are you hard on yourself and critical?  While self-criticism can be productive (similar to receiving constructive criticism from someone), most of us overdo it and it becomes detrimental.  We reject ourselves. Psychology research says that one reason some individuals are more self-critical than others is due to how criticized they were by their parents. We actually have no self-regard before the age of 8, and if we were criticized a lot growing up then we tend to be more critical of ourselves as adults. While understanding your past and tendencies is important, I don't believe in blaming the past or blaming our parents because as adults, we are able to take responsibility for ourselves and have the power to work o

Cyclists aren't the only riders out there!  In fact, I was excited to receive an email from one of our fellow podcast listeners and it wasn't what I was expecting!  The email was from Professional Equestrian, Emily Hamel.  She sent me a photo of her wearing of the Moxy & Grit jerseys on her horse!  If you're not familiar with Moxy & Grit, it's my apparel brand and we still have jerseys and socks at moxyandgrit.com  I also learned she was a fellow vegan, that she loved sports psychology and mindset which was what brought her to listen to the show in the first place, and she is a badass!  She is a professional rider in 3 Day Eventing (basically a horse triathlon) and currently is the head rider for Phillip Dutton who has won 2 Olympic team golds and an individual bronze.  She goes over huge jumps with her horse and trains them herself. She also has her own podcast called The Whole Equestrian that is a wellness podcast for equestrians covering topics like mindset, fitness, nutrition, and community. I was

This is an episode of Crush It Mondays.  Each week, I’ll bring to you an inspiring message, habit, or contemplation to get your week off to a powerful start.  In this week’s episode, I want to talk about a book I love by Don Miguel Ruiz called The Four Agreements.  First off, I want to thank our podcast sponsor, Osea Malibu. Don Miguel tells us about ancient Toltec wisdom. 1. Be Impeccable with Your Word Do the things you say you are going to do and be thoughtful about how talk to and about people.  Your word and your integrity are the most valuable thing you have to offer.  This agreement also includes avoiding gossiping, lying, and making false promises.  Our words are incredibly powerful- not only the words we say to others, but the words we say to ourselves.  Saying bad things about people actually reflects poorly on you.  Your judgment of others is really a mirror of your own self-criticism. It feels gross to lie, gossip, or say negative things.  Negativity also spreads like wildfire, so how you talk ca

Elizabeth Benton is the author of her book, Chasing Cupcakes and coach for her company Primal Potential.  Her story is inspiring- she was depressed, deeply in debt, and obese. She would binge on junk food every time she put gas in her car, but was working as a nutrition expert.  She felt like a fraud and a failure. Desperate to start truly living her life, she decided to believe in her potential rather than her past. She lost 150 pounds and paid off $130,000. Today, Elizabeth is the owner of Primal Potential. Through her platform of podcasts, coaching, and live events, she has fueled her deepest struggles into a burning passion to help people create transformations and live more fulfilled lives. She believes that transformation is possible, and her actions show it!  This show is a lot about changing the way we talk to ourselves.  We talked about how she got out of her rut and pointed herself in a sustainable direction to achieve her goals.  There's a lot of inspiring messages in this podcast and I think you'

This is an episode of Crush It Mondays.  Each week, I’ll bring to you an inspiring message, habit, or contemplation to get your week off to a powerful start.  In this week’s episode, I want to talk about food guilt. When I started organizing my thoughts for this podcast, I thought it would be quick and easy.  Boy was I wrong!  I have my own thoughts on food guilt, but I like to do research and there are tons of articles out there on this subject.  The question I could not find the answer to is where food guilt comes from? How many of you have eaten something and felt guilty about it?  I thought that everyone has food guilt, but I realized that some people actually do not feel guilty about eating.  One of my biggest guilt triggers is around alcohol. I noticed that if I cut way back on drinking, then I don't feel guilty in the morning about it.  But if I'm drinking several times a week, my first thought in the morning is self-flagellation around drinking.  Another guilt-trigger for me is around eating things li

If you aren't familiar with the triathlon world, I'm excited to introduce you to our podcast guest, Mirinda "Rinny" Carfrae.  Rinny is pretty amazing. For starters, she is 3x Ironman World Champion and has been on the podium at 6/7 Ironman Worlds she has done!  She has also been World Champion at the half-ironman.  distance.  The Australian currently lives in Boulder, CO.  Standing at 5'3" tall, her first love in sports was actually basketball and she played for 11 years starting at the age of 7.  She was introduced to triathlon in college with running as her primary strength.  I think Rinny is inspiring for a number of reasons.  She is someone who thrives under pressure.  She has an incredible work ethic.  On top of her busy career, she took a short period of time off to have a baby and continued her career after her baby was born.  She said her short sabbatical was something she was ready for and the break from racing was a nice change of pace.  If you follow her on social media, you'll see is she back to k

This is an episode of Crush It Mondays.  Each week, I’ll bring to you an inspiring message, habit, or contemplation to get your week off to a powerful start.  In this week’s episode, I want to talk about the meaning of competition. It's normal to be intimidated by competition or your competitors.   Competition is a measuring stick for comparison on a given day.  Competition has many contexts; athletic, business, contests to inspire action, and even simply just competition for attention.  Competition and comparison can be positive, but it can also be a slippery slope because while it can have positive benefits, it can also harm your confidence and cause anxiety without the right outlook.  I'll use athletic competition as an example in this podcast because it's what we are most familiar with. All of us who have ever worn a timing chip, a number plate, or had our name on a team roster have felt the exhilaration, nerves, excitement, and even anxiety about our performance.  We look at start lists to see who else i

This is an interesting story of how a young girl was frustrated by a tumultuous relationship with her mother and learned about self-awareness and personal development through her father's advice.  The inputs we have while we are young always have an impression on our adult lives.  The young girl's father was her mentor, telling her that she will never change her mother, but she could change her own perspective.  He told his 14 year-old daughter,  "Whenever you feel upset and frustrated, remember that the only thing you can control is what you focus on and what you think about. See this as a opportunity to train and strengthen your mind."  The young girl's name is Mo Seetubim, and out of her frustrations, she learned how to be happier.  Initially, she was a blogger, writing about different emotional difficulties that come up in life and how to cope with them.  Blogging lead her down the entrepreneurial path where she started the journal - The Happiness Planner.  The Happiness Planner has grown into a company t

This is an episode of Crush It Mondays.  Each week, I’ll bring to you an inspiring message, habit, or contemplation to get your week off to a powerful start.  In this week’s episode, I want to talk about the currency you use to define your life. I think the majority of our listeners are pretty in-tune to what makes them happy, but a lot of people outside our bubble put their stock, self-worth, or value in how much money they make or the outward appearance of their lives via fancy cars, houses, watches, etc. I'm not saying there is anything wrong with having nice things or making a healthy income, but when you tie your self-worth to external things, it's not good in terms of long term happiness.  The currency/metric that I think we should be looking to enhance in our lives is not money, it's not achievements, it's not things, it's not race results... it's happiness.  Happiness and a sense of flourishing are what gives our lives value and meaning.  While that might sound obvious, it's easy to get stuck in the t

I'm excited about today's episode because I get to share a keynote speech I gave back in July at a new bike festival called Inspire Your Ride in Nampa, Idaho.  Public speaking is one of my favorite things to do.  Some people fear public speaking more than death, but for some reason, I really like it!  I love speaking because I feel more alive when I'm in front of an audience.  I feel the energy of the people listening and it gets me amped!  This speech is about how I got into mountain biking and the elements of high-performance living I attribute to feeling positive, having a strong mindset, being your healthiest self, and some tricks for dealing with stress.  This bike festival was put on by an amazing community building bike shop in Nampa called Rolling H Cycles. I hope you enjoy it.  Topics Discussed in the Podcast  my journey to cycling Mindset to get through the hardest challenges in life Growth vs Fixed Mindset Dr. Martin Selgiman- Explanatory Style ABCDE Model How to Meditate and creates space How

This is an episode of Crush It Mondays.  Each week, I’ll bring to you an inspiring message, habit, or contemplation to get your week off to a powerful start.  In this week’s episode, I want to talk about aging. I find it frustrating how our society strongly values youth.  I'm still relatively young in life- I turned 36 a few days ago, but I wouldn't go back to my 20s.  I value the things that I've learned, the person I've become, the experiences I've had - and I certainly would not trade that to have younger-looking skin or even for a longer runway in front of me. Now, I can understand that some people have a lot of regrets of how they've lived their life or maybe it just isn't what they had hoped for, so the younger days seem more attractive. I don't want to invalidate that.  Aging also means loss of loved ones over time, potential illness, and difficult changes in life that I haven't experienced yet. So I don't want to say aging is this glorious, amazing thing all the time. Last year, a good friend of mine

Inside Tracker is a company that uses bloodwork to assess biomarkers, blood analysis, athletic performance, and nutrition software to optimize fitness and longevity.  Founded in 2009, the Boston company first started working with professional athletes who wanted to see what their biomarkers, hormone and mineral profiles looked like during their training and how they could use nutrition and lifestyle to improve.  They measure over 30 biomarkers and recommend food and supplements to optimize thinks like your energy, cognition, endurance, heart health, and more. I started working with Inside Tracker in 2017.  I liked it because their ranges for your biomarkers change based on your goals. I also think it's important to have baseline and also recurrent bloodwork as you age and also simply as an athlete. Today I sat down with accomplished runner and sales manager, Jonathan Levitt from Inside Tracker. Get 15% off your tests with the Inside Tracker Discount Code: SONYALOONEYSHOW Topics Discussed in the Podcast  c

This is an episode of Crush It Mondays.  Each week, I’ll bring to you an inspiring message, habit, or contemplation to get your week off to a powerful start.  In this week’s episode, I want to talk about how changing just a few words can make a big difference with your perspective and attitude. How many times have you felt like you had to do something?  I have to go to work.  I have to take out the trash.  I have to do intervals today.  I have to take my kid to soccer practice.  Even if you don't always intend for it to be this task you are forced to do, saying I have to makes it sound like a chore. And let's face it, sometimes they are just chores and you would rather be doing something else.  Simply rephrasing how you talk about things you have to do, whether it be in your head or out loud, it makes a difference. So instead of saying you have to do something, trying saying you get to do something.  Saying I get to go to work, I get to take out the trash, I get to do intervals today, I get to take my kid to