Five Things You Hate About Bloggers That I LOVE!

Tuesday, April 5, 2016

Ok, so we've all seen the articles out there about what bloggers or social media users do that drive people crazy. And we've all read articles about how bloggers make life look perfect and, in doing so, make other people feel inadequate. Well, I tend to have some opposing opinions, and not just because I'm a blogger and social media user myself, but because I see some inherent value in these habits.

Five Things You Hate About Bloggers That I Happen to Love:


Sharing what we're eating: I hear a lot of people grumble about how they don't care to see what other people are eating. Me, me! I do care! Maybe I'm an exception to the rule because I like eating clean, but when looking for healthy new meal ideas quickly, I need look no further than Instagram. More than once I've thought, "hey, I want to try that!" And I've actually tried many of them, or they've reminded me to dig out a recipe I may have forgotten about! Also, I am part of the Tone it Up community, and I love seeing what other people are cooking from their Nutrition Plan. The amazing meal pictures were one of the big reasons that I finally bought the nutrition plan in the first place!





Making things look perfect: Now, I like to see that other people's houses are messy too, not just mine. It makes me feel better. But, I do appreciate picture-perfect settings and easy-to-look-at images more. I myself am always striving to search out and share picture-quality moments, not just for others, but for myself. Reaching inside that mess to extract the beauty is what I'm all about!!!! It's like a gratitude journal in picture form! I already know and acknowledge that the world isn't all pretty and that no blogger has it completely together, so it is not difficult for me to appreciate the perfection inside the chaos. I appreciate paying more attention to the beautiful, rather than the hair-pulling scenarios. I fall into the negativity trap all too easily and can use all the help I can get to retrain my focus on precious moments.

Seeming to do projects just for content: While I don't condone only throwing parties to create blog content, I do appreciate being more intentional with our time, especially time with my kids. If I've figured out a genius activity to do on a rainy day, I love being able to share that with others and maybe inspire them to do the same. If I've set an intention to bring more Scripture into my son's life, I can easily come alongside that with blog posts, with my life encouraging and pushing my blog growth and vice versa. Plus, blogging is just another incentive to keep our homes clean and aesthetically pleasing, the way we'd really prefer it to be anyway.




Over-sharing/little privacy: now, we all love to see peeks into people's real lives. Some things are sacred, sure, but I am the type of person that appreciate other people's authenticity, openness and vulnerability. I like to know that we share the same worries, values, problems and imperfections. So I like when people share what's really going on. In fact, I dislike it when bloggers hold back and don't show readers much about their personality and you can sense that they're hiding something. I tend to seek out "about me" pages when I come across a new blog, and I want to know more about the faces behind the blog.

Sharing about pets and kids: I know a lot of people say "I really don't care about your dog or your special sparkle princess," but I am not one of those people. I love reading about other people's families. I learn more about my own family this way. For instance, I know exactly what our priorities are in my family, and after reading certain blogs, I am better able to reflect on how we implement those values and how we could handle different situations. Dogs and kids are not for everyone, sure. If it's not, just move along from the mommy/cat lady blogs. No need to muck up comments because it isn't your thing. Find your thing and leave your non-things to other people.


A photo posted by Jessica Collins (@boun_seejess) on



I LOVE blogging and I LOVE social media. I get tons of motivation from there (as long as I'm following the leaders, not the complainers). I LOVE connecting with people. I like knowing what's going on in the world. I like seeing other people going after their dreams or working hard because that fuels me. I like being able to having topics of conversation ready to talk to people about "hey how's the car? I saw on Facebook that you just got a convertible." I love learning new skills on Youtube. I just love love love social media. I even #love hashtags. They're little glimpses of people's personalities and what people are about. They're a way to be cheeky and share humor too. They're a way to find people with similar interests and form little communities. They're a way to learn about different types of people. They can even provide a platform for building a successful business. People use Facebook and social media in different ways and for different things, and that's ok. I just happen to be one of those people that enjoy and keep up with social trends.

Now bad grammar, vulgarity and mindless chatter, those I can do without!! :P

Hey, while we're talking about it, let's connect on social media! Just press the social media buttons on my sidebar to connect.

How Sugar, Hormones and Stress Mess with Weight Loss

Monday, April 4, 2016



Sometimes, there's more to the weight loss game than just diet and exercise.

I went to a very interesting Lunch N Learn at work last week about how sugar, hormones and cortisol affect weight loss. So, let's start with your typical weight loss equation. If you burn more calories than you take in, you lose weight. That's typical for almost everyone. Most people respond well if they eat less and exercise more.

But, if you're like me, you have a few more factors that affect that equation. My body doesn't respond that easily. And I've been thinking that every one of those factors mentioned in the title might be affecting my own personal weight loss. I've been working out 6 days a week, eating pretty darn clean, and seeing no progress. So, I had to start thinking outside the box of diet and exercise.


Reduced Diet Calories + Increased Exercise  Weight Loss

I do have issues with anxiety, so cortisol is something I'm exploring. Diabetes runs in my family, so I've been trying to eat more protein and fewer carbs, including sugar, at my doctor's advising. So, when my workplace offered this presentation on sugar, hormones and stress, it was 100% in line with what I wanted to dig into more. So, I signed up right away!

Our speaker had her own amazing weight loss story, having lost and kept off 70 lbs just in the past couple recent years, so she had some immediate proof in her own body. And I just really clicked with everything she said and have a lot of similar views as her.

Let me sum up the presentation for you:

1. Sugar is the root of all evil. Seriously.
2. Cortisol makes your body hold onto fat.
3. Hormones from sugar and stress create a vicious weight loss struggle.


So, we have these stressor in life, just general worry and real stressor too like deadlines, bills, and close calls. These stressor activates the sympathetic nervous system--fight or flight.

During this, the body is told to stop digesting, stop muscle building, and flood the body with glucose (suger). Then, glucose comes along thst needs insulin to clear it out, but cortisol blocks insulin. All the extra sugar floating around, that you didn't use to flee from a tiger, is stored as fat.

But then, to add insult to injury, leptin, the hormone that tells you when you're full, is blocked by insulin.


So, let me summarize: 

Cortisol blocks insulin and insulin blocks leptin.
So basically, sugar and stress cause fat to hang on like crazy!
 And the body is still over there telling you it's hungry, feed it quick, with sugar!



Sugar feeds disease in all different ways. It is evil.

So what do you do to combat this? Meditation, sugar elimination and a plant-based diet can have a profound impact on your life and weight! Guess what I'm adding to my diet and fitness regimen? A daily meditation practice, a kitchen sugar clean-out and a shopping trip to the produce and Steamer aisles. It seems so simple, but are you actually doing it? Can you do it better? Start there! That's where I'm starting.


As a side, our presenter is a certified eating psychology coach, which really intrigues me. Of course healthy eating and fitness have always been my passions, but I've also had lots of interest in the psychology behind it. I had an emphasis in psychology in college and just couldn't get enough of it. Check her out:



PSA, I've Been Published on Kind Over Matter!

Friday, April 1, 2016

Hey there, just thought I'd pop in and announce that some of my writing has been published over on Kind Over Matter. I'm super excited!!! KOM is a beautiful platform for "feel-good" reading. The articles are about self kindness and nice things, without getting too gooey. How's that for an elevator pitch? Ha!

Check out my article HERE.



The Love Drive