Category: 2020

Posted in 2020, Chronic Illness Things, Health & Wellness!, hope2020, Lessen Anxiety & Depression, Mental Health, thoughts

Exercise Daily to Lessen Anxiety & Depression!

Posted on by Kenzie S

It’s time for post #3 of my series about lessening anxiety and depression! This post is all about exercise, and how to find the right type of exercise for your brain and body. I hope you enjoy!

why do I need to exercise?

Exercise is another thing that I think people either love or hate. But our bodies are made to move a LOT more than they usually do in a day. Less than 5% of adults have 30 minutes of exercise a day. 30 minutes of movement (movement to get your heart rate going) is what we are SUPPOSED to get. And kids are on screens 7 1/2 hours a DAY! That is wayyy too much screen time in my eyes.(not intention pun lol) And it is even harder to get active, because only 1 in 5 homes have a park or recreation center/gym within a half mile (click here for the statistics). These facts show that we are not getting enough movement, and the reasons why we don’t, make sense.

Not only does exercising strengthen your body, but is also helps your brain and emotions! This is a little explanation from WebMD:

When you exercise, your body releases chemicals called endorphins. These endorphins interact with the receptors in your brain that reduce your perception of pain. Endorphins also trigger a positive feeling in the body, similar to that of morphine.

WebMD

how do I change this cycle?

But when you exercise, find the best version of it for YOU. Some people love CrossFit, or gym equipment. Others like yoga or Zumba (aka dance exercise or dance cardio). Whatever gets you moving that you ENJOY, do that.

My fitness journey has been definitely long and crazy. My whole life I have had low muscle tone, and that means I had to ‘exercise’ as much as I could, but I fought my parents the whole way through. It wasn’t fun to me, and I didn’t understand how and why it could help me.

Finally this past year, I started to see how important it is. I did yoga through the Down Dog app for a while, when my pain was bad and I couldn’t do much at all. I usually did about 15 min of Hatha yoga in the morning that’s a little more strenuous and strength training. At the end of the day I did 10-15 min of the Restorative yoga, which is all on the floor and just mostly stretching, which keeps my muscles loose while I sleep. And for me, yoga is super calming and lessens my anxiety.

But after my bad flare in December, my muscles became so tight that yoga became kind of painful. And I needed something else to get my heart rate going, so I actually started doing PopSugar’s Dance Fitness exercises. I LOVE them! They’re so much fun and I get my heart rate up, which is something yoga doesn’t do as much.

I rotate between the 10 minute dance video and a couple of the different 30 minute videos. Here are the links!

If I’m doing the 10-minute dance video, something I am trying to do more is do a bodyweight exercise or walk around with 3-pound weights for about 7 minutes. It gets me moving even more, and is really strengthening my body.

And I know that lots of people with chronic illness & different kind of health issues can’t exercise much. And that’s okay! Even if it’s just walking around at home for five minutes or doing yoga or dance, just get MOVING! Learn your limits, and push yourself as much as you can, but don’t overdo. Find the perfect balance for your body!

I will be keeping y’all updated on my fitness and health journey over on my Insta!!! Go check it out here!

I’m so excited to see your reactions to this new post!!! Leave a comment about your health and wellness journey! Let’s change this world by being statistic-changers!

Love y’all!
Mackenzie 🥰💕

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Posted in 2020, Chronic Illness Things, Health & Wellness!, hope2020, Lessen Anxiety & Depression, Mental Health

Healthy Food to Battle Anxiety & Depression!

Posted on by Kenzie S

As I talked about in my previous post, I am doing a little series about battling anxiety and depression! It’s a real problem and I want to help you get through this rough time. So the first post on this series is all about having a healthy diet & eating healthy food!

diet…good or bad?

I know the word ‘diet’ can have a really bad connotation to it. And there are some diets that are not good for your body. We should truly stay away from UNhealthy diets. But all I mean by “diet” is that we need to eat food that is healthy and good for your body. Not all food that is healthy is good for YOU personally. For example, for most people can do certain grains like rice, or even regular potatoes. But for me, if I eat those things, I do NOT feel good, and it’s like eating more ‘junk food’ for me. Eating healthily is different for everyone. If you are eating things that are bad for your body, your brain will not be able to work near as well. Take time to find the best way to eat for your body and your lifestyle.

And if you have a day where you don’t eat the best, THAT’S OK! If you aren’t extremely allergic to the foods, you can have a grace day here and there. But just get back to it after that great grace day. 😊

And I know that there are many people with health issues in this community and cannot eat so-called healthy foods regularly. And that makes this post hard. But just do what is best for your body. Whatever happens to make you feel better, do that. And don’t feel guilty-that’s the worst for your body AND your brain.

Some resources I have used to eat healthier are:

I love this website! – the recipes are perfect for my body, and I know that the recipes will turn out well!

I also love this cookbook! Some of the recipes I can’t have, but she gives a lot of common sense information. Totally a must-have for homemade, healthy cooking!!!

Last but not least, my parents got me this recipe binder!!! I love to write the updates to some of the recipes that I make. I love how beautiful it is!!!

be okay with your life!

Whatever your life is like right now, make time to take care of your body. Food is so much more important than we ever think. And I really want to help y’all in this weird process. So, come follow me on Insta (@dayofsunshinediaries #shamelessplug 😂) and be encouraged by my food journey. I am really hoping to keep being authentic and true to y’all with all of this. My food journey is SO much different than the rest of y’alls stories, but I still want to encourage others.

Love y’all SO much!!!

Mackenzie ❤️

Posted in 2020, 2k19, Bible Thoughts, Chronic Illness Things, first post, Health & Wellness!, Mental Health, thoughts

How-To Guide to Lessen Anxiety & Depression!

Posted on by Kenzie S

It’s the winter months, and this is the time of year where anxiety and depression runs rampant in our minds and hearts. I think comparison is way up during this time of year and we can be so stressed by day to day life. I understand these feelings, because I deal with anxiety and depression off and on. It is a battle. We all fight it, even those who aren’t normally anxious or depressed. We all feel anxious sometimes. We also all can feel depressed. That is the real one of the two feelings I am writing about-no one ever wants to talk about. And since it hasn’t been an easy topic, it seems like no one deals with depression. But the truth is, many of us deal with depression. And, you know what? Depression in of itself is NOT okay, but don’t blame yourself. It is OKAY.

A couple years ago I was a part of a summer bible study that was going through some of the psalms (I’ll link the study book down below). One week we studied Psalms 42 & 43 which both talk a lot about depression. The leader of this study gave us these six things to do to help get out of the “depression slump” we can easily land in.

And even since then anxiety and depression have been increasing more and more. As much as I would love to think and talk over why this is, we have enough debates everywhere else in the world right now. We need to know practical steps to battle it instead of debating it. So, I am starting a 7 week blog series about 6 steps to battle anxiety and depression. I really hope it encourages you, whether you are yourself dealing with depression or anxiety, or know someone who is in the MIDDLE of this battle.

So, that’s all for this post! But stay tuned for the next six posts ’cause they are going to be PACKED with great things. So, come follow this blog either on the sidebar here ➡️ or scroll way on down below ⬇️. Love y’all so much!

Posted in 2020, 2k19, Chronic Illness Things, first post, hope2020, Mental Health, thoughts

Excited for the NEW Year!

Posted on by Kenzie S

Welcome to the new year! And the new decade. That is still SO crazy to say. 😂 But I just want to come on here and encourage you as you start your new year. I also wanted to recap some of what my 2019 was and talk more about my 2020 word of the year, as mentioned on my Instagram a few days ago. Let’s get into it!!!

renew 2019

My 2019 word was renew. This was actually my first year doing a word of the year. And It was really cool, when I actually remembered to think on it 😂. But this year was truly a year of renewal. It was hard, the hardest year of my life by far, but the biggest thing that I renewed this year was my passion and drive. At the beginning of this work I was lost, thrashing in a sea of doubt. But as I went through the year, I started to find my feet on a solid surface again-on God and His promises. I renewed my passion for Him this year and I am just SO excited to see when God takes me in this coming year.

December was HARD. My health was acting up so much (and still is!), and it was a pretty bad flare. But I believe it is serving a purpose-to make me lean more and more on Jesus and what He did for me on the cross. I learned so much about Him, and about myself this month. As hard as it was, it was a blessing. And it was a lesson that I needed. I know now that I had to go through that to see how strong I really can be with God with me 😍❤️

now…

2020’s word is all about trusting and waiting, knowing great things will happen, but going through the trials beforehand. This year’s word is…

hope!

Hope is my word for 2020. I know this year will be a year of ending a LONG waiting season. It is a year of finishing a transition season and moving into something so much greater that I can ever imagine. I am PUMPED for this year! 😁

I know it will still be hard, but I also believe and know that God is doing a good work in me. It’s like a puzzle or a painting. During the work of making a beautiful painting, there will be parts where it looks like a mess, and other times where it looks almost like it is almost finished, but something else will be added to DOUBLE or TRIPLE the beauty of it. That is what God is doing with our lives. He is painting a beautiful picture of our lives, and these beautiful pictures are just a DOT on His canvas of the whole time of the world.

It’s going to be an amazing year. And I am SO excited to be sharing my year with y’all. I love sharing what’s going on in my life on this blog and my Instagram. If you think someone could be encouraged by a post, go and share it! I just want to encourage others while I walk my own journey. I want to be with you as you go through the dark times that WILL happen. Let me know how I can pray for you! Prayer is one thing we always overlook but is the biggest thing we could ever do to help others. I pray for the people who read my content regularly and I so want to help you in ANY way I can. ❤️

So, what are some of your New Year’s Resolutions? Do you have a word of the year? Remember, whatever you do to prepare for 2020, that we will never be able to keep them perfectly. But that’s okay!!! Jesus gives us grace upon grace. Love yourself well by not feeling frustrated if you break a resolution. It does make a difference 😊❤️

Have a blessed New Years!

Mackenzie 🤗❤️