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 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

Did you know your body has more gut bacteria cells than human cells?  The emerging field in gut health has made huge strides in how we view our health and how we treat diseases.  A newsflash: everything you put in your mouth also feeds your gut flora.  Many autoimmune diseases live in the gut and the bacteria in our gut even have an effect on our neurotransmitters like serotonin.  90% of serotonin is produced in the gut- this has a tremendous impact on depression.  That means that our gut can dictate parts of our personality. So how do you make sure you have a healthy gut? Well, that's where Dr. Will Bulsiewicz comes in!  As he liked to be called, Dr B is an MD, a gastroenterologist and internationally recognized gut health expert He is passionate about the incredible healing power that lives inside you—your gut microbiota. Dr. B's medical training involved 16 years at America's elite institutions. He completed a bachelor’s degree from Vanderbilt University, a medical degree from Georgetown University, and Ma

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

If you're familiar with my podcast, I'm sure you've heard other episodes with the acclaimed researcher and environmental physiologist, Dr. Stephen Cheung.  Dr. Cheung is not only a well of knowledge on the topic of environmental physiology, but he is an avid cyclist himself.  He is a professor at Brock University in the Department of Kinesiology.  He also is an author of the textbook Advanced Environmental Physiology and the books: Cutting-Edge Cycling, and Cycling Science.  You may have heard him on the show in Episode 93 talking about how to heat train or Episode 114 on how to train for altitude.  He was on sabbatical from Brock University earlier this year in my hometown of Kelowna, BC and I was fortunate enough to pick his brain on all kinds of topics.  In his spare time, he is the Sports Science & Training editor for www.pezcyclingnews.com. I'm excited about this episode because it involves something we have all experienced- wanting to slow down while exercising.  There are several schools of thoug

Gary Dudney has ran 70 100 mile running races...and he is 66 years old.  His goal is to get to 100 100 milers.  Gary is the author of the 2 books: The Tao of Running and The Mindful Runner where he writes about using mindfulness to combat common problems when tackling a big event: thinks like quitting, staying positive, getting through the dark moments, expectations and acceptance, and how to view the bad things as good things. He is a long time columnist at Ultrarunning Magazine.  In this episode, we get into what it takes to have mental endurance.   Topics Discussed in the Podcast  how gary got into running progressing to 100 miles how he started writing how not to quit, how to get out of a quitting rut techniques to stay positive and keep going why mindfulness is a useful tool mantra: Infinite patience, steely determination 4 horsemen to positive thinking expectations & acceptance how to make bad things good story of 3 vinegar tasters Listen Now     Resources taoofrunning.com       Support the

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 random and awesome thing that happened in the grocery store. Listen Now   I was at the grocery store admiring all the summer produce.  As a side note, I counted and there are about 10 types of fruit in my fridge right now- one of the perks of summer. As I was lost in my own thoughts, a guy came up to me and said, "Hey...Sonya?"  It turns out he knew me from my racing and my online content.  I'm always super humbled when this happens, so thank you to the guy that said hi- you made my day.  He told me he was about to leave for Europe to take on a bikepacking race. He wanted to know if I had any advice for him.  I wanted to give him something that I thought would be useful, but I kind of froze for a minute because I was caught a bit off guard!  I loved it. The first thing that came to my mind is advice I've gi

A common question I get emailed to me is what I eat on race day.  Race nutrition is very individual - what works for one person may not work for another.  In this episode, I sat down with GU Energy LabsNutrition & Performance Research Manager, Roxanne Vogel  to help give you guys some guidelines on how to create your own personalized race nutrition plan.  This applies to any endurance sport.     Topics Discussed in the Podcast  The keys to structuring your race nutrition plan how many calories to start with per hour how long to digest gel vs solid food how to come back around when you make a nutrition mistake chews vs gels hydration strategies how to use caffeine in endurance racing what to eat and when on race morning what to eat after your workout for recovery do you need to carbo load? supplements to take and protein what to eat on a recovery day how to eat for weight loss/fasted rides Listen Now     Resources Ask the GURU  Roxanne's instagram Roxanne on Everest Support the Show If you would

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 our thoughts affect our emotions, and how it can alter the consequences of a situation. Listen Now I was prepping for a new format of a speech that I just had the opportunity to give at the Inspired Your Ride event in Nampa, ID.  I have my usual topics I love to discuss, but I came across the ABC Model in Cognitive Behavioral Psychology.  I often think about and discuss the importance of being aware of emotions.  It's hard sometimes... sometimes you feel disrespected and get angry, sometimes someone says something that makes you feel embarrassed.  And maybe you say or do something that you wish you hadn't. In this model, we are going to break down a situation into A,B,Cs. Let's start with A. A is the adversity that you are experiencing. It's something that happened to cause you stress, make you worry, or