How To Live Better in 2023 With Sunny Amirpour

In the 11th episode of the podcast,  Lena sits down with Sunny Amirpour of "Positively Strong Living,"  Sunny shares great tips on how to live better in 2023, with topics including a healthy home, intentional living, and creating a productive lifestyle.

Sunny is a well-known blogger who has shared her wisdom on many topics through her blog and in-person workshops. In this podcast, she shares her insights on how to live better in 2023, including tips on a healthy home, intentional living, and creating a productive lifestyle.

📱CONNECT WITH SUNNY 
Her Blog ➡️ https://www.positivelystrong.com/
Her Workshops ➡️  https://www.positivelystrong.com/healthlylivingworkshops
Her Social ➡️ https://www.instagram.com/positivelystrongliving/

📱CONNECT WITH LENA ON SOCIAL
➡️  https://www.tiktok.com/@lenabasilone
➡️https://www.instagram.com/flippinggorgeous
www.flippinggorgeous.com

Transcript

00:00:00:15 - 00:00:23:09
Speaker 1
Three. Hello my flipping gorgeous friends. Welcome to another episode of the podcast. And today I'm excited for our guest. We have Sunny Amirpour with us. Sunny is a busy mom of two, a real estate investor, a DIY ear and a decorator. She also runs her own business, teaching others how to embrace wellness and health and every aspect of their lives.

00:00:23:19 - 00:00:39:17
Speaker 1
Then he holds a master's degree in health and communication and believes that striving for balance and good health, even when it comes to decor and DIY, can lead to a happier and more positive life. I'm really excited to have Sunny on the podcast with us today. Thank you for being here.

00:00:39:25 - 00:00:44:01
Speaker 2
Thank you for having me. Oh my gosh. So nice. Such an honor.

00:00:44:28 - 00:01:02:12
Speaker 1
Before we get into, I have to tell people the story of how we met. So I went to my first ever kind of like conference for home decor, blogging, social media, whatever. And I was late. I was late to something. I think I dropped my kids and I was just it was in L.A. and I said I was just going down there.

00:01:02:17 - 00:01:27:01
Speaker 1
I get to the back of the room. It's already started. So I'm at the very back of the room and there's this woman next to me and she has an infant. And I'm like, Wow. Good for her. She came to this conference infant in tow. I was like, That's amazing. That's incredible. And that that woman was sunny. But so we got to talking a little bit, and I just thought that was so great of you that you were like, you know what?

00:01:27:01 - 00:01:30:22
Speaker 1
I want to go to this. And I might have. How old was the baby at that time?

00:01:30:27 - 00:01:32:02
Speaker 2
It was five months old.

00:01:33:19 - 00:01:50:05
Speaker 1
Yeah, I might have a five month old and I've got to get on a plane and take him with me and attend the conference. But I just thought it was so great because you were like, I'm not going to let. I'm going to just take him with me and we're going to do this together and I'm nursing and I'm going to fit in these the back of the room and still learn.

00:01:50:27 - 00:01:53:00
Speaker 1
I just thought, Well.

00:01:53:13 - 00:02:14:07
Speaker 2
Let me speak about this. But I remember that moment exactly because you were so warm and you had no judgment and not the you know, the DIY space is great. There's no judgment. People are living every day working on their homes, doing their business with babies at home. But I think at a conference, they're not used to seeing a baby.

00:02:14:14 - 00:02:22:29
Speaker 2
And most people are like, ee, baby. And they started. But you were so warm and kind and you were immediately like, Yes, I will do, baby.

00:02:23:15 - 00:02:49:24
Speaker 1
And yeah, I thought it was great because I know that sometimes, you know, becoming a mom and wanting to pursue your own things is challenging. And there's certainly a time where you have to say, you know, maybe I can't do this right now. But at the same time, sometimes you're just like, you know what? I'm going to try to make it work and it might be a disaster, but I'm going to try and you're a second time mom.

00:02:49:24 - 00:02:58:28
Speaker 1
So I think that sometimes helps. I don't know if I would advise my mom. I would be kind of like, I'm mom. I'm maybe traveling with a five month old and trying to go to a conference. But.

00:02:59:15 - 00:03:23:12
Speaker 2
You know, that's the house of my first one for like six months, you know? Yeah, I got on a flight. I make friends on the flight. I will say that the the the thing about this one was I knew going in there, it wasn't going to be just easy. I think some people, you know, you have a baby and you think, well, I'm just going to jump right back into what I used to do before, but you can't.

00:03:23:12 - 00:03:40:10
Speaker 2
So I was really kind of knowing I was going to pick and choose which sessions I was going to go into, that I was going to stand at the back. Maybe if the baby cries, I was going to miss parts of the conference and I was going, Sorry, I echo again.

00:03:40:25 - 00:04:05:07
Speaker 1
That's okay. That's such a good point that you make. And I think I certainly, as a first time mom was really naive, thinking like, oh, I'm going to have this baby and I'm going to jump right back into things the way they were, because you kind of see people portray that on social media. And I just remember thinking, Oh, like it's fine, I'm going to go right back to work.

00:04:05:16 - 00:04:27:07
Speaker 1
You know, I was selling real estate and I remember like trying to make appointments and people looking at me like, okay, yeah, sure. I like, I didn't know or just I think giving yourself grace as a mom is sometimes one of the hardest things to do, to say, like, it's okay that things aren't going to be exactly the way they were.

00:04:27:16 - 00:04:40:01
Speaker 1
Right? Or maybe I can't do everything I want to do. That's such an important point that you made. How did you how did you get to that point? Because I think a lot of us struggle with it.

00:04:40:17 - 00:04:45:16
Speaker 2
Well, one, I waited five years before I had another child, so I feel like.

00:04:45:16 - 00:04:46:11
Speaker 1
I really I was.

00:04:46:11 - 00:05:07:05
Speaker 2
Seasons in terms of knowing that I had a difficult first child and difficult. I say that. But, you know, my first one through everything, I mean, she did not sleep. She did not behave the way you would expect as a first time mom, you're thinking, oh, I'm going to have this, like, perfectly behaved child. Now, you know, children like that.

00:05:07:05 - 00:05:40:28
Speaker 2
So I feel like with the second one, I was like, whatever comes, comes. And if I can even get 10 minutes of each session, that's 10 minutes I wouldn't have had otherwise. And I feel like sometimes people forget that you're the one either paying for the conference or you're going, And why do we let other people set the terms or what you're going to get out of these conferences or what you're going to get out of anything if you're the one paying, if you're the one going, if I'm going to have some trouble on it, obviously I'm not going to let my kid cry during a session and ruin it for somebody else.

00:05:40:28 - 00:05:57:26
Speaker 2
I'm going to step out and I'm going to chill and I'm going to have a coffee, go back in there. So I feel like having all those in my head just allowed me to take some deep breaths and go and know that at the end of the day, even if I get just a little bit from each session, then I'll be okay.

00:05:57:26 - 00:06:14:11
Speaker 2
And that actually reminds me of how I approach a lot of things in life because, you know, it's about saying of Master of none, Jack of all trades, master of none. And that's the thing for me. I'd rather be jack of all trades. I'd rather have a little bit of everything I'd like to know a little bit of everything.

00:06:14:21 - 00:06:33:10
Speaker 2
And then that way I can make just even more informed decisions and other things. And so everything I do, I try to live with that intention of, Well, I did my research. I'm trying to live to my best. I'm going to pull that time. So that's sort of where I approached it.

00:06:34:00 - 00:06:57:26
Speaker 1
And I will say, just being around you during that time, you had such a calm demeanor about you and like not fazed. I have to be out of here and like you said, going into something with that very intentional mindset of, hey, this is going to be okay if it goes this way, and if I get this out of it and not letting other people's judgment on what would be a successful trip for you or not come into play.

00:06:58:01 - 00:07:24:18
Speaker 1
And so, like you said, that mindset really does come through and a lot of things that you do. And if you follow Sunny's social media and go to her blog, you'll see that she gives you so many great ways to kind of incorporate this self-care awareness, intentional living into your life. She even teaches not conferences or conferences, workshops, which I were in the Chicago area.

00:07:24:18 - 00:07:48:07
Speaker 1
I would totally want to come to that that touches on this how to live more intentionally self-care, how to make your home a happier and healthy place. And I think going into this new year of 2023, a lot of us start this time of year with with wanting to reset. Yes, I know for me, like every year I'm like, okay, I want to declutter.

00:07:48:13 - 00:07:58:05
Speaker 1
I want to make my health just feel better. And even though I feel like I'm living healthy and intentionally, I feel like talking to you is going to make me realize I'm living well.

00:07:58:07 - 00:08:14:28
Speaker 2
And I think that's what I want people to take away from everything that we talk about when I teach the workshop is that there are so many things we could be doing that people sort of paralyze themselves. They get there and they get this like paralysis of, Well, I can't do everything, so I'm just not going to do any of it.

00:08:15:07 - 00:08:38:23
Speaker 2
And we know that to make any type of change or to do anything, you have to start taking small steps right. So how do you approach it when everyone's like, Well, you should be recycling, you should be eating healthy and organic, you should be. So I sort of have broken it down. And looking at the evidence, evidence based science tells you certain things work better than others and it can get confusing.

00:08:38:23 - 00:09:08:07
Speaker 2
So I just really distill it down to our lives. Make up. There are like six or seven different dimensions. So we've got to think about nutrition, so nourishing yourself. That's a way of self-care. You have to actually exercise. That's a form of health care. You have to reduce toxins. That's actually one way that science has told us is that you can preserve your health but also live healthier.

00:09:08:27 - 00:09:34:21
Speaker 2
And then there are other ways as well. I'm going to just focus on those three and I can I can touch upon the other six. But I do want I do want to touch on those three. So eating well, exercising and nurture and reducing toxins are all things that really depend on your home. I think people don't realize that it starts with your home environment and people are like, Well, exercising.

00:09:34:21 - 00:10:04:17
Speaker 2
I have to go to the gym for that. We also have to our homes more conducive to making it easy to walk and to, you know, get little bits of exercise in the corner maybe of our bedroom, you know, eating healthy. If my fridge or pantry is full of boxed foods and I can't access and remember what I'm buying, you're not going to be able to eat fresh seasonal foods and remember what's going to be healthy, what's not.

00:10:04:24 - 00:10:36:15
Speaker 2
And then in terms of reducing toxins, not knowing where to start with that is also going to hamper it's going to dampen your it's going to dampen your effort on how bad. So again, in workshops, I'll sort of break it down to science tells us that it's not that we have to become bodybuilders to be healthy. You just have to get half an hour of either walking or some sort of physical activity and some strength training to be able to do that.

00:10:36:23 - 00:10:59:21
Speaker 2
So one of the first things I started before I rushed into reducing toxins is like, okay, do I have a corner where I can do some life stretching? Can I go for a walk around my neighborhood? Can I, you know, take a nice long bath and relax and think about that physical aspect of how am I going to be in a mindset that I'm feeling like I'm getting movement?

00:11:00:09 - 00:11:22:18
Speaker 2
Then I moved on to nutrition, making sure that my fridge is always actually paired down. So my fridge is not one of those fridges where it's like stuck to the brim because I really think that I can see better. I'm a visual organizer. I can see what's where I get my staples. They're always washed, prepped or ready to go.

00:11:22:18 - 00:11:41:06
Speaker 2
And that way I can I can make healthy foods at least 80 to 80% of the day. So out of a week, I'm probably I'm probably making dinner and or making lunch or my husband is making lunch because I'm meal plan and we have a menu. And so it's it makes it easier to be able to do those things.

00:11:41:06 - 00:12:11:12
Speaker 2
And then for reduce the toxins, which is something that I really want to touch. And we can we can touch on certain points here, reducing toxins sort of came towards the end. So I was able to get all my ducks in a row and then be able to look at, okay, now that I'm making a choice, can I make a slightly healthier choice in terms of toxins if I'm going to do these things anyway or if I'm going to be introducing something new to the house, how can I make those better choices?

00:12:11:27 - 00:12:13:18
Speaker 2
And we can talk about that a little bit.

00:12:14:06 - 00:12:39:02
Speaker 1
Yeah. So like you're saying, all of these together might be very overwhelming for someone who's thinking like, okay, I want to live healthier in this new Year, so start small. Start that first step, which is your home environment and I like how you touched on. Just have a corner to stretch on, you know, go for a walk. Another thing that came up on another episode of the podcast we had on a former on and we talked about the importance of sleep.

00:12:39:15 - 00:12:40:26
Speaker 2
Yes, absolutely.

00:12:40:29 - 00:12:48:26
Speaker 1
Sleep. Making sure that your bedrooms are conducive to sleeping and that you're getting enough sleep because that's really where it all starts.

00:12:49:05 - 00:12:59:19
Speaker 2
That it's dark and it's cool. And we do not have a TV in our bedroom because when you go to the bedroom, it should be for sleep or something else like that, right?

00:12:59:19 - 00:13:32:15
Speaker 1
So now we either but the phones are a struggle and we talked about the importance of trying to get phone out of the bedroom just so you have that time to unwind and not, you know, always be so connected with your home. I struggle with the fridge. I will tell you this, I'm embarrassed half the time. If you opened my refrigerator or not, I mean, some things might fall out at you, but more because I'm so guilty of buying stuff or getting in there and then not using it.

00:13:32:15 - 00:13:38:05
Speaker 2
Then it guilt of food waste as well. So other element of Yeah.

00:13:38:16 - 00:14:02:10
Speaker 1
So give me my like okay, if I'm just going to start on this, I feel like I have I've tried especially in this past year to get in a better routine of household stuff, to just make sure that I'm staying on top of like dishes and laundry and things getting put away. I will say the refrigerator is a struggle, so maybe I need to pick like a day of the week that is clean out and organize.

00:14:02:23 - 00:14:07:28
Speaker 1
How would you like if someone just wants to start there? If we just want to start on top of our refrigerator?

00:14:08:09 - 00:14:32:10
Speaker 2
Yeah. One thing I do is I circuit so I do work one on one with clients and one way of doing that is getting you into the mindset that you don't need everything being that to be marketed to you. So other foods that we're buying, we're buying because we see a really nice package on it, or we see an ad and it says, you know, like this is healthier for you.

00:14:32:10 - 00:14:46:07
Speaker 2
You're going to need this. You buy it. And half the time you don't even like it or you have a couple of bites and then it's stuck there. You buy another one. So first things first is paring down what I buy to making sure it's like real fruit produce I'm going to use on a day to day basis.

00:14:46:17 - 00:15:11:21
Speaker 2
And that starts with having a meal plan. And actually on my website, you can you can download a meal planner where it's basically you're looking at a a week's worth of it's like a grid and you're looking in your meals. You start with what's for breakfast, with for lunch, what's for dinner, and then snacks in between. List all those out and do not buy anything other than what's on your list that week.

00:15:11:24 - 00:15:40:15
Speaker 2
And slowly you eat through what you eat. But when you go shopping, do not buy anything other than what's on your list. And that's something that people save for budgeting. But it's also you have to think of the space in your fridge as your budgeting space. So you want to be able to not introduce new items and store that you're only buying the vegetables and fruits that you're going to be cooking with.

00:15:41:14 - 00:16:02:27
Speaker 2
That being said, people are like, Well, what about all the boxes of things I buy personally? My pantry has very few box items as well, so that's something that I would work on. One on one is not buying anything made in a plant. You want to eat plants, not making things that are not not buying things that are out of a box.

00:16:02:27 - 00:16:21:01
Speaker 2
And that takes a lifestyle change, that takes that slow system. So if you are looking at your fridge and I'm like looking at mine because I live in an open concept house and I can see my fridge from here and, you know, fruits, fruits, I do not put it in the fridge. That's one thing I don't know a lot of people do.

00:16:21:01 - 00:16:38:28
Speaker 2
But fruits I buy weekly and I don't put them on the fridge. They're on a counter and a fruit bowl and I eat that all the time. That's what we eat for snacks for dessert. And so that's something that doesn't need to go into your fridge. A lot of produce doesn't need to be in your fridge either. Like tomatoes.

00:16:38:28 - 00:17:03:08
Speaker 2
And, you know, there are different things. So if I were to look at my shopping week to week, I buy like mountains of fruit and produce, but they don't make it into my fridge. My fridge is where dairy is held and my fridge is where leftovers and in glass, where then there and even condiments. We usually make a lot of things from scratch.

00:17:03:08 - 00:17:23:17
Speaker 2
That takes time. So now that you're going to be starting 2023, what you want to do is really approach meal planning. So before you even get into your fridge and you start like taking stuff out or trying to organize it, plan your meals, know what's going in them. And for some people are like, well, I can't me meal plan because I change my mind all the time.

00:17:24:04 - 00:17:41:23
Speaker 2
It just takes small steps and in our in my meal plans I usually get 2 to 3 days of like, okay, I'm going to have something brought in or take out or I'm going to be grabbing something. So those are the ways that I would approach it. Meal plan, See what items you're always eating, what you're not eating.

00:17:42:03 - 00:17:53:21
Speaker 2
And then you can, of course, you know, introduce a condiment here and there or like introduce things that you wouldn't normally eat, but that's going to let you declutter if that makes you.

00:17:53:21 - 00:18:09:21
Speaker 1
Like you said, simple. Some like get it down to a little bit of a basic. Don't get that correct. I know I'm even guilty of going to the I do a lot of online grocery shopping. I know some people are like, I have to pick my own produce, but I've had to just decide a trade off time versus doing it.

00:18:09:21 - 00:18:30:28
Speaker 1
And sometimes I get stuff that's disappointing, but it's it's saved me an hour of shopping. But I find when I order things online, it eliminates me buying a lot of excess versus going inside the store. And then I'm like, Oh, well, let me just throw that in. So that is something that I want to sell right now. For the person listening to this, me also who is like, This is great.

00:18:31:04 - 00:18:45:14
Speaker 1
I want to do this. My husband keeps buying sugary so cereal for the children. How do you get your family on board with kind of making these changes slowly right now? Somebody like that?

00:18:46:03 - 00:19:13:00
Speaker 2
I will say my husband and my daughter have sweet tooth, sweet, sweet tooth. And so, you know, for a while it came to getting my husband to switch to the best quality chocolate he could buy. And that really limits your sauce. And so he's not going to the store anymore and buying all like the Twix and things he sees.

00:19:13:11 - 00:19:41:21
Speaker 2
He is like looking for really good quality chocolate and I feel like the hunt has him now. I'm going to be looking and people are like, Well, I don't have the money to buy high quality chocolate, but you know what? We don't either. It's not that we're choosing, but it's that instead of buying 100 crappy chocolates, he's now picking one or two really well-made chocolate.

00:19:41:21 - 00:20:02:11
Speaker 2
That's like fair trade. And for him now, it's a hunt of like, where can I find that chocolate for cereals? My daughter likes cereal, but, you know, she this morning she got up, she poured some Cheerios because she's no longer like, I just don't buy sugary cereal anymore. But she's like pouring, you know, organic honey on there and just pouring her milk in there.

00:20:02:11 - 00:20:23:04
Speaker 2
And she's five and she just doesn't know any different because that's the only thing we have in the house now. It's like honey and Cheerios and still eat other cereals. And and I'm not against sugar. I actually don't think you need to eliminate that 100%. We do buy a sugary cereal once in a while. Like you said, I don't really take her grocery shopping.

00:20:23:04 - 00:20:49:17
Speaker 2
We do things online, so I don't have to have her. Seeing all the food marketing. And food marketing is actually a a spot that sort of like hurts me because when I was in grad school, my focus was on food marketing, especially to children, and that being a cause and a route for the of childhood obesity is a lot of food marketing.

00:20:49:17 - 00:21:11:21
Speaker 2
So what we do at my house is we don't go through those aisles. I order online and the sugary cereals that she gets, she knows it's a treat if she wants it. Once in a while. Once in a while it's a sometimes food and everyday food. She usually has to make a few steps from scratch. So pouring honey for her is from scratch and being able to do that.

00:21:11:24 - 00:21:38:19
Speaker 2
So I know it's hard to get everybody on board, but as the person, if you are the one making the decision to buy groceries and introducing healthy items is what you want to start with versus eliminating all the bad things. So I introduce healthy things. My children get used to the healthy things, and then slowly I can eliminate the not so healthy things, if that makes sense.

00:21:38:19 - 00:21:56:21
Speaker 1
Now, I think that's a great approach because when you start out like a very restrictive, it's going to make you feel like you're losing something versus slowly introducing it. I really changed the way I eat. About five years ago, I started no, no more than that because my oldest just turned eight. So it was right after he was born almost eight years ago.

00:21:57:02 - 00:22:01:06
Speaker 1
And it did start with that, eliminating what came in boxes.

00:22:01:09 - 00:22:01:20
Speaker 2
Yes.

00:22:02:07 - 00:22:08:29
Speaker 1
Slowly starting by the five ingredient rule. If I had more than five ingredients in it, I wasn't going to eat it.

00:22:09:06 - 00:22:09:20
Speaker 2
Yes.

00:22:10:02 - 00:22:20:21
Speaker 1
So that kind of pared it down to like, okay, well, that eliminates some stuff, but it's not everything. And then eventually to where it just got kind of out of eating things that come in boxes and bags.

00:22:20:29 - 00:22:43:24
Speaker 2
That's exactly it. And it took time. Right? So I feel like sometimes people realize that it's a it's a big world of like out there. So there are so many things called food products. They're not actually food because they come in boxes that have way more and more ingredients than we should be consuming. And so being cognizant of that is going to be your first step.

00:22:44:02 - 00:23:26:26
Speaker 2
And when people say, well, I'm healthy, what does that mean? You can have sugar that's not unhealthy. And like you said, restriction that can that can throw you into binge eating, that can throw you into actually hindering your progress. So making those small changes of introducing real whole foods, real fruits, real vegetables, real honey, being able to you know, when my husband wants chocolate, he now is looking for real chocolate when it absorbs, well, fair trade and has more chocolate content because he realizes if he's eating dark chocolate, he's probably going to have a little bit less than if he's just eating chocolate bars that I think people don't realize that a lot of chocolate

00:23:26:26 - 00:23:51:13
Speaker 2
bars have very little actual chocolate in them. So there are there are lots of steps that we can take. The other thing but you know what? I'm personally very anti diet so the whole and I say this because I used to compete in karate and I think if you check out my YouTube you'll see karate videos more because that's what I was originally doing.

00:23:51:13 - 00:24:25:06
Speaker 2
I was creating karate videos and martial arts videos and that's just a secondary component of things that I was doing for my own personal growth and development. And so I had to be on the weight level. And I think when you eat because you're so worried about weight, you lose that. You lose the prospect of nourishing yourself. So when you are creating menus, don't look at it as like healthy because it's it's tied to weight gain That's that's not healthy in itself.

00:24:25:13 - 00:24:53:13
Speaker 2
You should be eating to truly nourish yourself with minerals and vitamins and making sure that you are happy and healthy. And if I'm not getting enough iron, I can be down and I can not feel as good. So just when I make meal plans as well, I really look at incorporating enough carbs, enough fats and enough enough protein so that it is a healthy.

00:24:53:13 - 00:25:29:08
Speaker 2
Yeah. And there are there is there is there are portions of like proportions of what is healthier, what is not. You want to have a certain component of protein, carbs and fats in every meal. So those things take step by step. But making sure that you're not eliminating Whole Foods because you heard that it's healthier to not eat dairy or healthier to not have sugar, introduce the health things and those other things will slowly you'll slowly develop a palate for that.

00:25:29:08 - 00:25:38:03
Speaker 2
So many people are actually malnutrition, even though so many things out of boxes. But they're malnutrition because those foods don't have actual nutrients.

00:25:39:00 - 00:26:07:13
Speaker 1
So starting now, I think that's a good overview of, okay, if you want to get that second aspect of having an overall healthier home, healthier life, making sure that you're eating real foods, slowly introducing them, trying to get everybody else on board. It's interesting that you did karate for a long time. Martial arts. Do you think that had an effect or is that kind of where you started to begin to learn about, like living with intentionality?

00:26:07:13 - 00:26:22:00
Speaker 1
Because that's obviously a big theme throughout kind of karate and that world like, you know, is the mentality, the mental space, intentionality, respect, those types of things. Do you feel like that had an and an effect on you.

00:26:22:09 - 00:26:50:21
Speaker 2
Actually in both positive and negative ways? I think negative I'm definitely way more positive. Negative in the sense that I did find myself having perfectionism tendencies. And in karate, one of the things that they would tell you is that, well, you have to do this properly and perfectly because 99% means you have a 1% chance of getting cut by a sword right.

00:26:50:21 - 00:27:22:11
Speaker 2
Or nicked by or getting hit. Or if you don't move out of the way 100%, you're going to get punched in the face. So that perfectionist mentality I found I was trying to incorporate in everything. But the older you get, you become wiser and you realize that perfectionism isn't going to your peace of mind is not going to you're not going to be able to solve every worst case scenario yourself, and you're not going to be able to sit, watch TV and breathe sometimes.

00:27:22:18 - 00:27:50:07
Speaker 2
Right. And you're so focused on like eliminating I was eliminating sugar to make my weight category, how many things that I was doing. So stepping back and understanding that I'm glad I grew up exercising because that's something that I feel like becomes habit and building habits. Is that key to doing anything in life? Anything you do is building your habit of doing it.

00:27:50:27 - 00:28:25:15
Speaker 2
So yes, yes, it taught me habits and other things in other ways, but it also allowed me to sort of look inside and say, what's serving me well? Is it so good to have a habit of, you know, reading every single meal and is there sugar in there? Now I've come to the point of sugar. Well, there are certain proportions of foods that you need and there are going to be certain things that are out of your control you're going to have to deal with.

00:28:25:21 - 00:28:33:03
Speaker 2
Sorry, I've moved my hand off my cameras now, making you all sick like the Blair Witch Project and my aging myself. No.

00:28:33:16 - 00:28:35:29
Speaker 1
No. I also saw that in middle school.

00:28:36:26 - 00:28:37:06
Speaker 2
Right?

00:28:37:24 - 00:29:09:08
Speaker 1
Yeah. No, I think what you said about all of that is really important to incorporate, because when you're trying to do something new, if you're trying to do it with this perfection, this mentality, you're going to fail very quickly. And I think sometimes I've been guilty of doing that is I want to take something on and I don't give myself any of that grace or any of that wiggle room if I don't do something new that I said I was going to do perfectly off the bat, then you're just kind of setting yourself up to fail and just say, Forget I can't do it.

00:29:09:08 - 00:29:31:27
Speaker 1
So just making those small little, like you said, the small things to create the new habit. And even going back to the very beginning of our conversation where you were like, I know this trip with a baby is not going to be perfect. Perfect. We're going to go ahead and give myself some of that grace and allow myself to just enjoy what I can enjoy and not focus on what's not going right.

00:29:32:11 - 00:29:53:09
Speaker 2
Right. And you're right about the idea of judgment. Like it's not going to look perfect sometimes people are so worried about how it's going to look to others and how it's going to look in the overall. But you have no control of how someone judges you, how someone's going to perceive you. People are going to judge no matter what anyway.

00:29:53:22 - 00:30:24:05
Speaker 2
So you doing 1% at something they're not doing to set you ahead? You know, one person sets yourself ahead for something you weren't doing yesterday. And so just really approaching even and recycling, people are like, well, you know, no one recycles anymore because things go in there and they don't get recycled. I'd rather recycle, I'd rather use some things and just have that intention of I hope it's going somewhere.

00:30:24:05 - 00:30:37:09
Speaker 2
Good news in it, come out of this and then hope that little by little I'm living more environmentally friendly life. Little more little. I'm reducing toxins in my day today.

00:30:38:00 - 00:31:02:24
Speaker 1
So that that transition as well and to your home, this is somewhere that I probably could improve on. And I think a lot of us could improve on. And you take it even one step further. I mean, and people could deep dive into your social media and your blog if they want to know more about this aspect. But you've taken the wellness even into how you construct your homes or renovate a home and picking those materials.

00:31:02:24 - 00:31:33:09
Speaker 1
Now, that's not everyone's issue. And but if they find themselves getting ready to renovate something or build a home, they can go in and use you as a source On choosing some materials that are going to be less toxic, more friendly. But let's just talk to like the everyday stuff. Yeah, I want to start having what are the number one things that people don't realize that are in their home that are are causing them to be unwell or need to be eliminated.

00:31:33:09 - 00:31:35:08
Speaker 1
And I'm sure I'm so guilty of all of them.

00:31:35:08 - 00:31:59:07
Speaker 2
I am not going to be popular, especially around Christmas time. But candles can be the number one toxic thing you could be bringing into your house if your candle is not 100% pure beeswax and unscented, it is most likely a toxic shitstorm that's coming.

00:31:59:07 - 00:32:09:27
Speaker 1
This is disappointing. I love my candles. I love my smelly candles. So. But that's so interesting. I want to have thought of that. Is that just what they're burning and what they're giving off?

00:32:10:06 - 00:32:37:02
Speaker 2
Yeah. So, you know, you pick up a candle and it will say 100% soy blend, 100% soy blend mean nothing. I'm 100% soy. Okay, You're burning soy. It's still not great for the indoor environment, but soy blend usually means that it's blended with some sort of petrochemical. And so you're burning plastic in your house and there's nowhere for that plastic to go, essentially.

00:32:37:02 - 00:33:02:12
Speaker 2
And you're like, taking that in. And we know now research has shown that plastics in general, petrochemicals, those are not good for you. They can be endocrine disruptors so they can cause cancers and they can cause all kinds of hormone issues. So candles and then they're scented on top of that to hide that petrochemical whole scent. Usually they'll add sense and fragrance.

00:33:02:12 - 00:33:30:05
Speaker 2
The general terms fragrance is an umbrella term for like 100 different chemicals that you're going to be bringing in. So if you're really into that experience of a candle, I buy it 100%. What I, I like the smell of beeswax, and so I'll usually just fine with that. But some people don't like the smell of beeswax, so you can use essential oils and I'm not one of those essential oil people.

00:33:30:05 - 00:34:02:02
Speaker 2
Like, I'm not like, Oh, they're going to solve all your problems. But once in a while I do like a scent of an essential oil lavender has shown science has shown that lavender is actually very calming, and it can put you in that peaceful mood that a candle can bring about for a lot of people. So 100% beeswax and unscented, preferably, but if you're going to go scented, go for an essential oil, a high quality essential oil that's not blended with other petrochemicals.

00:34:02:22 - 00:34:03:02
Speaker 2
Yeah.

00:34:03:24 - 00:34:27:19
Speaker 1
Oh man. That's the first part. Oh no, it's it's good because these are the things again that so many of us aren't even aware of could be harming us. We just think, Oh, this is so lovely. I have this beautiful, you know, very smelly candle burning. And you're saying you're not even aware that it's putting off some of these toxins that then where, you know, ingesting.

00:34:28:01 - 00:34:49:25
Speaker 1
So again, it's just like anything new, it's going to be harder to adjust. But just being conscious now of maybe that's not the best thing to be burning in your home. Get a potential oil diffuser for the smell in the beeswax. Candles. All right. So candles going on to the next thing that people will be looking at and evaluating in their home and maybe replacing.

00:34:50:05 - 00:35:18:10
Speaker 2
And so for me, usually I'll let people know that any any plastic item so far. So we don't introduce plastic items in our home. So it's become a conscious decision now that if I'm going to buy anything, it's going to be glass, stainless steel. And so when when you're looking at Tupperware, Tupperware, it's really hard. People want to freeze things.

00:35:19:08 - 00:35:39:07
Speaker 2
So I don't I don't make an absolute like 100% no plastics, but children, toys, you know, children's mature furniture, materials. They should not be preferably they should not be plastic. And you know how hard that is around Christmas time. My own family is like, what kind of plastic item can I get? Well.

00:35:40:01 - 00:35:54:18
Speaker 1
You don't want to come to my basement and see Hot Wheels City like that? You know, I don't think I don't think I'm winning. Final word of Hot Wheels City, so I'm just going to have to to look at that.

00:35:55:24 - 00:36:14:19
Speaker 2
Right. And that's something we have to for our health something to draw the line of. So for me, if somebody is gifting my child something plastic or she has been like begging for it and grandma is going to buy that, take a deep breath and I'm going to control what I can control. And that's when we go to the store.

00:36:14:19 - 00:36:50:25
Speaker 2
She knows Mommy's not buying plastic toy X, Y, Z. Okay, So there are or, you know, when she's writing her Christmas, she's she knows she's only getting one thing that's going to be maybe plastic based. And so toys is one thing. But also people buy children's furniture and it's all it's all plastic, either like plastic or the, you know, furniture that's made with wood MDF like wood.

00:36:50:25 - 00:37:27:24
Speaker 2
That stuff has a lot of either plastic fillers or it will actually have a lot of glues that are petroleum based. So those give off as so buying when you're buying furniture, look for real wood. And that usually means maybe buying, maybe buying a used piece of furniture that's really, really cool. Or I want to tell you, rugs, rugs are usually plastic unless or they're plastic backed unless they are like 100% wool, handmade hand knotted, vegetable dyed.

00:37:28:07 - 00:37:58:10
Speaker 2
So when you're looking to buy rugs, look at if it has a plastic backing or if it's made with polyester or some sort of plastic by product, you want to stick to hand. Knotted vintage rugs are great and you can buy them. You can buy those. And so you're not getting all of those plastic velvets. Obviously, there are volatile organic compounds, so you're not getting those fumes and things in your house.

00:37:58:10 - 00:38:16:11
Speaker 2
It takes nine months for like a plastic back rug to stop giving off of boxes. So in the first place, unless you're leaving it somewhere for nine months now, bringing into the house what you want to do is in the first place, does it look for non plastic based items to bring into your house, especially.

00:38:17:11 - 00:38:39:09
Speaker 1
I think starting off, if you're like me and this is a little overwhelming, I'm going to start with Tupperware. I'm going to start with getting rid of the plastic. I've actually started doing this slowly is replacing things with like the glass containers for storage and things like that. So I think that's an easy and an economical place for people to start.

00:38:39:09 - 00:38:43:15
Speaker 1
So just start there and not only move your way up.

00:38:43:29 - 00:38:54:22
Speaker 2
To the bay, not having to open a closet and have them rushing at you. Right. And all that Tupperware is just such actually a relaxing element of that whole decision.

00:38:55:13 - 00:39:04:24
Speaker 1
Now, it's funny because when I first asked you what what we need to eliminate, what we might not realize is is hurting us, I thought the first thing you were going to say was cleaning products.

00:39:06:17 - 00:39:34:14
Speaker 2
Cleaning products? Yes. Now I say that because I mean, I say candles is because that's something people just have all the time and they're not thinking about the air quality. So air quality is definitely, definitely number one. I have an air purifier pretty much like in every room. People love plants and they think plants are a great way to purify room.

00:39:34:14 - 00:39:59:23
Speaker 2
Science is a little bit iffy on that. It's not enough plants. You have to be living in like a little jungle to be able to to use plants as air purification. But and then, you know, and then they go and they burn a candle, and it makes that air quality even worse. But cleaning products, usually I have a workshop that we just focus on cleaning products.

00:39:59:23 - 00:40:21:02
Speaker 2
And that's because even cleaning products in a container of can give off fumes. So that's that's also bad for your air quality. And then of course, as you're spraying it, people are getting it in their hands or getting in their eyes. The fumes are your breathing. Melvin. You want to know my cleaning products, what I use like on every surface?

00:40:21:02 - 00:40:30:21
Speaker 1
Yes. I was just going to ask you, tell us, what is the best like multipurpose cleaner that we see? Go ahead and maybe switch to water.

00:40:31:05 - 00:41:00:28
Speaker 2
Vinegar, water and vinegar. 5050. That's usually the best. It's great for windows. Doesn't leave streaks, it's great for floors. Doesn't mean streaks on the floors. It can be a little bit strong. So water is great if you're looking for a multipurpose cleaner that's going to look for the bathroom to like eliminate mold, I will sometimes put in some dishwashing soap and usually I try to buy dishwashing liquid.

00:41:00:28 - 00:41:28:28
Speaker 2
At least that's like the least environmentally hazardous. I'll buy a very good quality dish soap, because dish soap usually comes off nice and clean. It should not be scented because of scents or again, anything that's a fragrance. And you'll find this in your personal care products as well. You'll find something around. It's got all these chemicals and then it will say fragrance and people think it will fragrance.

00:41:28:28 - 00:42:01:18
Speaker 2
But fragrance is an umbrella term. That's another 100 ingredients in fragrance people don't realize. So even even in personal care, the average person, when they get up and then they go to work in the morning, they put on about they've they've put on about 100 different products, not just ingredients and chemicals, but 100 different products. And I think about your shampoo, your conditioner, your moisturizer, your deodorant, your hand soap, your lip balm.

00:42:01:25 - 00:42:55:02
Speaker 2
You're you know, you've got lotion and it's mascara. All of those things have all of these different sense and fragrances. And then, of course, their own chemicals that they make up. So, yes, cleaning products, personal care products, glass in change for plastics, candles, getting rid of those air purifiers in your home, that's important as well. And then furniture, getting your furniture secondhand is very is a very great step, not just because older furniture is is less likely to have some sort of chemical or plastic byproduct, but also because you're buying maybe something fairly new, maybe it was made in the past two years, but you bought it secondhand.

00:42:55:14 - 00:43:10:29
Speaker 2
It had time to evolve. Those outside of your house and you haven't had to take those off season because, like I said, it takes about nine months for furniture to give off those fumes and for rugs to to dissipate. The fumes to dissipate.

00:43:11:17 - 00:43:34:06
Speaker 1
Yeah. I mean, even somebody like me who I consider myself a healthy and, you know, conscious person, person realizes how many of these areas I've yet to address when it comes to these things. I've started slowly. And I think one of the easiest places to start with your cleaning products or a laundry detergent or something that is starting with fragrance free.

00:43:34:15 - 00:43:41:24
Speaker 1
Yeah, absolutely. Start there, like you said, start there. And then that slowly eliminates things naturally off the bat.

00:43:42:02 - 00:43:43:15
Speaker 2
Yes, absolutely.

00:43:43:24 - 00:43:55:18
Speaker 1
You're going to have So even there I mean, I feel like we could just go. So deep into all of the different things, which is why your workshops are so great. Do you do any of them virtually? Are they only in person?

00:43:55:24 - 00:44:21:05
Speaker 2
Actually, I do do them virtually even. I work with libraries within the Chicagoland area, even though some things are virtual and they do open them to everyone. And those are nice because as you know, I get paid by the libraries and they are those, those particular ones are free. So that's really nice. But I do I do have workshops that are going to be in the works for 2023.

00:44:21:18 - 00:44:52:25
Speaker 2
And recently I put out a little poll just asking what would be most important for people and do want to know how to eliminate toxins from their homes. So I'd like to offer more of those workshops. Something that I offer in January is a vision workshop, and the vision board actually ties in because for myself, it was in my vision board many years ago that I wanted to live a more environmentally friendly, toxin free life.

00:44:53:15 - 00:45:12:07
Speaker 2
And so I've been able to introduce that slowly and to be able to take small steps. We're now five years later, from my vision board, I've been able to eliminate almost 80%, and that includes in my own personal care products. And that that can be really difficult to do for a lot of people. They're used to washing their hair a certain way.

00:45:12:07 - 00:45:38:08
Speaker 2
They're used to a certain deodorant. So making those switches can be hard. And so I really try to offer workshops that are going to touch every aspect from the first decision of, okay, am I going to this different lifestyle to, okay, now I'm ready for this. Now let's now let's learn how we can reduce toxins in deodorants. And I do have a workshop on personal care products as well.

00:45:39:10 - 00:46:01:09
Speaker 1
Yeah, like that. There's so many aspects of our lives that you really aren't even aware of. Kind of white toxins are in there. And I believe for 2023, you want to become more conscious of this and work slowly. So I'm going to go through all my Tupperware right now. I'm also going to kind of take a look at my personal care products that I'm using.

00:46:02:08 - 00:46:13:17
Speaker 1
Where can everybody find you to get more information to sign up for one of your workshops? What is the best place to say hello to you and get all things positively strong living.

00:46:14:03 - 00:46:46:04
Speaker 2
Well, they can sort of possibly strong e-com with my website, but I'm also on Instagram at Positively Strong Living and then I'm on I'm on YouTube very recently where I am hopefully going to be providing small tidbits and shorts just on this information. But please start at my website Strong dot com and I hope for 2023 that all of my workshops will start to go into my workshop tab.

00:46:47:10 - 00:46:59:26
Speaker 2
Excuse me, I'm losing my voice here. I'm having such a good time speaking with you. But I realize that normally in the morning I'm doing way more. This is so nice to actually speak to you and thank you.

00:47:00:04 - 00:47:24:00
Speaker 1
Well, like I said, I feel like we could go into a lot of these individual like topics to start. Like, start with your home and start with your actual, like exercise self-care that space, then your food, then your home. I mean, each one of those are a deep dive in itself. So we'll have to have you back on and maybe go into each of those individually because there's a lot to unpack there.

00:47:24:00 - 00:47:48:16
Speaker 1
But in the meantime, everyone go to her website, her socials, her YouTube to start, you know, just kind of slowly taking on which new habit. I love that she has the vision board. I'm also trying to I've kind of use vision board, but really trying to get better about making good ones. And I like how that goes, incorporates all different aspects of your life from your home, your family, your money, all those things.

00:47:48:16 - 00:47:58:16
Speaker 1
So definitely check those out on her website. Thank you so much, Sunny, for being here with us today and sharing some of your knowledge and insight and just helping us live healthier and happier lives.

00:47:58:26 - 00:48:11:08
Speaker 2
Oh, my gosh. It's been my pleasure. Thank you so much for having me. And yeah, I look forward to structuring, you know, a mini workshop in one of these podcasts with you. That'll be so nice.

00:48:11:21 - 00:48:21:04
Speaker 1
That would be great. Okay, everyone will. We'll catch you next time. And in the meantime, no one's told you you are flipping gorgeous.