The holidays are here, and while it’s the season of joy, connection, and maybe a few too many late nights, it’s also the perfect time to start preparing for the 365 Easy Challenge kicking off in 2025. And let’s face it: sleep is the foundation for everything we’ll tackle together next year.
Did you know women are more likely to struggle with insomnia than men? It’s not just in your head—it’s science. Hormonal fluctuations (hello, PMS, pregnancy, and menopause) wreak havoc on your sleep cycles, making restful nights feel like a luxury you can’t afford to miss.
But here’s the real kicker: poor sleep doesn’t just leave you feeling groggy. It messes with your mood, metabolism, and even your muscles. Whether you’re juggling holiday chaos, prepping for a fresh start in January, or just trying to function, running on empty isn’t the answer. Let’s dig into why quality sleep is essential—and how to actually get it.
Why Sleep Matters More Than You Think
Inflammation & Immunity Sleep is your body’s built-in anti-inflammatory agent. Without it, inflammation skyrockets, leaving you vulnerable to chronic diseases and poor recovery from workouts or injuries.
Mental Clarity Brain fog isn’t just an inconvenience; it’s a sign your brain didn’t get its overnight “detox.” Sleep clears out waste products like amyloid plaques, which are linked to neurodegenerative diseases. Think of it as housekeeping for your mind—skip it, and you’re living in clutter. Braig fog + thyroid connection!
Hormonal Harmony From cortisol to melatonin to estrogen, sleep keeps your hormones in check. Messy sleep = messy hormones, which can mean mood swings, weight gain, and irregular cycles.
Circadian Rhythm & Beyond Your body runs on a 24-hour clock. Disrupting it—whether with late-night scrolling or inconsistent sleep times—throws everything off, including digestion, energy levels, and even hunger cues.
Sleep & Exercise: The Sneaky Saboteur
Think sleep doesn’t impact your workouts? Think again. Poor sleep leads to:
Slower reaction times (hello, clumsiness).
Increased injury risk (because you’re tired and uncoordinated).
Longer recovery times (muscles can’t repair without rest).
Heightened fatigue (making you feel like you’re dragging through every rep).
💡 Quick fix: Research shows a 45-minute afternoon nap can improve performance and lower perceived effort. Translation: naps aren’t lazy; they’re strategic.
Bedtime Hacks for Better Rest
Dim the Lights Block blue and green light from screens, lower the brightness, and dim the room 1–2 hours before bed.
Chill Out Literally—lower your bedroom temperature to around 65°F (18°C). Cooler temps signal your body it’s time to rest.
Silence & Darkness Total darkness (blackout curtains or a sleep mask) + white noise or earplugs = your best chance at uninterrupted rest. My favorite sleep track
Stick to a Schedule Consistency is key. Aim to go to bed and wake up at the same time—even on weekends.
Don’t Force It Wake up in the middle of the night? Get out of bed briefly to reset instead of tossing and turning.
Level Up Your Sleep with Bedtime Gummies
Let’s talk about a bedtime treat that actually works: Tart Cherry Gummies. Packed with melatonin and glycine, they’re a natural way to ease into deeper, more restful sleep.
Why Glycine Rocks:
Helps you fall asleep faster.
Improves sleep quality and efficiency.
Eases symptoms of insomnia.
Recipe:
1 cup tart cherry juice
1 cup water
4 tbsp beef gelatin
Maple syrup (to taste)
Bloom the gelatin in half the juice for 3–5 minutes.
Heat the remaining juice, then combine.
Pour into molds or a dish and refrigerate.
The Takeaway
Sleep isn’t a luxury—it’s a lifeline. From balancing your hormones to enhancing your brainpower, it impacts every aspect of your health. If you’re still treating it like an afterthought, it’s time to flip the script.
Now, tell me: what’s your biggest sleep struggle, and which hack are you going to try first? 💤
“Complementarian men only do well when they don’t act out hierarchy and put aside their beliefs.” John Gottman of the world-renowned Gottman Institute.
A big part of my deconstruction process was realizing the dangerous lies behind Nancy Pearcey’s book The Toxic War on Masculinity. Which was heavily promoted by David Wolcott, Alisa Childers, Alexa Clark & Frank Turek, who are often associated with right-wing fundamentalist Christianity. 🚩It was such a disappointment to find out that this book, touted as a high quality, scholarly work, was clearly just an opinion piece full of logical fallacies, misrepresentation of research data, and poor quality (non-peer reviewed) sources.
She said “There’s no need to debate complementarianism or egalitarianism when it comes to marriage” 𝔸𝕔𝕥𝕦𝕒𝕝𝕝𝕪 ℕ𝕒𝕟𝕔𝕪, 𝕎𝕖 𝔻𝕠!
Pearcey pulls findings from Gottman’s work, citing that in both egalitarian & hierarchical marriages “emotionally intelligent husbands have figured out the one big thing: how to convey honor and respect.” Thus, she claims, labels don’t matter.
However, she omits to mention the big finding Gottman uses to frame this entire chapter: Complementarian men only do well when they don’t act out hierarchy and put aside their beliefs. You can’t claim beliefs in complementarianism are irrelevant by quoting someone who found acting out those beliefs is disastrous.
This is only ONE of the major criticisms of the book pointing to the lack of empirical evidence to support the claims made in the book, particularly regarding the alleged “war on masculinity.”
🚨 We should consider the consequences of promoting ideological narratives without empirical support. 🚨
Other concerns but not limited to:
Oversimplification of Gender Issues: Critics argue that Pearcey’s book oversimplifies complex gender issues by framing them as a “war on masculinity.” They suggest that this framing perpetuates a binary view of gender and fails to adequately address the diverse experiences and identities of individuals across the gender spectrum.
Perpetuating Gender Stereotypes: Critics contend that Pearcey’s characterization of masculinity as under attack reinforces traditional gender stereotypes and norms, which may contribute to harmful social expectations and restricts the freedom of individuals to express their gender identity authentically.
Lack of Intersectionality: Some critics argue that Pearcey’s analysis lacks intersectionality, as it fails to consider how factors such as race, class, sexuality, and disability intersect with gender to shape individuals’ experiences and social realities. This omission may result in a limited understanding of the complexity of gender dynamics.
Ideological Bias: Some critics suggest that Pearcey’s perspective reflects a conservative or right-wing ideological bias, as she tends to frame gender issues within a traditional Christian worldview. This ideological framing may alienate readers with different religious or philosophical beliefs and limit the book’s appeal to a narrow audience.
Nancy claimed in the book and on a podcast interview that women’s suffrage was a net loss!!!! This is dominionism aka Christian Nationalism.
This is a whole ‘nother rabbit hole, connected to the TRAD wife movement/conservative resurgence… let’s get into it a bit….
Beginning in 1979, the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) experienced an intense struggle for control of the organization. Its initiators called it the conservative resurgence while its detractors labeled it the fundamentalist takeover. It was launched with the charge that the seminaries and denominational agencies were dominated by liberals. The movement was primarily aimed at reorienting the denomination away from a liberal trajectory.
This led to the Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood (CBMW) At a 1986 meeting of the Evangelical Theological Society (ETS), Wayne Grudem gave a speech on “Manhood and Womanhood in Biblical and Theological Perspectives” in which he invited delegates to join “a new organization dedicated to upholding both equality and differences between men and women in marriage and the church.”[11] This was followed by a meeting in Dallas with Grudem, John Piper etc.
A subsequent meeting was held in Danvers, Massachusetts; at this meeting, the Danvers Statement on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood was finalized. coining the term “complementarianism” in 1988.
This is connected to New Calvinism, also known as the Young, Restless, and Reformed Movement, is a movement within conservative Evangelicalism that reinterprets 16th century Calvinism under contemporary US values and ideologies.
The New Calvinism movement started in the 1980s, with the founding of the Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood in 1987 in the United States, which stresses the complementarianism between men and women (in contrast to egalitarianism, and as opposed to feminism). The teaching of covenant theology (as opposed to Wesleyanism, or Arminian theology), a rejection of dispensationalism, and a church governance by male elders are also hallmarks of the movement.
The movement gained wider publicity with a conference held in Louisville, Kentucky, in 2006, Together for the Gospel by American pastors John Piper, Mark Driscoll, John MacArthur, Matt Chandler, Al Mohler, Mark Dever and CJ Mahaney. In March 2009, Time magazine ranked it as one of the “10 Ideas Changing the World Right Now”, while questioning if “more Christians searching for security will submit their wills to the austerely demanding God of their country’s infancy”.
Dominion theology, also known as dominionism, is a group of Christian political ideologies that seek to institute a nation governed by Christians and based on their understandings of biblical law. Extents of rule and ways of acquiring governing authority are varied. For example, dominion theology can include theonomy but does not necessarily involve advocacy of adherence to the Mosaic Law as the basis of government. The label is primarily applied to groups of Christians in the United States.
For further reading: •The Bible vs Biblical womanhood by Philip Payne •Man and Woman, One in Christ: An Exegetical and Theological Study of Paul’s Letters by Philip Barton Payne •Terran Williams’ Book How God Sees Women •The Making of Biblical Womanhood How the Subjugation of Women became Gospel Truth by Beth Allison Barr •Marg Mowczko’s work
👇🏻Sources: Sheila Wray Gregoire and Joanna Sawatsky 👇🏻 👇🏻
The IFS report that showed that conservative highly religious men were far more likely to perpetrate intimate partner violence (p. 36):
MORE Resources: – Susan Ware, Why They Marched: Untold Stories of the Women Who Fought for the Right to Vote (Cambridge, MA: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press) – Anita Anand, Sophia: Princess, Suffragette, Revolutionary (New York: Bloomsbury) – Manuela Thurner, “’Better Citizens without the Ballot’: American AntiSuffrage Women and Their Rationale During the Progressive Era,” Journal of Women’s History 5:1 (Spring 1993), 33-60 – Hallie Rubenhold, The Five: The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper (New York: Mariner Books An Imprint of HarperCollins) – Martha S. Jones, Vanguard: How Black Women Broke Barriers, Won the Vote, and Insisted on Equality for All (New York: Basic Books)
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