MADE IN THE GYM, MAINTAINED IN THE KITCHEN

It does not matter how much I exercise, if I do not put healthy foods in my body, I will not be healthy.  It is really that simple.  Outside of my workouts, I maintain my body mostly with healthy food intake.  An hour of exercise at least five days per week is sufficient for me, and allows for great recovery and rest for my body.  How I feed my body is the maintenance work that takes place all day long, until I hit the sheets for sleep.  Even then, it is important to eat healthy food that promotes sleep as well. 

Yes, I build my body in the gym and prior to that ensure that my body is ready to go with the proper fuel to get me through my workout.  I purposely create a space on my client calendar where I am the client for a workout.  I give myself one hour of bodywork time and that is enough.  If my hunger bell rings just before my scheduled time, I will slam an apple or a few pieces of watermelon, and if over the top hunger hits, there is no way I am missing what my body is telling me…GO EAT.  It happens sometimes and I will not allow my metabolism to be thrown out of whack over one workout.   Most of the time though, a small piece of fruit and water will allow me to push forward and I fuel directly after my workout.  I have become quite the strategic eater and workout gal with my career as a personal trainer and coach.  

The maintenance work is always on call and important for a healthy body.  Like I shared earlier, there is no amount of exercise that will create a healthy body without the healthy food.  Some get caught up in a vicious exercise punishment cycle of I got to work that “shit” off or starvation mode the following day.  That creates a negative thought process about working out instead of looking at it as a gift for the body.  Before any backlash, I need to clarify that exercise is great and important for the body even if unhealthy food is being eaten, so please do not think I am saying not to exercise if your nutrition is not dialed in yet. The human body was made to be active and move, not remain stagnant and sedentary for hours on end.  So any steps taken to create a healthy body with exercise are POSITIVE steps. I understand that beginning and adapting a healthy lifestyle can be a struggle in the food department and if exercise is the first thing on the agenda to incorporate…that is great. 

What I am saying, and I will use my personal life as an example, is that my body is at its’ healthy best when I am simultaneously eating healthy and exercising consistently.  It is a LIFESTYLE of building and maintaining that has been fine tuned over the years.  It does take years to develop muscle, maintain that muscle and fuel the body in ways to keep that muscle.  Without healthy food and not eating, I would lose all the hard work made in the gym, and that is just not going to happen, besides…I LOVE to eat!

My main maintenance foods consist of lean proteins, antioxidants, healthy fats, and fiber.  Examples would be boneless skinless chicken breast, lean ground turkey, eggs, yogurt, nuts, seeds, oats, all types of greens and vegetables along with fresh fruits, and healthy oils.  I prefer to purchase all my healthy food products organic, humanely and sustainably raised, and non-GMO (genetically modified organism).  If I am on track at least 90% of the time with my healthy food intake for maintenance, I feel pretty good enjoying my occasional treats.  I do not deny myself if I want to enjoy a cookie, brownie, pie, frozen yogurt, etc. as long as the dessert or “cheat meal” is quality.  There is no way I am downing a packaged processed non food item for a “treat meal”…did you catch how I changed that up?  The indulgence would have to be home baked or gourmet, all natural quality ingredients and provide over the top fabulous flavors in my mouth.  

Overall, the combination of work in the gym, maintenance with the food, plenty of rest, and balance of life with work and play is what makes up healthy ME.  I do not believe in calorie restriction, over exercising my body to risk physical injury, or overworking myself to unmanageable stress levels.  Life is about being healthy and the work in the gym and maintenance with the food is just a part, but very important part, of the success of living a healthy life, feeling my best, and enjoying the results of living this way. 

IN YOUR FACE MOTIVATION

Thanks for stopping by my Blog and I hope you enjoyed the content.  Let me know by leaving a comment, a LIKE, or whatever you are inspired to do. I look forward to responding, and if you have not become a follower yet, I would love to see your face on my friends list.   

Stay Healthy~ 

Darla 

Don’t Over-think Healthy

Do you ever find yourself getting caught up in over-thinking healthy and what it takes to live healthy?  In my journey of living a healthy lifestyle, I have found that over-thinking can lead to feelings of inadequacy of not doing things right, and getting so overwhelmed that it turns into something that is not enjoyed.  Living a healthy lifestyle should be about simplicity, enjoyment, fun, balance, and all those fabulous things in life that make life worth the ride. 

                                                                     

I come from a background of extreme athlete, competition, and counting every

Getting Back to Healthy

gram of protein, carbohydrate and fat I put in my face, in addition to the supplements taken at spaced out intervals throughout my day, and the intense workouts all tucked neatly into my very organized trainer binder.  Whew…I think about that now and remember how strict, stressed, and really undernourished I was during that time.  My body fat was not at a healthy level for a woman, I was not having a cycle and my hormones where so out of whack that it took months for my body to get back on track when I made the decision to discontinue treating my body that way.  Now…am I saying that competing is a bad thing…NO…I am not saying that and I applaud everyone’s goals for health and fitness, but what I am sharing is that it did not work for me for an extended period of time.  Further, this was not a life-long sustainable way of health for my body, mind and spirit.  I just wanted to make that clear before any backlash hit my page.  What I am sharing about this time in my life is that I did over-think health, but I was not really thinking about health per se as my goals were to look a certain way and not considering feeling a certain way.  Fast forward to many healthy years later…

I do not over-think my healthy lifestyle and teach quality over quantity, simplicity over difficult, and enjoyment over feeling overwhelmed.  I designed a very easy nutrition guide for my clients that I use myself and have received rave reviews, as well as fabulous results that are life-time maintainable. I never want healthy to feel like a burden to me or my clients.  I do believe in a health plan and structure when it comes to food prep and having food ready to go for the week, but that is the only effort required for a healthy lifestyle, alongside a consistent exercise program.   I put in the time to cook my food and enjoy what I cook.  I no longer count calories, keep a journal, although this can be helpful when first beginning a program, and simply eat healthy food throughout my day without calorie restriction….AMEN.   I believe in keeping food to their simplest form and eating it raw or close to raw if possible, and I am talking mostly about my fruits and vegetables here.  Of course, I crock pot chicken like no other, boil a boat load of organic eggs, crock pot large amounts of brown rice and steal cut oats every week.  This has become my habit or healthy eating life and feels as natural as breathing to me now.  I will also share that I do splurge in moderation, although I prefer to cook/bake my splurges because to me there is nothing better than a home-made cookie, pie, or brownie warm from the oven.  Also, I do not like how overly sweet, salted or incorrect fat saturated purchased desserts can be and prefer to control that part of my splurge intake.  So, the point I am driving home about my nutrition and how I think about it…is that I DON’T OVERTHINK IT…I eat to live and keep all kinds of healthy REAL food in my refrigerator and pantry and ENJOY my food.  I realize that my body needs all kinds of fabulous nutrients and I have no worry about eating anything healthy that will fuel my body in a great way.  If it is healthy, I eat it…that is how simple I keep it.  

Turning to my fitness program or exercise, I have come full circle with that as well.  I used to keep a journal years ago of my programs, weights that I lifted, gains, reps, intensity, duration, type, frequency, rest periods…OH MY.  Again, I am not insisting that doing this for anyone else is a bad thing, but for me, it became mechanical and going through the power intense motions of pushing my body to the limits without regard for ME.  This was years ago, and I now treat my body with more TLC and exercise to maintain a healthy body…that is now my goal.  The journey with my exercise has taken on a whole new meaning as I dedicate my programs to taking the BEST care of my body with the limitations that I have and do what works well for my body without aggravation, or flaring this or that up.  I no longer keep a journal but now enjoy workouts that I feel like doing on a specific day, and avoiding sore muscle areas, along with listening to my body if it needs a rest…I rest.  The body needs to move for health and my focus is to move my body for health, to maintain the muscle that I do have, stretch to ensure range of motion through my joints, and perform cardio enough to work my aerobic system.  I really enjoy my workouts and keep them fresh all the time with lots of variety…today was taking my puppy for a long walk/jog and utilizing park benches for step ups and squats along the way.  I go with what works, I do what it fun and don’t over-think it.  If I perform 15 squats instead of 20…so what…it is better than no squats.  That is what I am talking about…doing the BEST I can with what I have and enjoying the journey.

I can say that not over-thinking healthy has provided a much healthier and

happier lifestyle for me.  I believe if healthy feels like a burden, something is not being done right.  The beautiful thing about living a healthy lifestyle the right way and not over-thinking it,  is that it does feel good, makes my body feel strong, provides a confidence and happiness that is awesome, and overall allows me to be my BEST healthy ME.  Wow…what a journey and I like it!

IN YOUR FACE MOTIVATION

 

 

Thanks for stopping by my Blog, hope you enjoy the content, and if you have not become a follower yet, I would love to see your face on my friend's list.  If you are inspired, LIKE my entry, leave a comment and I look forward to responding! 

Stay Healthy~ Darla 

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FEAR

My 49th Birthday!

What a gripping word that can literally take the wind out of our sails, right? We have all experienced some sort of fear in our lives and it does not discriminate with gender or age.  In my journey of life and health I have definitely felt and experienced fear on all levels, physical, emotional, relational, financial, and spiritual.  Of course, when going through such feelings, it can be difficult to see any light at the end of the tunnel, and sometimes, just staying put in the comfort of a warm bed until the storm blows over makes perfect sense at the time.  Facing a fear is one of the hardest things to do in life, and it does take courage, inner strength, and the physical will to force the body to go, when the mind says to freeze. 

Emotional challenges and fears seem to be the most draining, at least in my

experience, and take time to process through, and figure out the best way to persevere.  It does not matter how long anything takes to get resolved, the important thing is to keep going, and never give up. I have found that prayer and a bond with a great therapist to get over emotional hurdles worked for me years ago.  I was able to heal from hurt and learn how to create boundaries that I now implement to take care of me.  It is amazing how years of moving through different emotional challenges and fear has created such a positive growth process, but that is all in how I was taught to respond to life’s circumstances.  Healthy creates healthy and that is what I am striving for each day.  Going through emotional difficulties and this is also linked to relational definitely opened my eyes to what I do want and do not want in my life, and how to now walk through each fear or challenge with a new pair of eyes that can see clearly the way to a healthy resolution.  No more rose colored glasses for this girl. 

Many things that cause fear are out of my and your control, but the feeling can creep in and try to steal away our happiness, create doubt, anxiety and other self destructive mind games that our inner selves again need to recognize, and respond in a healthy way.  When I was injured years ago and flat on my back, I felt so fearful of my life never being the same, being stripped of who I was as a therapist and trainer, extreme athlete, and person…I felt like a failure and I grieved the loss of who I was…this was gripping FEAR.  I was very humbled through this year long healing process and truly lost some faith in what I was going to do.  It was this journey however, that finally opened my eyes to who I really was, and what I could really do with my life, my knowledge, and my body.  It was painful and fearful, but each day opened the window a little more to my purpose and my hope slowly was restored.  Again, things did not happen overnight, just like with getting healthy in every aspect, patience and perseverance are required. 

What I am trying to share about FEAR is that it is a part of life, is not going

anywhere, and to say that it will not be experienced is well…an untruth.  The truth is that fear can be used to grow me and you in a healthy positive way, or take us to the ground.  Let’s say lack of finances has caused fear and believe me I have felt that sting as well, and sometimes this is not created by our own doing, and sometimes it is.  The point is…what is going to be done to get into a healthy place?  Having a plan to fix the problem is important, can provide a comfort and eventually remove the fear surrounding the circumstance.  I am talking about all areas of life where fear can rear its’ ugly head. 

I have found that keeping a journal helps with being a healthy person, and if I am feeling a certain way, or fearful about something, I journal about it, pray about it, and let it go.  There may be work for me to do, but I always feel more sure and able to work through the process when I have written about it.  I look back on my periods of fear in the different areas of my life and can now say that I am thankful for the learning journey, and the blessings along the way.  Letting go of unhealthy and embracing the healthy has opened many doors in my life, closed those doors that needed to be nailed shut, brought fabulous loving people to share my life, and a wonderful husband that I love and cherish dearly.  I no longer look upon fear as such a negative thing, but get through those feelings the best that I know how, and ask myself …why am I feeling this way, what is causing me to feel this way, and create a plan to remove the source further asking myself…what am I learning to better ME through this circumstance.  YES, there will be FEAR, but what matters is how I will be handling it.  Stay Healthy!

IN YOUR FACE MOTIVATIONS

I dedicate this Blog to my fabulous husband Don who is celebrating his birthday next week!  Happy Birthday Babe and I Love YOU Forever and a Day~

Married to my Best Friend

Thanks for stopping by my Blog, hope you enjoy the content, and if you have not become a follower yet, I would love to see your face on my friend's list.  If you are inspired, LIKE my entry, leave a comment and I look forward to responding! 

Stay Healthy~ Darla 

Receive My Stay Healthy Nutrition Guide as a Free Gift and Thank you when you donate to Stay Healthy Fitness...