I Maintain a Healthy Perspective About Fitness

I love being healthy, eating healthy and how I feel as a healthy woman.  I have been living this lifestyle most of my life and at 51 have a healthy handle of what being healthy means.  I teach health and fitness as my occupation and since it is my passion really do not consider it work.  There is something to be said about the existence of living a healthy lifestyle.  My clients know that I don't teach perfection, but progress and it is not a lifestyle of complete restriction, but a healthy balance of eating right 80 to 90 percent of the time and regular exercise.

I do not believe in taking things to extremes and making health feel like a burden for me or anyone else.  My mental game is what I want to address here and keeping health in perspective.  I am all about eating organic, non-GMO, and cooking at home to be in control of what I am eating 80 to 90 percent of the time.  I am human and will indulge in occasional adult beverages and will not turn down a slice of my Mom's lemon meringue pie. I enjoy partaking in my treats now and then and do so guilt free.  I also do not spend endless hours in the gym to maintain my physique and believe an effective workout can be completed in 60 minutes or less.  I also feel my workouts are a healthy outlet and not a punishment for eating crappy. I make sure to get in 5 workouts per week with two recovery days.  I would call my healthy lifestyle realistic, maintainable, and mentally positive.

I do the best I can to eat healthy and realize that I will not be GMO free. None of us will be able to accomplish this task unless we are growing our own foods, and even then, what is in the soil?  Is it truly GMO free?  Did a bird carry over tainted corn or other seeds into my garden?  What about pesticides flying over into my garden?  I would not be able to eat at all if I began over obsessing about my healthy foods and started eliminating essential nutrients because my focus was on purity and quality of food instead of what my body needs to function daily.  What if I began eliminating my Mom's pie and stopped going out with my husband and friends because I was afraid of the food?  This would not be healthy thinking or healthy living.

READ THE ORTHOREXIA ARTICLE

In addition to being a fitness trainer and coach, I am a freelance writer and Sports Nutrition Expert for the about.com network.  I recently researched and wrote an article on Orthorexia, an undiagnosed eating disorder that takes healthy eating to an unhealthy extreme.  I was surprised to see such negative comments and backlash exposing orthorexic behaviors.  It appears that the "meat" of the article was missed and a nerve was touched for those who are "clean" eaters.  I fall into the eating clean category and as I shared earlier, there is a difference between eating healthy and "obsessive" eating healthy.

The article was an exposure of the mental thinking surrounding eating clean or "pure" not that eating healthy is a bad thing ... that would be ludicrous.  Would you say that binging and purging, over-eating, anorexia, and exercise addiction are unhealthy and mentally and emotionally related?  I welcome knowledge as power on all subjects related to health and we should not be birds with our heads stuck in the sand avoiding up and coming issues surrounding the health and fitness industry.  When food phobia becomes so severe that it affects quality of life in an unhealthy way, I would agree it warrants time and attention.  Orthorexia is a mental health issue not a clean eating issue, although sparked by "pure" foods.  It is an issue that requires us to look past the food and into the mind of a struggling person.

The article posted on the about.com network is a very informative read on the subject of Orthorexia.  I hope that is can also be re-read with a more open mind.

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I Keep it Healthy

Stay Healthy!

Darla

FITNESS IS MORE THAN THE PHYSICAL

Fitness involves more than how much weight is lost or reps in a set that can be accomplished.  Being a fit person involves discipline for each day, creates awareness, and instills conscious living. Fitness is a lifestyle and goes way beyond the physical.   Having the desire to obtain a quality life and following through on that goal really defines being healthy and fit, and when the focus remains in that direction, we set ourselves up for feeling and looking our best for life. 

We put so much pressure on ourselves to squeeze into the tiniest jeans or boast the largest biceps, that we tend to forget how being fit is supposed to feel.  A fit and healthy body should be free or minimized of pain and many people do not realize just how good we are supposed to feel, and instead accept and accommodate pain on a daily basis.  A fit lifestyle includes physical exercise but not of the nature that will injure our bodies and create chronic setbacks, and eating healthy nutrient dense foods that provide our bodies with healing qualities.  Rest is also on the menu for a fit body and a very important part of the program.  Without proper rest and sleep, our bodies will not recover from the demands placed on it through workouts, stress, and the overall daily grind.  Balance of work and play is also a part of a healthy lifestyle and forgetting how to reach our inner child is sadly lost through the busyness of life.  Taking an active rest day enjoying the outdoors, or a shutdown day complete with pajamas and movies may be the trick to recharge the mental batteries. 

We all can enjoy our life and live a healthy lifestyle at the same time. This is the absolute truth and is accomplished by simply being consistent with our choices and follow-through.  Being fit does not take working out seven days a week for several hours a day and eating boiled fish and broccoli.  This is far from what living a healthy lifestyle looks like.  When our thoughts are on taking the best care of ourselves, the enjoyment of living this life flows naturally like breathing.  The desire to purchase fresh healthy foods and try new recipes is more of an exciting thing to look forward to and not a curl your lip up downer for a Friday night.   Also, when that is combined with finding an exercise program that is enjoyed and works for your body, nothing feels better and provides a positive mental outlook.  The balance of life through play and rest can’t be emphasized enough because life is about quality and feeling our best. 

When the focus is on health and improving the quality of our life, the “fit” part of that equation happens along the way.  Letting go of the stress of wanting to look a certain way tomorrow and concentrating on how good being healthy feels will eliminate the frustration and pressure that we too often place upon ourselves.  Living a healthy lifestyle encompasses everything that we do on the daily and the fact that we are physical beings does not mean that the emphasis on fitness is all about the physical.  Our awareness of the importance of being a healthy person, what we are consuming, how we move our bodies, how we think and act, and the balance we create for ourselves are all included within the definition of fitness.  What do you think about that and hopefully this has opened your eyes to a new attitude when it comes to being a fit person?

Me and My Hubby

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Happy Stay Healthy New Year!

Darla

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PLAN FOR SUCCESS

Having a plan is so important in our success in life and health.  I think this quote says it well: “A goal without a plan is just a wish.”  When something is planned out and written down, not only is the motivation kicked up, but also the personal challenge to reach that goal increased.  Besides, it is a written plan right in front of our face, and not something that we are only thinking about and may put into place someday.  See the difference?  If we are good stewards of our money for example, we are budgeting for expenses with our income and successfully paying our mortgages, rents, and overall bills.  Without that budget plan in place, I am sure we can all agree a huge financial mess would be the result of our irresponsibility.  Planning takes responsibility and a commitment to do what is best for our life and health.  Failing to plan sets us up for failure. 

Let’s get back to the plan and what it takes to put a health related goal into place.  I highly recommend an accountability journal to plan out strategies for exercise scheduling and also a healthy food tracking area to record food intake daily.  I also like to keep track of water intake, sleep and my overall mental game.  Tracking your weight on a scale one time per week is also motivational to see your progress and to ensure that the plan is working.  When the plan fails to function, it is never the goal that changes, but the plan or program.  Finding what works for each of us is a trial, error and fine tuning of our plan until we see the results of our investments. Just as it is exciting to pay down debt with a responsible budget plan, it is equally or even more exciting to reduce our waist lines through our commitment to the plan of adopting a healthy lifestyle. 

Everybody understands the need and importance of money to support our lives and my goal is to convey that our health banks are even more important. Imagine not balancing our checkbooks and leaving out transactions each day to the point of not knowing the balance.  Accounts would be overdrawn, additional fees paid, collectors knocking at the door, and stress increased tenfold.  That same analogy can be applied to our daily exercise and food intake.  If we do not balance our food intake, write down what is consumed, or never record our exercise expenditure, we are setting ourselves up for weight gain, increased risk of disease and illness, increased stress, and eventually doctors knocking at the door. Looking at how important a plan is for success in these terms should motivate all of us to implement them today. 

Living a healthy life is not a guessing game or a wish and we are only kidding ourselves when we run around without a plan.  Success comes when daily habits of eating healthy and moving our bodies are made a planned priority. Do we sweep our money responsibilities under the rug?  Well, I suppose some may but the outcome is always an unhealthy consequence in doing so.  How much more important is our health and that so many people do just that, sweep it under the rug.  Let’s turn the goals of obtaining a fit body into more than just a wish by starting today with a plan for adopting a healthy lifestyle. 

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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, or if you want to receive my free updates, use the button at the right to select your feed preference. I look forward to responding to your comments and appreciate your shares.

Stay Healthy!

Darla

user of THE Herbal Face Food and proud to show my images without photo shop or airbrushing. I am 50 years young and celebrate Fit at 50!