Sorta Kinda Fitness Doesn't Work

We want to be fit, feel good and look great. You may be trolling the net right now for the newest fad diet or quick fix to fitness. We struggle with giving 100 percent to getting in shape the right way. We are stuck in sorta kinda fitness.

Sound familiar? We want results but just can't commit to a fit lifestyle. We blame others and ourselves for eating off track and make excuses for missing workouts. When we give a small percentage to doing it right expect small rewards in return.

We are wasting too much time and missing too many opportunities to get healthy. Why is that? What is going on in our lives where we stop making ourselves a priority? Instead of looking into the issue, we accept it as our normal. This is an unfortunate truth.

We have great intentions and even put in some effort to eat right and exercise. This is awesome and to be applauded. Something happens to halt the process. Our mind plays negative games, we may hear a hurtful comment, or not seeing results causes frustration.

Sorta kinda fitness also involves partying too much with friends or at home. Eating crappy food half the time and managing only one or two workouts per week. We can even be in denial about these behaviors. We believe living this way is fitness.

Resentment can be a problem with sorta-kinda fitness. We don't understand why we're not losing fat or not seeing muscle. More self-doubt and "what's the use" mentality creeps into our thoughts. It's time to take off the rose-colored fitness glasses.

Living a half-way fitness life is not giving your all to the program. Being in denial and pissed off about it doesn't help or change things. When we start taking responsibility for our health is when fitness happens. Fitness is a lifestyle and sorta kinda just doesn't cut it. Straight talk all in fitness love. Stay Healthy!







Take advantage of my articles on the Verywell health network! Time to take charge of your health and fitness. Start with this article on "Are You Eating for Muscle" and get on track to a fit and healthy body!

Are You Eating for Muscle?

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Darla Leal, Personal Trainer/Coach

Stop Accommodating Unhealthy In Your Life

We know when we feel off, not right, and unhealthy.  This can be physically or emotionally.  Yet, we continue to accommodate and even accept the situation. Our body and mind can only take so much before it breaks.  Sometimes we don't even realize this is happening until we are lying face down in our own hopelessness.


Other times, we are very aware of what's happening and we tough it out day after day. Another scenario where the body will take you down eventually.  We can't out-fight a crappy mental or physical game.  Stress is a killer and maintaining an unhealthy lifestyle is just as bad.

How often do you take inventory of your life?  Are you accommodating joint pain and illness from eating unhealthy foods leading to being overweight?  Are life's circumstances so stressful to the point of causing depression and anxiety? What's going on at home in your personal relationships?  Is your home a peaceful sanctuary or a war zone?  How about the job? Are you happy and doing what you've always envisioned or burdened by the thought?

We are meant to live a happy, healthy life.  The unfortunate truth is we choose to accommodate unhealthy. We eat and drink things we shouldn't, become couch potatoes and drown in our own self pity.  Isn't it time we stop accommodating unhealthy and start fixing the problem?  If you don't know where to begin, ask for help.  No shame or stigma about needing assistance sometimes.  We've all been there.  Society puts "shaming" on every human topic ad nauseam. If seeking help from a professional gets you on the right track, then go for it.  I suggest an expert in the area of your struggle.

If you want to adopt a healthy lifestyle, consult with a qualified personal trainer, nutritionist, or registered dietition.  Making a doctor's appointment to discuss your stress and seeing a licensed counselor or therapist may be helpful. Check out your local church and talk to a pastor.  If the marriage is suffering, sometimes all you need is a little help from a licensed marriage and family counselor.  You have choices!

What it boils down to is changing your life for the better.  It requires recognition of the problem and a willingness to fix it.  There is nothing healthy about accommodating unhealthy.  You can either sit and wallow where you are, or put on your "fix-it" attitude.  Straight talk in fitness love!  Stay Healthy~

Read some of my other published articles for helpful information on nutrition and fitness:

Are You Eating for Muscle?

You Can Get Lean Eating Full-Fat Foods

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Be Well and Stay Healthy ~ Darla 

When it Comes to Fitness, Live Beyond Your Dreams

Fitness needs to stop being a dream we think about and start being an action we put into practice.  There are so many factors getting in our way.  Negative thoughts and self-defeat are high on the list.  Using "too busy" as an excuse is another fitness barrier.  Frustration not seeing instant results can cause us to wrongly think it will never happen.

We need to live beyond our dreams and realize we all have the potential to achieve success.  Remaining positive in a negative world will be first on the agenda.  No more downing yourself before even trying.  "Busy" is a word used for people who really don't want it bad enough.  Lastly, there is no such thing as instant results.  Daily progress needs to become the focus.

Now, take action!  Start by making a plan and sticking to it.  Schedule your workouts, meal prep, stop eating fast food, and hanging out with negative people. You are responsible for your body and what it looks like.  You want it?  Go get it. This is called living beyond your dreams.  Nothing is going to happen until you make it happen.

Fitness is a permanent lifestyle change not something that magically occurs. Time to wake up and stop dreaming.  You can make healthy happen for you and that doesn't mean it will look like Peggy Sue or Dapper Dan.  This is your journey, your body and your fitness.  You will never look like anyone except your best healthy self when it's all said and done.  Are you ready to live beyond your dreams? Straight talk but all in fitness love!

I keep handing you the tools, motivation and awesome articles to help you achieve your goals.  Start reading these "Are You Eating for Muscle?" and "Are You Causing a Slowed Metabolism?"

READ EVEN MORE!

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Be Well and Stay Healthy! Darla ~

Stop Over Complicating a Simple Process

The only hard thing about fitness is our negative thoughts.  We convince ourselves a disgusting diet is needed and endless hours of exercise are required. We go as far as considering it a burden and  a "cramp my lifestyle" occurrence. Instead of turning our nose up at the very thought of getting healthy, we need to stop over complicating a simple process.

Do you think people decades ago farming for a living to survive and working hard from sunrise to sunset worried about a diet?  They may have spent hours doing physical labor, but it was life and eating healthy.  Nothing complicated, just some sweat, and eating home cooking straight from the garden. Their bodies represented how they lived which unfortunately now is replaced by couch potato channel surfing and stuffing our faces with processed food.

Every nutrition source out there is going to tell you the same story about what is required.  No need to jump from diet to diet searching for some secret.  The problem is within our thoughts and unrealistic expectations.  You want to lose 20 pounds in a week and look like a fitness model.  Not going to happen.  We also want the process to be an easy quick fix requiring no workouts and drinking magic shakes while remaining on our sofas.  Wake up America!

Being fit and healthy is really simple.  Eat greens, grains, lean meats, healthy fats, drink lots of water and exercise at least 3 times per week.  Nothing hard about it and it's not a diet.  Why is this process considered boring, tasteless, and the end of fun in life?  Society and marketing have done a great job brainwashing people to believe a load of crap.

Eating a fresh organic crisp apple or perfectly grilled chicken breast are not what I call horrible.  Are you kidding me?  Remember eating celery stuffed with peanut butter?  Now that's a healthy treat full of flavor and fun.  Being fit will take tossing the food myths and getting real with your thoughts about health.  It will also require you to move your butt off the couch and into the gym.  Exercise is what you enjoy.  Love basketball?  Start playing.  Enjoy dancing?  Look into a Zumba class.  I like to use the kids jungle gyms at parks and play around on those doing pull-ups, step-ups, and triceps dips for example.  No more excuses or beliefs fitness is complicated and time to embrace the simplicity of the process. You can do it ... will you?  All in fitness love and Stay Healthy!

More great reads by yours truly "Parties, Food and Maintaining a Lean Body" and "Food Quality Not Calories is What Counts"

Read My Articles!

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A Quick Fix is Like Using Duct Tape for Fitness

Duct tape is awesome, but it's not meant to last.  In a pinch, the strong stuff can fix things temporarily but doesn't quite do the trick long term.  If you want something repaired right, it takes the right tools and materials, agreed? Quick fixes are the same as placing duct tape all over your fitness.  Speaking personally, I don't want a short-cut but a permanent solution to staying fit.

Unfortunately duct tape fitness is the most popular route for most people and as the sticky starts wearing off, it reveals what still remains ... an unhealthy body. The tape removal is painful and frustrating, but somehow the roll gets pulled back out and the ducting process begins again.  Temporary happiness but what a yo-yo ride.

It's time to toss out the tape and get real with what it takes to fix things right. Our healthy lifestyle tool box should contain things like dumbbells and jump ropes along with lean proteins, good carbs, and healthy fats.  Other great add-ins are motivational sayings, music, and awesome fitness clothes.  Probably one of the best tools pulled out of the box is a fitness accountability journal.

There are no short-cuts to where we want and need to go.  Duct tape has no business in our fitness and lifetime journey of  being healthy.  We should not be covered in a sticky mess revealing yuck on the inside when the tape is pulled back.  Our society needs to stop embracing the quick fix as any type of healthy remedy because that is crap.  What needs to happen is building a strong toolbox we can carry for a lifetime and daily use of the contents.  Be well and Stay Healthy!

My articles on the about.com network will help you build the toolbox you need for a fit body and healthy life.  Start with these great reads!

10 Foods You Should Eat Every Day
Read the Article!

Want Less Fat and More Muscle, Eat Protein for Breakfast
Read the Article

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Darla Leal, fit-over-50

Fitness is All Day Long

Being a fit person is not a temporary condition but fills our entire day and life. The motivation to get in shape may have initiated with bikini season or an event but the lasting results should carry us the rest of this journey.  Some may give up the "fitness ghost" and settle back into old unhealthy habits, but that's not the way it's supposed to work.

Fitness is all day long and lifelong.  Personally, I enjoy a morning workout when my energy is highest and after a strong cup of coffee.  This kick starts my day, I feel great and it prepares my mind and body for the remainder of my 24/7 fitness shift.  My workout is not the only part of staying lean and muscular.  I have lots of healthy food ready to go and I stick pretty hardcore to a 90/10 nutrition plan.  I may relax some on the weekend shifting down to 80/20 to allow for the treats I enjoy, but never overboard.  I am a firm believer of drinking lots of water and easily down a gallon per day and yes, it means lots of bathroom visits.  My only downfall is not getting enough sleep which I lovingly blame on menopause, because the effort is there.

My personal share about fitness being all day long is showing the importance of thinking and incorporating what it takes to be a fit person.  I would be a hypocrite if I didn't walk the talk of what I teach daily to my clients and passionately write about online.  Fitness doesn't end at the workout, but includes the 23-hours after sweating your butt off. Don't think you'll be able to down pizza, beer, and donuts on the regular and call yourself a fit person.  Being fit all day long includes the type of food you eat, what you drink, how you think, getting quality rest, and balance of work and play.   When fitness becomes a habit, the healthy behavior is done without thought and going through the motions comes naturally. This is not about playing pretend or faking it because you know the truth.  In fact, those who are close to you will know the life you lead because as a fit person, there comes admiration from others. You become a motivator without even knowing it and may even be asked how you are able to maintain your healthy lifestyle.  Welcome to my world!

Read my recent articles on about.com to help you adopt a fit lifestyle.  Great suggestions would be:

Resolve to Get Fit and How to Make it Happen
Read the Article!

What Newbies Need to Know About Getting Lean
Read the Article!

Am I the Only One Struggling with Fitness Results
Read the Article!

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Be Well and Stay Healthy!

No Matter What You Do, It's Still About the Lifestyle

Trying to achieve the so-called "perfect" body causes people to take drastic measures whether from detox cleanses, extreme caloric restriction, surgical change of normal organ function, to outward cosmetic procedures.  All those methods don't mean a thing if a healthy lifestyle is left out of the equation.

No matter what you do, it's still about the lifestyle.  Extreme measures without learning how to buy, cook and eat healthy foods combined with regular exercise will be wasted time and money.  If you are currently doing one of those popular restricted calorie shake diets and the end of that program comes...what then?   Let's say you have had some fat cells sucked out and after surgery you are still hitting the pizza and donuts...what then?  If you have had a stomach organ band placed and still continue to eat fries and drink soda...what then?   The point is what have you learned? The point is you will return to the weight and size (or larger) than you were prior to going drastic. This write is not to be judgemental or offensive, but to open your eyes to what it means to get healthy.  Nothing inside a packaged shake mix or on an elective surgery table is going to provide health and fitness.  What will create health is your daily choices about food and exercise and creating a habit that becomes a lifestyle.

The belief that quick fixes can stand alone to create the hot body of your dreams is a fantasy.  If product companies or surgeons are telling you drinking some magic or getting something snipped will do it, they are wrong and I will go as far as to say negligent in feeding you a load of BS. Are you really so impatient to not gift yourself the time to learn how to eat right and enjoy awesome workouts? This is what it will take to get healthy and the desire is there, otherwise you would not be seeking out a way to get results.  Regardless of what you do, you will need to maintain it with a healthy lifestyle.

If you are serious about getting fit and staying healthy, it is time to slow down and realize you will need to make changes in how you think and live.  I would grab a piece of paper and begin a healthy lifestyle list.  What are some simple things you could do right now to get you motivated and moving in the right direction? Build on your list and follow-through with your thoughts. Short-term goals could be replacing processed foods in your house with healthy selections, adding exercise 3 times per week, or losing 5lbs.  Realize a healthy lifestyle is about daily progress and not perfection.  Be patient, don't compare to others, and celebrate each daily victory!

Helpful articles are on my about.com site and will provide all the tools you need to adopt a healthy lifestyle.  Check out my article on "What Newbies Need to Know About Getting Lean" or "5 Things You Can do Right Now to Reach Your Fitness Goals" .  These are just a sampling of the great information at your fingertips.

Helpful Articles for You on About.com

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Stay Healthy! Darla Leal
fit over 50

Temporary Resolutions Don't Count

It's that time of year again where resolutions are flying left and right and the excitement of a New Year and a "new you".  We all want self-improvement and that means different things to everyone.  Always at the top of the list is weight loss and gaining muscle definition.  Working in the fitness industry for 30 years, this is one of my busiest times and although happy for the job security, I am disenchanted about temporary resolutions.

I always see a "gung ho" attitude to start and sadly a large percentage of people return to old unhealthy habits after only a few weeks.  Beginning a fitness plan can feel easy, fun and fabulous but it's the continued lifestyle where many struggle. Typically, unrealistic goals have been set and the inability to adhere or be happy with strict healthy food changes and over-committed workouts wins and resolutions fly out the window.

The majority want to make changes but expect it to happen tomorrow not taking into consideration years of living unhealthy.  Patience and self-acceptance need to be part of the resolution decision and also going about it with realistic expectations.  If you have been overweight and without muscle definition most of your life, it is unreasonable to think a week of healthy eating and pumping iron is going to magically create results.  Frustration usually sends people running from one "quick fix" fake fitness plan to the next.  The only thing achieved here is spending tons of cash on unregulated crap, a continued unhealthy body and left without proper nutrition and exercise knowedge.

If you are serious about your fitness resolution, begin by accepting where you are and progressing slowly with choices you can live with, be happy about, and maintain for a lifetime.  "Rome wasn't built in a day" and neither will you. Allow yourself to be a beginner and be proud for each day accomplishing steps toward your goals.

I recommend reading my recent article "Resolve to Get Fit" covering vital information on how to eat for muscle, avoid diet mistakes, improve your metabolism and more. Take your time perusing the landing page for other articles that will help with accountability to your health and fitness resolution.

Resolve to Get Fit...Read the Article!

The resolution takeaway: if it is temporary, then it doesn't count!

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Happy New Year! xoxo Darla