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Showing posts with label Change. Show all posts

Taking Control of Right Now

Right now is what I have to work with. I have learned from past mistakes and hurts, overcome injuries through hard work, and this has taught me to make the most of my "nows". It has also shown me how to celebrate every moment in this life.

The road has been tough and sometimes still can be, but each day is about taking control of right now and becoming my best me. Procrastination is a waste of life, body and soul and really a slap in our own faces when we don't take care of business. Right now we have a choice to eat healthy, exercise and stop complaining about all the things wrong in our lives. So many are caught up in all the negative stuff and can't see the forest through the trees. Instead of celebrating a pound lost, the happy event quickly becomes downgraded to "just a pound" and this has just ruined my day.

We are the products of our daily choices. It is important to take control of "right now" and not allow another day to pass without making some great changes. Whether you are struggling with poor nutrition, sedentary lifestyle, stress, or a bad attitude there is no time like the present to take positive action. Our lives become so habitual that change feels alien and impossible, but I say it is POSSIBLE.

Get out a piece of paper and journal changes you would like to see happen in your life. Do you want to look better, feel better, and improve the quality of your life? Create a plan to make that happen and that may mean going to a qualified counselor, personal trainer, or registered dietitian. Whatever needs to happen, only you can make it so. Dependence on others to somehow create this magic transformation for you is a fairytale. We are all responsible for our physical, spiritual and emotional health and any slacking manifests itself as illness, unhappiness and low self-esteem.

Time to take control of RIGHT NOW and Stay Healthy!

Read my latest article on the sportsnutrition.about.com network titled "Five Food Strategies You Can Do Right Now to Reach Your Fitness Goals" for some great ideas.

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I believe in Right Now

FIX YOUR FITNESS

We do not need anyone to tell us that we are unhealthy or that we need to fix our fitness, right? If you are unhappy with yourself, feeling like crap, have been told by the doctor to change your lifestyle, or have had your friends and family kindly give you hints, then guess what, you already know that you need to fix your fitness. Fitness goes beyond the physical and includes emotional and spiritual well-being as well. Don’t think we can walk around in physically pretty bodies and be all messed up emotionally, stressed out, overwhelmed and feeling like life is too big to handle. Fixing our fitness requires looking at our complete picture and making the choice to clean up our act.

It is not rocket science and requires nothing magic to fix our fitness, just our will, determination and follow-through to become healthy. The media would like us to believe that we need a bunch of expensive things, products, pills, and potions to obtain the body that we are looking for, but the truth of the matter is that we all possess the ability to create our fitness. The first step is admitting the areas we are unhealthy and putting forth a plan of action to get the process of adopting a fit lifestyle started. If being overweight and struggling with painful joints, lack of energy, low self-esteem, and frequent illness is the issue, a great start would be to look at daily nutritional intake and exercise. If emotional problems such as anger, high stress on the daily, inability to relax, and tension that sends your shoulders to the ears is a constant, a great start would be to look into what is causing these feelings through possibly a counselor or clergy member.

The important thing is to get on board with fixing your fitness. Procrastinating on this very important subject does nothing but waste what could be a healthier happier life. Being in denial about being unhealthy is also a thief of health and fitness. Changing our mental game and looking at ourselves with rose colored glasses off to expose all the unhealthy parts is what it will take to implement the changes needed to fix our fitness. It is a brave step in the right direction and today is always the right day to get to work.

Darla Leal, Fit at 50

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HAPPINESS DOESN’T JUST HAPPEN

Wouldn’t it be nice to wave a magic wand, and all of life is just how we wanted it to be? We are blessed with the gift of life but how we live it is up to us, and that takes effort and choices. There are consequences, hard lessons learned and happiness along the way, but ultimately it is in our choices that create the life of happiness we all desire. Sometimes we do not even know what we want or how to create this happiness, and wander around going through some sort of life motions that we learned from healthy or unhealthy example. Choosing the right way to create a life of happiness is quite the goal, but like anything else that takes time and effort, it is worth the journey to get there.

I have gone through the ups and downs of not being happy in this journey of life, and have held onto the hope that God has a greater plan than I can ever imagine. Life has not been what I thought it would be as I contemplate it, but I am thankful for the life lessons of each circumstance that created an opportunity for me to learn and grow in positive ways. It took a choice for me to go to counseling during tough emotional times, to go to physical therapy during horrific physical times, and to rough up my knees in prayer during doubtful spiritual times. All the choices to become a better person were in search of a happiness that I wanted in my life and I have always been in pursuit of all methods of work to reach that goal.

The pursuit of happiness also includes being a healthy person. I believe that the two go hand in hand. When we feel our best physically, it is easier to handle the emotional rides of life. Also, when our “mental game” is healthy and our responses to life’s circumstances are handled with maturity, clarity, and good intentions this enhances our state of being healthy and happy overall. Happiness is a goal just like being healthy is a goal, and both are lifetime achievements. There is no end to being a happy and healthy person, and each day is our chance to make choices toward being both.

Easter seemed like the perfect time to share how important it is to be happy and healthy, and to take this opportunity to let you know that it is possible and necessary in this life. Happiness does not just happen, but will take a commitment of self-discovery, and not being afraid to peel the onion and take a look at what is keeping you from being happy or healthy. This took years of work in my life, and I am thankful for it. I will share that it has not always been easy, and nothing worth anything is, right? My wish for you this Easter is health and happiness and for you to know that each day is a gift that provides a step closer to reaching those goals.

Have a very Happy Easter from My Family to Yours

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Stay Healthy!

Darla

CONSTANT STATE OF CHANGE

Change can be necessary, change can be a challenge, change is inevitable, and what do we do with all this change? Whether the change is to adapt a healthier lifestyle through nutrition and exercise, modifying exercises to accommodate injury, or going through the changes that naturally occur to the body as we age, it is a fact, that change is a big part of this journey of life. None of us are exempt from a constant state of change in this life in one form or another. Our bodies change at every level each day without our knowledge that it is even happening for the most part.

Personally, I have undergone a lot of change in this life and have to say that I embrace the positive that has come through incorporating a healthy lifestyle. The tough physical changes that challenged me were the rehabilitation from injury and the will to persevere and not give up, and finally accept through it all that I am forever changed and require modification of exercise to fit the body that is under the skin I wear. The inevitable change that seems difficult for me in the present is the changes that occur with the aging process. No amount of exercise is going to stop hormonal shifts and the overall body requirements that scream loud and clear…CHANGE. Acceptance and embracing of the inevitable change I have discovered is also going to be a challenge.

We are all aging each day, our bodies changing through the process and when I was younger I did not think too much about it, but as I stare 50 in the face, I find my mind consumed by the “different” feelings of heading into menopause. Both men and women face the inevitable changes that occur with the aging process, whether prostate issues for men or night sweats and lowered libido for women, it is a situation that can SUCK. I am straight up open about everything health related and I feel issues, even those topics that may fall into the “taboo” not to be discussed in public are fair game. In fact they need to be addressed and shared because so many people are searching for answers or at least support that they are not alone in their experience. If Dr. Oz can openly share the perfect “poo” shape, vaginal dryness, and orgasms, then for crying out loud, I am surely going to talk about it.

All change can feel difficult, or extremely fantastic depending on the situation. Adapting a healthy lifestyle through eating “real” nutrient dense foods and regular exercise will bring about a body that feels better, functions better, and that change can be embraced and celebrated almost immediately. Although the process can feel like a challenge, eventually the change will provide an overall healthy state of mind and wellbeing. The challenge change that occurs with injury or illness is harder to accept and embrace, at least in the beginning. I found that it takes hard work, lots of patience, faith and a will to WANT the best of me in all areas of health, no matter what that looks like. Moving into the inevitable change of aging is also an area that I now realize will require my patience, and continued research into natural ways of transitioning into another “new me” so to speak. Changes are a part of aging and transition into another part of our life, not that we need to feel great about them, but important to realize and accept them, and I am now on this journey. I am not going to sit here and celebrate hot flashes, night sweats, and changes in libido…are you kidding me, this is where I long for the young Darla because outwardly, my brain says what the heck is going on, and this should not be going on. This is where I reach for new goals of discovery of the woman I am now, and embrace that woman with full understanding, grace, love and adventure of this new chapter. Am I there yet…not quite…but I am working on it.

Stay Healthy!

Darla

REFLECTION

Many of you may be in the process of reflection, but truly it is something that should be done on a daily basis, and not only when the New Year rolls around. The word itself screams to take a look at me/you/us and speaking personally, I include all areas of my life and not just my physical well-being. I imagine a big mirror in front of me and gazing into that, I ask myself…am I happy with the person that I am physically, emotionally and spiritually? If any of the answers come up as a big negative, it is time to implement a change to create a better, healthier ME. It is hard to deny the things that need fixing when I am staring back at me waiting for the action to make that happen. Of course, I can close my eyes, put the mirror away, brush things under the rug, and procrastinate and get to it later…or not, and well, just continue to live in denial.

I am a mover and a shaker, and strive to change, progress, and become a better me today than I was yesterday and that takes a choice. Sure, I could avoid those things that need to be done, because maybe I want to hold onto some sort of drama, negative feelings about the past, or circumstance and continue to play the “blame card” of this is the reason I am the way I am. I have learned in this journey of life, that this type of thinking results in a life of unhappiness, bitterness, resentment, jealousy, and paralyzes the brain to make appropriate healthy life choices. Honestly, this type of thinking creates a person that is not a joy to be around unless the company being kept is another negative person also playing the victim card of life. It is so important in our life reflection to also look at the type of people we associate with, and I always ask myself…does this relationship nourish my soul and grow me in a positive way as a person?

Reflection is huge in the scheme of life and change for the healthy. It should cause deep thought into living our passions, being real with who we are, and having the ability to share that with ourselves and others. There is too much hiding behind the crap of excuses, circumstances, and laziness to change and I apologize if that sounds offensive, as my intention is to motivate and never discourage. Sometimes, a draft of really cold air needs to slap us in the face and wake us up to the reality of what is going on in our own life, and hopefully that leads to taking a step further to change what needs to be changed. Otherwise, we continue to go along living a “fake” life, hiding behind “out of our control” drama, negativity, and looking for validation for unhealthy habits. What is even sadder, is enablement of this type of lifestyle…YES, there are those who feed into the ugliness of negative and validate the behavior which enables someone caught in this shit storm to continue living this way.

Reflection also causes us to see our physical self in a way that makes us happy or not. What it comes down to is me/you/us and the mirror, standing naked before the reflection and staring back at the image, we need to ask “do I LOVE what I see”. It is important to always love yourself at every level of health and as long as steps are being taken to become a healthier us each day. If the answer to the question is “no”, then what steps need to be implemented to change this? Be honest here and strive for the happiness that you want, the health that you need and deserve. If you tell me that you are happy in an unhealthy state and if I shared that with you…how would that make sense? The point I am trying to make, is that we all have our best healthy-self hidden inside what may be an unhealthy body today, but that does not mean that tomorrow needs to remain the same. Reflection requires that hard honest look and further to take the actions necessary to bring about changes that move us in a progressive healthy direction.

Reflection is not a fad or temporary fix, but part of the process to make a LIFESTYLE change and create a healthy body that will be maintained for life. Reflection causes us to get into our “mental game” and start putting the puzzle pieces together of what is wrong and how does it get fixed. It all starts with what is going on between the ears, and once the reflection is honestly accepted, and the feelings that go with that, then changes can begin to create a healthier person, and then that lifestyle change will create a reflection that we will be happy to know for a lifetime.

Enjoy a beautiful and healthy Happy New Year!!!!

Me and My Mom

Stay Healthy

Darla