How I Eat to Stay Fit and Healthy

I Eat For Goals

I recently posted this motivation on my Instagram and Facebook:

" I do take the time to read your comments left on my motivational posts and excited you're striving to adopt a healthy lifestyle. Showing images of those dedicated to fitness including myself are to encourage and inspire. 

I receive both positive and negative feedback all part of being an online personality. I'm going to get very personal with you and you can read more about me on my Blog if you choose.

I'm over 50, a fitness professional and freelance writer who works extremely long hours. My day doesn't end when I step out of my studio. I look the way I do because of the lifestyle I walk daily.

I don't spend hours in the gym. I limit my workouts to one-hour sessions 4 to 5 days per week. I indulge on treats on occasion and eat incredible tasting healthy food.

I am a woman of God and my faith helps me with inner strength and getting through each day. I am passionate about helping people get healthy and would love to hug everyone making this choice. I believe life is a gift and I am not here to be anyone else or look like anyone else. I am also not here to shame others for not looking like a fitness model. 

My goal is always to be my best me each day and in that I may fail but pick up and keep trying. My image is to show that it's never too late, no circumstance too hard, and even injury so severe to not be able to do something. Articles and images are for inspiration and motivation as you work on becoming your best you.

Getting angry and discouraged because you're not personally making the choices to change your body does nothing but fuel resentment. It may even cause you to walk away from trying. I pray your thoughts and feelings would be changed for the positive. Also that your focus to become healthier would start today. 

Fitness is a journey and we're all works in progress striving for our best and never perfection. Embrace the now, love who you are now and start working right where you are. Today is what we have and narrowing that down more, this moment is the concern. What you're thinking and doing right now...is it creating a better, healthier you?"

The responses to this post were incredible, touching, and inspiring. I am a woman of my word and answering the call to several requests of what I eat on a weekly basis and my workout routine. I will begin with nutrition because I have found this to be the biggest struggle for people throughout my years of teaching health and fitness. 

I like to teach nutrition simply and focus on health. There's nothing secret or costly about eating for fitness goals. Sadly, too much complication has been placed on this topic. Food fears and guilt have been created through unrealistic marketing.

Let's all just take a deep breath and relax about eating healthy. Releasing the stress surrounding food is the first order of business. Healthy food is not the enemy and isn't the cause of our weight gain. Eating the right food is what will enable our body to be fit, healthy and strong.  

I feel blessed to have the ability to motivate and inspire you. We are all works in progress. Forget about perfection and just apply the best principles of healthy nutrition and fitness each day. This also includes eating off track on occasion. If any fitness professional tells you indulgence never occurs that is a bold face lie. I will personally answer to that statement.

I have been in the fitness industry over 30 years and have had my share of burgers, fries, pizza and brownies. I live a life of moderation and use a 90/10 percent eating strategy and sometimes 80/20 depending on the situation. Eating healthy is also about balance and allowing for the occasional treat meal.

Let's move on to what I eat during a typical work week. I'm a walk the talk trainer and adhere to what I teach my clients. Results come when consistent healthy food intake and exercise are happening.

I eat a wide variety of healthy food from good carbohydrates, lean proteins, healthy fats and lots of water. I can be a creature of habit and find myself eating the same meals every day, except for dinner which is typically changed each night.

I cook at home to be in control of what I eat. I eat simply, never count calories, and really try not to let myself feel hungry. I space my meals every 2 to 3 hours and that works for me. I use my palm as a guide for portion size and keep measuring cups handy for wet ingredients.

My typical daily nutritional intake looks like this:

Meal 1: Ozery Bakery Morning round with Coffee 

Meal 1: Option 2, Powered Up Oats with Coffee

1/2 cup steel cut oats
1/4 sliced banana
handful blueberries
handful walnuts









Meal 2: Open face peppered turkey and hummus

I enjoy this with a green smoothie
1 cup fresh pineapple chunks
large handful of power greens
(chard, kale, spinach), blend in water

Alpine Valley Organic Bread toasted
smear with organic hummus
top with peppered turkey











Meal 3: Sliced fruit with flax meal and yogurt

1 large nectarine or fruit of choice
I also like to use 1/2 cup blueberries
1/4 cup ground flax meal
1/2 cup Fage plain Greek yogurt
I like to top with a handful of raw unsalted mixed nuts
Stir and eat




Meal 3: Option 2, boiled eggs with sweet potatoes

1 full organic egg, 1 egg white mixed with mustard, sprinkle with paprika if desired
1/2 large sweet potato, cooked and cut in wedges

I like to dip my sweet potato in organic ketchup ... call me weird, but I have always been a ketchup kinda girl 




Meal 4: Grilled salmon and roasted veggies

Brussel sprouts, cauliflower, and red bell peppers drizzled with olive oil and tossed with basil pesto and minced garlic. Roast in open pan at 450 for 30 to 35 minutes

season and grill salmon outdoors for 25 minutes





Other Meal 4 Options I enjoy:

Roasted Veggies and Egg

Healthy Grilled Pizza

Brussels and Baked Stuffed Pork

I enjoy a small snack before bed and this really varies with my mood. I enjoy hummus or peanut butter on wheat toast or if I have baked a healthy treat, I will have that.

Check out my recipe page for more meal ideas. Also, head on over to Verywell and read my sports nutrition articles.

I hope this information is helpful and provides a great foundation for reaching fitness goals with healthy nutrition.

Thanks for stopping by my Blog and don't forget to subscribe and never miss a free update.

  

Darla Leal, Fit Over 50!

Relax More and Don't Stress About the Food

Do you think eating healthy is a burden? Have you tried keeping it simple and not stressing about it? Eating right turns into frustration when we have to worry about everything being perfect. Besides, that's not realistic. Unfortunately, for many of you, eating right has become an overwhelming chore.

Healthy food intake is really not that complicated. If you focus on eating nutrient-dense foods, counting calories is often not really necessary. Who needs calculations if you're consuming lots of kale, right? Eating donuts, pastries, and white bread would be an entirely different story.

Eating right is simply swapping out unhealthy choices for healthy food. Instead of eating french fries, try baking a sweet potato or even white potatoes for example. It also helps to use nutrient timing where you consume something nutritious every 2 to 3 hours. Eating small meals throughout the day stimulates your metabolism, regulates blood sugar, and leaves you feeling satisfied all day.

Eating healthy is an important part of maintaining your fitness and health. Keeping it simple will allow you to enjoy your food choices and your healthy lifestyle. This is considered the best of stress-free eating and really a doable process. 

Keeping a simple food journal may be a good idea starting out. Don't make journaling a chore either. If tracking macronutrients, put check marks next to the nutrients consumed at each meal. That's it. Remember, eating right shouldn't be taxing, but an enjoyable part of your healthy life. Your journal may look something like this:

Food choice             Protein        Carbohydrates       Fats    Calories (optional)
coffee
Greek yogurt               x                            x                     x
1/4 cup raw nuts          x                                                   x
chicken breast              x
mixed greens                x                           x
whole grain bread         x                           x
avocado                                                      x                      x
salmon                           x                                                   x
1 cup green veggies                                    x

Having a new mindset about what eating right really looks like can make you feel so much better about your food. You continue doing what is easy and realistic for your lifestyle.

Getting fit is not about going on a restrictive diet, just eating right. Nothing difficult or fancy about it. You will be familiar and have probably enjoyed food considered healthy already.

More food tips:
Eat enough calories to support your body and physical activity level.
The majority of your nutrition should come from plants (leafy greens, veggies, fruits, nuts, seeds, grains).
Eat healthy fats to keep you healthy. (olive oil, avocado, nuts, fatty fish like salmon).
Eat lean protein (chicken, fish, turkey, egg whites) to build/maintain muscle.
Drink lots of water (this is an individual requirement).

Thanks for stopping by my Blog and don't forget to subscribe and never miss a free update.

Be well and Stay Healthy

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Train Smarter not Harder

I like to make the most of my precious time. This means having a focused exercise program that fits into my schedule and works best for my body.

I believe in quality and not quantity when it comes to workouts. I perform exercises that challenge me but without risk of injury. It's not a fun place to be when exercise causes an injury. Especially when it stops me from doing what I like to do. 

I don't even like to feel a nagging pain caused by a certain exercise I should have avoided. I kick myself when my drive to perform gets in the way of listening to what my body is telling me at the time. It's those types of constant and repetitive things that can bring about a chronic issue. I say no thank you to that. What it comes down to is training smarter and not harder.

I don't need to prove anything to anyone with my fitness. I do want to maintain a healthy body that not only looks good but feels great for the rest of my life. What that means is keeping my routine simple, smart, and effective to get the job done. This is all I do to keep my body healthy, happy, and feeling good overall. 

Our bodies are fabulous machines that appreciate smart maintenance through quality movement and premium fuel for energy. A body that's in a constant state of overtraining using poor exercise technique will experience wear and tear. Eventually, this type of work will break down and create a body that doesn't feel good in the years to come. 

Smart training consists of challenging the anaerobic and aerobic systems, strength and endurance, stabilization and flexibility of our bodies. Simple programs can accomplish all of these goals and are necessary to create and maintain a healthy physique. 

The challenge doesn't have to be gut-wrenching feel like death kind of stuff. We simply need to push our bodies above the physical limits of what is considered our normal status.  Standing would turn into brisk walking for 30-minutes for example, or WOGing (walk/jogging). Combine that with resistance training and a stretch program to create a smartly balanced fitness program.   

When physical training is looked at simply and smarter, it doesn't feel so overwhelming. When the hard is taken out of the equation, a whole different mental game can be applied. A positive outlook of “I can do this” now enters the picture. 

Training smart makes creating exercise programs an easier process to best fit our bodies. It also gives us the results that make us healthy people. The goal is always to become our best healthy self each day. Wanting to accomplish this goal feels good when we apply smart training methods. 

Thanks for stopping by my Blog. Don't forget to subscribe and never miss a free update.

Be well and Stay Healthy