Doing What I Can with what I Got is Good Enough

It's Good Enough

When it comes to fitness and especially my workouts, I make them my own.  If you have read my About Me section, you're aware of my medical issues requiring modification to certain exercises.

I do what I can with what I got and it's good enough. I can recall feeling defeated after my injuries and especially during neuro-rehab when I couldn't even lift my head off an exercise ball.

Tears of pain and frustration would flood over those appointments, and almost to the point of giving up. I would pray every night for things to be different and wake up the same. What an ugly place to be, but there I was years ago. I became so determined to fight, and I did.

Fast forward to now and I'm in a much better place physically, mentally and spiritually. Going through tough times builds a tough inner and outer shell.

The point of life is not to understand everything that happens to us, but handling it the best we can when hard knocks on the door. Giving up and being angry would be easy but what good does that serve ... nothing.

Acceptance of me and what I can do became the focus. Maintaining all my hard earned muscle took some creative program planning. I saw it as a positive challenge and not an obstacle. I had to discover through trial and error what worked best for me.

I am in tune and listen to what my body is telling me. There is a difference between exercise that feels good and not right. If anything twinges in the not right direction, I put on the brakes and immediately modify and do something else.

I don't believe in pushing past something that will hurt my body and land me flat on my back or worse. I appreciate the gift of what I can do and will not fudge this up.

Do I miss certain things ... yes. I get so excited watching others perform what I used to do. I want to jump in and do it with them. That is just my inner athlete still alive and well, but my outer athlete will dictate what I can do now.

Exercise is about being smart and creating a quality life. So many don't realize how good they're supposed to feel and accommodate chronic pain. My goal is to increase lean mass while decreasing or eliminating pain. I know what it feels like to be in severe pain and how hard I have worked to achieve being pain-free.

My fitness journey is not about doing what others can do, but doing the best at what I can do. It's about acceptance of my body and the thoughts surrounding it that belong to me. I believe in adopting a healthy lifestyle to create a quality life. I walk and teach this motto daily. It's about doing what I can with what I got and that's good enough.

Read more of my articles on the Verywell health network under Sports Nutrition. 

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Thanks for Reading and Stay Healthy

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Looking Like Myself

What do I mean by looking like myself ?  Well, I have certain genetics and a lifestyle contributing to what I look like. I'm not supposed to look like anyone else including other fitness women in magazines.

Back in my competitive days, I do admit to more than admiring and felt I needed to look like them to win. I struggled with my body not responding the same way as another fitness competitor. It was an unrealistic way of thinking. The girls in the magazines don't even look like the girls in the magazine. Straight up the fitness truth.

I'm so happy to have learned through that insecure journey. I have come full circle with knowledge, age, and wisdom. I embrace who I am and what I look like. I strive to be my best me and not anyone else. It would be such a stressful life to constantly compare myself to all the beautiful women out there. Life is too short to think unrealistic thoughts or goals.

Did you know ALL images in magazines are photoshopped? The pictures are smoothed, cropped and colored for marketing appeal. The purpose is to create unreal images of women and men representing something they're not. Many of these models may be in great shape with a normal healthy body. What's missing is their natural lines, bumps, blemishes, rolls, bootie, and hips revised with a few strokes of a computer. Anyone can get a photoshopped 6-pack now and this isn't a joke. I'm not anti-photoshop, but if I need to go to the image credits just to recognize the person, that is simply not right. 

photoshopped

Some of my older modeling pictures are slightly photoshopped. I have to say it's an art of knowing just how much to shop an image and loved when some softness was needed. Overall, I prefer my untouched edgy images showing the real me.

I really enjoy taking self-portraits with no filters and proudly display those here and on my Instagram. Most are without makeup and sweaty from a workout showing the real over 50 me. 

It's important for me to want to look like myself and not someone else. This tells me that I accept, embrace, and honor who I am as Darla (woman, wife, mother, trainer, writer, daughter, sister, and friend). How could I even walk the shoes of helping people get healthy if I didn't believe in this. 

We all need to strive to become our best healthy self with the wonderful genetics we have. I'm no longer 20 something like my beautiful daughter who reminds me of my youth. However, I am over 50 and celebrate who I am today. I am pretty darn happy with that. Fitness is a journey and never a destination. 

not photoshopped

I embrace my fine lines earned from laughs, smiles, and a few frowns along the way. I believe aging is a privilege and an honor. Although there is no such thing as the fountain of youth, I feel fitness is darn close. I have kept my body and mind young living a healthy life.

Consistent exercise, healthy foods, plenty of rest, and balance of work and play have been my friend. My fit lifestyle not only keeps me feeling youthful but also decreases my risk of illness. I want to do my best to live a good long life. When it comes down to me and the mirror, there is acceptance. 

A journey of un-photoshopped images and proud to display the real me:

 

My Workout of the Day:

ARC Trainer: 30 minutes

Body Stuff: (light today…a bit tired) 1 minute intervals

Modified french press (repeated 4x in between legs)

1 set cross back step ups

1 set reverse lunges

1 set squat lateral lifts

STRETCH TIME

meal 3

Nutrition of the Day:

Coffee, one cup

1-1 Omega muffin

2-Post workout shake/ ¼ cup raw pumpkin seeds

3-Shredded chicken, avocado spinach wrap

4-Small potato topped with n/f Greek yogurt

5-Ground turkey breast burger and grilled corn

6-Watermelon and homemade protein balls

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Love to be Real

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2016 Garden Education, Fails and Heart Break

A little update about the garden this year.  I suppose this is really for my own records and perhaps a bit of venting ;)  It has been a really tough year here in Ontario.  We have been hit with a drought. There has been such little rain we have had to get our well filled twice this year, which in his 40 year history has never been done.  The lawn is completely brown and the leaves fell off the poplar trees already in July.

The garden has taken a huge hit.  Since we are really trying to conserve the water I have not been out there much with the hose.  The soil is also depleting in nutrients and becoming quite attractive to various pests.

 My sad tomato plants.  

Many of the tomatoes on there are getting brown bottoms because they 

aren't absorbing enough calcium.

Early this summer I had to pull out all the cucumber, zucchini, watermelon and squash plants due to the cucumber beetle.  I tried to spray naturally but they were repopulating themselves much quicker than I could manage.

Come July I was faced with the dreaded potato bug.  Yuck, I was so glad to have 6 year old around to help me pick them off the plants.  She was such a trooper.  My 8 year was out there spraying the plants with some diluted peppermint oil.  Thankfully we managed to rid the plants of these pests in about a week.  I found these ones so gross, I won't bother posting a picture...

I am now experiencing other bugs on the cabbages and the kale...oh no not my precious kale!  It has been quite heart breaking and I find myself avoiding the garden because of its disappointment.

This will be our fourth fall here with the apple trees.  The spring showed great promise as there were thousands of blossoms, many working bees and then tonnes of apples.  The apples now however are half their normal size.

With all this said, I will take this as a big learning curve.  Isn't that what a homeschooler should do ;)  I will plant a few things later into the spring and let the compost break down even further before spreading on the garden.  Next year I will also be adamant about adding another layer of manure down in order to bring back some nutrients.

On the upside, my 6 year old planted ground cherries from seed in the spring which we planted in the garden in June.  They are doing so well and she is super thrilled.

We have also learned that cherry tomatoes, onions, peppers, pole beans, swiss chard, kale and snow peas don't require as much water as we are still reaping those rewards.

Despite the frustration, my husband and I have both been thankful that we live in an area that still has water available.  Perhaps it isn't always in our well but with one phone call, clean water is delivered the very same day.  We do live in a safe, healthy and abundant environment that is just a little dry right now ;)

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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.

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Darla Leal, Fit Over 50!

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Are You Really Eating for Fitness Goals?

Fitness goals are awesome. We want to lose fat, gain muscle and just feel healthy, right? There is nothing better than living a quality life feeling our best. Of course, reaching these goals requires a certain lifestyle.

Are you really eating for fitness goals? Did I ping you on the forehead just now? The lifestyle required includes consuming healthy foods and exercising consistently. Not living this way should make you feel weird. Do you feel weird?

If the answer is no, there is something askew with your fitness program. It usually comes down to what you're eating. Often times we convince ourselves eating off track is acceptable because we work out several times per week. This falls under, you can't out exercise a crappy diet.

I have seen great fitness success turn into the entitlement of eating off track as a reward for doing so awesome. Your well-deserved food frenzy has snowballed into a struggle to get back on track. It can begin as innocently as saying "oh this once won't hurt me" but without self-control, it really can be disastrous.

The food we eat and what we drink represents the body we show. Think about that statement. Food is powerful and also makes us feel healthy or unhealthy. It's the primary cause of inflammation in our blood. This inflammation is said to be the root cause of increased risk of disease. 

We can no longer be in denial about what we're putting in our faces. Now is a great time to perform a nutritional assessment and take an honest look. Reaching fitness goals means being true to yourself. 

The great news is we can always get back on track and start again. This time, with healthier choices and firmer commitment to live the lifestyle. Fitness is always about progress and not perfection. 

Be well and Stay Healthy!

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Darla Leal, Stay Healthy Fitness

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Don't Stress About the Food

Do you think eating healthy is too hard? I say keep it simple and don't stress. Too many of us are getting frustrated counting calories, weighing food, and calculating macro percents ad nauseum. Healthy food choices have become an overwhelming chore.

Have you heard of the saying throw out the scale? Apply that mentality to our food by tossing the scales and calculators. Eating right is about quality and not calories anyway. Who needs a scale if your pounding down kale, right? Eating donuts, pastries, and white bread is a different story.

Eating right is simply swaping out unhealthy choices for healthy food. Instead of eating french fries, bake sweet or even white potatoes. It also helps to use nutrient timing and eat every 2 to 3 hours. Eating small meals throughout the day stimulates our metabolism, regulates blood sugar, and eliminates feeling hungry.

Eating healthy is a good thing. Keeping it simple will allow you to enjoy your food and feel good about your healthy lifestyle. Start today by switching out unhealthy choices for healthy foods. Calculators and food scales aren't required for this 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.  Remember, eating right is not about being a task but an enjoyment in our healthy life.

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Stay Healthy

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Satisfied with Fitness, Health and Life

Be Fabulous!

Satisfied is such a great word. I admit to being satisfied and happy with my life and fitness. I don't need to look for approval or contentment outside of myself. I stopped worrying about not being good enough years ago.

My younger self would run around trying to please everyone. I put my own feelings aside and didn't understand how to apply healthy boundaries. I am so happy to be older, wiser and definitely better.  

This journey called life has blessed me with many discoveries of positive growth. I understand all I have gone through as part of a learning process. 

How does satisfaction relate to my fitness?  I do take my health seriously and make fitness priority. I'm satisfied with the outward reflection of my lifestyle. This has nothing to do with vanity and everything to do with quality living and feeling my best.

I am content with my efforts and satisfied with my body. I don't need to be thinner, leaner, or even more muscular. I have complete satisfaction with the work I have done and the continued maintenance of my body. I can honestly say I am good. I know my limitations, understand myself on all levels and accept the person that is Darla. 

I have helped numerous people over the years. There are so many who remain unsatisfied even when they reach their fitness goals. They're living the lifestyle and it's still not good enough. This, of course, is a deeper issue. These are the feelings that haunt within and may stem from past events or even present circumstances. Regardless of how fit we are on the outside, if inner work is not exercised, true health and happiness won't happen. Time to stop fooling ourselves and work on whole body satisfaction. 

I am a positive advocate for counseling, therapy, and a woman of strong faith. I have no problem recommending inner work may be required. This is the time to visit the ghosts lurking in our minds and cluttering up our positive space. It's important to discover what the heck is going on to cause such unhappiness and nonacceptance of self. I have been there, done that, and greatly appreciative of all I have learned and having God on my side through the process.

Daughters are Fabulous

I look at myself and no longer see that 20 something gal now reflected in my beautiful daughter and stepdaughter. They are absolute peaches and cream beauties and I marvel in that for them. Being over 50 comes with laugh lines, stretched skin from having children, surgery scars, and the overall aging process.This is acceptance of the cycle of life and feeling blessed to have gone through and to be continuing the journey. This is satisfaction and happiness.

I may not be 20 anymore but will always work hard making health a priority to feel and look my best. Fitness is the fountain of youth and a way I honor myself in this beautiful life. I am trendy, not frumpy, and love to feel sexy. Being healthy satisfies all those things for me and my best is always the goal. 

I also believe in the word enough, and when it comes to my fitness, it's good enough. Satisfaction applies to so many things in my life. Contentment in being healthy is just a part of Darla.

I don't believe the grass is greener on the other side or having more is better. I do believe in the saying “I may not have the best of everything but I make the best of everything I have.” I enjoy less is more, love the simple things, not sweating the small stuff, and in daily miracles.

It's important for me to feel satisfaction, contentment, and value every moment. If I didn't do that, life wouldn't make sense. You may see Darla, the fitness expert, but let me introduce you to Darla, the satisfied person.   

enjoy some motivation

 

 

need a workout?

Try my recipes

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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. 

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Be well and Stay Healthy

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