I am so excited about my post this week!
If there is one thing I love more than being an honest momma, it is talking to people about health and fitness. I have been an athlete, well... probably since the first time I kicked a soccer ball in second grade. I've always loved getting outside and moving around or working off a stressful day at the gym. On the flip side, I have equally enjoyed learning about new ways to be healthy in the kitchen! I just love taking old faithful favorites that may not be the most heart healthy meals and putting a creative spin on them to make them better for you. (Check out my fiesta potato recipe to see the creative spin I put on taco night in my home!) I know that I am lucky to have this love affair with health and that not all people share my same appreciation but my hope is to show people that you can slowly build this relationship with being a healthy human being and not rush or get discouraged when it doesn't happen overnight.
**Quick warning before you read too much further into this post. My opinions on fitness and health may be a little hard to swallow for some so I give you my heads up now in hopes that I do not offend any of my readers as you continue on with this post.
It has taken me many years to have the healthy relationship with food and fitness that I do now. If you haven't read my post on my struggle with an eating disorder, I did face a rough couple of years with bad body image, the urge to OVER work my body and a very restrictive diet. As I have said before and I will continue to urge others to follow, FAT is not a word that should ever be used in a household, not about yourself and not about other people. I try hard to stick to this, especially as Sawyer continues to grow and hear things from other little girls about body image. It is very important for me to pass on a healthy appreciation of fitness and food to my daughter and using words like fat or skinny just do not promote this healthy attitude.
When I was growing up, I remember very well when my mom would try a fad diet or talk about being unhappy with her size. As I got older, it wasn't just my mom and her friends talking about these diets, but also my peers. I will never forget the first time I was at a high school soccer tournament and one of my friends pulled out an Abs diet book from her soccer bag. We were 15 and 16 years old and she was worried about having the perfect body already. At first I remember thinking, how boring! Who wants to do all of that extra work to get abs?? But as soccer came to an end in high school and I was left with no team sports to keep me active, I too began to search for ways to stay in shape and have to admit that I even picked up that Abs book to see what it was all about.
Through my struggle with body image, I have now tried just about everything to stay "skinny". I've taken the diet pills, tried the restrictive diets, cut out ALL carbs, all sugar, all gluten, blah blah blah... I've gone vegan, vegetarian, pescatarian, PALEO! You name it, I've probably tried it and here is what I'm going to tell you. It is ALL crap. Sorry to burst bubbles but there is no PILL, patch, wrap, "fat blocker", supplement, etc.that will make you "skinny". These diets are crap, these pyramid schemes that people push on you are CRAP! If you work at a job that has you sitting down all day long, eat foods that don't push your body to work as it should and then go home and sit in front of the TV until you go to bed then it doesn't matter what you take or how much money you spend on get skinny quick schemes, you will fail. I've seen people pay thousands of dollars for lipo, tummy tucks or even gastric bypass which all eventually fail because they go home after surgery and continue to sit on their bottoms, eating terrible food and doing nothing to help their new bodies work at capacity.
Bottom line: being healthy doesn't happen overnight and it isn't something you can sidestep your way to. Being healthy is about making lifestyle changes. Being healthy is taking your family or friends outside for an evening stroll or a game of kickball instead of sitting inside binge watching TV or playing video games. Being healthy is choosing a well proportioned meal with GOOD fats and quality proteins, leafy green veggies and putting down the empty foods like frozen pizzas or fast food burgers. It is most definitely a great idea to splurge every once and a while! Get a pizza, eat donuts for breakfast, have a foot-long meatball sub all to yourself BUT, do this once a week not once a day.
Life is all about being balanced in all things and that is especially true for diet and exercise. I am living proof that with balanced diet and good activity, you can be healthy and happy.
One of my most proud success stories is my mom, the honest yaya. When I was in high school, my mom finally made the decision to turn her life around and start to make healthy decisions in all aspects of her daily routine. As I said before, it takes time to build a relationship with exercise. My mom did not start off running 5K's like she so easily does now. We started slow and every night would go run the high school track. At first we would just run one lap then walk a lap. Next she would run two and walk two. This went on until she was lapping me! She fell in love with running as time went on and later fell in love with creating healthy recipes and finding natural ways to stay free of sickness. NOW, she educates people on how THEY can live healthy lifestyles! My mom is walking proof that you can be in your 50's (cough cough, sorry mom) and still attract attention from men in their 30's ;)
Exercise doesn't have to be boring. If you hate running, that's not a problem. Find another activity that you do love! I have been lucky enough to continue playing soccer in adult leagues as I've gotten older and even recently, helped start a coed softball team. These are both fun examples of ways that you can get out of the house and your body doing some physical activity without running laps around a track. YUCK.
You can DO IT people! I am here to be your biggest cheerleader and remind you as much as you need that with a few life style changes, you too can achieve the healthy life you strive for. I can pass off healthy recipes to try with your families or fun activities to get you moving. Just let me know what you need and I will always do my best to help. Remember! Nothing that lasts is quick and easy. You are wasting your money and time with these get skinny quick gimmicks!
Now, enough of my ranting! Get off your butt and go outside :)
All my love and support,
-Honest Momma
It has taken me many years to have the healthy relationship with food and fitness that I do now. If you haven't read my post on my struggle with an eating disorder, I did face a rough couple of years with bad body image, the urge to OVER work my body and a very restrictive diet. As I have said before and I will continue to urge others to follow, FAT is not a word that should ever be used in a household, not about yourself and not about other people. I try hard to stick to this, especially as Sawyer continues to grow and hear things from other little girls about body image. It is very important for me to pass on a healthy appreciation of fitness and food to my daughter and using words like fat or skinny just do not promote this healthy attitude.
When I was growing up, I remember very well when my mom would try a fad diet or talk about being unhappy with her size. As I got older, it wasn't just my mom and her friends talking about these diets, but also my peers. I will never forget the first time I was at a high school soccer tournament and one of my friends pulled out an Abs diet book from her soccer bag. We were 15 and 16 years old and she was worried about having the perfect body already. At first I remember thinking, how boring! Who wants to do all of that extra work to get abs?? But as soccer came to an end in high school and I was left with no team sports to keep me active, I too began to search for ways to stay in shape and have to admit that I even picked up that Abs book to see what it was all about.
Through my struggle with body image, I have now tried just about everything to stay "skinny". I've taken the diet pills, tried the restrictive diets, cut out ALL carbs, all sugar, all gluten, blah blah blah... I've gone vegan, vegetarian, pescatarian, PALEO! You name it, I've probably tried it and here is what I'm going to tell you. It is ALL crap. Sorry to burst bubbles but there is no PILL, patch, wrap, "fat blocker", supplement, etc.that will make you "skinny". These diets are crap, these pyramid schemes that people push on you are CRAP! If you work at a job that has you sitting down all day long, eat foods that don't push your body to work as it should and then go home and sit in front of the TV until you go to bed then it doesn't matter what you take or how much money you spend on get skinny quick schemes, you will fail. I've seen people pay thousands of dollars for lipo, tummy tucks or even gastric bypass which all eventually fail because they go home after surgery and continue to sit on their bottoms, eating terrible food and doing nothing to help their new bodies work at capacity.
Bottom line: being healthy doesn't happen overnight and it isn't something you can sidestep your way to. Being healthy is about making lifestyle changes. Being healthy is taking your family or friends outside for an evening stroll or a game of kickball instead of sitting inside binge watching TV or playing video games. Being healthy is choosing a well proportioned meal with GOOD fats and quality proteins, leafy green veggies and putting down the empty foods like frozen pizzas or fast food burgers. It is most definitely a great idea to splurge every once and a while! Get a pizza, eat donuts for breakfast, have a foot-long meatball sub all to yourself BUT, do this once a week not once a day.
Life is all about being balanced in all things and that is especially true for diet and exercise. I am living proof that with balanced diet and good activity, you can be healthy and happy.
One of my most proud success stories is my mom, the honest yaya. When I was in high school, my mom finally made the decision to turn her life around and start to make healthy decisions in all aspects of her daily routine. As I said before, it takes time to build a relationship with exercise. My mom did not start off running 5K's like she so easily does now. We started slow and every night would go run the high school track. At first we would just run one lap then walk a lap. Next she would run two and walk two. This went on until she was lapping me! She fell in love with running as time went on and later fell in love with creating healthy recipes and finding natural ways to stay free of sickness. NOW, she educates people on how THEY can live healthy lifestyles! My mom is walking proof that you can be in your 50's (cough cough, sorry mom) and still attract attention from men in their 30's ;)
Exercise doesn't have to be boring. If you hate running, that's not a problem. Find another activity that you do love! I have been lucky enough to continue playing soccer in adult leagues as I've gotten older and even recently, helped start a coed softball team. These are both fun examples of ways that you can get out of the house and your body doing some physical activity without running laps around a track. YUCK.
You can DO IT people! I am here to be your biggest cheerleader and remind you as much as you need that with a few life style changes, you too can achieve the healthy life you strive for. I can pass off healthy recipes to try with your families or fun activities to get you moving. Just let me know what you need and I will always do my best to help. Remember! Nothing that lasts is quick and easy. You are wasting your money and time with these get skinny quick gimmicks!
Now, enough of my ranting! Get off your butt and go outside :)
All my love and support,
-Honest Momma
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