Hello, there! I just wanted to take a quick moment to introduce myself to you all. My name’s Daniel Wallen and I’m a published author, certified personal trainer, and life coach from Kingsport who will be writing a weekly fitness post here at Support Tri-Cities. I’m very excited for this and just want to say a quick “thank you” to CJ for inviting me to do this. If you ever have any questions, please don’t hesitate to leave a comment or look me up on Facebook!
I have something exciting to share with you: my book, “The Busy Woman’s Guide to Getting Fit, Fierce, and Fabulous,” is going to be free for the next three days on Amazon. Below is a special preview chapter about how to enjoy yourself during life’s special occasions, holidays, and vacations, while still moving forward for your health and fitness goals. Enjoy!
“Fun is good.”
-Dr. Seuss
Yes, you should have a desire to be fit, fierce, and fabulous. Yes, you must have focus and discipline to turn your desire into reality. No, this doesn’t mean you can’t break the rules on special occasions.
I would like you to avoid the words “always” and “never.” While you should avoid certain foods most of the time, you shouldn’t tell yourself that you can “never” have them. Life is meant to be fun, and the occasional indulgence won’t hurt you as long as you make positive decisions most of the time.
Learn from my mistakes.
When I got into this health and fitness stuff, I got a bit carried away with it all. So carried away that I found myself doing ridiculous things like packing healthy foods in Tupperware for a trip to Dollywood with my ex-girlfriend. No, I am not kidding and yes, she ridiculed me for it (and had every right to). The world won’t end if you let it go and enjoy yourself on life’s special occasions.
A Word on Vacations
Out for drinks with the girls? Vacationing to Disney with the kids? On a cruise to an exotic country with the love of your life? Forget the rules! You won’t magically go up a pants-size. You won’t gain 10 lbs in a week.
What will happen? You’ll have fun, get a much-needed break from all this health stuff, and come back with renewed vigor and focus. Ohhhh, scary.
A Word on Holidays
One day of fun isn’t going to wreck your waist-line, so enjoy yourself – but get rid of your left-overs ASAP.
Holidays are meant to be a day of celebration, not two weeks of eating junk. Try to find someone to give your left-overs to. That could be a homeless shelter, a needy family, or college students (I hear they are always hungry!).
Even if you can’t find someone to take it, trash your left-overs without guilt. Eating a bunch of junk and getting fat will not solve world hunger.
A Word on Alcohol
Surely you know a guy who was a ripped monster in high school, but now he has an uber big beer belly. Thus is the consequence of boozing too much.
That said, I’m not going to tell you to never drink alcohol. Life is meant to be fun, and in moderation alcohol is totally okay.
I love some Shiner Bock… and whiskey… and red wine… and Long Island Iced Teas… okay, I should stop talking now.
Here’s a simple way to keep the booze under control – give yourself a weekly six-pack-limit. Two options to spend it:
Option 1: Have a beer a day (or the equivalent in wine or liquor).
Option 2: Have it all on Friday or Saturday if you want to party hard.
Take it from Dr. Seuss
Fun is good. Live a little. Forget about all of this health stuff when presented with life’s precious moments and focus solely on enjoying yourself. You earned it!
If you’d like to read the rest of the book, you can get it for free until August 11. Click here to get fit, fierce, and fabulous!
