TRAVEL BLOG

I like that saying and it takes me back to when I was in junior high and high school.   I did not always feel the best about myself, but there was always a special motivation that came from my physical education teachers and coaches.   They made me feel accomplished, encouraged, and inspired me to do more and be more.   It was at that young age that I wanted to be like them, to be able to offer to young people that feeling of inner strength, confidence and overall happiness.   Presto...my goal in life was to be a P.E. teacher.   Of course I could not climb into their bodies and become them but imagining being them was pretty awesome in my younger years.   In my twists and turns of life, I am doing my passion on a broader spectrum than in a high school gym setting and I feel great about that.   The thing about life, mentors, and motivators is to understand the concept of guides, and yes to have goals.   The goals belong to each of us however, and...

I confess that being spontaneous is a difficult one for me.   I am definitely a plan and prep girl when it comes to almost everything about Darla.   I have always done better with structure and a guide to get me from start to finish.   Where this has served me best is in my meal planning and exercise.   I am not one of those who open the door to the refrigerator puzzled by what to eat, looking for something and finding nothing.   I think that would drive me crazy, and talk about wasting energy by leaving the frig open…YIKES. I have dedicated one day out of my weekend and sometimes during the week, to plan and prep my meals.   This not only ensures that I eat healthy, but saves me lots of money, time and stress, especially when time is limited during the busy work week.   I have two crock pots that are in constant use and filled with boneless/skinless chicken breast, brown rice, quinoa, and steel cut oats at any given time.   Having crock pot chic...

Simple is Healthy ~ Workouts Part 2 As promised, I am continuing my write about why I think “Simple is Healthy” and how I apply that to my life in all aspects.   Of course, it is such a HUGE factor for me, and knew that I could not fit all I had to say in one piece being the chatter bug that I am, so had to break it up in a series of Blogs. If you read the first of the series, I covered my food and how keeping it Simple makes for healthier foods…an apple vs. some packaged product with fake apple substance in it for example…YUCK.   I am dedicating this Blog to how I keep my workouts Simple and how that is absolutely HEALTHIER for me.   I am a down to earth, back to the basics, sticking to the foundation of exercise kind of gal.   I do not need anything fancy to create a healthy body, and in fact enjoy the simplicity of an all over body weight     program many times throughout the week.   Also…my time…it is so important…please do not think that I spend ...

Simple is Healthy! Simple is Healthy ~ Food, Part 1 YES…I have lots to say about keeping it simple and being such a chatter box, and trying not to jump too hard on the soap box, I knew this was going to become a series of SIMPLE.   I came across a quote that struck me “90% of people avoided obesity and diabetes long before anyone knew what a calorie was let alone counted them…let’s make “healthy” healthy again” and it ended with the word…SIMPLE. WOW, I thought on that and realized just how dynamic and powerful this statement was to me and how true it is for my life.   As a child, my parents modeled living from the land in our back yard and boy do I ever remember how my weekends were spent…pulling weeds from the garden.   Talk about a bitter sweet chore as a child…dirty hands, dirty knees, blisters…and the smell of tomato leaves so strong it could choke you…anyone relate?   Fruit trees adorned our backyard, and my Dad was a master grafter trying to create the perfect...