"What are you doing? Trying to be HEALTHY?"

Those of you who know my girlfriend Rachel or have heard me talk about her know that she is VERY detail oriented and organized. So today when I got an email from her that did NOT have anything in the subject, I was worried ;-) So I open it up expecting to get reminded to do something that she told me do hours before like drop my suit at the cleaners but instead, I get this:

"I have the topic for your next newsletter.

Why is it that when I have a salad or something healthy for lunch, people accuse me of "trying to be healthy", as if to say that I would rather be eating something else. When in reality, that's what I actually wanted to eat. If someone is having burger king for lunch are they "trying to be unhealthy"? what's up with that? seriously."

First of all,

Your taking your life into your hands messing with my GF! You don't got to worry about what I'm gonna do to you, you better be worried about what she'll do to you! (just kidding)
This is a great question and not something I ever really thought about before but i knew I just couldn't let it wait until next weeks newsletter to address it. It's like a form of adult peer pressure! It's definately been said to me in the past and I've probably been guilty of saying it about myself when I go out and eat something other than my usual meat and potatoes! Why is it that eating natural foods that don't come processed or out of a cardboard box is considered to be a big deal? Is it jealousy? Envy?

Well when all else fails, blame it on the media! Lets face it, the marketing of food in this country is insane. Rachel and I were watching Super Size Me a few weeks back and at one point an expert makes the comparison that a family can sit down together for 3 meals a day of healthy food and that puts 1000 images of healthy eating options in front of their children over the course of a year. That same kid can turn on the television each night and probably see dozens of commercials for all sorts of terrible food items. This amounts to 10,000 plus images over the course of a year. No matter how good of a parent you are it's awfully tough to fight that battle. Media marketing has conditioned us to associate fun and good times with food. We are all guilty of it! I don't think I eat Buffalo wings once outside of football season but somewhere along the line, that became football food just as a hot dog is "baseball food".

Well guess what? The beautiful thing about this Facebook and Twitter generation that we live in is that now you and I have become the media! We can be more in charge of what images are seen and what we portray. We have more access to more information than we could ever dream about! We have access to support and networks of people that fall in line with our desires and don't have to be as susceptible to whatever junk gets forced our way. An old friend and fellow trainer is using social media to show what he eats every day and to document his workouts as he works towards getting himself back in tip top shape. I'm working with a client and having her use her smartphone to take pics of EVERYTHING she eats each day so that she can hold herself accountable to me to support her in her fitness journey as well as receive feedback and knowledge on the choices she is making.

If you've ever trained with me you know I always say "there is no try"; you either ARE healthy or you AREN'T healthy. Many people that see Rachel seem to think that she's only fit because she dates a trainer or that I somehow pressure her to stay in shape. Couldn't be further from the truth! When we met, she was already a healthy eater and was into working out but didn't really know how to work out properly. We went to work on a routine to kick up the intensity in her workouts and to train SMARTER not HARDER. When the spring time hit, she joined me in my Starving Artist Bootcamp which she still attends along with several other "goddesses" (shameless plug, bootcamp is going on now indoors and will be moving back to Central Park in April so if you want to look and feel like Rachel, I suggest you sign up!) Rachel doesn't eat salads every single day. Rachel likes trips to Dinosaur BBQ (pictured) as much as i do! Rachel has NEVER seen a desert menu she didn't like either! But the difference is that Rachel values the way a healthy lifestyle makes her look and more importantly FEEL, not only physically but mentally as well so she is careful about the choices that she makes. It's kind of like being on a budget. The unhealthy person is constantly making withdrawls and finds themselves overdrawn while the healthy person makes deposits and has plenty in their account for the occassional withdrawl!

So if it is jealousy and envy that make people question Rachel's "healthy" ways, they shouldn't. Any of you reading this can be like Rachel. I'm not going to lie to you and tell you that it's easy to do all the time. I don't have a magic pill. I don't promote bullshit "as seen on tv" workout gadgets full of false promises. The people that come to my bootcamp and/or train with me absolutely BUST THEIR ASS or get it busted by me. While your still in bed hitting snooze, they are in the gym with me at 5:30am. While your at happy hour, they are running 40 flights of stairs. Your eating Burger King, they're eating salads. They have committed to a LIFESTYLE of health. Some are fitter than others but all of them are HEALTHY. But don't be fooled, my clients aren't robots! They are human! There are times when they are out at happy hour, there are times they aren't eating the healthiest of foods but ultimately it's all about balance and everything in moderation.

So what do you guys think? Why do people accuse others of "trying to be healthy"? I'd love to read your comments below and I'd love to make this a regular segment so if you've got a fitness question, peeve, comment or whatever, feel free to email it to me at info@centralparkfitness.com and I'd be more than happy to address online or personally back to you via email.

Dave duCille
Founder
Central Park Fitness