Wednesday, July 29, 2015
#WCW
July 29, 2015
Darlene Pittman
In 2005, Darlene walked into a small one-person office at a Gold's Gym in Charlotte. Little did she know it would change rest of her life. Darlene met Angela Wilkinson, then the sole employee/owner of Total Nutrition Technology and together they laid out a plan that would soon inspire Darlene to think beyond weight loss. And now, it is Darlene's outlook on life and health that inspires us here at TNT. So here we celebrate the successes and "secrets" of Darlene's healthy lifestyle!
Darlene has been working with Angela and TNT for the last 10 years and her goals include living "a healthy lifestyle, learning, and educating myself on
nutrition." Darlene's main goal is to "learn how to be healthy and make it part of
everyday life." The best part is that Angela feels she's done an amazing job so we just had to find out...
What are her secrets to success?
Darlene fuels right:
"I usually like apples or pears if just for a normal snack, but after a long bike ride or run I usually go for an English Muffin with peanut butter and banana."
It's incredibly important to fuel properly throughout the day. Eating snacks between meals prevents extreme hunger, poor decision-making, irritability, and fatigue. Before and after exercise, it's also criticial to replace any potential muscle losses. Darlene's choice offers fast-acting carbohydrate (with the banana) to help bring her blood sugar up, while the English Muffin and peanut butter help to keep her sugar up and begin the repair process necessary for building muscle and burning fat.
She stays focused on the positive:
"You just have to be committed to the process and really try
to remove any negative influences that affect your decision making in regards
to food choices and or exercise. For me, it is about having a positive attitude every day and not giving in to bad days
or difficult situations. Stay the course and
the results will come."
Removing potential triggers is a critical component to building momentum, especially after the initial "high" one gets from making the decision to change one's life. After that "high" has worn off, and real life has begun to set in, that's when people lose their focus, momentum, and motivation to continue. We humans tend to be all or nothing creatures and that mentality can set many of us up for failure. By removing the negative influences, Darlene has allowed herself to make decisions based on her intentions rather than on her mood (or her habits).
She uses bad for good:
"I lost my father 5 years ago to cancer and even though I
have been athletic my entire life, I never really concentrated on the nutrition
side of things. So in his death I have
been motivated to eat as healthy as possible and to live as a healthy
lifestyle."
It is aboslutely essential to allow oneself the opportunity to honor loved ones by continuing to learn and grow as a person. Darlene has taken a very hard, and all too common, scenario and refused to become victim to it, but rather to use the loss of her father as fuel to the fire. Success is inevitable for her with motivation like this.
She has a secret:
Darlene knows what works for her - smoothies. They're fast, easy, convenient, and help ensure she's getting all of her fruits and veggies every day. Everyone needs a good kitchen hack that helps eliminate excuses. The Nutri-Bullet is Darlene's.
She has support:
I
cannot say enough about Angela, she has been a great nutrition, fitness coach
to me over the years and has helped keep me motivated with my progress. She is
AWESOME!
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Darlene has impressed us with her endless motivation, positivity, and incredible outlook on life. Not to mention the success she continues to experience as she reaches, exceeds, and sets new goals. Darlene, it is because of this that you are TNT's #wcw this week: we have a CRUSH on you!!