27 | January | 2016 | quotidiandose

I have a special guest today, Toney Dunaway aka The Armchair Quarterback.

I met Toney online through a writing group a couple of years ago. He was always making interesting posts about healthy choices and fitness, so it was no suprise to me when he made the shift to becoming a certified personal trainer.

If you get the chance to work with him, I highly recommend him. I am very impressed with his healthy living outlook, and whole foods plan.

Tell me a little about yourself.

I’m currently a personal trainer, certified by two different international companies. I also specialize in nutrition and women’s fitness. Beyond that, I’m pursuing a master’s level in nutrition, en route to becoming a board certified holistic doctor. I believe that our bodies are miraculous machines that can do much on their own once we balance them by first figuring out how we are currently out of balance. I’m PASSIONATE about health and fitness and believe that we should all be able to live a full, active, lively life, if we so choose.

Name one thing that is a highlight in your life that you would consider a huge success and name one thing that you count as a failure.

My biggest failure would be not paying attention to my personal growth early in my life. That one thing has set me back decades. My biggest success I would have to say is accepting myself for who I am, strengths and weaknesses, because that has allowed me to more fully love those that are in my life, and appreciate what I have in my life.

Why did you choose this as a career?

There’s a story. I’ve worked out on and off for about 3 decades, and I had no idea how much time I wasted, and how badly I was spinning my wheels. I got a personal trainer for my wife and paid attention to that process. Her trainer suggested that she get certified, then her and I talked about how she thought I would do with it. After some time of batting the idea around, I took the plunge. From that point forward, my passion for proper training and proper nutrition was ignited. Once I started training people myself and teaching them about nutrition, and seeing their positive results, that impacted me, so I knew there was no turning back. I absolutely love seeing others achieve the positive results that they want, to become happier and healthier. It makes all the hours I put into it all worthwhile.

For someone wishing to improve their health that comes to you for help, what would be the first bit of advice that you would give them?

Don’t expect overnight results, but DO expect positive results. If they can take that first step, we can have a very enjoyable journey together.

What do you find to be the most rewarding part of what you do?

Helping others find ways to fit healthier lifestyle choices within the framework of their current life. From that, again, helping others to actually become happier and healthier. As they start seeing and feeling improvements, that makes me happy. With every client that comes in with a smile because what we are doing is making a positive impact on their life, that fires me up to give them that much more of myself.

What part do you feel that the mental game plays in the person’s success or failure?

It makes all the difference in the world. If they are not ready for the needed changes, no matter what their words say, they will get nowhere. To be blunt, they will quit on themselves. I’ve seen it again and again. However, if they are mentally prepared for the journey ahead, together, we will plow through any obstacle. As they communicate with me about what’s going on, together we figure out ways that they can overcome what ever life is hitting them with, so they can continue on their positive journey forward.

How do your services help a person who mentally is defeated?

Honestly, that’s really a tough one. The work outs alone will produce a chemical within your body that make you feel better once the work out is done…however, the longevity of their success has to ultimately come from their readiness to change.

How important do you think supplements play in a person’s diet?

Define “supplements.” The word supplements has all kinds of connotations, some good, some bad. I personally do not recommend 99% of what’s on the market, whether it’s through MLM companies or sold in retail chains. I personally look at the quality of each particular product line, because most of them take shortcuts, and we don’t want shortcuts in our own health. We want ease and convenience, but not shortcuts. We are talking about not only the individual ingredients in a particular product, but also the processing that those ingredients have gone through. It ALL makes a difference in the quality of the product that you put into your body. The bottom line is, the daily diet needs to be balanced. Once it is balanced with the right minerals, then vitamins, then the needed ratio of protein, fats, and carbs, the body will become a well oiled machine all on it’s own. But it first has to have the necessary foundation, and the balance is built on top of that foundation.