Hi, Friday Friend Features! It’s been a hot minute. Welcome back–it’s so amazing to have you back as a regular part of my blog!
Happy December, everybody! Yes, I know I have not published a Friday Friend Features post in forever, and I am really glad to be getting back into the swing of it because I really love learning about people I adore, look up to, and who I think bring a lot of value to the table. If you do not know what Friday Friend Features is, it is basically a (tentative) monthly series where I share an interview with a friend of mine who also has some kind of online presence! A lot of readers seem to like it, and I love connecting with other people, so it’s a win-win situation!
Today, I cannot be more excited to introduce one of the loveliest, most empowering, strong, kind-hearted, and inspiring individuals I have ever met online. Her name is Linda, and she runs a well-known blog called The Fitty where she shares a lot of valuable content centered on health, fitness, wellness, self-love, spirituality, and on her exciting personal life!
We are actually close online friends and I can wholeheartedly say that this girl works. HARD. Okay? Take the most hardworking individual you know, and just multiply it by…oh, you know, a hundred million times. Yeah, sounds about right. But in all seriousness, Linda is such a fabulous person who I think anyone can learn something from. I am absolutely certain that you will find a lot of value in this interview! Thank you so so much Linda for participating in this questionnaire! Please check out her social media after you read this interview too!
Take it away!
- What are the nitty-gritties that you would like any newcomers to know about you and your platform?
- I’d like them to know me personally (as an honest, ambitious, and open hearted person) and what I’m about: self empowerment!
- I advocate self-wellness in the form of mental and physical health. When the mind and body are joyous, there is harmony.
- I also document the silly and intimate dailies of my own life. The beautiful highs, the painful lows, and the lukewarm, mediocre in-betweens.
- I’ve struggled with an addiction (to food) and also gone through so much the average teenage girl or young adult as gone through, like being a social outcast, depression, anxiety, mental and verbal abuse from family, and through all that it’s also changed me for the better in being the kind-hearted, deep person I am today. I want to inspire and motive and uplift others in a way that builds their confidence and joy. ❤ Because bringing others joy has brought ME so much joy.
- On a random note, I love eating chicken skin and winter and fall runs. I have this crazy roommate that threw out all my food and I was gonna cuss him out real bad but remained cool. #RealYogiHere.
- Get ready to laugh your arses off:
- Oh yeah, I also promise I have a good fashion sense–I just find staying in yoga leggings and a tank has me prepared for the zombie apocalypse at all times. 🙂
- I study acting in Canada.
- I’m a personal trainer.
- I’m a certified Health and Life Coach.
🙂
- You went through some interesting stages while finding your self-identity, including rebellion and depression. How have they collectively molded you into who you are today?
- I’ve had to grow up faster than my peers at an early age; making me much more mature for my age. I crave deeper connections; I’m more self-reflective, calculative, and mature. At the same time, I’ve forgotten how beautiful it is to just play, be creative and nonsensical, and laugh. My parents haven’t provided the best nurturing environment; even though they thought what they only knew was best. And so I’ve fought long and hard with them especially in my teenage years when I started to question the values I’ve been taught, and when I needed their support the most because I didn’t know who I was. I took care of myself. I cried and screamed and even ended up in the hospital at some point because I rebelled against their rules so wrathfully I hurt myself. I’ve also stuck to my guts and proved them wrong on many things; taught them how to (hopefully) better understand our generation and take better care raising my younger siblings.
Through all that, I have learned this:
- Without adversity, we cannot know beauty. We cannot understand or appreciate the lessons we learn along the way. For me, that meant trying things out and falling down. I’ve learned that the hardships in life are what create the highs, because when you hit a low you can only go up from there.
- Similarly to many others, your pursuits landed in a field that your parents disapproved of. Was it challenging to follow your dreams, and what advice do you have for those in the same situation?
- Definitely! Oh, I cant tell you how challenging it was to follow my heart. I did some stupid things along the way but it was all part of the universe’s plan for me to fall; that’s how I learn. All they ever did was discourage me, insult me, and even threaten me. At some points, I ended up in the hospital, forged a signature, got the police involved…went through physical abuse too. I felt like a victim even in my own home. My parents made it very clear that in their eyes I’ve failed and disgraced the family name. I cried myself to sleep every single night and wished to die.
- My advice? Never ever give up on your dreams. They are not worth sacrificing to make someone else happy. Its hard when its your parents because you cant get rid of them since you live under their roof, but if you can enlighten them through example how it is possible to succeed in your dreams (let them watch a documentary, talk to a professional/family friend who DOES support you, let them see how happy and energetic it makes you), you inspire them to accept the idea.
- Ultimately, remember that at 18 you are free to move out; so long as you can financially support yourself. Its SO MUCH BETTER to go through financial struggles but have your own freedom and free of the toxic environment of their home. Trust me. The day I moved out was one of the best of my life.
- Throughout your journey, how did you come across fitness and the Paleo-ketogenic diet?
- I don’t remember, actually! All I do remember was thinking at first it was a load of BS because I was convinced, like the majority of the world, that sugar, carbs and wheat are all part of an essential diet. BLURGH. The concept kept popping up in my life though, and so eventually I did some research and decided to give it a try. At first I dabbled in and out of the diet in high school before committing it a little more seriously in my last year.
- Your current followers know that you took a deload week and some more time to reverse exercise. Can you explain a bit more about the two and how they might benefit others?
- Totally! In fact I have a video about the whole ordeal here:
- My Reflection Post-Reverse exercise:
- The FULL series:
- In summary, taking time off of your usual fitness routine is a great way to:
- Mentally rejuvenate (ever get bored of the routine?! Or feel like you need to muster up more willpower than necessary no matter how much you make exercise a habit?)
- Physically rejuvenate (your body adapts to the physical stress of exercise and you may start to plateau/stop progressing)
- Indulge in a new hobby with your newfound time
- Most people don’t know too much about binge eating disorder, which is something you and many, many others have dealt with. What was your encounter with it like, and how did you overcome it?
- I actually wrote an article on how to overcome it! First, you have to identify where the problem is coming from–is it emotional? Or purely habitual? Perhaps both? Then, I would highly, highly recommend you get into coaching, or some sort of personal + professional support. (Forbes identifies why it’s so crucial!). To this day, I do not condone doing it alone. It saves you so much heartache and time and frustration and self-loathing and can I say it? Weight gain. Your sanity. OH my gosh, the last two. Here’s my binge eating disorder story…
- I don’t mind if you connect with me to chat and ask questions. I can leave you a few tools to work with to beat the binge, and you get to test me out and see if I’m somebody you would like to work with. If I’m not, you still gain some clarity and ideas on how to overcome your food addiction or binge eating.
(P.S. Cassie: I have experienced her coaching first-hand. She instantly becomes your best friend.)
- Along with health and fitness, your blog centers a lot on self-love. Why do you think self-love is important as well?
- I’ve found that self loathing takes away from the pleasures of the present moment. I can’t enjoy conversing with a friend. I can’t enjoy the horror movie I was looking forward to all week. Food doesn’t even taste satisfying. All I can think about is how much I hate this or that, how much I hate myself, and quite frankly, it feels like a shit hellhole. If you can’t fall in love with the things you’re doing, then what are you doing? Are you even living? That’s why self-love/empowerment is so important. It starts with the mind and the body; feel good, treat yourself good, and you can give back to the world that much more. You can engage and fully divulge yourself into the experience–taste, touch, smell, see, hear, and I’d like to add a sixth sense here–FEEL from the heart. It’s those times that create the fondest memories.
- Aside from being a blogger, you’re also a college student and a health coach. How do you allot enough time and energy into all of these pursuits?
*whips out handy dandy life planner plus 10 other journals*
- I plan, plan, plan.
- On the weekdays I have classes during the day and a part time job at night. On the weekends I plan out my week for the following week, schedule in clients, push out blog posts and queue up content for YouTube. I run my errands during this time as well.
- I also don’t have a Netflix account, so I can’t binge watch anything. I make sure I fuel myself right so I have sustained mental and physical energy for rehearsals and textbook reading (not that I have too much of the latter since I’m an acting major, but scene analysis is still important). I admit, I’ll watch stranger things here and there but I reduce getting into a show as much as possible.
- Okay, here is a fun question: if time and money (calories don’t count either!) weren’t an issue, what would you do, exercise, and eat on a perfect day?
- I would RUN IN TO A FOREST, EAT LEGIT PIZZA FROM ITALY BECAUSE APPARENTLY NORTH AMERICAN PIZZA TAKE LIKE SH*T COMPARED TO THE REAL THANG (so I’ve heard from my European friends), SKYDIVE, and travel everywhere in Europe. I want to visit the haunted places, take ghost tours, ride a horse, do aerial yoga and pole dancing, get a scrumptious massage and fall asleep in a 5 star hotel in the softest bed. After a pillow fight with my best friend, of course.
- To wrap things up, what are the most important values you have learned in your journey thus far? What else do you hope to gain in the future?
- That no matter what, I’m going to have good days and bad days, and that just because I’m feeling bad, doesn’t mean this period lasts forever.
- To accept myself where I’m at currently, because I’ve come so far.
- To be grateful for having the ability to do what I do—live on my own, have the energy to read, two legs to run on,
- To continue to emanate my light and light up others. To continue to vibrate at a high frequency.
- To continue to be humble, to continue to play, to continue to search for love in myself and the world, to fall in love with life, to continue to give thanks, to continue to forgive and be gracious and mindful.
Once again, thank you very much to Linda for all of her incredible responses! All of the links to her social media are down below for you to learn more about her platform!
- Blog: https://thefitty.com/
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/deefitty
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thefitty/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thefittyblog
Don’t forget to read the other Friday Friend Features:
superfitbabe 
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