Balance...It's Tough.

Balance...that is the single hardest thing I'm attempting to accomplish.  Unfortunately, I don't think it is something to be accomplished once; I think it's something that must be accomplished every day.  Finding balance in your new lifestyle is something that you'll find can be rather difficult.  When I finally reached a place in my life where I didn't need to lose 100 pounds, I couldn't wrap my brain around the concept of healthy eating minus the word "dieting".  Still on some days, it hasn't sunken in that I no longer have triple digits to lose to become healthy.  If I only work out 4 days/week, it will be okay.  If I eat one cookie/week, it will be okay.  The kicker with finding balance is to keeping the discipline to follow through with the balance you've found.  Why do you think gymnasts have to work for years and years to learn how to move on a balance beam?  It's because the slightest movement one way or another causes him or her to fall.  It's the same in our new lifestyle, once you begin to sway from the balance you've learned, you will fall off the beam.  Before you know it, you'll be spending more time on the mat than on the beam.  Unfortunately, balance is not something you can set and forget.  It's something you must keep on the forefront of your mind every minute of every day.  Instead of sitting down with soup and a whole sleeve of crackers, get your soup and put five crackers on your plate.  Instead of sitting down with the package of Oreos, get one from the package and put the package out of sight.  Instead of buying double chocolate ice cream, buy frozen yogurt and measure out your servings.  There are easy ways to keep balance in your life, but sometimes it isn't as easy as the Olympic gymnasts make it look.  Hang in there, and when you fall off of the beam, get your tail back up and get on again!  Remember...it's not a diet; it's a lifestyle!

Here are some ways I balance out my lifestyle:

1.  Eat breakfast at home before work.  Why?  Sometimes people pop in with donuts or other "not so great" things, and if I've already eaten, then my brain does not think "oh, I can have one because I haven't had breakfast."  It helps.

2.  Try your very best not to eat after 7:00 p.m.!  I've read in more than one place that most of your food intake turns to fat after this time because you are sedentary.

3.  Replace your Diet Coke with Diet Rite...no sodium!  I do have to have one Diet Coke/day...sometimes I cheat.  This is my weakness!

4.  Exercise...and on those days when you can't exercise, try to stay active.  Clean your bathroom, maybe :)

5.  Most importantly, don't give up!