Finding Balance

I was going to title this post, 'keeping balance', but then decided you can only keep something you already have. I am constantly striving for balance but, like everyone else, I struggle to find it and when I do find it for a moment, I struggle to keep it.

Beautiful Photo courtesy of user *hb19 (R.I.P.) on Flickr

I think there can be some debate about what balance is. Balance to me is a minute by minute thing. It's finding the right balance of nutrients in a single meal, it's doing a balanced combination of exercises in a single work out and it's having a calm approach to stressful tasks.

After a conversation with my dear boyfriend last week, I realised he has a different view. Balance, for him, would be eating too much or too 'badly' for a month and making a point of eating healthy the next month. It's doing weights one day and cardio the next, (though I'll admit this is perfectly fine in my eyes too, just not how I like to work). It's also having a stressful day but forgetting about everything on the weekend or after work.

It's a bit yo-yo to me, but apparently, in M's words, 'it's what normal people do'. Kind of an ignore the consequences of a moment and deal with it later/compensate tomorrow approach. It's only very recently not become how I operate and I find it much more pleasant not going through the peaks and lows, and just being steady. That's what I like to be, steady.

I think that, in having CFS and going through the extreme consequences of pushing myself and then recovering over and over again, I can't be comfortable with living that way. Then again, I see a lot of beautiful, healthy looking women when I'm out and about eating and especially drinking copious amounts, and know they must just sweat it out at the gym the next day. Better than that, I know they would never feel guilty for having a great night out.

So I am wondering, what is balance to you?

And have you achieved it?

Stay well,

Nat x