Finding Balance In All Seasons

Confession: Lately I’ve felt guilty of going against what I preach on this blog and to my clients (which has led me to feel extra guilty since I write all about ditching the guilt. Hmm. Whoops).

I’ve recently made some changes, mostly dietary changes, and have strictly avoided certain food groups during the week. Why? To keep my weight down. Yep, I’m confessing. I made these changes right around the time my new blog launched and so I quickly realized that I needed to do some serious self-evaluation to make sure that I’m maintaining authenticity in my message and in my life.

I took some time to honestly question my motivation behind the changes I’ve made to see if I’ve begun to fall back into old unhealthy habits. If you’ve read about me, you know that I used to have a very black & white approach to diet & exercise. I n.e.v.e.r. want to live that way again so it became clear to me that an honest self-check to determine WHY I’ve been following new dietary “rules” was in order.

Thankfully, I learned something incredibly valuable. I feel good, I feel healthy and I can confidently say that I’m still seeking balance, just in a new way that fits this particular season of life. I realized that balance can look different based on life’s ever-changing demands and circumstances. It can also look different for each person.

This summer my husband and I planned an incredible amount of weekend travel. We just completed trip number 6 of 9. When I go on trips I tend to go into “vacation mode” no matter what. Most of them are centered around friends, family and celebrations so there is a lot of eating, drinking and indulging to be done. And indulge I confidently do! In addition, most of the trips have been short and packed with activities which has left little room for exercise.

All this to say, in order to maintain a sense of balance during this season, I’ve needed (more importantly, wanted) to be extra intentional about my diet and exercise on the days spent at home in between trips. For me, this means going for runs, doing Pilates, eating fresh whole foods, and taking breaks from certain indulgent food and drinks. Simply put, I’ve been using my weekdays to balance out my weekends. And it’s been working for me. Do I want to maintain this pattern when life returns to normal? No. I prefer to find balance on a daily basis and avoid setting eating parameters all together. But, has it been helping to keep me healthy and happy in this season of busy-ness? Yes, absolutely.

I’ve recently spoken with a few clients about this exact topic. One client is in the process of a big move and has not been able to exercise as much as she would like. I have been careful to remind her that it is merely a SEASON and that is important to acknowledge. Just because life gets crazy doesn’t mean you should lose all hope of achieving fitness goals, it may just require adjusting your perspective and expectations to fit your current season of life.

I think it’s a valuable lesson and I’m curious to know what you think. Based on your current season of life, what does balance mean to you?