balancing act

Why is a happy medium so hard to obtain?

I would say that I have fantastic willpower... when I want to. If I really value something and have a goal that I am determined to reach, I will reach it.

When it comes to dieting and exercising, I am very confident in my ability to achieve my goals, but the hard part comes in how much I want it. There are times where my mission is clear and my goals are in my sights. In those times, I can get the work done and stick to a strict lifestyle, knowing that my my goals are what I want.

Sometimes (for the sake of conversation, lets call these times "weekends" and/or "special occasions"), I let my health priorities sit on the back burner a bit and convince myself that life is for enjoying. I allow myself to be more flexible with my diet and ease up on the workouts. Sometimes I feel guilty about these decisions, and other times I don't.

I just wish it was easier to find that happy medium-- the place where I am following a path that will lead me to my goals, while still being able to have some fun and enjoy myself a bit. It would also be great not to have to evaluate each decision I make and worrying that it is not what's best for me.

It was made clear to me this past weekend that maybe I have been a little hard on my body in the past couple of weeks. I won't go into the details here (I know at least one of my brothers reads my blog...) but I think it is time to reevaluate my strategies.

I have gotten carried away in the past with dieting. I think this happens to many people. I love to see results and I like to see it fast. The problem with achieving your goals fast is that they can slip away just as quickly as they came. Throughout high school and college, there were numerous occasions where I crash dieted and worked out to the max and lost 10 lbs in just a few weeks as a result. There were also numerous occasions right after where I regained 10 lbs in one week. (see a connection there?) Imagine what this does to a human body. This is the absolute worst thing you can do for yourself in the long run. As I have grown older, it has been easier for me to see that this is not the way to achieve goals regarding body image, however, it is still a struggle for me to not see fast results.

Don't get me wrong, I have seen results since I started working out last month. And I have been very pleased with them. I just don't want to overdo it right away. With a trip to Florida next week, I know it's going to be harder to stick to strict routine with exercise and eating right, so I am just trying to really get a hold on this whole balancing being healthy but still enjoying life. Just because I am committed to a healthier new lifestyle doesn't mean I can't have a good time!!!