Hi everyone!!! Hope you all are having a great week so far! This is always such a bittersweet time of the year for me. It brings a little sadness as summer is over but also an upbeat feeling as I am excited for the fall. I love to enjoy the crisp air and apples! It is also a time of being super busy. Work picks up, a new school year begins — it is always a time where juggling things, at least for me is at an all time high. A few weeks ago, my husband, T and I were on vacation in Long Beach Island. We had the most amazing, relaxing vacation where we were able to just hang out at the beach all day and enjoy ourselves. This is rare for us so it was amazing to not have anything urgent on our minds.
…always dancin’ with him!
While away, we had a ton of good and interesting conversations as we sipped on our coffee while the sun would rise. One of the things we discussed was balance. This came up primarily because we wanted to plan our work-outs accordingly so that our entire vacation was not about working-out. Spending hours working-out each day was, at least to us, a waste of our precious time off that we had looked forward to for so long. Our solution was short high-intensity 20-minute workouts each morning — for those of you on the email list, you know exactly which ones I am talking about ;). Aside from that, we also conversed about balance in general; especially as we spoke about the future and the dreaded season of fall — I say that because at least in my profession it is EXTREMELY busy with very long hours, tight deadlines and basically no time for anything but focus!
T at one point, stopped me in my tracks (as I was going on and on about how busy we will be) and said, “Alyssa, the key to balance is in the mind.” Ever since, I’ve been thinking a lot about that sentence. I find that as we go through life, so much is thrown at us and it is always a battle to find balance in making time for everything.
This is easily related to health and fitness and keeping these things in check as we go through the craziness of each day this Fall. As we try to add healthier cooking and workouts into each day, it is important to remember the key — balance.
The balanced mindset is not strict.
It is not black or white.
It doesn’t come easy.
It’s a choice you make… at the time, often not the most desired one.
The balanced lifestyle allows you to be determined about fighting towards your goals. Without balance, you give up. The balanced mindset allows for wiggle room. It allows you to indulge at times or take a few days off of working-out but then allows you to get back on track easily. No “waiting till Monday”, “starting next month” or “in January”. It is being mindful about the choices you make and owning them. A few easy ways to get into this balanced mentality are to set yourself some boundaries. I find most lifestyle changes die down and become worn-out over time simply because of our busy lives. Things come up. You are not always going to have an eager passion to stay fit and eat healthy. There are ALWAYS going to be times when you are uninspired or you are feeling down and many people use food to bring enjoyment and happiness. I know personally for me, if I am down, the first thing to make me feel better is probably a good meal! LOL. But it’s a process of learning to behave as a disciplined eater and having moderation in ALL things of life as often as you can.
You must train yourself for the long run. Set goals and stand firm this Fall!
Enjoy the rest of your week!
xoxo