Thoughts on life balance, food, and eating and my strategies for keeping it together during tough times

These are just some random but important thoughts I have about life balance, food and eating as well as my strategies for keeping it together. After recently overhearing a conversation at a restaurant, “I shouldn’t eat that it’s bad for me,” I was reminded again why we need to get out of the mindset that certain foods are bad for you. So many of the recent diets are eliminating whole groups of foods. Food is neither good or bad, it just is. The first time I heard this was when I joined the Freedom Group. You can make healthy choices and you can make unhealthy choices, but the food itself is neither good nor bad. This conversation also reminded me of why I like not being on a diet and why I love being a natural eater.

My intuitive way of eating

My life balance method includes intuitive eating. I love this new way of eating. Originally I started out on Weight Watchers but now have transitioned to this way of eating. I love not being on a diet. I love how my stomach feels because I no longer overeat. All of the stress of figuring out food and what to eat is gone. It’s so freeing.

I mainly stick to 3 rules:

1. Only eat when I’m truly physically hungry (don’t let emotional eating get you)
2. Only eat until I’m lightly satisfied, not full, not stuffed, just lightly satisfied.
3. Try to eat my healthy recipes 80% of the time.

If you want to learn more about the program I follow, check out The Freedom Group. I don’t make any money by recommending it, it’s just something near and dear to my heart. I’ve learned so much – not to be afraid of a little hunger, how little food my body actually needs, and how to eat naturally and not feel deprived. That’s the best part of all, not feeling deprived.

What are healthy foods?

You know in your heart what healthy foods are. Pizza or salad with lots of veggies for lunch? Which one do you think is nutritionally better for you? Piece of cake versus bowl of fruit and yogurt? You know the right answer. I always have to option to choose what I want to eat, I try to make healthier choices when I can, however, I don’t deprive myself of anything. If I want a piece of cheesecake, I eat it – but only until I’m slightly full. I don’t gorge myself anymore and I no longer feel the need to finish the entire piece. In fact, often times a few bites will do.

No more feeling deprived

Because I don’t feel deprived anymore, it’s easier to just have a few bites because I know I can have it another time. This feeling of not being deprived is really important. It motivates me to eat my healthy recipes most of the time, because I know I can have a treat whenever I want. I’m no longer judging myself on every bite. Food is so much more enjoyable to me now.

Keeping it all balanced

Luckily I have never been an emotional eater, but I was a habitual and over eater. I ate because it was 12:00 and it’s lunch time. I ate because everyone else was eating and I wanted to celebrate. I never really thought about hunger. But thankfully all that has now changed and my new way of eating has helped me through some challenging times recently.

I’ve been going through some major personal stuff these last 6 months including a recent skin cancer diagnosis on my face. In addition I just had 6 family members at my house for almost 2 weeks. It was fantastic having company, however, it could have been a weight gain disaster but it wasn’t. We had lots of fun! I made them all of my favorite recipes- healthy and non-healthy including my decadent cheesecake. We had fried egg rolls, homemade pizza, cheese, wine, ate out a few times and through it all, the scale barely moved. I was up a pound when all was said and done. And who knows if that’s even true, it could have been water weight. I am pretty proud of myself for keeping it together. It’s all about life balance.

My five life balance strategies for keeping it all together during tough times as well as fun times

So how did I not gain weight these last 6 months and especially the last two weeks? Here are few of my strategies:

I’ve learned in my 52 years that life is short and I may not be here tomorrow. You can’t dwell on the negative and you can’t live in the past or the future. You can’t control or change others including their thoughts about you. All you can do is focus on yourself and the here and now. You can control you. You can work on becoming a better person including being less judgemental. I’ve learned, it’s not about losing weight it’s about being healthy and having life balance. I strive for that now and my weight just naturally adjusts.

So if you’re struggling and think your life is too overwhelming, remember you can do it. If you think, “I’ll lose weight later when everything calms down,” think again. The time is now. Times will always be challenging, there will always be an excuse to start another day. Just focus on one day at a time. If I can do it, you can definitely do it. I believe in you.