What does "balance" mean to you?

Finding balance in my everyday life has been something that I have struggled with for quite some time. I was never satisfied with my weight, my body image, and battling with an eating disorder did not make it any easier. However, after years of trying to search for what balance was I realized that it is not something we just find, it is something that we create ourselves and it is different for everyone.

I used to obsess over the idea of having to be perfect. From the way I looked, to the way I ate and it was extremely unhealthy. For me balance used to have a completely different meaning than it does now. Over the years I have come to learn that balance is simply more of a state of being centered, being able to enjoy that piece of cake at a holiday gathering and not worrying about immediately having to burn it off right after. Balance for me meant not holding so much guilt or regret, it meant being able to enjoy myself at times and find that inner peace within myself.

If there is one thing that I can stress to anyone reading this.. it is to LIVE YOUR LIFE, enjoy it without constant feelings of having to eat this, or having to do that. There is so much more to life than health & fitness, and I have learned that the hard way. There was a time in my life where I’ll admit I was obsessed. Something I thought was so healthy for me quickly became an unhealthy habit.  I would track and measure every little thing I consumed, take my prepped meals to parties and eat out of a container just to make sure I didn’t eat anything that I considered to be ‘unhealthy.’ I lost not only relationships with loved ones but with myself as well. I was always cold, in and out of doctors offices, dreaded going to the gym at times and was overall miserable. I soon realized that, that was not how I wanted to live the rest of my life. Being able to find my balance, my equilibrium for that matter, has helped me mentally, physically and emotionally. It has helped me to truly find what happiness meant to me. It helped me smile a little bigger, laugh a little louder, love a little harder and worry a little less. I will not sit here and tell you that health and fitness are not my whole life because well, it is definitely a huge part of it..but for me, now it is something I am so incredibly passionate about.  Yes I go to the gym every day, yes I watch what I eat and yes I have goals that I set for myself but I also know that if there is a day I can’t get to the gym, or a day where I don’t eat perfectly..that  life is going to go on, the gym is going to be there tomorrow and everything is going to be okay! We need to stop being so hard on ourselves, we need to stop getting angry and putting ourselves down when we choose to live a little, that is what balance is all about. Having a passion, a dream, a goal you worked towards every single day is HEALTHY, having an obsession and letting it control your life and your happiness is when it becomes unhealthy.. know the difference and find what  balance means to you!