All About The Balance

I get comments and emails all the time asking me how I maintain a great sense of balance with my food and exercise. So often we swing from one extreme to the other–either not eating enough (and obsessing over it) or eating way too much (and feeling guilty about it). How do you find that perfect spot in the middle and stay there day after day to finally break free from patterns of disordered eating? Unfortunately, the answer to that question is different for everyone but I can tell you what has worked for me.

First of all, I haven’t always had the balanced attitude that I have today. In college I bounced around from diet to diet, trying desperately to lose that extra five pounds, which I assured myself would lead to eternal happiness. In the daytime I was counting calories and restricting carbs, but by night I was drinking beers and eating chex mix with friends. The five pounds stayed glued to my thighs (a result of too many beers, no doubt) and I continued to cycle downwards.

After transferring colleges twice, ending a long term relationship and starting over from scratch, I started to look at food differently. Before I was measuring out each precise tablespoon of peanut butter in an attempt to control everything that went into my body, and clearly that did not work out. Slowly but surely I started to learn on my own that a) happiness does NOT come from the number on the scale and b) if I just fed myself whole, natural foods I didn’t need any special diets…I could just eat.

And you know what? When I finally came to terms with these things and stopped being such a control freak, the five pounds did come off. But you know what else? Fireworks didn’t explode and my life didn’t dramatically change. The five pounds that I thought would change my life and lead to instant happiness just…didn’t.

So now you are wondering what to eat to keep yourself in balance. I can tell you the things that I cut out of my diet for the most part. Sugar substitutes, soda, crackers, chex mix, lean cuisine meals, fat free cheese (fat free anything for that matter), low-carb products and sugar-free desserts. No, I didn’t put these on my death list and tell myself I “could never” eat them again…..honestly, I just don’t want them! I’ve found that sucralose (fake sugar) gives me migraines and fat-free/ sugar-free products are sort of scary anyways. Food is meant to be enjoyed, not feared and full of ingredients we can’t pronounce.

Give yourself time. Finding balance certainly does not come overnight. I’ll say upfront that, for me, it took about two solid years to really get to where I am today. But know one thing for certain—one ice cream cone will NOT make you fat. The secret is to enjoy real food (and wine!) in moderation.