Tag: balance

2015 The Year for Finding Balance

I’ve been on this “fitness journey” for almost 3 years now.  Like all these stories go, I was tired of being overweight and sluggish.  I’m not saying my life was terrible and depressing, far from it!  I was enjoying life, with maybe a little too much indulgence 😉  One day it just clicked.  I needed to do something about my weight.  So, in February of 2012, I joined a gym.  One of the scariest things I’ve ever done is walk into a Body Pump class alone.  But, as embarrassed and  unprepared as I was, I kept going.  I also started running and the weight started to come off.  Slowly.  Since Feb. 2012 and into the first part of 2013, it was all about the weight loss. It took 15 months or so, but I lost 30 + lbs. and I was feeling great!  I was sure I would meet my goal to lose 50 lbs by the end of 2013.  Well, it didn’t happen.  I ran my 1st Tough Mudder in April of 2013 and I became hooked on obstacle course racing and running.  I ran 6 races in 2013 and I couldn’t get enough!  I blogged about 2013 being  the year of the races.  Never in a million years would I have said that crawling through mud and barbed wire, climbing over 6 ft walls, and running 13.1 miles would be my idea of fun.  My friends didn’t recognize me.  I was a changed person.  Changed for the better.  I was training hard and eating good, maybe too good! Hence, I didn’t lose the weight.  I gained some, actually.  My trainer says it’s muscle, I’m pretending I believe her 😉

Well, here came 2014 and I stumbled on a challenge to run 14 races in 2014.  I was so on that.  I’m running my 14th race today, but more on that later.  All of this year I’ve been focused even more on running and training and getting stronger.  I ran another half marathon, I did 2 Spartan races, 1 Tough Mudder, some trail races, and fun 5Ks.  It’s been a very active year, but again, my weight has not changed.  I’ll admit, it’s even gone up.  I’m not happy about that.  Sure, I feel stronger, but a part of me still knows that I’ve been totally slacking lately when it comes to making good food choices.  I’ve let myself become overindulgent again, allowing way more “cheat meals” than necessary.  I’ve tried to fool myself into believing that I’m “maintaining” but the truth is, I feel myself going down a path I don’t want to go down again.  So, after thinking a lot about my fitness goals for 2015, I’ve decided to call this “The Year of Balance”.  I want to focus on eating healthy again.  I want this extra weight to come down.  I no longer have a magic number that I want to reach on my scale (we broke up) or a must-have pant size.  No, I am no longer going to allow myself to be hung up on a number. I know what I want my body to look like and that’s the goal I’m setting.  Of course, I’m still going to be running in races and obstacle courses, they keep me focused and give me something to work towards.  Plus, it’s fun 🙂 I just won’t be using my races and training as free passes anymore.  No more, “It’s OK to eat this or that, I’m running 6 miles tomorrow.” Or “I’m carbing up!” OR “Good thing I work out” as I stuff the doritos in my mouth! Yeah, it’s time to be accountable for my eating habits and my results.  It’s time to for balance. 

Of course, I’ll be sharing lots more on goals and reaching this balance in the next few posts and throughout the year in my monthly goals blog posts. I will also be sharing my racing schedule for 2015 soon.  Now, I’d love to hear about your goals for 2015 and how you intend on reaching them! 

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Finding the Balance in Our Lives

Is this even possible?  I ask, because we all seem to struggle with it.  I don’t think I’ve ever met a single person that has said they live a perfectly balanced life.  We are always striving for a perfect balance between our work, family, hobbies, responsibilities, etc. What does having a balanced life really mean, anyhow?  

I’ve struggled for a long time with this.  Don’t get me wrong, I do appreciate the freedoms and perks that come with being a mom who works mostly from home.  But, it’s very hard to work from home and have “working hours”.   When I’m doing laundry, I feel I should be working.  When I’m at the gym, I feel I should be working.  When I’m playing with my children, I feel I should be working.  But then, when I’m working on my computer, I feel guilty that the dishes aren’t done or that my daughter is playing alone in her room.  Or better yet, watching way too much Disney Jr.  Also, with social media being such a big part of our lives and in my case, a big part of my work, I feel like I’m always “on”.  

There are days, when things feel completely chaotic and out of control mostly because I’m trying to juggle too much at the same time.  On those days, I feel unaccomplished and stressed out.  I find that when I get to this point, I need to step back and prioritize.  I need to figure out what’s most important, what’s truly urgent and tackle those things first.  This means some things just don’t get done or don’t get done right away and I have to be ok with this.  

Maybe having a balanced life does not necessarily mean a stress-free life.  Maybe a balanced life isn’t so balanced after all.  There are things that will take priority over others, like our family. Or things that will take more of your time.  There are things we just prefer doing over others.  Instead of looking for a perfect balance in our lives, maybe we should just look for some balance.  Maybe balance is more about being flexible and able to change directions.  Balance may not always be about giving everything or everyone equal priorities.  Maybe balance is about letting go of the things that hold us back and weigh us down and keeping what makes us happy and fulfilled.  

What does having a balanced life mean to you?  

 

I was really struggling to keep my balance during Tough Mudder! 
I was really struggling to keep my balance during Tough Mudder!