Balance? The ever popular word. We all want work life balance. We all want stress fun balance. We all want all components of our lives to be balanced. But what does balance actually mean to you? I definitely think balance is different for everyone so find out what works for you and stick to it.
Over the holidays I am going to try and keep balance in my life in the following ways:
Eat: As I’m technically in “training” for my Spring contests in 2012 I’m eating clean and working out hard. However, I’m not going to sacrifice my holiday eating! I am going to eat clean every day but if during Christmas week at home in Ottawa there are some sweet treats I will portion control myself to have only 1 or 2 treats a day. My family eats pretty clean so we get grilled vegetables and whole wheat stuffing in the turkey so there is no real need cheat. We are also testing out wedding wines for next year during the holidays so I will be indulging in 1 glass a day.
Sleep: I’m really not that big of a partier so sleep usually isn’t a problem for me. I knock out 7 – 8 hours a night so I’m just going to ensure I keep that on track. Sometimes during the holidays I stay up later watching movies and sleep in. So just staying consistent with hours is my balance challenge.
Move: Since my gym membership doesn’t have locations in Ottawa I will be rocking the home workouts. My family has a bosu ball, bands, an ab roller, a set of dumbells and enough space that I can have fun catching up with BodyRock.TV workouts.
Enjoy: Taking the time to truly cherish my time off. I want to bake with my mom. Sit and talk economics with my dad. Ask my brother about all his writing projects, go for walks in the snow with my fiancee, read new books, listen to Christmas carols, laugh over and over again and reflect on an awesome year full of goals achieved and new dreams in my head.