It's All About Balance

By: Karyssa Shaw

Everything in Moderation!

If you know me, you know that I am not one to pass up a sugary treat. Donuts, ice cream, pastries, cookies, everything! I guess you could say that I have a sugar “addiction”. Having this “addiction” coupled with not eating real foods has lead me down an unhealthy road. I would stop at Dunks, grab a medium iced coffee and 2 donuts before work. Go ALL DAY without eating or drinking anything, then would go home and have a pitiful dinner. Within the last few weeks, I took a hard look in the mirror and decided it was time to make a change. Mind you, I have been on this change “journey” about 4 times now within the last 3 years. I would start eating healthy, working out, and taking care of my self for about a month, then I could completely fall off the train. I would lose motivation and just become super lazy to the point where I convinced myself that this is just going to be how I look and feel forever. But something clicked and I needed to take that step for a 5th time. 

Though Chad, Nick and Tayler know their stuff when it comes to nutrition and could certainly help me out, I felt like I needed a second opinion of someone who I haven't spoken to in quite some time. Someone who doesn't know what I have been doing these last few years. So, I reached out to a friend of mine who I grew up with but has since moved to Florida. She is a personal trainer, a nutrition coach, and runs her own business. I have followed her business account on instagram for a while now and have been jealous over the pictures of women who have stuck with her and look absolutely amazing. I said to myself “I want what she has!”. So about 2 weeks ago, I reached out to her asking for her help. I explained my current eating habits, sleeping habits, current workout regimen, and we talked about how I'm not nearly hydrated enough! She gave me a description of what we would be doing and what I should expect… And here we are now. 

This new lifestyle is titled “everything in moderation”. I told her from the beginning that I am not reliable enough to count my macros, weigh or measure out my foods, or log my daily foods into an app. So to make it easier on both of us, she wrote up a weekly meal plan for me basically telling me what to eat and when to eat it. Eat my food, drink a gallon of water a day, exercise 4-5 days a week, and get a good night sleep. It’s that simple. 

We are calling this “everything in moderation” because she is a huge believer that we can’t restrict ourselves. Sometimes we can satisfy those cravings. We can’t live our lives eating so clean and telling our bodies that we aren’t allowed to have a treat every once in a while. It's just not normal. Because of this, she is allowing me to have 3 “cheats” foods per week. Notice that I didn’t say cheat meals. Just cheat foods. That means that if I choose to have a glass of wine with my dinner, that glass of wine is a cheat; but I can have it! If I go out to diner and order a salad with chicken but also a side of French fries, those fries are a cheat; but I can have it! That is what I am loving about this meal plan. She is not restricting my love for sugar by saving I can never have it again. When she is not in preparation for a bikini competition, her go-to cheat is Nutella. Anything and everything that has to do with Nutella, she eats it; because she is allowed to! Eat your balanced meals throughout the day, drink enough water, and get a good night sleep. The next morning, use a cheat. Eat that French toast with Nutella. Because you can!

Although this is my first week on this meal plan, I have stayed true what my instructions were. I haven’t had a cheat yet. But I plan on it. I think one of the reasons why I am going to be successful with this new lifestyle is because it is easy enough for me to maintain. No measuring, no counting, just following instructions! If you are like me and have a hard time sticking to “diets”, try this. Eat what you want, just in moderation. It’s all about balance.