Hey Everyone! Hope you have all had a great day! :) It's been a healthy week so far for me...and I hope it has been for you as well!
Let's talk about balance...it seems to be something I see less and less.
Finding balance between work and play...balance in your diet....balance in your exercise program...balance in your relationships/friendships...balance in your mind...balance in your body.
Making sure you are having fun and working hard. Making sure you are eating all different colors of fruits and veggies within your day and week. Making sure you are strength training, stretching, and doing some type of cardiovascular exercise...and on top of that, resting! Make sure you are spending time on each relationship you have within your friends, family, and love interests. Make sure you are taking time for yourself...to enjoy the activities you love. Make sure you are taking care of YOU and not just taking care of others. Making sure when you are hungry to eat and then when you are no longer hungry, to stop eating. Making sure you take a break when your body is exhausted...going to bed early or taking a day off of a hard workout. Make sure you spend some time outside to enjoy your surroundings, wherever they may be.
I think the best feeling is laying in your bed at the end of the day and thinking to yourself that you've had a fulfilling and balanced day. You are at peace with your day....did everything you could and wanted to do then letting go of the rest until tomorrow. Rest your mind and body so that you have balance between day and night.
On that note, it's time for me to watch my favorite show, do a little bit of stretching and then go to bed...so that I can complete my day...balanced. :)
4 comments:
So, it's very funny and NOT coincidental that BALANCE is the first blog topic I read about.
Balance is something I desperately need to find in my life yet it has remained ever elusive. Like most people, I have a lot on my plate but yet I feel like I am constantly spinning my wheels without going anywhere. It's very frustrating.
I have Bipolar Disorder so I know that self-care and balance are critical to my wellness yet I presently run myself ragged and then crash into depression, sometimes for days. I'm open about this condition because I think all too often mental "illness" is stigmatized and no one wants to talk about it. Bipolar disorder greatly impairs my ability to find balance in my life as well as makes me usually have ZERO motivation to exercise despite the fact that exercise significantly decreases depressive symptoms.
So, I am formally stating here on this fresh blog that I WANT TO FIND BALANCE IN MY LIFE (forever!!). Thank you very much for spreading the love, Cait.
Hi Love and Light! :) Thanks for the great comment.
I completely understand how hard it is to find balance...it is something I am constantly focusing on because of how important it really is to our well being.
However, I can't say that I know how you must feel because of your mental illness and that affects trying to balance your life. I totally agree that mental illnesses in this society are hush hush for some reason...it's really too bad. I applaud you for being so open about it...be who you are and be proud of yourself!
Having only a small amount of background knowledge of bipolar disorder (I apologzie), my suggestion is to figure out why you want to start exercising/to find balance. I love the question WHY.
Yes you are correct, exercise does decrease depressive symptons by releasing endorphins :)
Perhaps just tell yourself to go on a walk for 5-10 minutes...nothing big. Let yourself know that if you really don't want to continue after 5 minutes, then don't...but chances are, the second you start walking and the endorphins kick in...you will want to keep going...perhaps even pick up the pace.
Pick any activity that you know you enjoy...and just tell yourself to do it for 5 minutes.
Let me know how it goes! Keep me updated!
Thanks for your insight and your comment!
Cait! I'm loving your blog - for a long time I felt like if I went to the gym it had to be all out, total top to bottom work out and hard cardio. A friend of mine said just GOING to the gym is enough to make her feel good regardless of what she does, so I started trying that mentality.
I'm in Afghanistan right now and I've found a great workout buddy in my roommate. We push each other to go exercise even when we don't want to and we watch what the other eats without being judgmental of course! I really try to not obsess with the number on the scale because quite honestly it doesn't change - I hover between 133-138. I feel healthy and like my husband says when I get down on myself for not going to the gym, I haven't physically changed from when I wasn't exercising to now that I am so don't worry :)
My question is, how can we maintain a healthy diet while we're here? The food isn't the best, the produce has to be cooked a certain way and usually comes frozen, and the fruit is hit or miss. Our daily meals are something like this: boiled eggs and fruit or cereal for breakfast, snack on cereal around 10, lunch (chicken usually, cukes or broccoli, or some kind of pasta) and similar for dinner. We don't venture too far out of that unless we are craving french fries or cookie for desert. Our biggest down fall is the homemade bread they make here! It's SO GOOD but so bad for us :)
And will we be able to see toning results from our workouts even if our cardio is only on the elliptical? We go to the gym 6 days a week, do at least 30 minutes of cardio, and alternate legs and arms, and always do some kind of abs. We've been at this for almost two months - I feel stronger, but I'm worried my muscles are getting bored with what I'm doing. The treadmill is killing my hips when I run and the air is so crappy here I feel like I'm going to croak at two miles 11min pace!! That's not even passing our PT Test! I was running before we got here and feeling great, but it's kicking my ass. We'll occasionally walk incline on treadmill too.
What are your thoughts on how to stay fit in a place like this?
Thanks Cait :)
Meg...MegburNETT :)
Hey MEG! So good to hear from you! Thank you for doing the job you are doing...You are a much more couragous person than I will ever be so we should all thank you for being in Afghanistan. That's awesome that you have a roomie who is also a workout buddy...keeping eachother motivated and on track! :) We could all use a buddy!
In terms of eating, it's really hard for me to give you advice on what to eat when I'm not sure what is available to you. From your comment, it seems that you just have to take what you get. If this is a different circumstance, then I'd be happy to give you some advice. I always look at my plate of food and ask these questions:
1) Are my eyes bigger than my stomach? Is this too much/not enough to eat?
2) Do I have grains, fruit, veggies, protein source, variety, color, etc?
If you can answer yes to question number 2, then I wouldn't worry. Obviously your conditions are different than the average person in terms of food availability. Let me know what other questions you have about nutrition.
Lastly, your questions about exercise. "And will we be able to see toning results from our workouts even if our cardio is only on the elliptical?"
ANSWER: The Elliptical is great when your joints are stiff, tender, weak, swollen, etc.
"We go to the gym 6 days a week, do at least 30 minutes of cardio, and alternate legs and arms, and always do some kind of abs. We've been at this for almost two months - I feel stronger, but I'm worried my muscles are getting bored with what I'm doing."
ANSWER: Can you increase your cardio amount (min) or make it harder by incresing the resistance on the elliptical? That would help the muscle boredom that you are talking about. Also, try doing full body strength training 3x per week. The more you incorporate full body exercises, the more calories you will burn..which is all good. Your abs are incorporated each time you move your body...especially full body moves so there is really no need to single them out...in terms of time efficiency, doing crunches or anything like them, won't burn that many calories. If you want to burn the fat that is on top of your muscles, full body moves are best!
What's a full body exercise? Something like a squat to a shoulder press, or lunges with a bicep curl. Anything that uses your arms and legs and the same time. You can google video or youtube full body exercises and I'm sure you'd find a ton. :)
Switching your program up every 6-8 weeks is KEY. You can change it by a) increasing the weight, b) changing the sets and reps scheme, c) choosing different exercises. Anyway to place a different stimulus on the body will avoid plateus.
What reps and sets are you doing now?
Hope this answers some questions! :)
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