How Do You Balance A New Diet and Exercise Regime

What does balance mean? How many times have you heard someone say ‘it’s all about balance’? This comes up a lot when professionals talk about food and exercise. Make sure you have a balanced diet. Balance exercise and food; energy in, energy out. Everything in moderation. Sound familiar?

While those statements are true (coming from yet another health & fitness professional) what do they really mean? Balance is an individual thing and although this is probably what makes the word balance so darn confusing it can also be interesting and exciting but it takes patience and practice to figure out. For example, part of my daily balance is working out 5 days a week for 90 minutes so that I have the mental energy to work and handle stress. I eat every three hours. I know that because I have crazy long busy days that it’s important for me to have a 1 hour-ish time-out in the middle of the day to rejuvenate myself. This hour is sometimes a little longer because I may grab a coffee or lunch with a friend. In the evening I prepare a nice, fresh, stay at home dinner. Although I try to balance my workweek it can be challenging so Friday is my catch up day where I don’t schedule anything unless I really have to. Work gets done but it’s more flexible. Saturday flows from Friday but I start to slow down around Noon and generally make plans with friends. Sunday is my day of rest; not for religious reasons but for balance reasons.  🙂

This is how I’ve planned my world to provide balance in my life but this looks different for everyone. The most important thing to know about balance is that it exists but you need to figure out what is necessary for your life. Some other important things to know are that you can have it (it’s in your control) and it IS important to your existence.

How do you balance losing weight, eating right and learning to exercise?

What makes the balance of food and exercise so difficult? So many people have not grown up with a clear understanding of what it means to be healthy. You might have a good understanding of what ‘healthy foods’ are but it’s hard to make the switch and your body craves sugars because that’s what it’s known for many years of your life. You may have an idea of what exercise is and where to go to exercise but having never exercised or grown up in a family that valued exercise, where do you start? Without much knowledge where do you start learning how to develop, 2 of the most important undeveloped areas of your life?

How do you find your balance and what does it include? Some of the key elements for me are exercise, whole foods, rare amounts of sugar, feeding my intellect and social time. It’s important for me to have a calendar to section off my day to include my important elements of balance. This probably sounds familiar and still somewhat confusing because again there is no patent answer.

It may be helpful to sit and make a list of what’s important on a daily, weekly and monthly basis. Make your list so that the most important things are at the top. Compare those things with what you are currently doing. If your list of what’s important and what you are currently doing are drastically different, find a way to add some of those things into your life. For example, if exercise is #1 on your list but you are not doing it how can you realistically add it into your life.

Exercise

What’s realistic and how do you achieve balance in exercise? Is it realistic to go from no exercise to 3 days of running for 20 minutes? Would you feel a sense of balance in this? Is it more realistic to go from no exercise to walking for 15-20 minutes 3 days a week? From there, the next week, would you jump up to running those 3 days for 20 minutes?

That does sound confusing doesn’t it? I am confused! 🙂 Here is the best advice I have for starting an exercise program in a semi balanced way:

1. Choose an activity you like. Recently I’ve had a lot of clients who are reconnecting with dancing.

2. Find a time 2 or 3 days a week when that activity fits in your schedule and write it in your calendar as you would any other appointment. Clients find this important. When physical activity is put in your calendar and has as much importance as your other daily appointments it has a tendency of happening.

3. Ask one good friend to participate in that activity with you. Having someone else there with you provides a social outlet, motivation and accountability.

After you participate in your activity, write down how you feel. Try not to focus on any of the negatives. Pay attention to the positives: improved sleep, better concentration, a little less out of breath, having FUN, etc.

Try this for one week and see if you notice any changes.

Food (I am not a nutritionist)

What do you know about eating healthy? How are you currently eating? It IS helpful to keep track (and if you are a Sharecare Participant I know you do) of what you eat even if it’s just for a few days. A few days will give you the awareness you need of what you are eating, albeit good or bad, so that you can make healthier choices.

Here are some suggestions for starting to eat healthier:

1. Drink more water. Water helps you feel more full and the body needs it.

2. Eat breakfast, 3 hours later a small snack, lunch, 3 hours later a small snack, dinner and if you are still hungry another tiny snack before bed. Grazing is helpful to keep you fueled throughout the day.

3. Try to always eat a protein with a carbohydrate to keep your blood sugar balanced. Carbohydrates are really a sugar and alone with spike your blood sugar levels. When that blood sugar drops 45-ish minutes later this is why some of you may feel hungry all the time.

4. When I say snack, try and choose something healthy: hard boiled egg, nuts, yogurt, cheese, peanut butter, etc.

5. Sweets: initially do not cut out all sweets. Cutting them all (cold turkey) is great but not realistic. If you cut yourself off from all sweets what is the one thing you are going to crave every single moment of every day? Yeah! Sweets! Initially try to cut back (moderation & balance) on one sweet. Start by splitting a desert with a spouse or a friend. Try to keep less sweets in your house.

6. Understand that the better you eat throughout the day (see bullets 1, 2, 3 & 4), slowly cutting back on sweets, exercising a little bit more and being able to see small positive results, the less you’ll crave sweets.

7. If you have a sweet craving try to consciously replace that with something else. It’s hard but see if you can find an alternative replacement.

8. Please DO NOT beat yourself up. Is that helpful?

9. If those sweets are getting you down, pay attention to those moments when you absolutely cannot resist a sweet. What is going on? Is your head or stomach telling you to eat?

Try this for one week and see if you notice any changes.Write down how you feel. Try not to focus on any of the negatives. Pay attention to the positives.

Life is about the moments: mentally figuring out what is holding you back in each moment and finding your way through. With a little more thought, education and insight, it is in each moment (not necessarily next month or next year) that changes begin to happen; balance & better health happen.

I hope you have a super balanced week!

Dr. Michelle

Photo credit: James Jordan