Balance - Hah!

Happy Tuesday Divas,

Balance - It is hot topic around any gathering of women.  Do you have it?  How do I get it?  How can I maintain it?  In the course of any normal day, balance is hard fought for and won by any woman.  Add in the triathlon factor and GOOD LUCK!

Most TriDivas I know are not full time athletes. . .as we like to say at the starting line. . ."I am not paying the rent with my race winnings."  So then how do these amazing women walk the tightrope of work, family, extended family, friends, training, racing, etc.?  In keeping with the theme of 'I can only tell what I do', indulge me in sharing a few of my insights.

I remember when my kids were really young and I used to fret constantly about their nutrition, their sleep, their activity level. . . .you name it, I was fretting.  One day, I came across a great little article about kids' eating and the Canada Food Guide (ah, yes the CFG. . .remember that pyramid of colour on the fridge or was it a pie chart?).  I always strived to get the right number of vegetables, fruits, meat or alternatives, and dairy every day for my family.  The piece of gold from the article was "Try to get all the right elements of the CFG in a week"  IN A WEEK!?!?!?!  Instead of every day?. . . Are you kidding?. . .  You mean I could actually let go and allow them the luxury of eating a whole plate of fruit for a meal!  This changed my life (and my families' life as well)  Now I know what you are thinking . . .No I did not start cooking a big head of broccoli for supper.  I continued to offer all the food groups, I just stopped obsessing about my kids eating the 'balanced' way everyday and took a more global (weekly or monthly) look at it.


I started doing the same thing with my own balance.  What are the components of my day?  Do I have to have all of them everyday?  Consider your balance in a much larger sense.  Ask yourself if you are getting what you need on a weekly basis. . . .on a monthly basis.  When I allowed my kids to decide what they wanted to eat from the choices on the table at meal time, they actually became more in tune with what they needed not what was prescribed on the fridge pie chart.

So take inventory, look at the components and write them down.  You can then make a weekly, monthly or yearly plan rather than killing yourself to get it all in everyday.

Feel your way to a balanced lifestyle and be sure to report back :)

Cheers,