Although health and fitness may seem like the same thing, they are not. In fact, they are two separate things that need to be worked on individually to maintain a balanced lifestyle. Fitness focuses on your physical well-being; maintaining a certain weight, body mass index, and fat percentage. Health focuses on your mental, spiritual, and internal and external well-being. It’s a lot of work to maintain your health and fitness, but it’s even harder to balance it but it can be done!
The thing is, life is busy, especially for women who have a family to take care of and/or a job. It can be difficult for women to find a balance in their life as they usually put others before them while their health and/or fitness aspects in life suffer. No matter how busy your life is, it’s important to make time for your health so it’s important to take steps to make changes in your life. The first step is to look at your current situation and try to find where there may be an imbalance. If you are eating healthy but feel weak you may want to exercise a few times a week or if you are at the gym all the time but feel stressed out, you may want to incorporate a little more fun and/or meditation. Look at all the different pieces of your life and develop a plan.
Whatever your plan may be, there are certain things that you will need to be part of your life to balance your health and fitness; sleep, fun, exercise, a healthy diet, and some type of meditation. Sleep, it often feels like we don’t get enough of it, so make it a priority to get enough. Sleep is a key part of a healthy lifestyle as it keeps us alert, active, and in a better mood. When you don’t get enough sleep you could become irritable, lazy, or just down on yourself. The same goes for oversleeping, too much of a good thing may leave you feeling lazy, lost in the day, or lagged. Six hours of sleep is recommended by most health practices, however listen to your body and give it as much sleep as it needs to function daily.
Exercise can be fun, and things that are fun can be meditating so try to combine these things together. You don’t have to go on a treadmill and run your life away, you can pick an activity that you like that also help you stay in shape. If you aren’t a fan of sports or the gym you can try dancing, biking, running, hiking, or even swimming. Find an exercise that makes you smile, or excited to participate in and you will also find yourself distressing! Another way to distress is to take up a form of meditation, going to the spa, and/or participating in yoga. It’s important to distress so that your mind is at peace to keep you sharp.
To balance all these different components stick to your plan and goals and don’t feel pressured to work out every day or stick to a strict diet. At the end of the day, being healthy means being the best you inside and out and only you know what that feels like. Find your balance by taking it one step at a time and constantly reevaluating your goals until you feel like you are on the right path to balance.
By: Gabriella Leone, BabblingInk.com Author