Balance Mostly Right Most of the Time

There is such a thing as "too much."  Too much chocolate, and you will get sick.  (I know.)  Too many drinks, and you will regret it.  Too much work, and you will be stressed.  Too much to do, and you will be overwhelmed.  There is also such a thing as "too little."  Too little time to yourself, you will be frustrated.  Too little to do, you will be aimless.  Too little healing time, you will stay sick.  This makes me think of the Three Bears.  Goldilocks would like it to be "just right." 

When it comes to food, I have heard people say that the 80/20 rule works.  That means that 80% of the time, you eat "clean."  Meals and snacks are made up of the food groups:  fruits, veggies, whole grains, lean proteins, lean dairy and its substitutes and 2 tsp. of healthy oil per day.  That also means that 20% of the time, you can indulge in extra treats like chocolate, alcohol, burgers/fries, etc.

My point of view is that "mostly right, most of the time" is the sweet spot.  We can't eat solely single ingredient foods because it is too demanding and restrictive.  We also can't start the day with donuts and croissants and then move to jumbo sandwiches and an afternoon "pick me up treat" (mine used to be two candy bars during my stressful political career in DC) and then take out dinner because there was no plan.  There can be a balance between the extremes that eventually becomes the sweet spot where we live our lives fully, but we indulge occasionally--or even regularly because we planned to.

In creating a healthy lifestyle, consider how much sleep works best for you?  Consider how much exercise works best for you?  If I overdo it at my OrangeTheory gym, I get immune suppressed and sick the next week. That's my body's response to doing too much.  Yet another reminder to me that extremes don't work.  Consider when and where having your extras matters?  Is it a drink every night or an ice cream bar after dinner?  Is it an extra added on to your meals to make your clean eating feel even better?  Your body will tell you where the sweet spot is.  Your body will still feel good even after you indulge if you do it mostly right.  Your body will tell you that you overdid it, by poor digestion, loss of impulse control or regret.

In yoga and qi gong, we talk about balancing the yin and the yang--the two extremes.  Nature isn't perfect, and neither are we.  Mistakes happen.  (April snowstorm!)  Nature seeks balance.  We are part of nature.  We can blossom and thrive  in the sweet spot that we create one moment at a time.  After a while, those moments add up to days, weeks, months and years of good health.  That's a worthy pursuit that will feel just right.