Seven Tips to Achieving a Balanced Lifestyle Through Moderation
Moderation is something I had to learn over years. It didn’t come easy at first, but it’s something that has to be learned if you want to live healthy. Excess anywhere in your life will lead to negative consequences.
If you eat too much, you gain weight.
If you drink too much, you kill your liver and brain cells.
If you spend too much time on the computer, you get twitter butt, blurry vision, and your husband starts to fantasize obsessively about Kate Beckinsale. (And no, I don’t know anything about this first hand.)
So basically, it comes down to moderation.
How to Live a Balanced Lifestyle
How do we do this? Well, it’s not as easy as it sounds. Our society is set up for extravagances. We have bigger meals, bigger cars, bigger butts, etc. So what may be moderation to you might actually not be moderation at all. But over the years, I’ve been following some rules of thumb I’d like to share with you.
- Always pay attention to the serving size on the back of packages and eat the serving size. Sometimes one bag of something is actually 2-4 servings. If you eat the serving size of something, you can enjoy it without having to feel too guilty about it.
- Always make informed decisions. If you are going to eat something, take a good look at the nutritional contents. Look at fat, fiber, sodium and calories. Then take a look at the ingredients. Now that you know what it is, make your decision.
- There IS such a thing as too much of a good thing, but if you are filling your body with nutritious foods about 90% of the time, you can indulge a bit.
- Make sure to give yourself one cheat meal per week. This will be fine if you are sensible the rest of the time.
- Drinking will slow down your metabolism and leave you dehydrated. Don’t do it every day, but if you are going to drink, have some red wine. It’s full of health benefits in moderation.
- Try to combine complex carbohydrates and a lean protein at every meal or snack to promote a full feeling and keep you from overeating.
- If you are going to indulge in something you know is REALLY sinful, take a small piece.
Moderation is a mindset. It means allowing yourself to indulge without going overboard. It takes self-control and common sense. Self-control is learned over time and common sense means being honest with yourself. Just make sure that when you do indulge, you enjoy yourself and don’t beat yourself up about it. Otherwise, it’s not worth it at all.
Leah Segedie is a fitness matriarch in the social media realm who helps "digital moms" learn and sustain healthy living practices to combat obesity. She has lost over 170 lbs. over two pregnancies and is an inspiration to women all over the internet with her communities Bookieboo.com and Mamavation.com. She has been recognized for several feats in her professional and personal life such as being named "Mom of the Year" by Shape Magazine in 2010 and compared to Lady Gaga for her unique social media tactics in The Huffington Post. Her story, communities and work have also been featured in the following publications: Yahoo (front page), Ladies Home Journal, Fitness Magazine, Shape Magazine, The Huffington Post, Women's Day, Fitness RX, Hybrid Mom, Yahoo Shine, & The Acorn.
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