BALANCE. Is it really that easy?

It’s 5 weeks since I finished my programme fully and if I’m being honest this past week/weekend has been my biggest struggle so far. I feel a little lost and off direction.

I’m sure that some of you can relate to this feeling.

I find that I function and focus better when I have something to work towards and a coach to answer to.

I love a challenge and I love the feeling that I get once I’ve finished it. I feel that through working towards something I have a ‘purpose’. A goal that is going to keep me moving forward.

For 5 weeks I’ve been at it alone. And I genuinely miss checking in with my coach every Sunday, having someone point me in the right direction and apply my nutrition as well as structure my training. I’m a bloody coach for Christ’s sake. This should be natural to me. Shouldn’t it?

Wellll…that’s debatable. It comes down to disciplines. I have the knowledge to know what is required of me….I just miss having that ‘purpose’ of working towards something with someone there to guide me.

Much like I’m the person that is there to guide my own clients, keep them in check and point them on the right path, it is down to them to apply what I ask of them and remain disciplined throughout our time together. I’m only human. I have the same struggles and same ups and downs as everyone else.

𝐈𝐭’𝐬 𝐀𝐂𝐂𝐎𝐔𝐍𝐓𝐀𝐁𝐈𝐋𝐈𝐓𝐘. 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐭’𝐬 𝐅𝐈𝐍𝐃𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐁𝐀𝐋𝐀𝐍𝐂𝐄 𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞.

Balance is bloody hard man. It’s bloody hard. I see personal trainers and Instagram influencers bang on about having balance and enjoying life to the full and I fully agree….but balance is very easy to fall out of all the same.

Not everyone is capable of balance. That’s the reality that they don’t share on social media.

𝐁𝐚𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐚 𝐃𝐈𝐒𝐂𝐈𝐏𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐄.

If you are strong willed and can manage to remain consistent throughout the week then a treat at the weekend definitely isn’t going to hurt you. Provided you allow for your treats by making sensible choices Mon-Fri or tracking your weekly average calories then a bit of balance at the weekend can do you good. It can keep you focused. And this is a healthy relationship to have with your food.

On the other hand, if you are an all or nothing f**k it kind of person then a bit of balance at the weekend can be carried over into the week too. And then the weekend after that. And even the week after that. There’s no discipline.

The pattern usually goes: a treat day on a Saturday, feeling like shit and not making great choices on a Sunday, telling yourself you will start again Monday and then being tempted before lunch time even comes around.

How many of you have done this and then thought ‘I’ve messed up now, I’ll just start again next week!’? Irrational and lazy thinking really. You wouldn’t spill a glass of milk and then tip the rest of the bottle onto the floor would you?!

It’s a vicious circle and an unhealthy relationship to have with your food by doing this.

Having the discipline to exercise is the same.

𝐖𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐧’𝐭 𝐦𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐢𝐟 𝐰𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐲 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐩𝐡𝐲𝐬𝐢𝐪𝐮𝐞 𝐰𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞.

If you are then you are superhuman and I want what you have. For some people exercise is a habit and a discipline. For others it’s a bloody chore. I totally get it.

The difference is knowing what it means to you to exercise and feel good. Much the same as finding a balance with your lifestyle/nutrition and not emptying the bottle of milk each Monday.

There’s a very fine line between ‘focused’, ‘being consistent’ and ‘falling off the wagon’. And that fine line is always a choice. YOUR CHOICE.

Do you know what, I don’t quite know what my next step is. I’m still figuring it out. I don’t know if I want to find a balance and maintain the physique I currently have or challenge myself again and have a full focus.

I just don’t know. Both are hard. I know which I’m better at but challenging your body year round isn’t healthy in the slightest. At the moment I’m eating good nutritious foods and exercising regularly, I have a structured training schedule and I try my best to track my calories allowing myself to stay within a weekly average and have a treat at the weekend if I feel I want one.

I’ve been at maintenance calories now for 5 weeks and this is the first week I haven’t really tracked 100%. I’ve had a NutriBox meal prep and I remained very consistent all week, then the weekend fell apart. KFC, McDonald’s, pastry, chocolate, share bag of crisps to myself, party food, popcorn at the cinema, picking at the kids treats and sweets.

You know how the story goes. This isn’t like me. But it was my own doing. I could have just had one of those things but I made a choice (and not a great one) to keep eating shit. I could have easily carried it on through to this week as well. But when I woke up Monday morning I felt like crap. And I quickly remembered why I prefer to make healthier choices.

Aside from this I didn’t want to get up to go to the gym on Monday morning. I felt sluggish. That vicious circle was creeping in of skipping your workouts and then losing your motivation/mojo. You know this story too I’m sure.

I was covering a 6.30am hiit class so I had absolutely no choice but to get up and go but; was I not covering it, it would have been so easy to lay in bed and skip that workout. 10 minutes into it and in full sweat mode I was so glad I had got some exercise done. I left the gym feeling refreshed, energised and ready for the week ahead. My food choices on top of this have been back to great.

This is habitual and disciplined. Even when I absolutely do not want to train I make sure I get it done anyway. Because that way I don’t lose my way. I don’t lose the balance. It’s a habit. Just like brushing my teeth.

I may not have a sole focus right now, I may not know which path I want to take and that’s ok, but it is still my duty to myself to remain some kind of focused with some form of balance to enable me to maintain the progress I have made and fuel my body in a healthy way day to day.

Just like the saying; ‘you only get one life, live it’, the same applies to ‘you only get one body, so look after it’.

This blog is an example of how easy it is to fall off balance, like I said, balance is hard. But the choice at the end of day is always yours. Even balance takes some focus. Balance takes some work. And balance takes you being mindful of the choices you are making.

Don’t use the word lightly to excuse yourself of hard work. Don’t read Instagram and think balance is eating what you want whenever you feel like it. If you want to be in good health, with good fitness levels and be comfortable in your skin then you’ve got to put the work in somewhere.

Wether that be full force and focused or just ‘balanced’.

Kelly ♥️