It’s 6pm, and you’re just getting off work. You’re hungry, tired, and not to mention you still have about a 45 minute drive home until you can either quickly find something to eat, or call it a night. So when you get home what would be the first thing you do? Does eating something healthy or the thought of working out even cross your mind at this point?

Let’s be real, how often does the term diet and fitness get tossed around and sometimes lost in our everyday activities? We wake up ready to conquer the world, and by the days ends we’re exhausted and the world has taken its toll on us! Too often do I hear people state that if they just had more hours in their day, a budget that accommodates a healthy lifestyle or if they could find a plan that fits their schedule, they would be 100% in. So if one truly is interested in maintaining a balanced diet and fitness regimen, where should they start?

As simple and cliché as it may sound, it honestly starts with you! Only YOU know your situation and circumstances, and what your lifestyle can accommodate. Yes, you can always make the time or find a way to make it work, and for some people that’s great. For many though, this either leaves them financially strained, more exhausted and burned out, and then unmotivated to continue. You want to find something that allows you to stay excited and motivated, not something that you dread and feel is forced.

It’s all about finding your balance, and what works for you. You have to know your limits. The point of diet and fitness is to provide a healthier you and lifestyle. What good would it be to pursue this if you’re only creating more stress for yourself? Whole body health is the goal! So set reasonable goals, and gradually take the steps you need. Think about it, how often do people go cold turkey on their favorite foods and over exert themselves in the gym because they read somewhere that’s what yields results. Now after two weeks of torturing themselves, they’ve conclude that maybe they aren’t capable of living a healthy lifestyle. This is why it’s so crucial to find what works for you. Everyone’s different and what works for one just may not work for another. You don’t want to quit before you really begin because you’re doing more than you can handle at the moment. So do your research and try new things. If it works, great! If not, then on to the next. It’s ok to do your research and try new things, but it’s also important to remember that information is ever changing.

So I encourage you to truly reflect on what works for you and how you can incorporate that into your weekly schedule. If that means just changing a few things you consume throughout the day and only working out twice a week, then do just that. I’m not you, and you’re not me. So our journey to living a healthy lifestyle is going to look completely different. Once we recognize this and start living for us, tailoring what we do to compliment the way we live, I truly believe we’ll start to appreciate the process and journey. Remember the balance of a healthy life is mind, body, and spirit.