My Dad is one cool cat. Look what I arrived home to last night after work!
Hello Kitty!
I’ve had a not-so-slight adoration for Hello Kitty since I was roughly 8-years-old, so coming home to this was such a nice treat. Isn’t she precious?! I think she and Rainbow Brite had a play date and Hello Kitty borrowed one of her leotards and bows. Naturally, I immediately thought of my Hello Kitty-obsessed friend, Katie, and sent her a tweet! My dad rocks.
Workout
Um, ow. Thanks to my two favorite trainers, I can barely move from this morning’s workout! This morning, I completed a mish-mosh of Tone It Up routines: the Summer Arms workout from the Beach Babe DVD, a SHREDmill workout, and the Lond & Lean routine from the Beach Babe DVD. My arms and legs are already sore from these workouts! K&K never let me down. 
Lunch
Oh my goodness – I’m still daydreaming about today’s lunch. I really didn’t want it to end. Cabbage boats, anyone?
I have been loving raw cabbage leaves, lately, as my choice of wrap. They’re crunchy and hold up a little better than collards. Today, I made some with classic Sabra hummus, halved cherry tomatoes, sliced carrots, avocado, a drizzle of fresh lemon juice, and a sprinkle of Mrs. Dash Garlic & Herb seasoning (obsessed). While prepping my boats, I roasted a small sweet potato in some organic olive oil cooking spray and, before I knew it, a dreamy lunch awaited.
I went back for a couple more cabbage boat wraps afterwards. They’re so fresh and delicious! I love the contrast of the crunchy cabbage and soft hummus and avocado. They definitely fueled me well through today’s non-stop day of research on bacteria that cause foodborne illnesses. Microbiology is killing me a little bit!
Thoughts on ‘Balanced Eating’
The term “balanced eating” is thrown around the nutrition/health/fitness world all over the place. We are often encouraged to achieve “balanced eating” which, in turn, is equated with finding true happiness. Balance is an important and vital thing to achieve in all aspects of our life; and it’s freakin’ easier said than done! Balance provides us with mental clarity and a sound peace of mind. When we are in balance, we are better people and can better serve others and be a beacon of light in our and others’ lives.
Balanced eating is different for everyone. It comes in many shapes and sizes, just like our beautiful bodies. In my recovery process, balanced eating was very difficult for me to come to terms with. I kept reading material on how to achieve balanced eating and how I should define balanced eating – namely, only having so many fruits and veggies and only eating “treats” so many times per week. I soon realized that this was damaging for me because it didn’t allow me to have any creative freedom. I couldn’t decide what balanced eating was for me. I was still being controlled by others’ thoughts instead of my own, and this only fueled my eating disorder.
Source: thecollegeprepster.com via Heather on Pinterest
It took me many food binges and exercise purges to figure out that we all have our own journies to achieving “balanced eating.” Here’s the thing: balanced eating, in my personal view, is kind of like a seesaw. We need that even amount of weight (no pun intended) between giving our bodies what they want and giving our bodies what they need. There might be an RDA (recommended dietary allowance) dictated by the USDA but that is only a guide. We don’t need to follow it to a T every day. Otherwise, we’re striving for perfection - not balance – and striving for perfection never gets us anywhere. In essence, we drift further from listening to what our bodies actually want.
Here is an example: Physiologically speaking, my body needs 70% protein and 30% carbohydrate after a challenging morning strength workout. Mentally, I want chocolate protein pudding oats (duh!). So, I fix myself a bowl every morning (no shame!) with about 1/4 cup fruit and it makes me feel amazing inside and out. I don’t care that I’m eating close to the same thing every day because, mentally, I love it and want it. It’s something I look forward to every day. I don’t care about the research that says my body will become too accustomed to the same thing and not change – because it’s my body! I will treat it the way it wants to be treated. 
Ultimately, I’ve found that my way of living a “balanced” life is eating clean, vegan food to fuel my body. I try to look at food first as fuel and second as pleasure. I love my pinot grigio, sea salt popcorn, and ice cream on occasion and I savor every last bite. In my mind, these are not “treats” – they are part of living a life of balance; they are part of the seesaw of want and need.
How do you define “balanced eating” for yourself? If you’re still on that journey, what are you learning?
Stay lovely,
Heather
The two winners of the Color Me Rad 5K Giveaway are MK (Twitter handle @mkat_tiu) and Kat (Twitter handle @KatClark21). Congrats, ladies – I’m so happy for you! Email me at heather@fortheloveofkale.com with your mailing address and I’ll get those out to you on Monday!
Hello, firstly congrats on the first “real job”!
x
You are right that being too obsessed with “balance” we become perfectionists. Balance allows freedom of choice, and sometimes is easier to achieve when we don’t focus on it too much. Food, as lovely as vegan treats can be, is still a fuel to give energy to go and do other things we love and achieve great things in life
Thank you, Eva! Well said – all foods give us some love back in so many ways!
Balanced eating for me is all about eating clean whole vegan food as you say. I make sure to respond to all my cravings in as healthy a way as possible and in a way that I know what cause me my stomach to feel bloated (as I can’t eat gluten or wheat or dairy), and my body to feel off balance. Sweet treats, breads…fruit and veg., protein..they all feature in balance. I try and make decisions based on what I know my body needs and now thank god it happens quite naturally!
Hello, my genius friend! I love your view of balance…because you’re doing what works for YOU. Amazing! You make me smile.
So True! I’m not a vegan nor a vegetarian, but for the most part I live a plant based diet, because I love veggie. I eat what I crave, which usually mean fruits, veggie and carob chips! I think having balance means eating what you LOVE in moderation. And move! Do workouts that make you happy and give you energy!
You had me at carob chips.
I love your idea of balance! I have to agree with you, I think it is all about finding a balance that works best for you as an individual! Nutrition is such an individualized subject and I think it is so important to find the style of eating that your body thrives on. I’m still a work in progress and probably always will be but for me eating clean, whole, minimally processed foods is the best!
We’re all a work in progress, huh?!
Amen to clean eats!
Awesome Post, girl! I really know where you’re coming from.
It’s taken me a long time to establish what “balanced” means to me. I’ve tried endless diets, and I, too, have turned to a ‘clean diet’. For me, that isn’t a vegan diet, but rather a diet focused mostly on lean proteins (both vegan and non-vegan varieties), fruits, vegetables and healthy fats!
I think at the end of the day is to just listen to your body. If you becoming in-tune with your bodies needs, you’ll eventually come to realize what specific nutrients are needed at any given time.
I absolutely love hearing your idea(s) of balance.
Awesome post; awesome writing.
Stay sweet girl.
PS – I will be posting on a local vegan bakery/cafe on my blog soon! I know you’re not close to where I live, but you might find it interesting!
When I was eating there, I thought of all your vegan foodie reviews!
Hi Caitlyn! Thanks so much for your thoughtful comment. I love hearing that you’ve achieved balance in your life too, babe! Just read your post – that avocado sammie looks TO-DIE-FOR!!!
Hey Heather,
I’ve been reading your blog for a little while now–I found you through Katie’s “Healthy Diva Eats.” We both seem to share a love for HIIT cardio/strength workouts! I am really enjoying the ZWOWs as well. Which Shredmill routine did you do from Tone it UP? I searched for a few on their website and there were a couple.
Thanks,
Yaara
Yaara! I’m so happy you found me – and especially through Katie! She is amazing.
I thought I posted the link but apparently I did not – I’m sorry! Here it is: http://toneitup.com/blog.php?Challenge-8-Your-New-SHREDmill-Workout-5345
First of all, your lunch looks awesome.
I think once you get used to really listening to your body, it becomes easier.
Second, I love this post! Although I’m not a vegan, I have basically the same outlook as you do. I pretty much eat what I want, even when most of the time it is clean, healthy foods. I crave that. When I crave some wine, heck yes, I will have a glass of wine. Same thing goes with dessert
Amen to THAT! I love you, girl.
I describe balanced eating as “eat what you crave, in moderation, not too much and not too little.”
I like that alot, Matt! I feel like we should all recite that to ourselves every day!
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That lunch looks totally awesome! I’ve got to try that out sometime. I agree on your definition of balanced eating. I honestly have a hard time finding my balance though, since I tend to be a bit of a perfectionist and I think I can be “too healthy” at times and not treat myself, which really is not attainable and doesn’t make me super happy 100% of the time. I still have a hard time figuring out what I crave. Its getting easier day by day, I hope to one day be able to listen to my body better!
Your honesty always astounds me, Lisa. You’re going to conquer this!!! I HAVE SO MUCH FAITH IN YOU!
I really love this post. Since my ED, I feel as if I “recovered”, but I still have trouble with balance. I have an all or nothing mentally for most things, especially food, which I’ve really been trying to work on. I’m not going to lie, I’ve had a few binge sessions, trying to find balance, and still occasionally do, but am trying to hard to overcome those. I need to learn that it’s okay to indulge every once in a while, and it’s not going to make me fat from one time. And just because I need have a “treat”, it doesn’t mean I need to keep going back for more and more and one serving is plenty. I strive to be better at this each day, and hopefully I’ll find my “balanced eating” sooner or later<3 Have a great Sunday!
That “all or nothing” mentality is so hard to shake but you can and you WILL get there.
Love you, Molly!
Love this post!
I totally thought of Katie, too! HAHAHAHAHA!
I love your thoughts on balanced eating too, love. I love how you think of treats not as treats, but part of the balance! So important!
I definitely give my body what it wants too! Too many years of deprivation! My body doesn’t deserve that!
great post. finding balance with life in general is hard, let alone food
but to be honest we feel our “idea” of balance changes, as we change. our bodies need different things at different times, so now we just try to respect our body and it’s cravings. and not focus so much on balance, but just enjoy every meal whether it may or not be balanced. for us the biggest thing is not stressing over our food. that is when problems arise when we think to much about our eats.
I love everything about this comment. It just goes to show how wonderfully unique and different we are! Love you girls…always making me think.
Aah I’m so excited!
Great Post! I struggle with this so much, especially since I’m such a “plan” girl and when it comes to balanced eating…there’s no real plan your body can follow. What you need changes day to day, AND everyone is different!
Girl, I TOTALLY feel you here and you’re so right. It’s really hard to get out of “plan” mode and into “intuitive” mode…but with practice and patience, it comes.
You know I’m still working on the whole balanced eating thing! I’m happy I have a friend like you that I can talk to about it, and I know many of your readers are happy for that too – I can already tell from the comments. Keep inspiring us all, bb!
Also, whenever I see anything Hello Kitty I tweet Katie too haha. Her HK love is infamous!
The cabbage boats are such a fab healthy meal idea! Love it, I would’ve gone back for more too. I can only imagine that satisfying CRUNCH.
You make friendship easy. <3 I KNEW you’d love the “crunch.” #hardcoreBB
Love love love this post!! I’m on a journey right now trying to find balanced eating. It is hard and despite everything you read it all depends on you and your body.