Living and working in my “industry” which would be the health promoting and sedentary lifestyle bashing one, sometimes reminds me of that, well, it’s not always that health conscious. We for sure have to sacrifice one thing to gain another. In our case, a lot of the time that means to sacrifice sweaty effort, and favorite pizzas, to lose sizes and gain a sense of self back. In the hurricane of musts and the endless influx of fitness information, I over and over again see compulsive behaviors being born, and OCD like need of full control surface, where there has been none before. Certainly my colleagues and I have the upper hand on being in full control, until we also completely lose it. Work out and diet regimens blindly followed to gain the “Flawless Bodies” and the “Perfect Push-Up”. Something held so hard and controlled so intensely, that it has no other way to go than in the complete other direction. If you have ever been at a party of Fitness Professionals, you know exactly what I’m talking about! I believe that there need to be a balance in every area of life. Eating vegetables, never having a bite of cake, or never missing a workout creates a completely different set of problems somewhere down the line, and quite frankly, it’s damn boring. LIFE is to be LIVED!! It should be enjoyed in every measure, by each and every of the five senses. Without feeling like shit about indulging in it!
To indulge in activities and exercise because it makes us feel amazing and full of energy is life giving. To be a slave to the work out regimen, and have hardcore guilt for missing a work out, is in every way detrimental. Unless the goal is a specific performance goal or because a serious health scare, because all activity could somehow be connected to joy, and not force… well at least after a while 
after connecting to how GREAT it REALLY makes you feel. To enjoy a clean and holistic diet on a regular is necessary, but to avoid the good things in life like a real birthday cake made of butter-cream (or another favorite indulgence), without feeling intense guilt, is equally torturous. Finding the balance in all things Healthy is definitely a difficult task at first, but when found, the sense of freedom, and a presence to the full experience of yourself in your own life is finally there. There will be no more Yo-Yo diet and training, no constant HARD beginnings to the “program”, and a sense of trust that you know how to take care of yourself in the best ways possible-despite that cup cake you had last Sunday.
After all, in the scheme of things, are you chasing a six pack and 4% body fat, or do you want to be able to take life in with all it has to offer, dance, play, eat, sing, give a helping hand, be able to adapt to different places, cultures and settings? Of course this is very different from training for a competition or if there is an eating disorder looming. In those cases extreme measures are important and sometimes even necessary for life. But for you, what would you like to be your Goal? Is there space for you to live, breathe and play, while keeping your body, heart and mind at an optimal functioning level? I’d say YES!
Live Loud – Tanja Djelevic
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