Someone at work the other day gave me a huge compliment. She said that I was balanced.

It made my day because I can be proud of having balance in my life. I work at a health center, I am a Pilates teacher and a dancer, I try to eat well but I’m also human. To me living a balanced life means trying your best but not beating yourself up about every little thing. I have my fair share of guilty pleasures (such as fresh baked cookies) and I’m not ashamed to go out on a Saturday night with my friends. But at the end of the day, those things are perfectly normal, and if we were too obsessed with being perfectly healthy everyday we would drive ourselves crazy.

We can have the goal of keeping our diet and lifestyle healthy without being so strict and forget to have a little fun. The majority of my diet consists of whole grains, fruits, vegetables and lean meats. I try to listen to what my body is hungry for, it usually has a good sense for what it needs. But what I believe is important is giving in to those little cravings (guilty pleasures) every once in a while. In moderation of course, but it’s nice to let yourself know that its OK to do so and not feel bad about it.