The Five Pillars of My Whole Life - Finding Balance

I have a dilemma. I'm struggling to define balance in my life. With work, school, working out, family time, friend time, eating clean, keeping my house up, and other "miscellaneous" tasks... how can I find balance and live a healthier happier life?

Here are the 5 pillars of my "Whole Life" and how balance can affect them:

• Exercise (strength and cardio) - too much and you're sore or injured. Too little and you start to lose your strength, flexibility and cardiovascular stamina
  
• Diet - too strict and you feel deprived and binge eat everything in site. Too loose and you don't see the results you want, and will likely go backwards in your health and weight loss goals.
  
• Rest - too little and your body doesn't repair itself, your mind can't focus, and you're just about worthless. Too much and you feel lethargic and just want more sleep.
  
• Maintenance - not only would too many visits hurt your pocket book, but being a hypochondriac doesn't allow your body to be strong and take care of itself the way it was designed. Too few visits and you could be in for some bad news - possibly issues that could have been detected early and avoided or treated. Regular, periodic visits to your doctor, dentist, and chiropractor are necessary to maintain the working balance of your body.
  
• FUN - One of the most important pillars, right? Careful that you're not having too much fun all the time (or change your definition of what FUN is). Going over board on drinking, dangerous behaviors, and neglecting your body's needs will make your life, well, less than fun. But everyone needs to cut loose and enjoy all that life has to offer. 

You see? Balance is key!

How do you find balance? When do you know you've had enough (or too  much) of a good thing? I'm interested in YOUR tips and ideas!

I'll share some tips with you, one pillar at a time, but would sure love to hear your thoughts!

Until next time,
<3 Jen

Checking In with a New Recipe and Some Updates!

Hello Friends!

Well, it's been a while, hasn't it?  Still, not a whole lot has changed. Life is moving at a light speed pace and I'm trying to keep up as best I can. Even with a crazy busy schedule, I'm working to make healthy decision for myself and my family, and hope to share some of those tips with you.

I recently took the Les Mills RPM Certification Training and have just 25 days to complete my exam video to finalize that certification. It's a great program and I'm excited to be able to share my love for Spin/ Indoor Cycling with others. Thanks, too, for Ben and Compete for sponsoring me!

I'm about halfway through the Spring Semester at UNO and doing well so far (all A's baby!!), and just got back from another fabulous trip to Chicago with my CEM buddies to work the Shamrock Shuffle - the worlds largest 8k road race. 45,000 folks register for this race through downtown Chicago. It's a huge event and I'm lucky to be part of the team that puts it on.

It's a long and busy week, but I manage to sneak in some fun, good food, great company and all the touristy site seeing you can handle. I finally made it up to the Willis Tower Observation Deck. That is cool... and a little unnerving! I have lots of pictures and crazy quotes on my Facebook page - you should check them out. ;)

Anyway, I wanted to share a recipe that I tried out a couple weeks ago. I decided that I'll make it a little different next time 'round, so I'll give you that info, too!

5 minutes Avocado Chicken Lettuce Wraps

  Ingredients

• 4-6 romaine lettuce leaves
• 1 medium avocado(Definitely DOUBLE this! The more avocado, the better!)
• ½ lemon or lime (for juice)
  (I used the bottled lime juice as that's what I had on hand.)
• 1 cup cooked chicken, shredded or cubed (I suggest cooking in the crock pot all day with some zippy seasoning - I'll be using Rotel (tomatoes and green chilies), crushed red peppers, cumin, and paprika. I like to have a little kick. Without it, this recipe is a little too bland for me.)
• 1 Roma tomato (or handful of grape tomatoes)
• 2 tablespoons chopped onion (red, green, white…whatever you like!)
• ¼ bell pepper, diced
• Salt, pepper and garlic powder to taste. 
  Instructions

1. Cut avocado in half, remove pit and scoop flesh into a small mixing bowl.
2. Using a fork, mash the avocado until nearly smooth.
3. Squeeze lemon or lime juice into bowl and mix to combine.
4. Sprinkle salt, pepper and garlic powder (to taste) into avocado and mix completely.
5. Stir in chicken, tomatoes, onion and bell pepper until everything is evenly coated.
6. Scoop mixture into clean, dry romaine leaves and enjoy!

That's it! It's fast and easy, fresh and light - would be a great summer time lunch or early dinner to eat out on the deck watching the dogs play in the back yard, fireflies blinking... ah... did I mention that I can't WAIT for summer?! 

Anyway, I'd better wrap this up for the night. I have an early workout tomorrow morning with the gang at Compete, work all day and then some online lectures to listen to. Hold on, hold on... I  need to slide up to the edge of my seat! :)

I hope you all have an opportunity to try this recipe and let me know what you think!  

Until next time!

<3 Jen