Balanced health

And How to Know If you’re on the Right Track

A tale as old as time: An event or vacation is coming up, you watched  a talk on YouTube, read an article on LinkedIn, and suddenly you get an adrenaline rush, you are all amped up to get your health back on track

You go online for guidance/ join a gym and are immediately bombarded with all sorts of messages and programs. Start this crash diet! Go all in on this fitness apparatus! As you click “buy” or “subscribe,” you say to yourself that this time, you’re ready to work harder, eat less, and get “real” results.

We all know how this ends, and for one simple reason, those programs are designed for marketing success, not health and longevity. They demand nothing less than absolute perfection; yet, in the real world, ongoing responsibilities and surprise stressors inevitably throw life out of balance.

If your goal is to live better, and longer, then you need to develop balanced health habits that stand the test of time.

What Is Balanced Health?

“Balance,” by definition, involves keeping something upright and stable. Unbalanced health is akin to a bicycle: When riding, if you’re not attentive, it falls over, and you tumble to the ground. Likewise, unbalanced health habits remain upright and in motion only when you’re intently focused on keeping them that way.

Balanced health, on the other hand, is a state in which your diverse lifestyle habits are evenly distributed between stress and rest. Ideally, you’ll regularly include habits from each of the Four Pillars of Health in the ways you eat, move, sleep, and restore. By distributing your time, attention, and effort among the Four Pillars of Health, you form a sturdy foundation that supports better health and longer life.

How to Achieve Balanced Health

1-   Balanced Nutrition

Balanced nutrition gives your body the nutrients it needs, when it needs them, to function optimally. The good news is, you don’t have to count macros or calories or load up on the entire alphabet of vitamins to have balanced nutrition. Following a few simple principles can put you on the road to optimal nutrition — no calculator, food scale, or VIP membership to gyms required.

-        Aim for 80% of your diet to comprise minimally-processed whole foods that include a wide range of fruits, vegetables, lean protein, and quality fats. If you keep a high-quality diet most days, you have wiggle room to enjoy the occasional treat without worrying it might sabotage your health goals.

-        Prioritize protein. This is important for everyone, but especially if you are active, elderly, or if weight loss is your goal. 

-        Condense your eating window to 12 hours or less per day. If possible, align this window with your natural circadian rhythm so that most of your eating happens during daylight hours.

-        Practice mindful eating by slowing down, removing distractions, and attending to your body’s hunger cues.

Signs Your Nutrition Is Balanced

You know you’re achieving balanced nutrition when you regularly feel sated (not ravenous or overfull) and you rarely experience cravings. You’ll also have steady energy levels throughout the day on most days. In terms of more measurable signs, your weight or BMI will usually remain stable and within a healthy range, and your clothes fit normally when your nutrition is balanced. Ultimately, when your nutrition is balanced, you’re able to provide your body with the energy it needs to move, sleep, restore, and live a healthy life.

Balanced Movement

Achieving balanced movement requires a mix of two types of movement:

(1) Unstructured physical activity

(2) Structured exercise.

The research is clear that you can and should do as much unstructured physical activity as possible each day. Those extra steps to climb the stairs or refill your water glass are not an inconvenience; they’re a free, easy way to maintain a healthy body weight and improve longevity. Structured exercise is as important but make sure not to adhere to a rigid schedule! Your personal preferences and lifestyle should dictate how and when you incorporate structured exercise into your daily or weekly routine.

Signs Your Movement Is Balanced

Balanced movement is most clearly seen in physiological markers such as a lower resting heart rate, greater endurance, and/or increased strength. The most basic way to observe this is noticing that activities that were once challenging become easier for you.

Balanced Sleep

Balanced sleep is more than just being in bed for a specific number of hours. If your sleep cycles, brain activity, or metabolism are not properly aligned while you’re asleep, you may still feel tired in the morning — even after spending 7–9 hours in bed.

To achieve balanced sleep, start by eliminating exposure to bright artificial light for at least 1 hour prior to bed. (This includes bright lamps, but also screens of all types. Finally, keeping your bedroom quiet and slightly cooler than the active living areas of your home will help lessen sleep-cycle disturbances.

Balanced Restoration

Throughout your day you accumulate physical, psychological, and emotional stress signals. Now, not all of these stressors are bad! Short-term stress actually helps your body to grow and become healthier. However, chronic stress associated with work, money, or dysfunctional relationships without adequate recovery becomes a health liability that contributes to disease risk and burnout.

Prioritize taking a break from the daily grind. Have a cup of tea or herbal infusion, engage in restoration practices like meditation, leisurely activity, socialization, and community involvement are all ways to counteract stress and create balance.

Signs Your Restoration Is Balanced

You’ll often see improved biometrics like lower resting heart rate and higher heart-rate variability. Balanced restoration also contributes to higher motivation and stress resilience; you’re likely to feel more positive, happy, and hopeful, even when confronted with stressful situations.

Have a peaceful, joyful day!