Living a Balanced, Healthy Life

Living a healthy life isn't about having a completely restrictive diet and not allowing yourself to truly enjoy the foods you eat. You can still be a very healthy person and enjoy treat and indulge in the foods you love without having to feel guilt or like it is going to set you back from your health and wellness goals. The goal should be to have a healthy diet most of the time, and occasionally indulge on foods that are not so nutritious. As long as your indulgences do not become binges, this is a healthy lifestyle. So, in order to get yourself to a place where you can truly enjoy eating and the foods you love and not feeling guilty about it, you can do the following things:

• Set Goals
• First and foremost, figure out what your goals are and what kind of healthy behaviors you want to adopt and/or get rid of. Determining this will help you know how to balance your diet and lifestyle.
• Scope Out Changes
• After setting your goals, look into your current lifestyle and see where you can make changes that can move you towards your goal. You do not have to completely change your life. Start small and with the things that are causing to most detriments to your health and well-being.
• Focus on Sustainability
• find a healthy lifestyle that includes the things you like and enjoy, and avoids the things that you do not like and enjoy. Finding balanced health behaviors that suit you, is what will help you maintain this lifestyle over time. 
• Stay Positive
• Knowing going in that you will have good days and bad days. And although this may take time, try not to beat yourself up when you do have a bad day. When you wake up the next morning, just get yourself back on track and know that one bad day will not ruin all of your efforts. 
• Uncover Your Barriers
• Identify the foods and situations that tend to get you off track. Whether it is travelling, going out with friends or the weekends, let yourself know what barriers you have and try to avoid them. If there is a certain food that is a downfall for you and you can't just have one, just avoid it all together. But, the most important thing here is to identify your barriers so you know up front what they are.