Day 11: Creating That Balance.

Have you ever heard that saying if there were four walls holding up a roof of a house and one collapsed the roof would come down. Well we have to look at our health and well-being the same way. There are four elements to our health, our physical, mental/ emotional, spiritual and social. If one element of our health is out of balance our 'roof' will come down and we don't tend to function optimally. It's all too easy to train really hard and put all of your effort into that and forget about rest/recovery time, social events and looking after our mental health. This causes many people to go into 'burn out' mode where we realise we need to make some changes. Why not prevent it before it happens? Listen to your body and see what it is missing. Is it a rest day here and there? (it doesn't hurt, in fact it's sometimes better for your training). Is it social occasions with friends? Or are you simply not working your body hard enough physically by spending the winter months wrapped up predominantly on the couch rather than in the gym? Whatever the case, it is important to create that all important word BALANCE.

Today is a rest day for me because I know my body needs it. I am not recovering from this head cold in fact it's getting worse with the colder days. I am feeling exhausted and run down so a few rest days may be needed. I find teaching is really energy demanding and I need to be mindful of this to create that balance. This morning I went to yoga and tonight I will enjoy a rest night at home by the fire and catch up on some school work, (you teachers will know that there is never enough time in the day for school work). To create that balance and get some down time I will not work past 8.30pm tonight therefore I will get adequate rest and recovery time.

My Daily Food Intake Today

Breakfast: Palm size fresh salmon fillet. Fried leeks, zuchinni and brussel sprouts. 1/4 avocado.
Post yoga sack: 2 tablespoons protein powder and water.
Snack: Apple, 20 Raw mixed nuts
Lunch: Can of smoked tuna. Fried leeks, zuchinni and brussel sprouts. 1 Cup of raw baby spinach.
Snack: 2 Rice Thins with cottage cheese
Dinner: Kumara and chicken Salad with Cashew Sauce (see recipe in recipe section). If you are having carb/sweet cravings this recipe is great! Just try not to eat too much :).

*Note, I will be completing the second half of the challenge without fruit, rice thins and will try to limit grains.

Here is a snap of my colourful tasty dinner tonight. Best thing about it there is left overs for two lunches :).