By Susan Hunt-Bradford, Publisher, The Healthy Planet
Have you ever felt like healthy living is impossible?
If you spend much time on social media, it can seem as though you’re expected to:
- eat only organic food,
- never touch processed foods,
- exercise every day,
- never drink diet soda,
- get eight hours of sleep,
- meditate,
- and somehow enjoy every minute of it.
If you’re like me, life isn’t that simple.
According to that list, I would probably never measure up. Like so many people, my days are busy. Between work, family, responsibilities, and trying to keep everything moving forward, there isn’t always time to prepare the perfect meal or exercise exactly the way I would like.
For most of my adult life, I’ve lived at full speed—teaching, volunteering, raising a family, caring for my dogs, publishing a magazine, and now working more than one job. Do I wish life felt a little more balanced? Absolutely. Maybe someday it will. But right now, I’m doing what needs to be done, and sometimes that means healthy living looks different than the picture we often see online.
One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned is that healthy living isn’t an all-or-nothing proposition. Too often, we think that if we eat one unhealthy meal, miss a few workouts, enjoy a vacation, or have dessert, we’ve somehow failed. Then we tell ourselves, “I’ll start again on Monday,” or “I’ll do better next month.”
But that’s not how real life works.
One meal doesn’t define your health. One vacation doesn’t erase months of good choices. One busy week doesn’t mean you’ve failed. Every meal, every walk, every glass of water, and every healthy decision is a chance to begin again.
I’ve decided that’s the kind of healthy life I want to live—not one based on perfection, but one based on consistency and grace.
Instead of asking whether we’re living perfectly, maybe we should ask whether we’re making choices that help us feel a little healthier than we did yesterday.
Giving up eating foods you love because they aren’t perceived as being healthy is not sustainable, at least not to me.
I’ve always loved donuts. For years I thought healthy living meant giving them up completely. Now I’m learning that enjoying a donut once in a while doesn’t undo the vegetables I eat, the walks I take, or the other healthy choices I make. It’s all part of finding balance.
I’m still figuring out what balance looks like in my own life, and that’s okay. It doesn’t have to look like anyone else’s.
Real life isn’t perfect.
Maybe healthy living doesn’t have to be either.