Yes, you read that right.
Love them, hate them, or simply watch them out of sheer fascination, there are the few like Bethenny Frankel that have become wildly successful entrepreneurs.
One of Bethenny’s many forays into entrepreneurism was writing a book called Naturally Thin. Admittedly, not everything in this book was solid advice on wellness, however, it was the first book that got me thinking about balance more holistically.
The main idea was to stop thinking about diets or restrictions and start taking cues from people who naturally look and feel like you want to. You might notice they order the burger, not the salad, but leave a little on the plate. Or they order the salad but ask for extra blue cheese.
The advice that stuck with me the most: consider your diet a bank account.
Eat everything and anything you want, but balance it out throughout the day. If you have a scrumptious, sugary baked good for breakfast, try for more veggies at lunch and more protein for dinner. If you start your day with a protein-packed omelet, go ahead and grab that ice cream bowl after dinner. The same goes for portion sizes, more at one meal, less at the next.
This bank account approach has since shown up in many other areas of my life. I learned a similar philosophy in my yoga training called Ayurveda that takes this concept beyond food. Based on the earth’s elements, this practice suggests that you constantly seek balance in your daily activities. If you do something fiery: run 7 miles, have an argument, eat jalapeños; try to balance it with something cooling: a day off, quiet time in a dark room, eating cold grapes.
While I’m by no means a strong practitioner of Ayurveda, I do try to maintain this balance-seeking approach in most areas of my life.
Along with diet, this shows up in how I prioritize life activities.
If I have a crazy few days of meetings or social events, I try to prioritize slowing down and resting the next few evenings. If I miss some extremely valuable sleep (a blog post for another day), you better believe I’m hitting that 9pm bedtime the next day. I try to balance big exercise days with small ones or days off (although I’ll admit, this is the toughest one for me to stick to).
Discovering life as a bank account was a critical turning point in my wellness journey. It takes the pressure off restrictive practices that often fail yet still keeps you thinking throughout the day about what’s the best next move for your overall well-being.
The trick is to keep yourself protected from that destructive “all or nothing” thinking and to always remind yourself that your goal is to continually seek ways to get BACK to balance.
No one can remain in balance all the time, no one. Give it a try for a day or a week, try to keep judgment out of the outcome, and see where it takes you.
