The Danger of "Too Much"
Serious time. Nah I’m just kidding, but there is something I want to talk about. It is in my opinion that too much of anything, and I mean ANYTHING, is bad. No matter how “healthy” or “good” for you that thing is. To be honest, this thought never really crossed my mind. One day I was raving about a book I had just read called Born to Run (you all should read it if you’re mildly interested in running by the way, it’s fantastic).
This book is about “ultra runners.” The term pretty much describes itself, but basically ultra runners run upwards of 50 to 100 mile races. I mentioned this to my dad and was raving about the ability to run that many miles continuously. I talked about people training for this race running a training run equivalent to a marathon, etc. Now don’t get me wrong, my dad was amazed as well. Then he said, “Too much of anything can be bad. I feel like your body would start to deteriorate”.
At first I kind of brushed this off, but then I really started thinking about it. In my “chubby” days (mind you I was not obese or anything), I was at one end of the spectrum. I ate how much of whatever I wanted and there was NO exercise. Then in my underweight days, I exercises religiously for an hour, all cardio of course, and ate next to nothing.
It’s easy to be religiously strict or super lax. The hard part is finding the balance, the middle ground. Exercising to feel good inside and out, not exercising to work off that half a cookie that I feel guilty about. Eating whole, nutritious foods and enough (keyword here) so that I feel good and can feel the strength in my body when I workout. Rewarding the soul with a cookie or a brownie because food is delicious and is meant to be enjoyed, but not abused. It is this middle ground, this balance, this moderation that really is the struggle to obtain.
It’s not good to run too much, exercise too much, eat too little, eat too much, study too much, party too much, drink too much coffee, watch too much TV, work too much, and the list goes on and on. My point is nothing in excess if good, even if the thing is “healthy” such as working out.
I wish I could say I have successfully found that middle ground, but I would be lying if I did. That is what I struggle with the most. I am a perfectionist, so extremes usually become my world. If I don’t do everything 100%, why would I even try?
I am working on fixing this. On eating healthy, working out, and treating myself. On not sweating the small stuff on being happy. Every day is a new day, and I plan on making the most of that. Below is a picture of this past homecoming weekend.
I ate the tailgate food provided (delicious nachos). They had extra guacamole, extra cheese sauce, salty meat, and they were delicious. They weren’t healthy. But I also ran twice, went to the gym, and continued to eat healthy after the game. Balance and moderation make that possible. This is my balance, and it can only get better from here.