Balancing Life and Training...

[planetfuzz]

It has been about 2-3 months since I got serious about training and eating. For that time period I didn't do anything social. My diet and training were about as perfect as I could get. I pretty much ate,cooked,slept,and worked out. I saw fantastic results but this is obviously not a healthy balanced life.

About 2 weeks ago I lost my mind and ate lots of junk,drank,smoked,and pretty much just stopped working out. I obviously was being too focused because I cracked.

What are some good tips on how to live a balaced life? I'm sure this is an issue for anybody who trains even semi-seriously.

[brownstown89]

its not the end of the world if u miss a meal or dont sleep 8 hours. I mean if u sleep 6 hours tonight and have a workout tommorow. the amount of growth hormone etc thats realesed when ur sleeping if u dont get it its not a big deal... I take weekends off eat watever i want not as much as i do during the week. Eating 7 times a day 7 days a week is just too much. Hurts my stomach and eventually causes me to loose my diet for weeks. During HS i smoked drank and lifted for football still put up good numbers. my body looks way better not eating school lunches doing cardio eating more and dropping the beer. However winter break spring break thanksgiving break i smoke and drink like its my job..

[RenegadeRows]

This game can be very consuming. #1 make sure to enjoy it and don't let the rest of life pass you by. that being said train as hard as you can and get a routine down so you dont have to think about it that much.

my routine is a bizarre ritual of force feeding, counting out pills and hammering out sets in the gym ... but i don't let the rest of my life pass me by. i do the bodybuilding thing almost mindlessly, routine ... i really enjoy it!!! i find it enhances the rest of my life.

focus on what's important ... then hit the gym hard.

[EasyEJL]

It has been about 2-3 months since I got serious about training and eating. For that time period I didn't do anything social. My diet and training were about as perfect as I could get. I pretty much ate,cooked,slept,and worked out. I saw fantastic results but this is obviously not a healthy balanced life.

About 2 weeks ago I lost my mind and ate lots of junk,drank,smoked,and pretty much just stopped working out. I obviously was being too focused because I cracked.

What are some good tips on how to live a balaced life? I'm sure this is an issue for anybody who trains even semi-seriously.

cheap excuse there... no such thing as too focused.

That said, you really in the end need to be you. So having some junk food with 2 meals a week isn't bad, but drinking and smoking regularly doesn't make any sense general health wise no matter what.

define healthy balanced life for me at your age, not married, no kids, eating cooking sleeping working out is a decent reasonable choice. adding the muscle mass when you are younger is WAY easier than trying to do it 10 years from now when you have not just your work schedule, but a wife and kids to deal with as well, house maintenance, etc. So a year or two worth of really hard work today can set you up to do less serious working out the rest of your life, and be in better health over it.

[planetfuzz]

cheap excuse there... no such thing as too focused.

That said, you really in the end need to be you. So having some junk food with 2 meals a week isn't bad, but drinking and smoking regularly doesn't make any sense general health wise no matter what.

define healthy balanced life for me at your age, not married, no kids, eating cooking sleeping working out is a decent reasonable choice. adding the muscle mass when you are younger is WAY easier than trying to do it 10 years from now when you have not just your work schedule, but a wife and kids to deal with as well, house maintenance, etc. So a year or two worth of really hard work today can set you up to do less serious working out the rest of your life, and be in better health over it.

I guess you can't be too focused but you can defiantly obsess over something to the point where it affects your life. I guess it's just a trial and error kind of thing. I love being "too focused" but I just get tunnel vision and I don't care about anything else. This can be good but I just think there has to be a median.

[EasyEJL]

I guess you can't be too focused but you can defiantly obsess over something to the point where it affects your life. I guess it's just a trial and error kind of thing. I love being "too focused" but I just get tunnel vision and I don't care about anything else. This can be good but I just think there has to be a median.

yeah, but like i said its all about how it does affect your life. I look back at the time from when I was 18-22 and think that if I had spent that time eating right, aggressively working out and learning how to make eating right enjoyable I wouldn't have hit 39 years old at 50% bodyfat at 245lbs either.

finding the balance is hard for sure, but its MUCH easier when there are less other draws on your time.

[Andy G]

Those are some symptoms of overtraining. Rest is key not only to growth physically, but mentally and emotionally as well. Balance is the act of life.