Eat To Perform Blog

Metabolism 101: Family Budget style

For any family out there we all know that there are only two paths to balance the family budget.

You either spend less or make more.

Pretty simple right.

In this equation the “spend less” portion is eating less or dieting.

The problem with eating less, as every family knows, is that expenses come out of the woodwork and soon you can spiral into feeling like things aren’t in your control.

The “spend less” portion is often finite and the window gets real small until you address the next part of the equation.

The “make more” portion of the family budget serves two functions. It ADDS the potential to expand the family budget (metabolism) but it also allows you to SAVE for a rainy day (exercise).

In the dieting world this is called a surplus.

A good way of looking at that is if you have a surplus of money your family gets to go on a vacation.

If you have a surplus of energy you can use it to be more productive or active.

Certainly there is another side also, with that surplus you could spend it on frivolous things that don’t add to the family and often that shows itself down the road.

The same can be said for food, if you waste that surplus of energy your health can become at risk.

But here is the thing, if you can balance the family budget with a good amount of food in abundance, energy in abundance and joyful events. You can often find a good compromise.

In that way the more you MAKE (more you eat) means the more options you have.

Which is all a long way to describe this:

Spending less (or dieting) has its limits, it’s smart to stay within your budget but it’s a very limited way to reach your long term goals. Every now and again this could and should make sense.

Making more (not dieting most of the time) CAN have it’s issues but overall it’s a much better way to go because it’s much easier to balance your budget when you have more money to spend. When things get tight (weight goes up) you just have more options and things are much easier to manage.

Too many people look at weight loss from a reductive standpoint which is fine, I am absolutely sure some, maybe a lot of you are over spending on non-productive habits. So getting your personal dieting budget in shape is probably smart from time to time.

But most of the time you should be looking at things from an abundance standpoint. Where food, activity and joy is plentiful.

Remember the goal of this conversation isn’t to say JUST MAKE MORE it’s to find the right balance of abundance so that you can live a fulfilling life and thrive.