I like yoga.  I really do!  I enjoy a good stretch, getting my oooooommmmm on, and even the trembling of a dormant arm muscle now and then.  I’ve also been known to enjoy higher intensity workouts because they make me feel strong, energized and are AMAZING for the complexion.  Do you know what else I like?  Feeling blissed out after eating a stack of Oreos.  My friends know how much I like cookies, especially the Golden Oreos that didn’t even make it to my photo shoot this afternoon.  Originally there was a really big pile of them for the intended picture for this post, but by the time I got my camera out, there was just a stack of five.  Oops… like I said…   I really like cookies.

During a catch up phone call with Dramanut,  I told her I needed to get off the phone after an hour in time to get changed and make it to Burn.  As the minutes flew by between laughs and anecdotes, I said, “Oh, I am going to miss my class!  Never mind.  I’ll just kick back tonight and have some Oreos.”  “Hmmmm,” she replied doubtfully, “I guess there really is no middle ground for you between oreos and working out!” Maybe this where the concept of balance comes in.The way I indulge my sweet tooth and the way I follow a proper fitness and eating regimine that suits me is truly, madly, deeply.  I go all the way, with no middle ground.  I will not stop devouring Kit Kat bars until I am left with a bowl filled with empty wrappers, and once I bite into one cookie, I am already holding on to the next.  When I come home from the farmer’s market, it is often with three bags full of produce that I am able to prepare and eat tirelessly over the course of only a few days.  I will plan my work availability around daily fitness classes, but if that doesn’t pan out, I find myself doing muscle work not through the use of leg springs, but by way of midnight calf raises and overhead stretches to reach Easter’s leftover peanut butter eggs that are hidden in our highest cabinet.

Having just one is NOT possible.  Image from here.

Is it balanced when my mind files through my pantry and refrigerator to determine what type of sauce I can make for a heaping plate of spaghetti during utkatasana  at 9 am? Have I found middle ground if I monitor the amount of calories burned on the treadmill so that I may decide on how much of the snack sized Famous Amos bag I can rightfully consume afterwards? Aren’t I at least integrating the two worlds more, allowing them to coexist?  Am I alone in this quest for middle ground?<