Healthy habits are hard. Excluding college when I ate whatever was edible at the dining hall (cue: no vegetables or fruits usually), I tend to eat pretty well.

The past two or three years, we’ve been on the Keto diet. Mostly. Definitely less so when we were in lockdown and simply wanted something that was comfort food and delivery was whatever would survive the trip. But, in general, we stay pretty close to a Keto diet.

Why mostly? Partly because life happens and you go out with friends or on a trip. Mostly, though, because of my father’s favorite saying.

Everything in moderation, including moderation.

Oscar Wilde

I’m sure that that phrase was said at least once a week for most of my childhood. So much so that it became part of my personality. Moderation is great–but sometimes, you just have to celebrate and enjoy.

We didn’t “exercise” when I was growing up. We played tennis, we hiked, we went on bike rides, and did yard work. That’s less of an option in Tucson during the hot seasons, but when we go on trips, we walk as much as we possibly can. It’s not unusual for us to be 15000-20000 steps on our pedometer in a single day.

What else do we do? I do yoga daily. Not intense but it’s just my time to be and check in with how things are. We also do weight lifting twice a week and we dance twice a week. It’s not what a lot of people would consider intense weight lifting, but it keeps us in shape and ready to do the other things that we love to do.

Do we miss weeks of dance and weight lifting? Of course. Life happens or we are traveling or someone gets sick. Again, moderation goes the other direction too. Sometimes the healthy habit just isn’t going to get done one day. So, we start again tomorrow or next week or occasionally next month.

For us, it’s all about balance. More healthy habits allow for the times when we can’t or don’t want to do things. After all, what’s life without the occasional carrot cake or cheesecake or fried chicken?