If you've ever attempted to turn your life around in a healthy manner, traditionally via exercise, you have probably been told by one or several people that the physical activity is all well and good, but there is another component as well: diet. Now, when I say "diet," I don't necessarily mean picking a particular path such as "Jenny Craig" or any of those commercial options (which there is nothing wrong with, just another option). I simply mean what we put in our mouths in general on a daily basis.
I am certainly no expert on this particular topic. As someone who willingly admits that one of the main reasons I work out is to then subsequently green-light myself to eat more garbage, such advice comes out of my mouth sounding a bit hypocritical. It is certainly not helping that, as I'm sitting here typing this, I am chowing into an enormous donut after an intense ab workout. However, just because it helps to eat healthy when one is trying to improve their lifestyle through exercise and healthy living, that doesn't mean that you should deprive yourself of those treats. The key is balance.
There is a story my grandmother used to tell me when I was younger that had been passed down from her grandmother, and so on, about two wolves, that may actually apply well to this very situation. Years later, I would make the connection that it is actually rooted in an old Cherokee legend about a grandfather telling a story to his grandson, which makes sense since I have Cherokee background on my gram's side.
The original story is about how each person has two wolves within themselves that are constantly fighting for control and dominance. One wolf, the "bad wolf," represents all of our less desirable qualities, such as greed, envy, pride, and all of that sort of thing, while the other is good and represents qualities such as generosity, honesty, kindness, and the like. The story ends with the grandson asking the grandfather which wolf wins, and the grandfather saying that it is the one we feed.
My gram had her own twist on the story, however. Her interpretation was that we must feed both wolves, in order to keep a balance. Her thought was that the wolves could live in harmony, and to deprive one too much would only make the other jealous, leading to its "retaliation," which would manifest in a person binging on bad habits. I think my grandmother's version applies best here.
It is all well and good to swear off the "bad stuff" completely, however, as people, once we feel deprived, that retaliation instinct kicks in, and we tend to overdo things in order to make up for that "deprivation." So the answer really is to find that balance, and feed both wolves, both literally and figuratively. That doesn't mean you should feed the bad wolf all the time and eat whatever you want all willy-nilly, but rather just enough to keep him (and therefore yourself) content and satisfied that you're not missing out on anything. And here is the best part: the more you feed that good wolf, the better you'll feel and the less the bad wolf will want. Like any good dog trainer, you will teach them both (and yourself) how to behave, but in a way that is rewarding to you, so you feel fulfilled and never deprived.
