So the weekend just gone was all about excess. My partner and I travel to South Australia each year in February for the Cellar Door Festival in Adelaide.
It is, without a doubt, the best annual wine event in Australia. With over 180 producers, there is plenty of wine to taste. And cheese, don’t forget the cheese.
We spent two days at the festival this year, meeting producers, discovering new wines and sipping away on the finest grape juice SA has to offer. Our dinners consisted of cheese, crackers and cured meats. There was some sliced pear on one of the platters so, with the wine you could kind of say that we had a fruit salad for dinner right?
And we got our exercise. We walked around the festival, I stomped some grapes which got the heart rate up, we did plenty of bicep curls with the beautiful Plumm wine glasses AND we did a nice long power walk around the city at the end of day two, trying to locate the Royal Croquet Club – part of the Adelaide Fringe Festival. Ok, so the power walk was more of a stumble but it was a fast and furious one.
Anyway, it was a weekend of indulgence but all for a good cause. As I’ve mentioned before, we run a wine business – Young Wine Lovers – hosting wine events on the Gold Coast and the festival is a great way to discover new wines and re-connect with our industry partners.
I also teach Pilates and Booty Barre (see there is the life balance right there) and I can tell you that after two days of overindulging in SA’s finest, jumping in to teach a Booty Barre class Monday afternoon was a shock to system. The struggle was real and I thought to myself, “Why oh why do I do this myself?” The answer is simple – I love wine. I really do. But I also love to feel healthy, vibrant and fresh and my friends, these feelings are all but a distant memory this week.
I find that it takes my body a few days to get back on track after a weekend of fatty foods and alcohol. So in order to bring back the balance, I am looking forward to a few very healthy weeks, with some early nights and clean eating.
The fact is though, we had an absolutely fantastic time. Do I regret filling my body up with the naughty stuff? Not at all. I had a blast and I cannot wait to do it all again at the festival next year. For the majority of the time I eat really well, I thrive on a Paleo lifestyle and rarely deviate with my food. Being Coeliac I avoid gluten like the plague. I am not tempted by sugary sweets, but my vices are wine and cheese and when I succumb to these heavenly sins I enjoy it.
I am a firm believer in letting yourself enjoy the things you love every now and then – not every day – but once in a while it’s not going to hurt you to overindulge a little.
When you are approaching your health and fitness plan, try to make sure it’s sustainable because the second you feel deprived you are going to stray. So my little lesson today – even if it’s just to make myself feel better – is to remember that it’s all about balance.
A balanced life is a fulfilled life 😉
