Wellness is not all or nothing. It’s not either eat carrot sticks 24/7 or drive through the nearest fast food joint 24/7. Run miles every week or sit on the couch most of the day. There’s plenty of room in between.

What you want to watch, though, is where you are in the “in betweens.” Are you closer to 24/7 junk food? Or closer to carrot sticks? Do you, indeed, sit on the couch an awful lot or are you exercising reasonably often?

Carry this out, please, to the other wellness pathways as well. Wellness also isn’t all about what you put on your plate. It’s about movement and play and mindset and connectedness and spirituality. And more.

There’s an easy way to look at this. Consider you have a health meter attached to your body. You drank a few glasses of water today. Awesome; your health meter just went up! You took a long walk after dinner. Another boost to your health meter. But then you really wanted that last piece of birthday cake. Okay, so your health meter dipped down a bit. But that doesn’t erase your water and walk.

Tomorrow, you eat healthier. You totally skip the sugar. You have a good laugh with your girlfriends. Health meter is rising! Your job makes you want to pull your hair out at the end of the day. Health meter dropped, but, in general, is in good shape because of all the other healthy things you did.

It’s a very fluid process. If, overall, you’re doing things that pump up your health meter, you’re going to be in good wellness shape. If, overall, you’re doing things that are draining your health meter repeatedly, well, you most likely are headed for illness.

Keep a mental checklist or keep even a physical checklist. Where are you? Do you need to add in some more healthy practices? Or do you have room for an indulgence?

Simply be aware. Don’t use this as another tool to beat yourself up. Notice; course correct as needed. Over time. Balance out the week, for example. Though that doesn’t mean to balance 10 cupcakes with 10 short walks! Of course, that’s better than 10 cupcakes with 0 walks. Trend toward having more healthy choices than not. The better you do that, the better likelihood that you’ll get to enjoy a long, vibrant, healthy life.