Healthy For Life

Even before I was a "runner" I've always been active. I logged hours on the cardio machines, counted through hundreds of crunches, push-ups, etc etc etc... It was always with the same goal in mind, to look "good," stay thin, make sure my stomach was flat. I wasn't thinking about health, I didn't care about my blood pressure, or cholesterol levels.
As I've gotten *cough* *cough* older my perspective has shifted. I want to remain healthy and set a good example for my kids, and obviously still look good! When my son was born I dramatically changed my and my husbands diet. It's like something clicked and I realized my son would eat exactly what we ate and how we ate and we would be shaping those habits for life, even in these first years. We eat mostly organic whole foods. My son is 3 now and he eats exactly what we eat, he has since day 1.
I love pizza, ice cream, cookies, and candy but I know I can't eat it everyday and I certantly don't want my kids to think that is acceptable. In the same token I also know I cannot keep my kids from eating such things once in a while. I truly believe that nothing is off limits in moderation. When we have ice cream in the house it's eaten out of a teacup, split between my husband, son, and I. On pizza days we order whole wheat crust if available, we never ever get meat toppings (we don't eat pork) and always eat a salad and side of green veggies with it. When people talk to me about diet and exercise I always give them the same advice:
Only do something that you can stick with for a lifetime. If you want to cut out dairy and carbs for a month to drop some pounds, it's not going to last. If your lactose intolerant and you want to drop dairy forever, that's a different story. I think everyone has certain concessions they can make and certain ones they just can't give up. For me, I can give up soda, forever. I love diet coke, but I don't think soda is good for anyone, it's all chemicals. And I don't think it's gonna kill you if you drink some every now and again, but for me it's just easier not to drink it at all. However, I could never ever give up carbs. I love bread, I could live off of bread, I could probably give up sugar before bread. Just the thought of low carb makes me want toast!
Now that I have a daughter all of this is even more important to me. I don't think there is any girl out there that has avoided negative thoughts about themselves stemming from their appearance. It makes me so sad to know that one day those thoughts will most likely flood her head. I will do everything in my power to make her confident and happy and healthy. I know that being active makes us confident and eating right makes us healthy and I really hope that as she gets older I can instill that in her.
Ok, enough rambling... If your reading this, sorry for the length. Just know there are 3 things I can talk about non-stop: Food, exercise, and the Yankees!

Tomorrow I'm going to do an Eat like me post (did anyone ever read that blog on Self? I loved it!)
Yesterday I ran 5 miles including 4x800m @ 7:30 and did level 4 of Jillian Michaels Ripped in 30

What's your diet and exercise philosophy?

Have you found a balance or is it still a work in progress?