What Balance Looks Like When Traveling

How to enjoy food, moments, travelling, and real life without losing the structure that supports your body by keeping it simple with the 80 20 rule.

A person commented on one of my posts about the way I live by an 80 20 rule. For me, that means that around 80 percent of the time I try to live in a way that clearly supports my body, including my lipedema body, while the remaining 20 percent leaves space for enjoyment, flexibility, and real life. That 20 percent is for moments with my partner, family, friends, colleagues, and sometimes simply for myself. I think this balance matters a lot, because if you leave no room for enjoyment at all, life can become so restricted that the whole lifestyle eventually stops being sustainable. At the same time, the opposite also does not work. If 80 percent of your life is built on choices that do not support your body and only 20 percent is healthy structure, you will likely feel the consequences physically and mentally over time. Balance only works when the foundation is strong.

I have seen very clearly what happens when life becomes too restricted. I remember a close friend of mine who went through a year where she had to live on a very strict diet because of serious stomach problems. She needed it for a period to help her body recover, so I understood why she did it, but I also saw the social cost very clearly. It became isolating. She could not attend dinners with colleagues in the same way, because those settings usually involved food or drinks she could not have. While others were eating and drinking normally, she had to stick to water with lemon or lime, or homemade fermented drinks like water kefir. I still remember one New Year’s Eve from that period. We were going to a gathering with people she did not know well, friends of friends, and she had to bring all of her own food with her. I could see how uncomfortable she felt sitting there with her lemon water while everyone else enjoyed the evening, the food, and the atmosphere. That stayed with me. It made a strong impression on me because it showed how easily a health strategy can start to take over life in a way that becomes emotionally and socially costly.

That is not the way I want to live. Food is too important to me for that, not only nutritionally, but culturally, socially, and emotionally. My partner and I genuinely love visiting new countries and cities, walking around, discovering places, and trying things that are typical for where we are. We do not eat fast food just for the sake of it. We usually look for quality, good ingredients, and places with character. That matters to me. Enjoying food is part of enjoying life, and I do not think a healthy lifestyle should remove that. I think it should teach you how to include it wisely.

Yesterday was a good example of what that looks like in practice. My partner and I had what I would call a 20 percent moment together in Milan. We went to Marchesi 1824, which is one of the city’s oldest and most respected pastry shops. It was founded in 1824 by the Marchesi family and is known for its panettone, pastries, and chocolates. The original shop has a long history and a very distinct atmosphere, and even though the Prada Group later acquired a majority stake in the company and helped expand it, the place still feels rooted in tradition. When you go somewhere like that, I think it makes sense to choose the things they are known for rather than trying to make the visit overly controlled. So I had a cappuccino, and my partner and I shared a pistachio cornetto and a small mignon pastry. It was not too sweet, which I liked, and it felt worth it because it was not random. It was part of the experience.

Later we stopped by a very good meat shop that served high quality meat, and I shared that with my partner too. It came with white bread, but I chose not to eat the bread. Not because I was trying to be rigid, but because that part of the meal did not feel worth spending my 20 percent on in that moment. That is also part of balance. It is not just about allowing yourself things. It is also about making selective choices within those moments. You do not have to say yes to everything just because you are traveling or because you are already having something enjoyable. Sometimes balance looks like enjoying one part fully and leaving another part because it does not add much value.

Then, after a long day of walking around Milan, I came back to the apartment and made myself something that clearly belonged in the 80 percent. I had walked almost 30,000 steps that day, so it felt especially good to eat something fresh and supportive. I made a salad with lettuce, organic pesto, avocado, tomato, Italian cold pressed olive oil, hard cheese, celery, and fresh lemon pressed over the top. On the side I had canned tuna that I had brought with me from Spain. Later, for something simple, I had an apple. To me, this is what balance should look like. You can enjoy a beautiful café, share pastries, try local specialties, and still return home and give your body something nourishing. It does not have to become an all or nothing mindset where vacation means eating anything you want without thinking, followed by the promise that you will “start again” when the trip is over. That kind of thinking creates unnecessary extremes.

I think many people fail because they keep separating life into categories. They treat healthy living as something that happens at home, during ordinary weeks, while travel, weekends, holidays, and social events are treated like breaks from all structure. But the body does not really work in those categories. What matters is the overall pattern created by many small decisions over time. One pastry in Milan does not define anything. One salad does not define anything either. But the pattern does. The pattern is what shapes your energy, symptoms, metabolism, and general quality of life. This is especially relevant when you live with lipedema, because your body often responds better when your daily choices create more stability overall. That does not mean there is no room for flexibility. It means flexibility works best when it sits on top of a solid structure.

This morning was another example of that mindset. I woke up, went for about an hour’s run in Milan, then walked for another hour in the sun, and had a very nice americano. That, too, is part of balance. It is not only about food. It is about how the whole day is built. It is about movement, fresh air, sunlight, rhythm, enjoyment, and choices that support both your physical body and your quality of life. A good lifestyle is not meant to feel like punishment. It should feel like something that makes your life better, steadier, and more enjoyable in the long run.

So when I talk about balance, this is what I mean. Not perfection. Not strict control. Not using vacation as an excuse to throw everything out. And not using health as a reason to isolate yourself from life. I mean building a strong 80 percent that supports your body, while leaving enough room in the remaining 20 percent to enjoy where you are, who you are with, and what life has to offer. If you understand that it is the small choices combined that matter, not one isolated choice, then it becomes much easier to live in a way that is both healthy and enjoyable. And that is usually what makes people succeed over time.

Here are some pictures from Milan from the past two days.