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I was sitting with my daughter reading her the '101 Dalmatians' and I couldn't help but think about how my life has changed from when I was my former heavy self.

And, not from the perspective of having kids or anything that was new in my life, but more from the perspective of how balanced my life became.

In my prior life as an all or nothing person, if I was ordering a steak or a piece of prime rib, I would always order the biggest cut on the menu.

If something could be super sized, I would do it. At Christmas, not only did I cover the entire house with lights, but I also covered the lawn, trees, and everything else too.

If we were having a BBQ, the bigger the fire the better. As you can see, balance was not something I had mastered in my life and my weight problem was a physical display of this issue.

As I lost weight, balance was an incredibly important area of my life that needed to be addressed. Essentially, I had to ask myself why did everything have to be all or nothing.

While approaching the behaviors that were causing me to overeat and be overweight, I really had to look at all of the actions in my life.

With this knowledge about myself, I made a conscious effort to become what I like to call a balanced person. When I put my life in front of me, I made the decision that each part would be nurtured equally, and no part done in an overabundance.

I set out to create a more balanced life, with the focus on goals in each of the following 5 areas:

' Family
' Work and Career
' Friends and Community
' Health and Fitness
' Me Time

Family: Family time was scheduled and put aside each day. So, no matter how hectic life became, the core foundation of our family would always be present; in our home that typically means between 5:30 - 7:30pm.

I know it might not sound like a lot, but when it's consistent every night, it's something that I believe everyone can come to enjoy. In fact, it's allowed my wife and I to have some grounding, when things get out of hand in our careers.

Work and Career: Work time is Monday - Friday (and on the weekends too). But, no matter how crazy things are, it never gets in the way of family time.

And, without a doubt, weekends are left for spending quality time together. Yes, I still work some very long hours, but I do it knowing that what I'm trading my time for has got to be important, as opposed to my previous thinking of working for the sake of working and achieving goals that would be forgotten about as quickly as they were achieved.

Friends and Community: Whether it's spending time with your friends, local community, or your church, this is an important part of life. Helping and being involved in the lives of others is very crucial to being a well rounded individual.

Life is often very hard and without thinking about it, we can often find ourselves just looking out for 'Numero-Uno'. And, as anyone that is reading this knows, life sometimes has a way of becoming harder than any one person can handle.

So, it's times like these where the investment in your friends and community is well worth the effort.

Health and Fitness: Just like any meeting that I have during the work day, going to the gym and getting in exercise has the same level of priority.

In fact, for me, it's something that is scheduled like any meeting and I don't let anything get in the way of it. Yes, exceptions to the rule do exist, but for the most part, I take going to the gym each day as seriously as I take picking up my daughter from day care. It's just something that cannot be missed.

Me Time: While you may give 100% of yourself to everyone else in your life, it's critical for you to have some me time. Basically, the time of the day that is just for you.

For me, I use my time at the gym as this time. Not only can I focus on my own health and fitness, but by making it 'my time' in the day, it also allows me to enjoy it more. In fact, it's something that I just do for me.

This time could just as easily be doing anything that you enjoy...Perhaps reading, knitting, or swimming. But regardless of the activity, it's important to have this time for you each day. And, in doing so, you'll find that the rest of your day spent working, supporting family, or helping others is that much easier because of the time that you have also invested in yourself.