What is meant by the term balance?

Answer 1

A balanced diet is one which contains the proper amounts of the vauious food-groups.

Here's an essay I wrote to someone else (not concerning weight loss):

Don't concentrate on specific foods so much as on a balanced, healthy diet plus exercise. Plenty of moderate exercise rather than intense exercise.

Good nutrition means eating what your body needs, while ingesting as few harmful things as possible. It has also been described as getting enough of each of the major food categories (grains, fruits, vegetables, protein, dairy, etc.; plus plenty of water).

This will vary somewhat from one person to another; and I don't believe that there's any universal diet that can be prescribed for everyone. Avoid best-sellers with their perennial fads. And think twice before using any dietary supplements.

In general, one's starting point can be a menu of whole grains, whole-wheat bread, a good amount of vegetables, some fruits and nuts, fish, lean meats (in not-large amounts), and some dairy. However, this must be tweaked according to one's health, weight and other factors at the outset; and also adjusted over time, as one sees what works for him/her in particular.

Another general thing that may be said is: the less salt, the better. The less processed foods, the better. The less junk food, the better. The less sweetened drinks, the better.

Also...whenever you feel queasy, nauseous, constipated or otherwise not completely well, try to remember what you've eaten over the last several hours or the last day. This is one method of adjusting one's food habits.

Answer 2

A simplistic example would be to support a pencil with one finger in order for gravity to pull equally on both sides of the support. While the support remains at the "center or balance" the pencil will remain under control. When more weight moves to one side or the other, the pencil falls - off balane.

In sports, depending on the activity, balance refers to one's ability to maintain an upright or stationary in a controlled body position or to maintain of our movement while moving in any number of ways.

In sports balance is one of the most important traits of successful athletes. Balance enables an athlete to move in and out of varying postures or positions while running and jumping. The football player who can weave in and out of defensive linemen would need a tremendous sense of balance.

Activities where balance is the key component are the tightrope or high wire walking; in gymnastics the women's balance beam, men's still rings and parallel bars are the most balance oriented. There are many other sports where balance is a key ingredient in success. Some more than others.

In everyday life balance is something most people take for granted. We don't realize that even walking forward is actually a matter of falling off-balance and then moving our feet forward in order to maintain our "balance" and not fall over. We are constantly off-balance, but remain in control because of our sense of balance.

Us humans stabilize our bodies with feedback received via the vestibular system found in the inner ear. Increasing one's sense of balance requires practice and very specific types of exercises aimed at stimulating the vestibular system in coordination with other systems such as the muscular and skeletal systems.