Choosing Balance Over Sacrifice

I wanted to share with you that today we are releasing our Balance > Sacrifice Sweatshirt. 

I would also like to briefly share a few things that make this new design so exciting and meaningful.

You may remember, back in August, we released our Fill in the Blank tee, which was a customizable design where you could choose your favorite comfort food to fill in the sentence “Have Your __ And Eat It Too”.

When we released this design, I spoke about our motto balance over sacrifice, and today I am happy to say the American Heart Association is sharing a similar message.

I first arrived at this motto -- balance over sacrifice-- after dedicating a couple of years to competing in bodybuilding competitions.

During my competition years, I dedicated myself to grueling workouts and a stripped-down diet, and ultimately this regiment restricted me from participating in a lot of the things I enjoyed.

I eventually learned that omitting certain foods and activities would burn me out in time, and so I needed to find a balance between what made me happy and achieving my goals. I learned that I could achieve this balance by replacing moderation with sacrifice.

Fast forward to last week while we were finalizing our new Balance > Sacrifice Sweatshirt, we also found out that the American Heart Association released its updated heart-healthy guidelines, and their message feels incredibly fulfilling.

It turns out their new recommendations now focus on BALANCE rather than sacrifice.

The association is encouraging us to be mindful of our choices and portion sizes but otherwise, we should not necessarily be cutting out the foods we enjoy eating.

And just like that, the simple motto that has echoed through my head all these years now feels like it is ringing through the streets!