Don't Diss Your BFF

 

Have you ever had a friend that let you down?  You would make plans to meet for lunch, then at the last minute, they would call and cancel?  Or constantly reschedule plans over and over, until it just never happened?  Most likely, you disassociated yourself from that person.  You deserve to be treated with more respect for your time, and to be appreciated as a friend, right?

If you wouldn't take it from a friend...why take that treatment from yourself? That's the epiphany I had on a morning walk last week.  I work from home on Mondays, so instead of my usual lap around the Boston Common and Public Gardens, I went out in my neighborhood.  As I walked down the road that I used to run, I was almost giddy with the familiarity of the path.  I swear, I could FEEL my legs begging to run.  I wasn't in the proper shoes or clothing, so I just picked up my walking pace instead.

As I walked, I reviewed what had happened to my running training.   For the most part, it stopped during the cold dark winter mornings.  As it got warmer and lighter, I still snuggled under the covers.  I found excuse after excuse not to get up.  Recovering from a cold.  Getting to be late the night before.  The kids are up early.  It's only Tuesday, I've got a few more days in the week to make up the workout I'm missing.

That's when it hit me.  If a friend was blowing me off like that?  I'd be pissed, and probably stop talking to them.  Why then, do I l treat myself that way?  When it comes to fitness and health, you need to be your own Best Friend.  When you feel like sleeping through one more snooze button, imagine what you would tell your friend who you made running plans with that morning.  If you sit on the couch and watch the morning news instead of exercising with your workout DVD, imagine the conversation, "I'm sorry we didn't get together.  I was too busy watching the news."  You deserve better treatment from yourself.

To that end, I'm not saying that you become a Drill Instructor either.  In fact, being your own friend is just the opposite.  When I hurt my foot, and I wasn't able to work out as much, I was beating myself up, and felt like a wimp for not "getting back on the horse" quicker.  If that was one of my friends telling me they were mad at themselves I would not allow them to be so hard on themselves.  So why should I let myself, beat ME up?

WRONG: "What are you doing still in bed?  I don't care you have a sprained calf muscle!"

We are our worst critics and enemies.  If we are to succeed at being healthy...hell, at ANYTHING, we need to become our biggest supporters.   And with any successful relationship, it starts with just being friends.