I have become that friend, you know the one: Doesn't really eat junk food, doesn't drink more than 1-2 alcoholic drinks, works out every day for extensive periods, and it constantly talking about it all.
Yeah, that's me alright. There is more to me than that, but my life has become consumed with training for the Triathlon. Even my kids are starting to think I am a weirdo. It's sad when your daughter says to you, "You know, you go to the gym more than daddy does now. Do you ever take a break?" She is only seven and lives 50% of her time in her dad's home. And she grew up with a fitness and health obsessed father and her mother was always more easy going about such things.
6 months ago I wasn't that friend. I was normal, ran a bit, lifted some light weights, and ate whatever I felt like eating. I wasn't big, but I wasn't necessarily in shape contrary to belief.
But what took me from just running and still being "semi-normal" to this crazed fitness obsessed woman you see now?
If I say a guy, I can just hear the collective groan from everyone but in a sense it was a guy. No, I am not trying to impress some guy or doing this for him. But one day we were having a conversation about people's bodies, and their perceptions. And he said a key statement that changed me in a very positive way.
He said his biggest pet peeve isn't what someone actually looks like physically in their body. He used this phrase, "I don't care what a woman actually looks like. What drives me crazy is when someone complains about their body and does absolutely nothing about it to change who they are. Either fix it somehow or just learn to accept who you are and be confident in that."
And it was exactly what I needed to hear.
In Girls on the Run we teach a lesson about tuning into the right message. And when my friend said this, it was like I had changed the radio dial in my head to this station that kept repeating to me-you can do this. If you want it bad enough you can do this.
So I started listening to the right messages. Being encouraged by this same friend to join a new gym to learn Muay Thai kick boxing, but little did he know I would fall in love with Brazilian Jujitsu. The women I met here are like me, strong, kind, and driven. As I have heard over and over, it's a unique woman that will get on a mat in close contact and grapple with a man. I have to agree though, there is nothing like having your face smashed between some guy's legs your first week of class to make or break you in Jujitsu as a woman.
So now my friend is two for two in motivating me. And now I am surrounded by men and women who are all tuned into this message-that fitness can be fun and is important and measured at so many different levels. My support system has changed. I still love all my friends that I have been hanging out with and known for years. But waking up to messages from people asking if they are going to see you at a workout class, that they missed you when you were gone. They aren't trying to make me feel guilty, quite the opposite. They actually enjoy my presence at workout sessions.
So, yeah...maybe I am that nut job that is posting about eating healthy, fitness, and exercise all the time. Maybe it annoys you because it makes you feel guilty or like I am showing off.
But maybe, you should tune into a new message yourself if this is how you feel about my recent movement into exercise. Maybe, you have been tuned into the wrong station for too long and forgotten that you too, can be more fit and healthy and happier in your body.
So maybe my challenge to you isn't to ignore or be annoyed by my never ending updates and check-ins at a gym or park to exercise. Maybe instead you should just call me up and come join me for a run. Heaven knows, I am always looking for company and I would enjoy yours.
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