Self love

I was planning on posting about something else today, but this morning at work, I opened up one of my notebooks and found this quote:

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I have no clue where I saw this or when I wrote it down, but it smacked me in the face this morning.

Like many women, the climbing temps have me feeling the pressures of swimsuit season. Most of the time, I'm happy with myself and my habits, but I still struggle. I try to keep the habits of healthy eating and working out regularly, but I'm not perfect (especially in the food department). 

Still -- these things are just that: habits. I should aspire to them, but not be dictated by them. On Monday I had a late lunch with a friend that I hadn't seen in a while. We had a great time, but I got home too late (and too full) to fit in my workout. Instead of being happy about spending time with a friend, I felt guilty about skipping my workout. This is when habit crosses into obsession.

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I tend to do this a lot. I feel so overwhelmed when I get home from work, because I have to work out, shower, make dinner, do the dishes. I don't even have kids! (Kudos to all you moms out there!) This is all pressure I put on myself, for no reason. These should just be things that I do, and if they get skipped, no biggie. 

I think my biggest problem is figuring out the balance. Sure, I can't sit on the coach with a spoon and a jar of peanut butter every night instead of working out (even though that sounds wonderful). But if I have the opportunity to actually do something, I shouldn't feel bad about choosing that experience over a few crunches. Nothing is going to change that drastically overnight. 

Working out does make me feel good, but it shouldn't be a chore. 

Does anyone else do this to themselves? I feel like women are so much harder on themselves than men. Why do we do this, ladies? We need to build ourselves up! Let's all love ourselves a little bit more this week. And everyone, man or female, should try to be a little bit more like Ron Swanson.