You are what your friends are!
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| 5 minutes after a run and a baby on the hip. |
I don’t know where he got it from, or if it’s entirely true, but my husband teased me yesterday that if you have fat friends then they will make you fat. Why did he tell me this? Because I am the opposite. I have several friends who are starting to run or training for longer faces (starting recently) and it really made me think.
When I was overweight in high school I had friend who ate crap and some of my friends were over weight. In university I ate the way everyone else around me (in residence) did and hello freshman 15. After school my best friend was over weight and honestly we really were a problem to each other. She would give me permission to be “bad” and I would give her permission. The problem was this permission wasn’t just a little nibble here or there but rather whole meals on a regular basis. While this friend is still around we aren’t as close as we used to be since I had kids.
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| And another one right behind me. |
Today most of my friends are fit. They run. They eat healthy. They run races. They are training for races. They want to improve their health and fitness. They do it for the love of activity, or for their futures.
So now I feel like I inspire people. My husband jokes that I keep getting more and more people to start running. Now I don’t always agree with him that I’m the reason they start running but I am always pleased when someone tells me they my running inspires them. I do it for my family and my health, but if it gets someone else to feel as if they can do it too, then that’s great. I also hope that one day my running will inspire our girls to take up a healthy lifestyle. They don’t have to love running, but I dream of them finding something that keeps them fit and allows them to be social too!
Has anyone else noticed that as their health shifts, their friends do too to align with their new values? I just don’t feel like eating out all the time. I don’t want to go to buffet places, and I am very particular about what I will feed my children. If my friends don’t respect that and can’t find a middle ground with me, then I won’t go out of my way to get together with them. That might sound cold, but I have little free time with two young children, and I want to enjoy myself and the time I get away. Why would I spend my free time doing things I dislike and don’t want to do? I’ve only got one life to live and I’m going to enjoy it.
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| I can’t believe how far I have come since July 2011! |