Beating Myself Up for Exercising the Wrong Way
I carry a little guilt about not being a morning exerciser. But if it were anyone else, I'd tell them they're doing an amazing job. I should be nicer to myself.
I exercise almost every day. Pickleball, running, gym cardio, weights — one way or another I get it done. For physical health and mental health, both. I've been doing this for years.
Every so often I get the urge to flip it: wake up early, knock it out before 8 AM, get it out of the way. Feels like the "right" thing to do. The internet tells me that's the habit of high performers. I try. I fail. I go back to sleep.
Then later in the day — afternoon, evening — I do the workout anyway. Consistently. Without fail.
And yet I carry a little guilt about it. Like I'm doing something wrong because I'm not a morning exerciser. Like the body that actually does the work every single day is somehow cheating because it prefers 5 PM to 6 AM.
Here's the thing I've been telling myself lately: if it were anyone else, I'd say they're doing an amazing job. Fit, consistent, getting it done. But with myself I'm running a constant critique, rating my performance against some idealized morning-person standard that the internet made up.
I should be nicer to myself. Same workout. Same person. Different story.
