Starting out as a Miami personal trainer 15 years ago, I had a mentor. He gave me one of the best pieces of advice I’ve ever received. It was “treat yourself and love yourself like you would a child.” At first it kind of confused me. Did this mean I should eat lots of Gobstoppers and stay up late watching Smurf re-runs? No. Not in the slightest. Actually, there is another piece to this life lesson that is really important and that is this: Parent and love yourself like you would your own 10-year old.

Would you allow your 10-year old to go days and days without getting enough sleep?
Would you berate them for wanting to take a nap?
Would you allow them to stuff their face with Oreo’s?
Would you encourage them to get away from mindless TV and go socialize with their friends?
Would you encourage them to try new things – even if it meant they weren’t going to be the best at it right away?
Would you want them to place their worth not on how “cool” they are, but instead in how kind they are?

The answers to these questions are pretty obvious. We would certainly want our 10-year old to take care of themselves, be social, be happy, and fully embrace life. So if we want this for our child… why don’t we allow ourselves the same grace? I see it all the time, my clients in my Miami personal training studio constantly rush through life, stay up late for months and months on end, eat when we’re not hungry (or skip meals altogether), we view resting or napping as being lazy, we put so much pressure on ourselves to look right, act right, and have it altogether that we forget to simply be who we are. Part of being healthy is understanding what our body needs from moment to moment. The truth is if we treated our children how we treat ourselves… well it would be sad, wouldn’t it? Parenting ourselves – even as full-functioning adults – can be cathartic. It can be the push that so many of us need to be kinder to ourselves, to take care of ourselves, or to finally take a break so that we can catch our breathe. There is so much to learn from children, but there is also so much to learn from parents and grandparents too. I’d really like to meet up with you, listen to your journey, and share what I do here. You can meet some new people, find a plan that works for you, and start breathing again. Life is short, but it can be rewarding. Eat clean, Live lean David Dubail

Treat Yourself Like a Child