Talk about your body like it’s the teammate that got you through every game, because it is.

A body is not scenery to be judged. It is the thing that carried you through every early morning, every long day, every game and every recovery, and it has been doing that without being thanked. Speaking about it as a disappointment puts you at odds with your closest ally. The arrangement works better as a partnership.

Notice how you talk about yours, out loud and silently, for one day. Where the language is contemptuous, describe what it did rather than how it looked. Feed it, rest it, and move it the way you would treat a teammate you wanted to keep.