Creating a Healthy Relationship with Movement
Maintaining a peaceful, balanced relationship with exercise amid diet culture can be equally as challenging as maintaining a peaceful relationship with food. Just like with eating, diet culture can make us feel like there are certain rules and expectations we must meet for our exercise habits to be “good enough”. And just like with eating, these rules and expectations for exercise ultimately backfire, either making us feel totally resistant to movement because it’s become so unpleasant or driving overexercise to the point where it becomes harmful.
Our bodies were made to move, and movement does so many good things for our bodies. Research shows moving our bodies has numerous health benefits. Some of these health benefits include: increased bone strength, increased stress tolerance, decreased blood pressure, reduced risk for chronic diseases such as heart disease, diabetes, hypertension, and cancer, increased heart and lung strength, improved mood, improved learning and memory, and improved appetite regulation. And these aren’t even all the benefits! Some of the benefits can’t be measured. Regular movement has also been linked to increased confidence and sense of mastery.
The problem arises because diet culture and the fitness industry put all the motivation for exercise on physical appearance, and research has shown that this isn’t very motivating to get people moving consistently and in a way that feels good.
“Why? Because when appearance is the primary goal, there will always be work to do and you will never be satisfied, even when your behavior and physical health indicate you’re doing well.” -Rebecca Scritchfield, Body Kindness, pg. 71
To have a healthy relationship with exercise, one that serves us both mind and body, it needs to be flexible, satisfying, and enjoyable (just like our relationship with food!). Here are some key differences between diet culture’s view of exercise, and intuitive movement:
To really shift your relationship with exercise, it’s important to first shift the “why” from external motivators like weight loss and physical appearance to personally meaningful benefits of movement. Just like with intuitive eating, intuitive movement involves connecting with your body and listening to its cues of what feels pleasurable and what doesn’t. Here are the 4 components of mindful exercise taken from the Intuitive Eating book:
Enhances the mind-body connection and coordination and does not confuse or deregulate it.
Alleviates mental and physical stress and does not contribute to and amplify stress.
Provides genuine enjoyment and pleasure and is not used for punitive reasons.
Is used to rejuvenate the body, not to exhaust or deplete it.
Cultivating a healthy relationship with exercise builds trust with your body. It helps you to connect to how your body feels before, during, and after movement. Check in with yourself before, during, and after movement. Before, does the thought of doing that activity fill you with dread or does it sound relatively enjoyable? During, does it get your heart pumping and make you feel energized and strong, or does it cause you pain and frustration? After, do you feel more confident and in a better mood, or frustrated and fatigued?
Allow yourself to be flexible with the types of movement you engage in. One day it might feel great to lift weights, and another day it might feel better to do some gentle stretches on your floor at home. The key here is your innate ability to listen to and trust your body.
Movement does not have to meet any certain criteria to “count” as movement. If you’re someone who hates running but keeps forcing yourself to do it because it’s supposed to be such a great workout, take a break, and try something else instead. Maybe you enjoy just walking, or roller blading, or gardening, or dancing around your house to your favorite music. Or maybe you think if you can’t work out for a certain amount of time or only have time for 15 minutes of movement, or don’t sweat during a workout that it isn’t worth it. Any time you choose to move your body, you’re reaping the benefits. There’s no such thing as movement that doesn’t count.
Think back to when you were a kid and moved your body just for fun, whether it was playing soccer with friends, climbing a tree, or jumping on a trampoline. We are meant to move our bodies because it’s fun and can feel good, not because we’re told we should.
How you choose to move your body is 100% up to you. You are the expert of your own body and the only one who can know what feels good and what doesn’t. When you remove the attachment to calories burned or appearance-based measures of success, exercise becomes satisfying and enjoyable.
A great question to ask yourself if you’re questioning your current fitness routine is “Would I choose to engage in this type of activity if I knew it would have no impact on my weight or physical appearance?”. If the answer is no, it might be time to reevaluate your motivations for exercise by either taking a break or switching it up to something else. What are some of your favorite ways to move your body throughout the day or week?